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Cave Creek Regional Park for GMCSJ Rally – March 23-26

Cave Creek Regional Park for GMCSJ Rally – March 23-26

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.

Bluegrass on the Beach at Lake Havasu – we made it!

Bluegrass on the Beach at Lake Havasu – we made it!

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.