| Great trip or expensive adventure? [message #264818] |
Sat, 25 October 2014 19:30  |
Darryl
Messages: 144
Registered: December 2011
Location: Northern California
Karma:
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Senior Member |
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We're in Durango, Colorado, 2000 miles into a 3,500 mile trip through the Southwest. Mostly a great trip. Visit with granddaughters (and son), two nights at Mesa Verde and two more at Chaco Canyon. In Western Wyoming a truck threw up a rock that starred my new windshield. If he'd got the other (beginning to fog) side I might have thanked him but he got the new one. Oh, well.
Coming across southern Colorado we climbed Wolf Creek Pass (10,857 feet, 6.8%) at 30mph in first gear (3.07 FD). No problems. 5,600 miles on the S&J engine and running great. Uses a quart of oil about every 12-1400 miles. According to my calculations (I'm pretty sure there's a mistake somewhere) I got almost 12 mpg running across Nevada, Utah and Wyoming at 65-70 mph. It's dropped a little below ten with slower speeds on secondary roads but with a lot of generator use recharging the batteries after 35 and 36 degree nights (Yes, Jack and Doug, I got new batteries before I left). We'll see what we end up with after 3,500 miles.
The glitch (maybe) is that I've been experiencing some transmission problems. Shifting into gear from neutral it sometimes has trouble engaging. Started happening only when cold and only occasionally but has recently been happening frequently, hot or cold, and, when it happens, it is taking longer to engage. When it engages, after running the engine up to 1,000-1,200 rpm or so and shifting from D to R (and first and second) it is usually with a slight "thunk". Checked the fluid level and it looked OK but a PO has recalibrated the dip stick with the new "ADD" mark about a half inch above the OEM "FULL" mark. Warm (not hot) the fluid was just below the new "ADD" mark which is where the manual says it should be. I had the transmission serviced at a local transmission shop about 500 miles before we left. Shortly thereafter I noticed a pretty good leak so I took it back. They torqued the bolts a little tighter and got most of it but I noticed a small spot at Treasure Island. So. . . I babied it into Durango this morning (rolling through "Stop" signs and otherwise stopping as seldom as possible) and called Manny (who else). I expected him to tell me to start looking for a shop to do an R&R but after asking a lot of questions he said, "add a half quart of fluid". So I did. So far I've only tested it in the RV park (If I'm going to get stuck and have to be towed I want it to be after a good nights sleep with a whole day to deal with it, if possible) but it has engaged properly every time I've tried it. We'll see how it works on the road tomorrow. We've got a 265 mile run tomorrow on secondary roads from Durango to Cameron, Arizona. If it's working properly I'll probably head up to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (weather permitting) after dropping Susan in Cameron and maybe do Zion after that before coming back to pick up Susan next weekend and head home. If it's not working right I'll be on the phone with Manny and hoping to baby it into a shop in Flagstaff or looking for a tow along the way somewhere. We'll know tomorrow.
Darryl Meyers
1978 Eleganza II
El Dorado Hills, CA
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