Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » [GMCnet] Thanks to GMC buddies Tom and Marilyn!
| [GMCnet] Thanks to GMC buddies Tom and Marilyn! [message #255578] |
Wed, 16 July 2014 10:16  |
Robin Hood
Messages: 1078
Registered: April 2011
Karma:
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Senior Member |
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Sorry I've been so quiet lately. New job is kicking my tail, but in a
good way. We managed to sell our house in FOUR DAYS... that kind of
thing happens when you're willing to spend 15k in repairs so that the
house is turn key ready (and no, did not make that money back).
Been packing for the move to Jacksonville FL.
Bought a Ford E350 Cutaway 14' box truck (ex U-Haul). Turns out that
the electronic ignition control on that Ford 460 engine is infamous
for getting heat soaked and failing until it cools down enough again.
I had just BARELY cleared the mouth of the tunnel in Mobile when it
died on me, the temperature gauge was pegged to the right, and I was
able to make it to the side out of the way, so I avoided being That
Guy(tm) Who Plugged The I-10 Tunnel. 30 minutes later it was good to
go again, but I didn't know why yet. Since it was getting late and I
do not technically have any running lights (brake lights and turn
indicators yes, nighttime running lights not so much) and I was in the
area, Tom and Marilyn took me in. I had a safe clean place to sleep
and decompress after a very frazzling drive in a slow heavily loaded
box truck.
I left out early the next morning and kept an eye on my engine temp,
which stayed normal. Ran 55 to 60 mph. No problems whatsoever. Until
it died on me again about 200 miles short of Jacksonville. This time,
the temp needle was still in the normal range, but the engine started
to stumble and I lost power.
AAA refused to help me. "That's not a regular vehicle." "Uh, I don't
recall there being any particular exclusions. Besides, it's waaaaaaay
smaller than my Class A motorhome. And I've been a AAA Premiere RV
member since 2010. I think you can tow me." "No, sorry." "Are you sure
about that? I mean, is that your final answer? I'm an attorney and I
will make it my hobby to get my pound of flesh back out of you. It
sounds like y'all are making up the rules as you go along. This isn't
a commercial vehicle, it's my own private vehicle hauling my own
stuff, except instead of a van, it's a box." "I'm sorry, sir but we
won't tow it." "Okay then. You will be hearing from me later. Maybe
not tomorrow or next week or even next month, but I assure you, AAA
will regret this." Revenge is a dish best served cold. I will get
around to dealing with them eventually.
The tow company that AAA was refusing to pay was Mallory Towing and
Recovery. I sat in the tow truck's air conditioned cabin while I
figured out my next move. Since I was paying for it, me and the tow
guy figured that the best thing to do was have a hook truck come out
and take me the five miles back to the last medium sized town where
there's a Ford dealership, and I could get diagnosed. He would have
taken me, but his flatbed was too high (combined height would have
been too much). The tow guy assured me that AAA would be paying at
least for his mileage out there. We called for a truck with a hook on
it. The tow company's owner was "Big John" Mallory. His son is "Little
John." Says it right on his name badge. And that's who came out with
the hook truck.
By this time, the ignition module had cooled down, and it cranked just
fine, and I was starting to get some inkling of what the problem was,
based on the responses to my quick Facebook mayday. "I have that same
engine. DId it to me all the time. I just run with my hood off, Road
Warrior style. I'll fix it eventually." A quick googling from my smart
phone confirmed this was a very common problem. Solution is to
relocate the ignition module, or at least repalce it evey 30k miles.
Since Little John didn't have to hook up to me and crawl around in the
ants and rocks to drop the drive shaft, they just lead me back to the
medium town a few miles back, and I gave them a hundred bucks for
their trouble to cover mileage and a call out.
I took a selfie for proof that Little John had come to Robin Hood's
rescue and lead me to the Ford dealeership. The little town's name?
Marianne.
You can't make this stuff up.
Anyway. I left the truck there, and Dana came from Jacksonville to
rescue me. SHe had gone ahead of me and had gotten there the day
before. She brought me back to Jacksonville to show me the
apartment... and the AC failed, and we had to sleep on the floor
because all our stuff was on the box truck. :)
We spent all day Monday driving back to Jackson. Stopped in Marianne
and told the guys to just replace the ignition module and try and fix
my lighting issues. Haven't heard from them yet, getting worried.
We move for good a week from tomorrow. Hope truck is fixed by then.
GMCs will keep where they are for now, need to lick financial wounds
from the move. \
Many thanks again to Tom and Marilyn, how have graciously agreed to
serve as a halfway point for when we move for good. :) They also gave
me some old amateur radio gear (a "luggable" 2-meter rockbound rig
with antenna and some books on packet and similar). From our top floor
apartment, we might be able to do some interesting ham radio stuff. :)
--
Robin Hood
Jackson, MS
2013 Subaru Outback "Top Flight"
1968 Pontiac Catalina "The Cheshire Cat"
1978 GMC Royale motorhome "Pinto Bean"
1977 GMC Palm Beach motorhome "Barn Queen"
1989 Ford E350 Cutaway Box Truck "Babe the Big Blue Box Truck"
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