Our “Friends and Family Birthday Tour” is what we are calling our planned trips for this Spring and Summer. I will be “celebrating” my 75th birthday this year and it will be Carol’s 70th. We have plans for this trip to California and, this Summer – some time in June – we will begin a trip to the East Coast to visit other friends and family there. That was not our original intent with these plans but it has turned out to be our “Birthday Tour”.
Our granddaughter, Katy, finally got a speaking/singing/dancing part in her theater company’s production of “The Little Mermaid” and we promised (and we want to anyway) her we’d come the 800 miles to see the show when she got a part like that. Both granddaughters are in the show. Brooke is in the cast with a more minor part. The show that we have tickets for is March 8th. We also have a GMC Western States Club rally (no GMC but lots of GMC-friends) on April 3rd in San Diego.
On Monday, March 4th we managed to leave at 9:30 AM for our first destination, Ken and Judy Booths home at Lake Havasu. We had visited the Booths on the first night of our trip with Daniel and Marjon on our way to Mt. Hood last year and enjoyed ourselves so thought we’d try it again. We had a very nice, uneventful day and arrived at about 4:00 PM. Ken and I spent some time talking about his engine problems and what he planned to do about it
On Tuesday, March 5th our destination was Mountain Valley RV Park in Tehachapi, CA. This was about an hour shorter trip than the first day and, because of the time zone change, we gained an hour – to be given back on March 10th when Daylight Savings Time causes a “spring forward”. We had dinner at The Red House barbecue on Tehachapi Blvd. and it was every bit as we remembered. We got back “home” before 7:00 PM just before the rain started to fall pretty heavily and the wind started picking up. By the time we went to bed we had some pretty high winds blowing and they blew for most of the night. At times they were so strong that I had serious fear of some sort of damage to the coach or the car from falling tree limbs or wind damage to our slide-out awning covers. We would have slept better at the Orange Grove RV Park on the other side of the mountain near Bakersfield
Wednesday, March 6th we are in a campground at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds in Turlock, CA. Carol found it using a new phone app – Ultimate Public Campgrounds ($3.99). She checked other apps we have and could not find it with them.
On Thursday, March 7th we arrived at Mark’s house. The girls – Kristin, Katelyn and Brooke were scheduled to attend that evening’s presentation of the musical – The Little Mermaid – that we were here to see Katie and Brooke in. There are two complete casts and this was their opportunity to see the show with the other cast. Mark was also leaving to do his duty as a volunteer “flydad” – dads who work the cables, pulleys and ropes to make the cast fly above the stage. We spent the evening playing Uno with Alex and had a great time
On Friday, March 8th it was our turn to see the show. We had an early dinner at a local Italian restaurant with Darryl and Linda, Gene and Jean, Mark, Kristin and Alex. The show was really good with Katie having a good part that included some singing, talking and dancing while Brook was in the ensemble supporting cast. We loved it.
Saturday and Sunday we mostly hung around in the house with a nice warm fire burning in the cast iron stove. Sunday we visited Darryl and Linda’s new home in Cameron Park.
Monday, March 11th we left Mark’s for a visit with some long-time Amdahl friends elsewhere in Sacramento. We had Jerry and Carolyn Feroben, Dianne Siler and Andy Thomson at Jerry and Carolyn’s home and a tasty dinner that evening at a restaurant in the original Tower Records building in downtown Sacramento.
Tuesday, March 12th we arrived an Manny and Deo Trovao’s home in the hills overlooking San Jose. We treated Manny and Deo to dinner at Red Lobster and went to bed early.
Wednesday, March 13th we visited Amdahl friends Jim and Tonia Baker at their home in Silver Creek. We were surprised by Linda and Mel Cottle. Linda was also an Amdahler back in the day.
Thursday through Sunday, March 14th through the 17th we visited Brian and Chris at their home on the 17th floor of a high-rise in downtown San Jose.
On Sunday, March 17th we returned to Manny and Deo’s and spent Monday and Monday night there. I took advantage of the availability of tools and a little help fixing the entry step which had broken at the Turlock stop on the way here.
Tuesday, March 19th we left San Jose to continue our trip. We had no plans other than to visit Carla and Artistic HangUps in Salinas and to spend the night at San Lorenzo County Park in King City. We decided to stay at the park for an extra night to rest and plan the rest of our trip.
Thursday, March 21st through Sunday morning, March 24th was spent at Pismo Beach. We looked at where we wanted to go and how much time we wanted to spend at each place and decided to go to Pismo for 3 nights, Joshua Tree for 3 with a night to get there which turned out to fit with our wish to see the Reagan Library. We found a campground that was really close to the Reagan Library that had an available space for $37 – a bargain given today’s prices and demand. So our plan for Sunday is to drive to Simi Valley and arrive no earlier than the 11am check-in time and visit the Library for 2-3 hours.
