2019 Winter in Texas

[CT_Shooter]

Bummer. In hind sight, it seems like it might have been worth paying the extra ten bucks.

I have a good friend who's about to take to the road in an RV for an extended period. I'll be sure to tell him this story. Thanks.

ever have one of those days when after it is over, you look back and nothing makes sense ... will reorder in a couple of weeks when we get back to a town where we know the post office accepts packages addressed to General Delivery from both UPS or FedEx .... once again back at the camper, still can't make much sense of it all ..

[JEBar]

we've literally ordered items and had them shipped to us, General Delivery at the local post office while camped in towns all over the country .... never, and I do mean never had to put up with anything like what we've gone through today

[JEBar]

yesterday needing assistance with a couple of issues we stopped at Boerne RV .... their primary focus is repair and service, NOT sales .... I want to give them a positive endorsement as being a good place to do business .... as noted, we needed help with 2 issues .... first, the driver's side running light (which also serves as a parking light and turn signal) on our Sportchassis had gone out .... having a new one in the truck, I replaced the bulb ... it still didn't work .... as can be seen below, the bulb plugs into what I'm going to call an adapter socket, the plugs into the truck's wiring harness .... second, I needed a bottle of rubber seal treatment .... when we walked through the door a fellow called to us to come on in .... I told him what we needed ....he took us into there small store which happened to have exactly what I needed and was pressed $2 less than Amazon .... we then walked outside for him to take a look at our truck .... based on past experience, I sure didn't want to have to find a Freightliner facility .... my hope was he might know a local repair shop where I could take the truck to have it fixed .... as can be seen below, the bulb plugs into the adapter which plugs into the wiring harness .... I opened the hood, he removed the fitting shown below and then removed the bulb .... I heard him say, that's not where it should be ....he walked back into his shop and came back with a small, flat blade screwdriver .... he used it to move a metal contact and plugged the bulb back in ... I'm most happy to say, ALL'S WELL .... he wouldn't take any pay for fixing the socket .... neither the lady in the office and the fellow who did the work could have been any nicer .... we were literally in and out in less than 15 minutes .... we were impressed and pleased

today was our first windy one since coming to Medina Lake .... after a few days with temps in the 70's, the latest forecast for tonight's low to fall to 34 and it to only get up to 41 tomorrow .... looks like the shorts need to go back into the closet and jeans will once again become the order of the day .... further, after tomorrow we are in for a four day rainy/cold spell .... oh well, they also say 80 degree temps are on the way for the last of next week .... the outside of our truck is absolutely filthy .... misty mornings have soaked our campgrounds dirt roads .... driving over them has coated the truck with a serious layer of grime .... other than for looks, there is really no reason to clean it up .... no matter what we do now, she'll still be dirty when we get home .... can't help but wonder what gremlin will pop up next

[Mags]

Your next gremlin? Looks like that running light runs hot. Discolored plastic socket looks heat damaged (brown). Could also explain the dislocated electrical contact in the socket your fellow found. Might want to see if there is an LED equivalent replacement. Lower power - less heat. Similar brightness.

[JEBar]

I was thinking pretty much the same thing .... those fittings with the same number bulbs have been there since the truck was built in '07 .... they have fogged up to where both sides need to be replaced .... my hope is they will last till we get home in April where I'll make a decision on replacing the bulbs, the plugs or the whole headlight fixtures

[JEBar]

can't help but wonder what gremlin will pop up next

well now I know .. .. went out to get into the truck last night so as to drive over a meet George (wiredgeorge) .... truck wouldn't crank .... turned the key, it would go through its prestart protocols, turned key to crank position and nothing .... no sound whatsoever .... as things stand right now, Goodsam has been contacted and will tow the truck over to a place in highly recommended place in Boerne .... no clue what's wrong with the truck .... do plan to rent a vehicle to drive while its in the shop

[Mags]

.
Hope it's nothing major. On my JohnDeere the starter relay is wired on the ground side through the oil pressure sensor. So when the sensor goes out or the electrical connection there is dirty - no crank. I've also forgot and left it in gear instead of park and again - no crank. Anyway, best of luck to you.

