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Re: [GMCnet] What has left you stranded on the side of the road [message #197450 is a reply to message #197446] Tue, 05 February 2013 13:33 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Ray Erspamer is currently offline  Ray Erspamer   United States
Messages: 1707
Registered: May 2007
Location: Milwaukee Wisconsin
Karma:
Senior Member
Emery.....your "few" incidents are enough to scare a person to death! GEEZZZ!

Ray


Ray & Lisa
78 Royale "Great Lakes Eagle"
Center Kitchen TZE368V101144
Wauwatosa, Wisconsin 53226
Email: 78GMC-Royale@att.net
414-745-3188
Web Site: http://ray-lisa.page.tl/




________________________________
From: Emery Stora <emerystora@mac.com>
To: gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org
Sent: Tue, February 5, 2013 1:03:50 PM
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] What has left you stranded on the side of the road

I have owned the GMC since 1981 so I have havd a few incidents. The more
memorable ones were:

In 1985 I lost power. I was able to coast to the side of the road. I checked
out the distributor and found it to be the pickup coil on the bottom of the
distributor. I hitch hiked to an auto parts store to buy one and installed it
within a couple of hours. Since then I carry spare parts for the distributor.

IN 1987 while on a trip to southern NM I was in a town and suddenly my
transmission would not upshift. This happened right in front of an autoparts
store so I pulled in and checked the vacuum modulator on the side of the
transmission, bought a new one and was quickly on my way.

In 2000 while on a trip to Michigan my original engine with about 160,000 miles
on it lost a rod bearing. I had it towed to Buskirk and they installed a Jasper
engine.

2003 while driving across Kansas the Jasper engine threw a rod rearing (just out
of the warranty period). When having it rebuilt in Kansas we found that it had
a cracked and welded head, two pistons with higher compression (higher domes),
the cheapest rod and main bearings that Jasper could buy, valve seats that were
cut too far into the heads and leaking. Made a decision to never buy anything
made by Jasper again.

2004 while on my way to the GMCMI Fort Myers, FL convention (of which I was the
convention manager) my Kanomata 3.55 final drive broke a gear tooth. I stayed
in the GMC for three nights at the transmission shop until Alex Sirum shipped me
a 3.07 final drive and the shop installed it. Jim Kanomata shipped a new final
drive gear at no charge and he and Alex Sirum installed it into my 3.55
transmission at no charge to me. Jim even offered to pay for the transmission
shop charges but I didn't ask him for reimbursement.

2005 while on the interstate between Dallas and Ft. Worth during rush hour my
engine stopped. I was in the second lane and had about 100 cars behind me and
all four lanes were loaded with cars bumper to bumper. I quickly opened the
hatch and determined it was the distributor. Fortunately I now carried spare
parts for it. I changed out the module in about 10 minutes and it started up
and we were on the way. Not before I had received many, many one fingered
salutes from other motorists though.

2006 in Burney, TX, I stopped in town and was parked on its main street in front
of a cafe. When we came out the engine would not start. I had plenty of spark
but it wasn't getting fuel. Had to explain to a local police officer why I was
working under on my motorhome in the middle of town. He wanted mo to have it
towed away but I convinced him that I could get it running soon. I drove my toad
on a 160 mile round trip to buy another fuel pump for my TBI system. I installed
it and quickly determined that the old pump was OK because the new one didn't
give me any fuel either. A call to Howell in Michigan led me to check the fuses
and wires going to the various components and I found that one wire had broken
from its terminal and was hanging down where I couldn't see it. I crimped on a
new terminal and the engine came to life immediately. I lost about 8 hours on
that one.

2007 while in Texas at about 10 pm on a Sunday night, the engine stopped running
while driving down the road. I coasted to the side and found that my rotor and
distributor cap contacts were badly burned. Fortunately I had spares of both
with me and I got it running again within a half hour.

In 2007 I lost an electric fuel pump alongside a two lane road near Santa Cruz
in California which was traveled heavily by trucks. I had a spare with me that
I had bought in Texas in 2006 but after trying to keep my legs from being run
over by trucks while reaching up under the frame I later moved my fuel pump and
selector valve to the outside of the frame to make it simpler to work on.In


2009 while driving up Raton Pass in Colorado after the Pueblo GMCMI convention I
lost my switch pitch transmission. Ordered another one from Manny so I had to
leave the motorhome for 3 weeks until the new one arrived and was installed.

2011 while leaving for the Shawnee convention and on I -70 about 30 miles east
of Denver my engine started reving up but no power to the wheels. Was towed in
and after removing the final drive found out that the input bearing had failed
and allowed the shaft to wobble. Again, Jim Kanomata to the rescue. He sent me
another one at no charge. HOWEVER, the wobbling of the shaft caused the output
shaft of the transmission to break just inside of the gear teeth on the shaft
that went into the final drive. This destroyed the transmission that I had
replaced in 2009. Had it rebuilt and it now runs fine. Drove my car to
Shawnee, OK, to the convention and fixed the GMC when I got back. Never want to
stay in a motel for 13 nights again!

Over the years I have had a couple of blown out tires. After this happened in
Alabama and I couldn't find a 16.5" tire for three days I bought Alcoas and
installed 16" tires.



There may have been other small incidents but I don't recall them.

Considering the estimated 300,000 or more miles I have driven it and probably
hundreds of trips over the years, there have not been that many problems. I
wouldn't trade the adventures we have had for the few problems we have had.

Emery Stora
77 Kingsley
Frederick, CO











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Ray Erspamer 78 GMC Royale Center Kitchen 403, 3.70 Final Drive Holley Sniper Quadrajet EFI System, Holley Hyperspark Ignition System 414-484-9431

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