On Sunday, March 24th, we left Pismo and drove to Simi Valley to the Ventura County park that Carol found on our new Ultimate Public Campgrounds app. It was a real mess. The spot we had reserved was so unlevel that the front would have needed to be elevated at least 6 inchs to be level. There was no sewer connection and no dump station. The spot next to ours was closer to level (only 3″ required), open, there was no one around and no one answered any phone number we had so we took it. We left a note about who we were and what we did then we left for the library which was only about 2 miles away. When we returned someone was in the spot we were supposed to be in – they had a hydraulic leveling system and their front wheels were well off the ground – and no one said anything.
The Reagan Library was aesthetically beautiful. It was modern and set on a hill with a panoramic view of the valley around it. While the museum itself was beautiful, the message was the same as back in his presidential days – complete and utter BS. I started off listening to one of his campaign speeches and got p’d off immediately. When we toured the Air Force 1 there was actually a photograph of Ollie North – a convicted felon – things have not changed only gotten worse.
On Monday, March 25th we drove to Joshua Tree, CA and the Joshua Tree Lake RV & Campground. It seemed to take forever to get there but we wanted to take the back roads and stay off of the Interstates as much as we could. We were glad we did – the LA area traffic (extends pretty far east from there) is very stressful, if you are used to it or not. The campground is OK, reasonably priced and close to the park entrances – there are two entrances on the North side, one here in the town of Joshua Tree and the other at the town of 29 Palms a few miles down the road.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, March 26th and 27th, we visited the park. On Tuesday we went to the 29 Palms entrance because Carol had seen a sign on the way through town to use the 29 Palms entrance because of long lines at the Joshua Tree entrance. She had read that people go to the closest entrance and the line can be more than an hour long when it is busy. It is Spring Break and wildflower season during our time here so that was good advice. On Wednesday we got up early and were inside the park at 9:00am so that we could park at the Barker Dam trailhead on the advice of the ranger at the welcome center – they have one at each entrance. Tomorrow, our plan is to go through the park and out the south entrance all the way to Interstate 10 at Chiriaco Summit. From there we will head to Anza Borrego area for some dry camping in the desert.
On Thursday, March 28th, we drove through Joshua Tree National Park from North to South and exited at Chiriaco Summit on I-10. There were some wildflowers on that route and it was a very nice drive. From there we drove into Indio and Coachella where we visited a WalMart for some food and water and a gas station for some diesel and propane. We had decided to try dry camping in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park so we wanted to make sure we would not run out of anything. We parked the coach in an open area at the Rockhouse Campground that is just outside of Borrego Springs and where cell reception is again available after crossing the hills between there and Salton City and the Salton Sea. We visited the park’s visitor center, found out where the flowers were and made plans for tomorrow. That night was a terrible wind storm that shook and rattled the coach for most of the night – it quit at about 4 or 5 am.
On Friday, March 29th, we hiked the Borrego Palm Canyon trail from the campground to the first palm trees, about 1.5 miles up and back. The trail is rated as “moderate” but was no worse than the “easy” trails of Joshua Tree. The weather was a little warmer than we have seen lately but no problem. Later in the day, we drove to Font’s Point, an overlook of the badlands area of the park that is 4 miles down a sandy wash – awesome! On our way back “home” we picked up Charlie and Betty Davis who were stuck with a broken-down car at the side of the road – we drove them home just short of town.
On Saturday, March 30th, we took a ride to the Southern area of the park to the “Mill Wash” road that led to the site of an ancient Native American settlement – shown as “village” on the map. Very pretty and very interesting.
On Sunday, March 31st, we left the park and headed for San Diego. Rather than going over some pretty steep and narrow roads through the mountains, we decided to backtrack to the Salton Sea area and go the wide, safe way via I-8 and other freeways. We managed to find a place in El Cajon to wash the coach and the car at a do-it-yourself car wash that Carol managed to find – she is turning into a great navigator. We arrived at the KOA at about 2:00 pm to the sounds of screaming kids, barking dogs and loud radios. We went from the quietest place we have ever camped to, probably, the loudest. Ouch!
On Monday, April 1st, we watched some of the loudest, rudest people pack up and leave – turns out Monday was a holiday (Cesar Chavez Day) so everyone had hung around for an extra night to take advantage. We “Ubered” into San Diego to visit our long-time friend, Kirk Cunningham, at his new home in downtown. We taked and then went out to a little French restaurant for lunch and then Ubered back to the KOA and then went on a minor shopping trip to WalMart.
We stayed the week at the KOA and left on Monday, April 8th for home. During that week we took a tour of San Diego that included the aircraft carrier Midway, the Del Coronado Hotel, downtown and Old Town San Diego. We attended the GMC Western States Spring Rally and had our usual good time with a bunch of nice people. On Monday night we stayed in a pretty basic RV park in the Fortuna Foothills area just East of Yuma, AZ. It was over 100°F when we arrived there so we needed electricity to run our air conditioner. We will probably choose another park next time. More of the same predicted tomorrow for our final leg home.
I used to write blog entries on this site to talk about each trip we made with our GMC but, for some reason, I quit doing that with the Sunseeker. I guess I was just not that excited about it (like I was the GMC) so I didn’t feel like writing about it. Looking back – it is March of 2019 and we have had the Sunseeker for almost a year and a half and I can’t remember much about what we have done with it. Luckily, Carol has kept a very simple log of each trip – the dates (mostly) and the destinations. She did not keep track of the reasons for the trips or any notes about what happened or what we did. I decided to catch up so, using her notes and our recollections, I have tried to reconstruct what I missed.
