We left the Athens, GA Walmart early for the 3 hour drive to Cocord, NC. For the first part of the trip, Hank chose a non-interstate route via Hwy. 29. As we entered Royston, GA, the big red "STOP ENGINE" dash light came on with a very loud alarm. Less than 30 seconds later, as Hank was turning into a strip mall, the engine did a complete shut down, so there was no power steeering to help him maneuver 16 tons into the lot! Thanks to air brakes, we did not run into the first building. Hank was able to start the engine back up and move over to the edge of the lot without the engine shutting down again - we just had to listen to the screeching alarm. Hank e called Coach Net, our roadside assistance provider to notify them of the situation and let them know what our equipment was (a 31,500 lb motor home with a Cummins diesel engine on a Spartan chassis).
Coach Net started the rescue process, first making sure we were in a safe place. They stayed in touch with us for the next two hours, arranging for a repair facility (Peach State Freightliner) to help us, and making arrangements for an appropriate tow truck to get us there. Hank reminded them that our chassis is made by Spartan, not Freightliner, and it is often problematic to take a vehicle to a different chassis manufacturer. But Peach State Freightliner was closer and Coach Net assured us they would be able to resolve our problem. Coach Net called us several times to update us on what was happening. PeachState Freightliner also contacted us and we were told we had to agree to a preliminary 2 hour diagnostic session at a cost of about $350 if we wanted to bring the coach to their shop. We were also told that we could not stay in Little House overnight in their lot, so we reserved a hotel room in Commerce, GA, gathered items for a hotel stay and loaded them into the car. The tow truck driver called at 11:15 to say he'd be there in about 30 minutes.
The Curt's tow truck arrived about 11:45 A.M. and the driver began the process of getting us hooked up to the truck, disengaging the drive shaft, and removing our rock catcher that would otherwise be dragging. The young man was very careful that everything was as it should be for a safe tow.
About 2 P.M., we started the one hour trip to Jefferson, GA, just west of Commerce, and the Freightliner facility (a huge truck sales and service center.) We were very sad to see our home being pulled away without us inside.
Peach State assured both Coach Net and Hank that they could work on our Cummins engine on a Spartan chassis. When we arrived, we were told they would start checking things on Friday morning, so we headed for the hotel to try to unwind from a very stressful day.
MARCH 8- Not Much Better
Friday morning, Peach State did the "required" $350+ diagnostic session and said they found 3 exhaust system temperature sensors that had been giving "intermittent or incorrect" alarms - all but one were "yellow" (minor) alarms, and one that was consistently showing a 500 degree temp - a "red" alarm as "above normal operating range - most severe level" They think that sensor is OK based on swapping leads between what they think is a similar sensor, so they think the problem is in the Spartan wiring harness. However, in spite of what they had previously said, they do not work on a Spartan chassis. They kept our $350+ diagnosis charge which we'll probably have to pay again at the next shop.
It was 3 P.M. before paperwork was finished and with the weekend almost upon us, it would have been tough to get a tow to another facility that would still be open, and one that had service on the weekend. Peach State said it was okay to leave the coach parked until Monday when we would start the whole process over again with a different repair site. We wanted to be at the Charlotte Hamfest in Concord, NC on Saturday to help with PR for the April Raleigh Hamfest (RARSfest), so we booked a hotel room and drove 4 hours to Concord to meet friends for a late dinner. The trip wasn't pleasant due to heavy rain and several traffic stops, but seeing smiling faces at the restaurant was worth the trouble.
March 9 - Charlotte Hamfest
We saw many more friends on Saturday at the hamfest. At least it kept our minds off the problems waiting for us in Georgia. After the hamfest, Hank called Coach-Net to update them on our situation. Because Peach State Freightliner could not help us, they said they would get things in motion on Monday morning for another tow to another repair facility. They said they would contact Peach State Freightliner at 9AM Monday morning and we needed to make sure the coach was ready to be towed.
March 10
Sunday, we met our youngest son, Mike, at the restaurant where he works, for a nice brunch and visit. Then it was back on the road to Commerce, this time on mostly dry roads with better traffic flow.
March 11 - We checked out of the motel and arrived at the Freightliner facility about 8:30 AM to shuffle some items between the coach and our car. Shortly after 9AM Coach Net called and said they had made arrangements to get us serviced at a Cummins shop in Forest Park, GA - but there were no tow vehicles available until Tuesday. We verified that we could leave the coach in the Freightliner lot and called the motel to get our room back. We had just finished moving every thing back into the motel room when the phone rang and Coach Net notified us that they had located a tow and it was in route to the Freightliner shop. So we loaded everything back in the car, checked out again, and headed back to meet the tow truck. Curt's Towing arrived soon after we got to the lot and towed us to the new Cummins Service facility in Forest Park, GA, just south of Atlanta. This driver was more experienced, so the hookup went faster, but he still did his job with care and concern. The second tow truck was much larger than the previous one The trip to Forest Park took us through the always-heavy Atlanta traffic on I-85, I-285 and I-75. Cummins was expecting us. This facility has only been open a few weeks. They have a couple of RV spots with electric service inside the fence for daytime use, and 3 spots outside the fence with water and electricity for nighttime use.
They were preparing for their Grand Opening celebration on Tuesday, and the overnight RV spots were covered with a big tent, so they let us boondock (camping with no provided utilities) in their parking lot for the night.
Tuesday, at 7:45 A.M., Hank provided the Cummins service manager with the one paragraph report provided to us by Freightliner, and they moved Little House into a work bay to check it out on their dynamometer. They said we could park in an overnight spot with electric after the festivities were over so we were glad not to need another motel room. Most of the day, there were company officials, politicians, workers' families, and local folks taking advantage of tours and free food. We were included in that group and had breakfast, lunch and dinner compliments of Cummins. At the end of the day we learned that they had not been able to get their "dyno" running in the new shop but they had found evidence of moisture inside the electrical cable going to the ECM and suspected that was part of the problem, but they still didn't know exactly what was causing our alarms, and we felt sure that the day's celebrations had affected the availability of work time. We parked next to the big tent so we could use the electric hookup overnight.
(to be continued in the next blog post)
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