grrrrr, i had a long reply typed out and lost it. grrrrrr
ok back the the trip. it was a trip from hell.
i broke the fan clutch and lots of overheating problems.
the alternator stopped working and never charged the truck batteries.
it was a 110 when i got to AZ, so i wasnt sure how out the ordinary the overheating was due the fact i had no fan clutch, but it kept getting worse.
my aklternator was failing too. mostly it didnt work, but for a brief few seconds a couple of times it would spring to life and charge. i have installed some extra cooling fans so i hope that is enough to keep going. because of the alternator broblema dn the high elelctric draw to keep the bus cool i was killing my batteries. i stopped at a walmart and bought a battery charger. at least this way when i stopped to cool down, i can keep the batteries charged and get started back up.
i finally stop at an autoparts store to see if i can fix a few things. first off was the alternator. they didnt have a replacement, but said they could test it. well, they were wrong, they werent able to test it either after i got it off the truck.
i also notice since the alternator is gone, that my new water pump pulley is flopping when you hit it. the bearings were gone. fortunately the autoparts store had the water pump and i reassembled everything and went on my way.
well it overheated in just a few minutes, i pulled over, cooled it down, and kept going. it overheated again. i turned back around to the autoparts store to see about a thermostat. well, they didn't have that either, but could get it in a few days. i let the engine cool off again, and dissembled the alternator and tstat housing. with no hope a new tstat, i punched some holes in the one i have and re-installed all the parts, antifreeze.....
one of the best things i've installed on my bus was a garden hose for outdoor water. i tell you when you are standing on the side of the road over heating, it could be worse if you don't have a garden hose with water handy. i went through 2 - 40 gallon tanks of water on the trip.
the modified tstat did the trick. no more overheating
almost a good day.
i spent the day at the autoparts store working on the bus and now she's running. i grab a pizza and hit the road (4:30ish).
as i enjoy my dinner cruising back home, i remember my other problem of the alternator not working. i have minimal lights on the bus as the battery is not being charged. i did some quick math in my head and realized i got 5 hours of driving and 4 hours of sunlight. if i didn't hustle, i was going to get stuck only a few miles from home and not be able to see.
the sun set on time about 8:26. i was about 60 miles from home. 50 miles on the interstate, and 10 across 2 lane county roads. by the time i pulled off the freeway, the headlights were to dim to cast much light out front. i felt like a ghost ship. i crawled in pitch black for the last 10 miles, i could barely make out the weeds on the side of the road. i pulled in my drive about 9:30.
other random broken items
sight bubble on radiator- cracked when sprayed with water
temperature gauge - not sure if it shorted, but last worked when sight bubble crack started spaying on it.
most all the gauges - hard to say, but i expect that to all be the same electrical gremlin. as the battery faded, so did most gauges.
so my first night was good, a few hours at a rest stop. picked up the transmission late afternoon the next day, and spent the next night on the side of the road charging up my start batteries only 50ish miles from payson.
overheating/charging. the following morning i make some headway through new mexico only overheating a couple of times. i stopped for the night at a rest stop just shy of returning over raton pass (loss of sunlight).
i wanted to do the pass fresh and cool in the morning. well i did, and i overheated near the top again. coasted down into trinidad colorado and spent the rest of the day at the autoparts store and driving right up past sunset and back home.
1700 miles round trip, started thursday night, got home sunday night. i tracked the mileage in the bus. im getting 7.5 MPG, or 6.5 MPG when i run the generator. fingers crossed i get it all fixed up and get better mileage with the lockup trans.
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