We left Pennsylvania for trip number one on October 4th and arrived at home on October 13th. Since this was a 2015 model year motor home Carol expected a trouble-free trip and was surprised and disappointed when we had trouble. I was not. I knew better because there are so many systems involved in turning a truck into a motor home. Some of the issues showed up before we even left Pennsylvania.
The coach had apparently been stored without winterizing during the previous Winter and several things had frozen and been damaged. The first was a plastic water filter cartridge that Rick discovered while exploring the many cabinets in the coach. We visited the local hardware store and, because we could not find a replacement we decided to just eliminate the filter entirely with fittings we got there.
Next, while preparing to depart I discovered a big leak from a burst seam in the aluminum water heater. Rick and I made an emergency trip to a welding shop where they repaired the seam. We also discovered that the kitchen faucet had been damaged and the spray nozzle would not stay attached – that had to be replaced too.
On the way home our house batteries went bad for some strange reason. We had used them with no trouble on the first day and night – a WalMart parking lot – but after staying at an RV park and plugging into 30-amp power all night they were no good and had to be replaced that day.
Then, when trying to use the motor-generator for something like using the microwave, the automatic transfer switch acted up and eventually needed replacing after we got home.
The house water pump also was failing on the way home whenever the water tank would get below half. I later discovered that it too had suffered from the freezing and had to be replaced.
The Mercedes portion of the coach did really well as expected – by me.
Our second trip with the Sunseeker was to a Jetset (our Arizona GMC club) rally at the De Anza RV Resort in Amado, AZ from December 7-10, 2017. We had no issues that I can recall.
Our third trip was just up the road from our house – 30 miles or so – to the Picacho Peak area to visit Carol’s cousin Christopher and his wife who were spending the Winter in their 5th wheel trailer there at the resort. When we arrived we opened the door to step out of the coach and the automatic step collapsed and stopped working – a broken bolt in the mechanism. I fixed it myself with a replacement part ordered from the step manufacturer.
The fourth trip was to Roper Lake State Park in Safford, AZ from January 4th, 2018 until January 6th. The park was OK, the area was less than attractive and we probably won’t go back.
Trip number 5 was to another Jetset rally. This one at the Bluegrass Festival at the Pinal County fairgrouds in Casa Grande, AZ from January 26th to the 28th.
Number 6 was to an FMCA rally at the Pima County fairgrounds from February 5th until the 9th. We had our awning replaced and bought some tire pressure sensors for the tow car. We looked at every small RV they had there and decided we really like ours better than any of them – especially after seeing the prices.
Number 7 was another Jetset rally at the Cave Creek Regional Park in Cave Creek, AZ from March 15 to 18. This time, while setting up, the side slide-out that contains our recliners and dining table refused to go out. It would move an inch or so and then quit in both outward and inward movements. I recalled seeing a couple of electronic boards in the area where the water pump is located. I looked there and one of them was blinking a code which turned out to be saying that there was a problem with the cable between it and the slide-out. I managed to put it into “manual mode” and got the slide to work but I had to do that every time I needed to move it. It turned out that a packrat had gotten into an area of the coach where the cable passed through, made a nest, and tried to eat the cable breaking 3 of the 5 wires in the cable. The replacement cost $100 and had to be routed under the coach since the coach was built on top of the cables and they were no longer accessible.
Our eighth trip was to Prescott with Jae and Bridget (friends and neighbors) to visit the “Out of Africa” park in Camp Verde, AZ.
Our 9th trip was to California from June 2nd to the 15th for our grandson Kyle’s high school graduation in San Jose and then visits with our other family members in the Sacramento area.
From July 29th until August 7th was our 10th trip. This one was to Northern Arizona to get out of the heat and to change scenery. Carol’s Mom had passed away on July 12th and we had to get out of town to try and quit thinking about her. We spent time in the White Mountains in Pinetop-Lakeside and farther West on the Mogollon Rim in a couple of US Forest Service campgrounds – we really liked “Sinkhole”. We also visited the Tonto Bridge State Park.
Our 11th trip was to Mt. Hood, Oregon and back for a GMC Western States rally with Daniel and Marjon Jacobs from the Netherlands. This trip is written up as a two-part post in the “Sunseeker Trips” section of this web site.
The 12th, 13th and 14th trips were to Jetset rallies at Bisbee, AZ in November, Lake Havasu State Park in December, and Tombstone, AZ in January.
Our 15th trip is planned to be about 5 weeks in California for family and friend visits, sightseeing places we have not been and some we have, followed by a GMC Western States rally in San Diego. Look for a detailed post on this one under “Sunseeker Trips – 2019”.
Until we get home, I will be updating this post as we go along so check back if you are interested.
