We did another full day (for us) drive today and got to Fredericksburg, Texas where we will spend two nights. We plan to get a little rest, eat some fresh peaches – this is a big peach growing area, and see some tourist things – this was the home of Admiral Chester Nimitz and his grandfather’s hotel has been converted into the Pacific War Museum. We visited the museum today – I forgot my camera but we are going back tomorrow – and spent almost 2 hours there. This museum traces the origins of the Pacific War – Japan’s role in World War II – from the early history of China, Japan, Korea, etc. – things I never knew.

GMC content: This morning’s fillup was with the usual crap gas but the coach ran well on the highway but did have a couple of periods of a sort of surging after stopping and idling for potty breaks. It was really strange, no stumbling, just acted like I was giving it gas and then taking it away with the accelerator pedal – Carol asked if I was doing it because it seemed like it. It went away pretty quickly both times it happened but still strange.

The fillup tonight again seemed not too bad mileage wise (7mpg) so maybe I have fixed something with the vacuum. I don’t have a dash gauge for vacuum and, it turns out, I have been removing the HVAC hose (the bad one) to install the temporary vacuum gauge so never saw the problem with it. I will be adding a vacuum gauge when I rework the dash – for now, I am thinking of getting some hose and hooking up my toolbox version of a vacuum gauge and just putting it where I can see it.

I don’t think I have mentioned any data from the transmission temperature gauge? I never had one before so I am just keeping an eye on it and learning. When starting out in the morning or after a stop the temperature in the transmission pan can run at about 160 or so for quite a while. It gradually creeps up to about 180 and stays there until we climb a hill and then it will get up to 190 to 200. On long hills I have seen it get to 220. Once it gets hot it takes quite a while to come back down to the 190 – 200 range but once there it stays pretty steady. I do see it get down to 180 sometimes but mostly runs about 190 or so. If we stop – like for a potty break for me – the temperature climbs to about 220 until we take off when it will pretty quickly drop to 200 and then gradually get a little cooler until we climb again. Strangely, when we are driving in the rain the temperature can drop down to 160 or less – I am wondering if the water splashing on the transmission pan is cooling it enough to do that. The owner’s manual, by the way, says that the normal operating temperature of the transmission is 190-200.

Share on Facebook

We arrived at our planned stopping point of Ft. Stockton, Texas at about 4pm Central time – the second day in a row that we lost an hour. We started the day filling our gas tanks at a Fina station in Las Cruces – a pretty good-sized sign on the pump said no methanol added. After the fill-up the coach was running a little rough for the first minute or so – I think the choke was still active and the engine was warmed up enough to not need it – fallout from the blocked crossover on the intake (GMC tech jargon – sorry).

The weather was wonderful for traveling – cloudy and a little rain. The day went by without incident and the coach ran well. We made it all day without needing more fuel – first time that has happened in a while. The daily fuel consumption numbers show we did better than 8 mpg – we barely beat 6 for the past two tanks. Improved fuel mileage could be because of the non-ethanol fuel (who are we trying to fool with this ethanol stuff?) and/or because of the improved engine vacuum (see yesterday’s post). Our fill-up in Ft. Stockton was with the normal crappy gas so we’ll be able to tell at the end of the day tomorrow if anything is still better.

Our windshield wipers – original GMC wipers leave a lot to be desired – are not working very well and, between yesterday and today, we have gone through several heavy rain storms and needed them. I don’t know what is up with them and I should convert to modern electric wipers but that is another $300 that I didn’t feel like spending – not a lot of driving in the rain in Arizona. We stopped at a WalMart for groceries and I bought some Rain-X and treated the windshield – now it probably won’t rain again on the trip.

Share on Facebook

The coach ran great today. We managed to get on the road by about 9:30am and drove until about 4:00pm our time (5:00 pm in New Mexico). We drove through a couple of rain storms where the temperatures dove from the mid-90’s to low 70’s in a few minutes. The rain was great except for our less-than-ideal wipers which I have not paid attention to because we hardly ever need them.

We stopped for gas in Lordsburg, NM (gas was $3.19) and, again, there was lots of vapor pressure in the fuel tanks – it took at least 2 minutes to bleed it off and the vapor is hot. It was difficult to get gas into the tank at first but eventually, I managed to fill them again. The coach was stumbling a little as I drove out but, having experienced this before, it got lots better as soon as the pressure built up in the tanks again – my theory is that this keeps the gas from boiling.

We ran well until we got off the highway at Las Cruces and as I stopped at the end of the off-ramp I heard the aux. vacuum pump turn on indicating that we have less than perfect vacuum – maybe that hose is leaking again? Since we don’t use the dash A/C and we don’t need a heater or defroster right now I just unhooked the hose and blocked the manifold port. Can’t make the aux. vacuum pump come on any more – maybe our gas mileage will get better? I must get a vacuum gauge for the dash – next interior project will be the cockpit and dash.

We are staying at a little RV park that we have stayed at several times before. It has a nice view of the Organ Mountains just north of town. Carol lived her from the age of 7 until 14 when she moved back to Pennsylvania – she has fond memories of it and it is the reason we like living in the desert. Some photos of the mountains below.

We are staying in the Siesta RV Park in Old Mesilla, NM. In 1850 some people who lived in Las Cruces and were mad at the U.S. for taking it in the Spanish-American War moved across the Rio Grande River, then still part of Mexico, to avoid living in the U.S. but we fooled them and bought Old Mesilla as part of the Gadsden Purchase.

See you tomorrow.

This is a picture of the Organ Mountains from our camp site at the Siesta RV Park in Las Cruces – actually Old Mesilla.

This is ‘A’ mountain – a place that Carol remembers from her life here in Las Cruces. She doesn’t know why it has the ‘A’ on it.

A closer view of the Organ Mountains so you can see why they are called that – looks like an old-fashioned pipe organ.

Share on Facebook