| Trip Report [message #67155] |
Fri, 11 December 2009 07:28  |
jwillard
Messages: 118
Registered: May 2004
Location: Silver City, NM
Karma:
|
Senior Member |
|
|
I know often this forum has stories about peoples problems and issues. I thought I'd throw a "happy Story" here. Last Friday, my son and I left Southwestern New Mexico for a trip to Pennsylvania so I could winterize a vacant house I have there.
We bought our first fuel near home in Lordsburg, NM on I-10 at $2.45/gal reg. Headed east to Las Cruces and then angled up to Alamagordo and Roswell toward Amarillo. Hit some pretty cold temps in the mountains but the roads were dry.
I did have some issues with the coach heater. The Recirculate damper wouldn't close so I was getting all outside cold air into the heater which couldn't really keep up. At a gas stop I move a heater vac line from the pass side actuator and that closed it. I then taped up the remaining opening and that fixed it.
Other than cold, the trip was totally uneventful and I'm presently parked at my property in Pennsylvania. On Monday I'll be heading back to New Mexico.
Gas prices were in the low $2.40's until we got to Virginia and on to Pa where it jumped into the $2.50's - $2.60 range. The cheapest was Amarillo at $2.34
I used 2 quarts of oil on the entire trip out here.
We were towing a VW Corrado on a tow dolly on the way here. Fuel mileage average 8.117 mpg for the entire trip. I did better with mileage in New Mexico. Texas and OK. We were seeing over 10 mpg at times on the trip computer. I expected things to improve in the flat lands but it was not to be. I think either the gas quality changed or my "tune up" for altitude over I head back.
As I said, it's been a great rip and other than the cold, which is pushing the limits of the GMC insulation level (none), the excess of glass (lots) and a furnace that needs some air handling work, everything went very well. Oh... I turned 100,000 miles somewhere in Virginia too. 
Jeff Willard
Silver City, NM
1973 ex-Glacier
|
|
|
|
GMCforum
Search
Help
Register
Login
Home