Tuesday, October 9th – we left Mt. Hood Village this morning at about 9:45 or 10:00 and drove around Mt. Hood because it is supposed to be a very scenic drive. It was pretty nice but for the majority of the time we were in rain and fog and there was really not much to look at. The good news was that despite the R&R of the fuel filter, and removal and cleaning of the EGR valve the coach ran great – lots of power and no hint of any trouble. When the sun finally came out we stopped at the town of Hood River and had a little walk around. It has a nice main street and some very interesting shops. Our next destination was Multnoma Falls where we missed our turn – a left exit – and had to go 20 miles out of our way to get back but the scenery was beautiful regardless of the weather – more rain.
We drove through Portland between 3:30 and 4:00 PM and hit some traffic but not too bad. We finished the day at Stub Stewart State Park just off Oregon highway 47 about 34 miles west of Portland. Oregon state parks are very nice to say the least.
Wednesday, October 10th – we left the park this morning and headed for Cannon Beach where we stopped for a cup of coffee and a little walk on the beach. It was a nice little town with RV parking slots – 3 of them – in the little municipal lot with signs directing us to them. Our next destination was going to be a lookout on a back road off of US-101 but the engine acted up again. This time it gave a code 2454 which indicates a problem with the Diesel Particulate Filter the DPF. This must be the problem the guy in Bend was trying to tell me he could fix with a week of time and $3K-$4K of my money. After talking to a local mechanic about the problem and learning about these filters on the internet and talking to Daniel about his thoughts I decided to try to clean the filter by driving with the engine running at about 2500 RPM by using manual gear shifting. For now this would simulate what happens at highway speeds faster than I normally drive – this should allow the engine to clean the filter the way it is designed to clean it. If this doesn’t work I will have to investigate the sensor – maybe a tube is plugged between the filter and the sensor body which is located under the hood.
Thursday, October 11th – We spent the night at South Beach State Park in Newport, Oregon. We left this morning at about 9:00 and headed for Bandon, Oregon and a state park south of there but didn’t make it. The engine acted up again while climbing the curvy hills along the amazing ocean scenery. Hardly any power, won’t shift, etc. We continued on to Florence, Oregon and stopped in an empty parking lot for a cup of coffee and some serious thinking when I realized that Gene Fisher, a long-time GMC friend lived in Florence. I called Gene looking for a referral to a mechanic. Gene referred me to Tony at Tony’s Garage and mentioned ACR Automotive as another possibility. When I called Tony he said he did not have room for an RV and he worked on diesels, but not Mercedes or other foreign brands. He suggested that I call ACR Automotive, a shop just down the street about a half-mile that Gene had also mentioned. When I called them they said they were booked but would try to help with the diagnosis and maybe have their diesel guy look at it so bring it by at about 1:00 PM when he got back from lunch.
We did some shopping for groceries and had some lunch while waiting. They have some really nice people working there. Tammy, the lady who answered the phone, is the owner along with her mechanic husband, Joel. When we got there Joel sent Chris, one of the mechanics to read the codes from the engine computer – fortunately, the codes are stored in a long-term memory that is not cleared by normal OSB tools. When the diesel guy got there he took a look at the codes and did some research and found that our coach is in a batch of Sprinters that have a TSB written about them – a Technical Service Bulletin – that describes our problems and says to replace a wiring harness and to clean some particular electrical contacts. The parts are ordered and are to be shipped to the Mercedes dealer in Eugene, Oregon tomorrow, Friday, morning. I am to call in the morning to make sure the part is actually on its way. If so, Gene will let us use his tow car to drive the 60 miles to get the parts. Meanwhile we will spend the next couple of nights with Gene and Melissa and hope they can get it fixed tomorrow. If not tomorrow it will have to be Monday. Daniel and Marjon have gone on without us. We’ll maybe catch up or just head home depending on how long this takes.
Friday, October 12th – We called ACR Automotive this morning at 9:30 as directed to see if the Mercedes dealer in Eugene, Oregon could verify that the part were actually on their way via FEDEX. The parts were on their way so we drove to Eugene (Gene lent us his Tracker tow car), picked up the parts and returned by 1:00 PM when the diesel guy, Russ, would be back from lunch. We dropped the coach off at 1:00 and by 1:30 they had the coach in the yard and were working on it. The parts consisted of a new end for a sensor cable connection to the engine computer, some “sleeves” that had wires connected, and a cleaning kit. Russ, the tech, told me that the old connector was not sealed around the connections while the new cable end is. A bad connection! And only $400 – not bad considering the guy in Bend wanted $3K-$4K and probably would not have fixed anything. I went with the tech on a test drive. He is convinced it is fixed and I am very hopeful – seems like a good bet but… We will begin the real test drive tomorrow when we head farther down the coast.
Saturday, October 13th – We spent the night in the RV area at Gene’s development with electricity and water and left at about 8:30 this morning to meet Daniel and Marjon at Harris Beach State Park in Brookings, Oregon. They managed to grab a first-come, first-served site right next to theirs when the previous occupant left this morning. The drive was 155 miles in great weather. The coach ran perfectly so I am real sure the problem is fixed. We arrived at the state park and our “reserved” site at about 1:00PM and got set up. The site is not real level but close enough and, otherwise, beautiful.
