| BUY THIS BEFORE YOU GO ANYWHERE [message #187544] |
Wed, 17 October 2012 08:50  |
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Matt Colie
Messages: 8547
Registered: March 2007
Location: S.E. Michigan
Karma: 7
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The advice from Gene Fisher is very good, but I would personally like to expand it just a little.
If you do not have a meter in your coach tool kit, get one in there. This is a good choice because
A - it is cheap
B - it beats nothing
C - did I mention that it is cheap?
(I have gotten them for free on occasion and they are worth every penny.)
Unpack it once and see if you can use it to measure the voltage of the coach batteries. This will both establish a minimum of expertise and verify that the instrument is actually functional. (That last is about a 90% chance, but this is when to find out.)
They go by and have gone by Harbor Fright item numbers 69096, 90899, 92020, 98025, but they are all 3-1/2 digit with a 20V scale. I used to give them to clients just so I knew that they had something. (If there were still clients, I still would be.) I passed them along with my cell number on the side and in a sealing plastic bag (boats - remember).
This meter can used diagnose just about anything that can be diagnosed on the road, if you have access to the expertise to use it. That is where the other items on the list come in...
List of minimum kit (very minimum) Should contain at least:
Cell phone
GMC Assist List (aka Black) - Printed (what if the iPhad, tablet, laptop goes down?)
Credit card
Meter (as noted above)
Changeable point screw driver (with philips and straight points)
Adjustable Wrench
Slip joint pliers (aka Channel locks)
Duck (Duct) tape
Soft iron wire
Gasket in a tube....
We have the great fortune that the typical GMC owner can follow instructions. Some of us may not be mechanical, electric or technical wizards, but if you have access to one (and you all do) and a minimum set of spares and tools, then some friend (that you never have met) can talk you though the diagnosis and maybe even into a temporary repair.
What will this get you?
It gives you a chance to get out of a bad situation.
We see enough of it here to convince most people, but if you want more and are willing to buy the beer, I can deliver extended stories of tele-rescues (phone, Skype, marine HF and VHF, e-message) local to 5k mile (a friend called from the top of Mauna Kea (Hawai'i) at 0-dark thirty so I could help him get his car started).
This is what I love about the group/family/cult/asylum that we have here.
Matt
Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit
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| Re: BUY THIS BEFORE YOU GO ANYWHERE [message #187565 is a reply to message #187544] |
Wed, 17 October 2012 14:21  |
stick miller
Messages: 1036
Registered: March 2010
Location: Americus, Georgia
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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Matt - don't forget the cell phone charging cord. Don't ask me how I know. 
Stick Miller
'78 Royale - "White Trash" - she left me for another man
'76 Eleganza - "Cousin Eddie" Sold
'84 Bluebird Wanderlodge - "Past Tents"
Americus, GA
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