Monthly Archives: September 2009

Hot then cold

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So Needles ended the first day on a hot note.  High 90’s and lots of wind.  We used the A/C all evening.  In the morning the temperature was very temperate.  We were able to see how beautiful the river was right behind our trailers.  Here is Bob and Phyllis:

bobphyllis

We hooked everything up and headed on to a relatively short day (200 miles).  We crossed over into Arizona and immediately became the slowest vehicles on the road.  The speed limit in AZ is 75mph regardless of vehicle type.  Well I still stay at 60-65 but even the big rigs were zooming right by us.  Except on the hills where we could pass the loaded ones.

We made a fuel stop in Kingman, AZ and noticed that the old Route 66 took off there.  We had been on this stretch before about 7 years ago on our Grand Canyon trip but don’t remember too much about it.  We thought we might as well do this stretch while we were there.  Great decision.  There was more traffic on this stretch but it was more scenic and more populous.  We were kind of looking for a quaint, Route 66’ish place to eat.  We thought at least one of the towns on the stretch between Kingman and Seligman would have something.  Phyllis produced a printout of a place in Seligman that looked very appealing.  Continuing to enjoy the scenery and nostalgia (even the Burma Shave signs) we headed to Seligman.  We found just the place:

Snowcap

Delgadillo’s Snow Cap drive in.  It was a very fun place and the Delgadillo’s are a very famous part of Seligman.  There were various other shops to purchase touristy stuff, which we obligingly did.  It was odd that for a period of time we were the only primary English speaking people there.  A tour bus dropped of a group of Europeans (I think German) and they milled around.  Later there was a Japanese group.  It was fun to listen to all the languages.

We parted ways with Seligman after almost 2 hours of leisure (sadly missing from our previous day) and stayed on the ‘mother road’ as far as we could.  We were eventually funneled back to I40.  We came across a sign on the freeway before Williams that stated slow trucks next 18 miles.  Usually slow trucks mean a grade but I could not think of an 18 mile grade that I have ever been on.  Well it was a grade and it was almost 18 miles long.  The transmission continued its’ light show but the truck performed just fine.  We made it to the Flagstaff KOA at any astonishingly early time of 4:15pm.  I called a transmission shop and discussed the problem.  I also conversed with my boss, who likes to rebuild vehicles also and every concurred that there was something probably bad with the sensor.  I am going to the transmission shop in the AM to get a type of temperature gauge for the outside of the pan.

We setup the trailers and decided to try another discovery from Phyllis, the spot this time: Miz Zip’s.  Very good food.  Chicken Fried steak with mashed potatoes was highly rated by the girls.  The guys liked the Roast Beef dinner.  We ALL loved the Peach pie with ice cream, even me and I don’t care too much for fruit pies.  We made a few more house keeping stops and came back to the trailers.  So what is the cold part regarded in the title?  The temperature tonight is supposed to be 32.  What a difference a day makes.

Needles? More like pins and needles…

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We started our trip to Albuquerque today with Bob and Phyllis from Eureka.  They are a very fun couple that are new to Airstreaming, so they decide to go from California to Arkansas for their maiden voyage.  We offered to travel with them to the Balloon Fiesta and they readily agreed and stayed the night (their second) in front of our house.  The trip was pretty boring until we started up the Tehachapi’s (CA58 E).  Both of us were moving along and I looked down at my gauges and saw the Check Gage (sic) light lit up!  What?  Also the Tow/Haul light was flashing on the shifter.  Huh?  To top it all off the transmission temperature was pegged at high!  Ouch!  We pulled over and watched the gauge.  About 10 minutes of idling and the gauge dropped back to normal just as suddenly as it went to high.  OK.  Just an anomaly.

Back to the pull and it happened again about 3 minutes later.  Pull over again.  This time we looked for leaks, we pulled the transmission dipstick.  The fluid was nice light red, no metal particulates, and it did NOT smell burnt.  I called the Ford dealership in Bakersfield but they were not much help, didn’t want to do a over the phone diagnosis.  The truck still ran great, seemed to be performing normally.  There were a few weird feels but that could have been my reactionary driving now that I thought something was wrong.  We still had 10 miles to get to the town of Tehachapi.  So off we went.  The meter pegged itself again for about 2 minutes but then it dropped back to normal operating range for 10 seconds, then back to pegged.  Very odd behavior.  It did this all the way up the hill.  We stopped for lunch and to see if cooling off helped it or perhaps the computer might get reset.

Off again.  The trans temp started at cold and gradually warmed up, like it should.  Then it hit the operating temp and shot up to HIGH with all the various indicators doing their dance.  I knew it was all downhill to Mojave (the next Ford dealer) so we pretty much coasted down the hill.  The gauge bouncing between normal and high all the while.  We were feeling pretty good that the transmission temperature sensor was malfunctioning.  It all pointed to that.  We pulled into the Ford dealer and the service coordinator listened to what I had to say but said she was short two technicians and could not look at it today.  I guess there are no special privileges for people traveling, I will have to remember that when we retire.  She was able to pass the symptoms onto a technician when he came in and he stated that a bad sensor could be a probability.  But they would not commit to anything.

Confident with the sensor being the culprit we moved on down CA58 E, next stop Barstow.  I was going to stop at this Ford dealer but I called first and told them my lament.   He said he would need a full day of troubleshooting and he could start it first thing tomorrow.  Nah.  The confidence is building.  We only stopped their for some fuel and got on I40 E for Needles.  Along the way the truck did fine, but I didn’t.  I was constantly hashing and rehashing this in my head.  Roxie would ask me if I wanted a snack and I would always decline.  I definitely do not eat when I am nervous.

At Ludlow we turned southeast for a bit to travel on old route 66.  Phyllis really likes the old road.  I know I must have traveled on it from time to time.  We went for over 30 miles, at 60mph (freeway speed) before we saw anyone else.  It was amazing.  The mountains were stunning.  It was HOT!  I think it got to 104 in one stretch.  After about 70 miles on the mother road we rejoined I40 E.  It was only 7 miles longer going the alternate route but much more fulfilling.

We have made it to Needles now.  We ate dinner around 7:30.  We are parked on the bank of the Colorado river at Moabi Regional Park with full hookups.  Bob and Phyllis love it, remember this is only their 3rd night in their trailer and it is pretty nice here.  Just 90+ and 30mph winds.  It is supposed to be 30 degrees tomorrow night in Flagstaff.  What a change.  We will see what tomorrow brings.  Roxie is sound asleep and I am going be that way very soon.  A long day.