Sunday, October 14th – Spent the day driving east in a big arc that took us into California and then back into Oregon through some very hilly and winding roads. We spent the night at the McCloud RV Resort in McCloud, California where we spent the night in a rustic RV park whose prices were anything but rustic. It got below freezing but otherwise nice.
Monday, October 15th – we drove from McCloud to Reno where Daniel and I visited the National Automobile Museum which is the new name of the Harrah’s Automobile Museum. A bunch of really nice cars from late 1800’s to modern time. We are staying at the Comstock Country RV Resort where the use of the word “resort” is being stretched even more than yesterday.
Tuesday, October 16th – Bishop, CA at Boulder Creek RV Resort just 3 or 4 miles past town. It is on the left side and google doesn’t know about the left turn into the park – tried to send us miles down the road to do a U-turn. The park was really nice and we had the first good weather of the trip since before Mt. Hood. We broke out the Little Red Camp Fire and visited with Daniel and Marjon for the first time since we left Arizona I think.
Wednesday, October 17th – The drive from Bishop to Las Vegas is pretty boring at times but those times are balanced by moments requiring good concentration going up and down some pretty steep and curvy hills. The killer part – especially the first time entering Death Valley from the west – is that you drive a long, boring stretch of road, climb a pretty good hill and then descend into what seems like it must be Death Valley only to discover that there is a higher hill and a really steep descent into the real valley miles later. After climbing back out of the valley on the shortest route available we had another long, boring drive to Las Vegas where the traffic gets pretty wild. We arrived at Sam’s Town KOA park which is about 7 miles southeast of the strip and got a site for the next 3 nights. The casino here is OK and doesn’t smell like cigarette smoke although people are smoking. They have a free shuttle to and from the strip or downtown that runs five times per day.
Thursday, we bought tickets to see the Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson show at Mandalay bay, toured around the Belagio casino a little, and, in the evening we saw the “fire and water” show at Sam’s Town casino and then the new movie, “A Star is Born” with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper – a pretty good movie.
Friday, we worked on Daniel’s GMC a little and then took Ubers to and from Mandalay Bay for the show. Loved the Ubers.
Saturday, October 20th – we drove to Wickenburg, AZ where we spent the night at Desert Cypress RV Park dry camping in their storage lot – we don’t need power or water so why not? Home tomorrow.
We left home on Saturday, September 22nd with Daniel and Marjon Jacobs and headed for Lake Havasu City and Ken and Judy Booth’s home there.
On Sunday, September 23rd we drove to Tehachapi, California and spent the night at the Mountain Valley RV Park there. Before going to the Park we had dinner together at the Red House Barbecue Restaurant and it was really good. Some of the best ribs, brisket, and hot links I have ever had.
On Monday, September 24th we spent the night at San Lorenzo County Park in King City, California. The inside right rear tire had been leaking for quite some time so we stopped at the Rossi Tire Store before going to the RV park which is less than a half-mile away. They found and fixed a bad valve and charged me $30. I had an adventure with the tire pressure monitor sender and valve stem extension combination leaking really badly but they helped me find the problem. Finally, no tire leaks – for a while anyway.
On Tuesday, September 25th we visited Carla at Artistic HangUps in Salinas, California and then drove to San Jose Airport and parked the coach in Economy Lot 1 which is long term parking for $18 per day. The airport parking management told me parking a small RV would be OK but I think they must have been thinking of a class B because we barely fit and had to park where I could back up to a curb and take advantage of our rear overhang. Brian picked us up in the lot and we drove to his new high-rise apartment in downtown San Jose where we spent 3 nights.
On Friday, September 28th we left Brian’s. Chris gave us a ride to the airport at 8:30 AM and, since they live so close to the airport there was no traffic. We did have a problem when we got to the lot. The ticket gate was closed with a sign and a cone – the sign said “lot full”. We with no one around to help I decided to move the sign and the cone and then just go through the gate with a normal ticket. That made the help show up in a hurry – she let us in with our simple explanation. A consideration for next time We arrived at Mark’s business – The Local Bark in Rancho Cordova – and spent the afternoon with him and, eventually, his family. We only got to spend the one day and night with them because of a lack of planning, mostly on my part, due to the uncertainty of going on a trip involving a GMC and a new buyer.
On Saturday, September 29th, we drove about 15 miles to fellow GMCers Nick and Donna’s in Placerville, California, where we met up Daniel and Marjon again for the rest of the trip to Mt. Hood. When we left we took a really up and down windy road – Californa highway 49 through gold country. When we emerged at the intersection of highway I-80 the coach suddenly started acting bad – it had no power, wouldn’t respond to shift lever or the accelerator and general weirdness. I pulled over, shut it off and restarted and the problem went away. Later, I would realize that it was in “limp home” mode because of some computer detected error that did not have any indication on the instrument panel. On Saturday night we stayed at Woodson Bridge RV Park on the Sacramento River in Corning, California. There was a salmon run going on and people were in the area fishing. The people next to us had caught a 30+ pound salmon that day.
On Sunday, September 30th, we stayed at the Klamath Falls KOA – definitely not a good example for the KOA brand.
