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Finally home, a bit of a harrowing trip (warning, long) [message #132681]

Wed, 29 June 2011 20:45

Andrew

Messages: 213
Registered: April 2011
Location: Connecticut

Karma: 0

Senior Member

Made the trip up to bring my coach home today. Learned lots of things..

My PO replaced the 16.5" wheels with 16" that were perfect except that the stud holes are about 1/8" too large. This is a problem because it makes it real hard to get the wheels centered on the hub and creates eccentricity and a rough ride.

The shop had all seven tires replaced and all six wheels off for extensive suspension replacement, but didn't notice the problem until their "shake out" drive, which unfortunately happened a couple hours after I had left home and anyway they didn't tell me about it until I arrived.

Worked around by hitting up all the parts stores in the area and getting 20-odd deep-cut beveled 9/16" lug nuts, using them to center the wheels as best we could. Got warnings of tire damage, lives at risk, liability release signature requirements, etc. Went ahead anyway, and they forgot to have me sign the release. Ride was fine, though a little wandery, but I can't blame the wheels yet. Unfortunately, they already replaced all the rest of the front suspension, so after I get new wheels I'll know whether there are other problems in there.

Drive away, stop at first gas station. 25 gallons in, then...leak onto the cement. Think maybe it came in too fast and hit the vent pipe. Try again...a little more comes out. Back to the shop. They graciously and quickly put me right over the pit, find a rotten bit of rubber in the vent area, replace it, and I'm off again. The next 20 gallons go in much more smoothly and with no leaks.

Onto the interstate.

200 miles of smooth sailing (stop a couple times to check tire temp and overall well-being), then I hit a torrential downpour. Traffic slows to 25mph, visibility very low. The coach stalls. I pull over (still not aware of the stall, just the loss of power, it was awful noisy in there) noticed the GEN light on, guessed a stall, restarted immediately, all fine again.

Another 20 miles or so (still heavy rain, but some visibility), and I start hearing this vibrating sound, high pitched and frequency in rough proportion to engine rotation. Can feel it in my accelerator pedal. Same behavior in neutral and in drive. Gets louder and louder, then windshield wipers fail.

Pull over again, engine still running, trying to think. Noise goes away. Wipers work again. Proceed.

A few more miles and the wipers give up for good. Noise came back, but not as loud this time. Went away after the wipers failed. I don't notice it til I got to an exit ramp, but power steering is gone too. 10 miles from home now. Still raining, can't see as well as I'd like, but not deadly. Right around the corner on the exit ramp is a spun out Civic spanning both lanes. We all survive.

Chase car tells me that my directionals have stopped working. Right blinker turns both tail lights bright (like brake light illumination) and they stay bright after turning the blinker off. Turning headlights off then back on resets the tail lights to marker brightness. Left blinker works fine. Right blinker wedges it in brake light illumination mode again. OK.

By the way, folks complain about the dash A/C. Yes, it didn't work well. But the defogger doesn't appear to work at all. Find glove to wipe inside of windshield every 10 seconds. Outside still unwiped, and raining. Need to get some Rain-X.

Savannah city streets now, turning onto main road. Didn't see the foot-deep and 50-foot long puddle. Big rooster tails. Stays straight. Reach stoplight. Stalls. Won't restart. Battery strong, won't catch. Give up, put it in park and start directing traffic around me. Notice coach rolling backward toward chase car. Run inside, leave door open, jump on brake. Yep, still in park. Breathe. Turn ignition key. Starts right up. Accelerate. Door closes itself (little victories..!).

Limp into driveway more wet with sweat than rain, but plenty wet from rain.

Done, home!

So, now: I've learned that the power steering and windshield wipers are part of the same system. (I can see Ken H shaking his head already! Smile

) I think I blew the seals or sumthin on the pump/compressor/whatever that hose comes from that I can't see in the dark. It's in the right place for the noise and vibration.

I've learned that I have one or several electrical problems. The blinker relay or its wiring is suspect. The ignition/distributor/spark plug wires are also in question, though the problems were very transient. Still, the engine was 300 miles hot (just one mark above C on the gauge), and the problematic moisture might have evaporated quickly. Hard to test, but I'll visually inspect tomorrow.

On the plus side, I covered 300 miles and according to the gas gauge (with new sender) still have half a tank of gas (started with a few gals less than full). This seems unlikely, but I'm going to claim it for now.

Home, safe, dry and mostly happy. Tomorrow is a new day. Need: wheels, Rain-X, electrical debugging, power steering pump/compressor/whatever, defogger investigation, and all the other stuff that was already on my list.

Do they make bushing inserts for slightly-oversized wheel stud holes, or do I really need seven new wheels?

1973 Sequoia 260 (since 2011)