Every year since we moved to Arizona we have made at least one trip back to California to visit my sons Brian and Mark and their families. We have also visited our former business – Artistic HangUps custom picture framing in Salinas, CA. Pretty much every trip has been combined with some other event such as Christmas, birthdays, and, for the past 5 or 6 years, GMC motorhome rallies. This time is an exception. Our rallies for this year were located in far Southern California in the Spring and the Fall rally will be in Pueblo, Colorado. When we asked Brian and Mark about a good time for a visit their busy schedules dictated late June for both so that is how this trip got scheduled in late June.
Did you know that June is the hottest time of the year in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts? The temperature goes way up – it is 115 degrees Farenheit 50 yards from Lake Havasu (the Colorado River) as I write this – and there is no rain to cool things off. So, what is the best time of year to cross the desert? Any time except late June. Actually, Spring and Fall are OK, you do get the occasional unusual weather but do it then if you can.
The main problems with the heat in the GMC are comfort and performance – other than that, no problem. The comfort issue is a pretty common one. The dash air does not work well and the alternatives don’t either – not when it is 111 degrees and no shade. The performance issue is “vapor lock” – hot fuel – either stopping you or slowing you down because of bubbles in the gasoline. My original dash air conditioning has been disabled by a previous owner (PO) and replaced with an under-dash unit that barely worked in original condition and is now limited by a wooden cover that I made while I worked on plan ‘B’. We ran our Onan generator and a roof-mounted air conditioner for 4 or 5 hours today to help the dash air but it was still almost unbearable.
Performance was mostly good but, we stopped for gas after it had been 110 to 111 for an hour or two and the tanks had some pressure in them (but less than 2 psi because the cap was not venting). We filled up but began having issues as soon as we pulled out of the station. The Onan was stumbling so we couldn’t continue to run the A/C until it settled down (if the Onan quits while an A/C unit is running and you are unlucky it can damage one of the rectifiers in it). The engine had a hard time running solidly for a couple of miles – I had to do a lot of “pedal pumping” to help it along but it did settle down pretty well after that. Pressure in the fuel tank is good, not bad.
One of the exhaust manifold gaskets is leaking. I have spares and it is not too bad to do but it does take a couple hours and some grunt work. The good news is that the FatMat sound insulation and the new carpeting I installed since the last trip is working pretty well and the sound probably will not be unbearable until I fix it.
Supposed to be hot again tomorrow so we plan to leave extra early and get to the top of the hill West of Needles, CA before it gets too hot.
No Comments Yet