On Monday, October 1st, we drove around the West side of Crater Lake and then we stayed at Big Pines RV Park in Crescent, Oregon.
On Tuesday, October 2nd, we saw Smith Rock State Park and spent the night in the parking lot of Import Performance in Bend, Oregon. The reason for staying in the parking lot is related to another occurrence of “limp home” mode just as we got to the park. This time the “check engine” light lit up yellow. Not knowing what might be wrong and thinking the since this is a Mercedes I can call the local dealer and be helped by their quality service and expertise. Boy, was I wrong. They don’t service Sprinters and many Mercedes dealers don’t. If have one and you need service you are between a rock and a hard place unless you luck out with the local dealer. The local dealer told us to call one of the Mercedes dealers in Portland (200 or so miles away) on one of two local independent shops. We ended up calling Import Performance who took us right in and tried to take us in some more with scary stories about how serious this was and what we might be doing to our engine. They estimated about a week or more of work and a bill of $3,000 – $4,000. I was mostly believing them but decided to call some GMCer friends who knew lots more than I did about diesels and see what they though. Steve Ferguson immediately said it had to be fuel or air flow related and I should replace the air and fuel filters and keep on going. Jerry Work pointed out what should have been obvious to me, star diagnostician that I am supposed to be, two sensor failures at the same time and replacing both of them? No way. We had to determine the root cause. Others already at the rally agreed and we decided to replace the filters and go on. In the morning I would pay my bill for “diagnosis” and go to the local O’Reilly’s and pick up new air and fuel filters. I watched videos about how to replace the fuel filter and went to sleep (it was not a pleasant night – noisy and thoughtful). I think that, during the night, I realized that the ScanGuage display that the previous owner had installed might be able to reset the check engine light and clear the codes that generated it.
On Wednesday, October 3rd, when we got up I used the ScanGuage computer to reset the computer and I went to the O’Reilly store, picked up the filters and started the replacement process but quickly realized that the video I watched did not match my Sprinter so returned the filters and drove on to the rally with no problems. In fact, I think it ran better than I ever experienced it. At about 1:00 PM we arrived at Mt. Hood Village RV Resort in Welches, Oregon.
During the first part of our time here I picked up the fuel and air filters and learned that a weak spot in the design of the Sprinters from 2011 on is the EGR valve. This valve is what controls the DEF-related smog system. It plugs into the exhaust stream and connects as a sensor, a water drain for the fuel filter’s water separator function, and it opens and closes a valve mechanism. If it is dirty it can cause problems like ours. I can be cleaned or replaced. For about $500-$600 just for the part I will clean it. I replaced the air filter and cleaned the EGR valve but finding the correct fuel filter is much more difficult than I realized. Not available at O’Reilly’s or anywhere else except, possibly, at a Mercedes or Dodge dealer for an exorbitant price. My plan is now to reinstall the old one and hope that the problem was the EGR valve being dirty.
I reinstalled the fuel filter this morning (Sunday, October 7th) and it went very smoothly except for the clip that holds the water drain line on the filter. Because the clip was made of very fragine plastic and broke immediately, I used a paper clip like I learned on youtube but took a while to realize that only one side of the clip was necessary, versus two sides of the U-shaped clip originally used. I am glad that people work so hard to help others.
“Roadside maintenance” is a new (new to me anyway) term that Carol used to describe routine vehicle maintenance that must be done on the side of the road. It took me until the third electric fuel pump failing before I realized that the fuel filter was plugged up. I recently installed a warning light on my dash board that indicates low fuel pressure from my frame mounted electric fuel pump into my FiTech Fuel Command center. I figured it would give me between one and two miles of warning that the fuel injection system was going to run out of gas. I installed it so that I would have it on this trip through the desert when fuel problems are at their worst.
It was a hot day today – 103 mostly but up to 111 until we got to Lake Havasu State Park where it was a toasty 115. Driving on I-10 and almost to exit 45, Vicksburg, AZ, and the bright red warning light I installed started flashing and pretty quickly came on steady. No fuel pressure from my low pressure pump. I swapped an identical spare pump in and it did not work either although it took a few miles to figure that out with intermittent flashing of my warning light and then steady on again. This time I swapped in a Carter P-4070 that was brand new, never used and it did not work either. That is when I realized that the fuel filter mounted less than a foot away from the fuel pump had not been checked in a couple of years. That fixed it. That is what I admit should have been done, probably annually.
This was our 67th trip in the GMC and sort of a milestone for us – at least for me. It was a milestone because we did not have any trouble. We did come back with a list of things to fix and change, but that is normal.
Pahrump is about a 900-mile round trip and it included, as a surprise to me, the toughest hill I can remember climbing in the GMC. We have a book that lists steep hills on every main highway in the Western US and we didn’t use it. We had been to Death Valley years ago and drove from there to Las Vegas. I looked at the map and Nevada highway 160, being the most direct route to Death Valley must have been the road we took. It was not. The first half is uphill all the way capped off by a 9-mile long 6-7% grade at the top. The other side is not as steep but it is downhill all the way to town. The big thing about both sides is that there is never any relief. There is never a flat or downhill stretch. It is alway up.
But, the coach ran well. There was a definite lack of power for some reason but talking to others who also climbed the hill, I was not alone. I feel like there was a lack of power because I have climbed other hills nearly as bad and just as high and did not have as much trouble. The climb is from about 2000 feet to 5500 feet so air (oxygen) is an issue. I am thinking that my air cleaner is a large part of the problem. When we installed the new engine the dip-stick tube was in the way of installing the air cleaner because the end of the air horn hit it. My solution was to remove the funnel-shaped end of the air cleaner. Thinking about that now I realize that probably cut down the air flow significantly and may have been the problem. I will be modifying the air cleaner to fix my mistake.
A second issue, but not a new one, is engine temperature. This is not new. I noticed an increase some time ago but have not pursued it for some reason – busy, lazy, or something. I think the radiator may be partially plugged up with bugs and dirt so will take a look at that too.
A third issue was my inability to raise the rear suspension on the passenger side. Last time that happened it was the switch. I will try cleaning them again.
Overall it was a great trip and we had a lot of fun, met some new friends, and got to see some old ones.
Our 66th trip in the GMC was a good one. Only 100 miles or so from home but like in a different world. Spring had sprung and the wildflowers were out and absolutely covering all of the hills in the area with bright yellow blooms of a couple of varieties.
The coach ran great and seems to have “learned” its way out of some of the old problems with the FiTech electronic fuel injection system. The day before we left I decided to check the “IAC Steps” adjustment on the throttle body. I remembered that I had not checked the setting since I got the unit back from FiTech and their claim of “no trouble found”. After I had the engine warmed up I looked at the readout and found it was way too high – 130+ steps instead of the recommended 3-10 steps at warm idle. I am thinking that the thing that FiTech fixed (in spite of their claim on NTF) had to do with the IAC motor. IAC stands for Idle Air Control and it is the way the unit controls air intake at engine idle. Every time I had trouble with the unit and talked to FiTech they would ask me about IAC settings and I had adjusted it at least 4 times in the past but the setting never held. This time it was easier than previous attempts to set the idle screw to make the reading correct and it seems to be staying where I put it. Amazingly enough, the engine runs and idles better than it ever has and any small ‘glitches’ have gone away completely.
I also noticed that the fuel tanks continue to be easier to fill than ever since they have been insulated. The temperatures were not high for the weekend – low 80’s – but still easier to fill than they used to be.
This was our 65th trip in the GMC – long and short – but it seemed a lot like our first. It seemed like that because there were two “we didn’t get there” trips in the last four tries. There have only been 4 total since we bought the GMC and both of the others were when we first got it. Our 65th trip was supposed to be to Blythe and the Pacific Cruisers’ bluegrass rally in January but the GMC’s brakes failed just as we were getting ready to go. That problem was solved with a newly rebuilt booster and lots of help from the legendary Dave Lenzi. Another factor making me a little anxious was the newly “adjusted” FiTech electronic fuel injection system that has been giving me trouble for the whole year I have owned it. It would not be a “we didn’t get there” factor because I can easily reinstall my carburetor which I carry with me but wondering if it was fixed or not was another “anxiety” factor. The last item on the list of new things was the insulated fuel tank upgrade – would it help?
We took about 6 hours of 60 MPH driving to get to Lake Havasu State Park where the “Bluegrass on the Beach” festival was being held. The camping arrangements were to be dry (no hookups of any kind) camping for up to 4 nights and daily admission to the music venue. We have gone to only a couple of other bluegrass festivals but with dry camping and music we expected the “usual” low prices. When we pulled up to the gate they said “Welcome! That will be two twelve. Cash or check only.” Two twelve!! $212! Holy moly. It turns out that the bands are all very good and several had to travel across the country from the East coast so quality probably explains the high price. The thing we were also surprised about was the lack of jamming. The number of RVs parked at the festival was surprisingly large but there was about the same number of jam sessions as there is usually at the Casa Grande festival in January. But there was jamming and it is fun – like sitting around the front porch with family.
So, the GMC-portion of the trip was good. It ran great, there are a couple of FiTech issues with tuning (I hope) and I will be tweaking settings as we go along to try and correct those. The fuel tank insulation, in spite of the low temperatures (low 80’s at the most), seemed to make a difference. All three times we filled up with fuel the gurgling and bubbling was almost gone – venting seemed much better and there was no pressure in the tanks when I removed the cap (very slight at the first stop but barely noticeable).
Bottom line: We made it there and back and feel better about the GMC.
We didn’t make it to the Coos Bay rally this time – instead, we experienced the difference between the Classic GMC Motorhome community and all others and, overall, had a pretty good time to boot. On Thursday, September 29th, the third day of what was to be a three-week trip to the Fall 2016 GMC Western States rally at Coos Bay our engine basically disintegrated just outside of King City, California.
It was our plan was to visit friends and family in the San Jose area and then more friends and family in the Sacramento area before joining a caravan to the rally. Just 5 miles short of King City, where we planned to spend the night at San Lorenzo County Park, we heard some loud “crackling” sounds coming from the engine. In just a few seconds I pulled over to the side of the highway and shut the engine off while noting that none of the instruments indicated any trouble. Looking around though, I saw large clouds of steam billowing out of the exhaust pipe in the back indicating at least a blown head gasket and possibly worse.
I called Good Sam Roadside Assistance and told them that I had some engine damage and needed a tow to “the nearest, willing and qualified service center”. They did their usual, trying to find a place to tow us for some major work. Back in 2007, at the end of our first year with the GMC, we broke down with a loud engine knock in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Good Sam did find a qualified service center about 90 miles away and did not hesitate to tow us there for an engine replacement.
This time they seemed to be less interested in “qualified” and were more focused on “nearest”. They said they had found a place that was only 5 miles away in King City and their only requirement of the service center was that it was “willing and qualified” (apparently, in their own opinion only). The King City shop turned out to be a tire store with some auto repair capabilities and the mechanic on duty changed his mind about “willing and qualified” when he saw the coach. We had the tow truck take us to the county park for the night where we called Good Sam and asked to be towed somewhere else on Friday morning.
On Friday morning Good Sam said they had found a shop in Salinas – 50 miles farther North – that said they could fix our engine. We had lived and worked in the Salinas area for many years before moving to Arizona so I was curious about the shop. I got the name and number of the shop owner and discussed what was required and persuaded him that he did not have the knowledge or the equipment to work on the coach. Good Sam, however, insisted that, since he initially said he could do it, he was “willing and qualified” and would tow us no farther. We arrived at the shop by mid-day on Friday and my suspicions were confirmed. It was basically a local one-man auto repair shop with a lot full of cars waiting to be repaired – a nice guy but not someone I was going to trust with my GMC. Having lived there, we called friends who might have ideas for a different shop but there were none we felt comfortable with.
Frustrated at the lack of choices in such a sizeable town, I called Manny Trovao in San Jose to see if he had any ideas. For those not familiar with the GMC: Manny is a legend in the GMC community for his transmission work and also for front-end and braking systems, not to mention diesel conversions. I had already asked Applied GMC what they could do but Jim Kanomata was on his way to the GMCMI rally in Ohio and Nick, his second-in-command, told me they were all backed up and could not even look at it for a month. Manny, with no hesitation, told me to “bring it to my house”. He said he would help as much as he could but was leaving for an 11-day cruise in just over a week and was very busy. I would have to do most of the work myself. Not seeing much choice I agreed – still hoping it was only a head gasket.
By this time it was late on Friday evening so we decided to spend the night in the repair shop’s parking lot and call the tow company to take us to Manny’s on Saturday morning at our own expense – $825 (we are appealing this with Good Sam – update 11/15/2016 our appeal was approved for the full amount – we are Good Sam fans). We arrived at Manny’s on Saturday around noon. Manny tried to start our engine and declared it to be “trash”. It would have to be replaced. We left to visit our son and his family who we had not seen for about a year and a half. I told Manny I’d be back on Monday morning to get started.
On Monday I discussed engine replacement alternatives with Manny and my first choice would have been a rebuilt engine from S&J in Spokane, Washington but they had no rebuildable 455 cores. They did have a 403 but did not have the proper intake manifold and pan for the motorhome. Another choice was a rebuilt 403 from Peter Huber’s coach which had been demolished in a tow truck accident – I did not like the price and, most importantly, did not trust the rebuilder. Finally, Manny suggested the possibility of using the engine from a 1975 23-foot coach that had been sitting next to his driveway for at least the past 10 years. Manny drove it there and parked it 10 years earlier and it had not been touched since. The engine had only 52,000 miles on it and had been maintained by the local county government during that time. I agreed that was what I wanted to do.
On Tuesday, October 4th, 7 days before Manny was to leave for his cruise, we got started removing the engine from the old coach. Getting that engine out took until Wednesday morning. Now the task for me was to get my engine out while Manny prepared the “new” engine for use with a new timing chain, new pan, head, and intake manifold gaskets, and some meticulous cleaning.
At about 11:00am on Wednesday I got a phone message from George Beckman that said he also had problems getting to Coos Bay because of a problem with his transmission. He was about 4 hours away from Manny’s and, if I needed help, he would be there by the end of the day. How lucky could I get? First Manny provides a work place, knowledge, tools and even an engine and now a fellow GMCer has offered to help remove and replace the engine. I think I would still be there if it were not for George.
George and Ruth arrived late on Wednesday afternoon and George and I, along with Manny, worked from 8:00am until about 5:00pm or 6:00pm every day for the next 6 days. Manny left on schedule on Tuesday morning. George and I got the “new” engine started on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, October 12th we gave George and Ruth a ride home to Colfax, California, about an hour North of our second son’s home in the El Dorado Hills area near Sacramento. The engine ran very well – much better than the old engine had been running before disintegrating.
We didn’t make it to the Coos Bay rally but we did have our own little “Minnie” rally, learned a lot and solidified our friendships with Manny, his wife Deo, and George and Ruth Beckman.