can't help but wonder what gremlin will pop up next

well now I know .. .. went out to get into the truck last night so as to drive over a meet George (wiredgeorge) .... truck wouldn't crank .... turned the key, it would go through its prestart protocols, turned key to crank position and nothing .... no sound whatsoever .... as things stand right now, Goodsam has been contacted and will tow the truck over to a place in highly recommended place in Boerne .... no clue what's wrong with the truck .... do plan to rent a vehicle to drive while its in the shop

[CT_Shooter]

.... truck wouldn't crank .... turned the key, it would go through its prestart protocols, turned key to crank position and nothing .... no sound whatsoever .... as things stand right now, Goodsam has been contacted and will tow the truck over to a place in highly recommended place in Boerne .... no clue what's wrong with the truck .... do plan to rent a vehicle to drive while its in the shop

Bummer, Jim. I hope it's something simple and will be quick to fix. Good luck.

[JEBar]

good wishes appreciated .... I could be wrong but don't believe it to be a problem with the battery .... my hope is its something like a relay or at worst a starter .... I haven't ever rented a car but looks like I'll be doing so tomorrow

[JEBar]

update :

you know the old saying : if it can go wrong, it will go wrong ..!.. well, its true around here right now .... the wrecker was supposed to be here at 9AM .... got a call saying it was running behind, should be here around 10AM ..... shortly after 10 got another call, at orders from the Highway Patrol their wrecker had to be diverted to help clear a wreck on I-10 .... should get to us in around 3 hrs .... thankfully the shop where we plan to have the repairs made continues to work with these changes .... did some records checking and found out that the batteries in the truck have been there since Oct 2012 .... that could easily be the problem .... in fact, my hope is that is the case

[Shakey Jake]

Hope that's all it is...the battery. Looks like you're probably due for a new by the date.

[JEBar]

as noted above, today has been one of twist and turns .... the tow truck finally arrived .... I couldn't help but smile because just, like our truck, it turned out to be on a Freightliner M2 Chassis .... the driver proved to be very good at his job .... hooking up to our truck included removing its driver shaft and running a air line from his truck to the air tank on our truck .... he parked our truck at the repair shop at 5:15pm .... the shop closes at 5:30 .... they will check it out in the morning and give us a call when they know what is causing the problem

[Lyman]

My work truck is on the same chassis. I found that if I don't close the doors all the way the dome light will stay on indefinitely and will drain the batteries over night. Crazy that a truck this new would be setup like that and not have a timeout on the lights like most other vehicles. Im not saying thats your problem but it might help in the future. Check to see if yours are setup like that.

[JEBar]

ours is an '07 model, it was actually built in late '06 .... thanks for the suggestion, I don't believe the interior lights stay on of the doors aren't completely shut but I've never tested it ....

[JEBar]

it seems a bit odd to not have our truck parked near our camper .... its even odder to see an Impala out there in its place .... when the Lady at Enterprise showed it to me, I only had two questions .... first, I needed to know how hard it would be for me to get in and out of .... secondly, with it being shiny black and knowing the condition of the roads in our campground, did I have to return it clean .... as to getting in and out, it proved to be much like Maureen's Camaro which is doable .... when she said they were responsible for cleaning it, I said black would be fine .. .. driving an Impala was a new experience .... it handles well .... no stress at all taking the sharp turns common to the Texas Hill Country roads in this area .... comfort of the bucket driver's seat is OK .... don't know what size motor it has but it is responsive and quiet .... biggest negative, is road noise which is at a level, I wouldn't be happy with it

[JEBar]

just rolled back in to our campsite ..... I think it can well be summed up as an expensive repair of a minor problem .... the good news is, we learned that the truck's batteries are in good condition, the battery cables and their connections are in good condition, the starter is in good condition, the ignition switch is in good condition .... not sure about the terminology but our truck has a starter relay or solenoid (unsure which) mounted under the hood, on the driver's side, on the fire wall .... it also has a starter solenoid mounted on the starter .... they are connected by a heavy duty wire that is in a housing with some other wires .... the terminal on that wire that connects to the solenoid on the starter failed .... the one on the firewall is well hidden and the wire from it to the starter is buried as it winds its way around the engine compartment .... we are both much relieved .... we now can return to our plan begin packing up on Saturday, complete all but unhooking the utilities on Sunday and pull out for Columbus, TX on Monday

[PT7]

Glad you're all fixed and your truck is "back home."
And cool you had a out of the day's happenings. "Twill bring a grin when you look back at your travel pictures and see those twin trucks together.

...today has been one of twist and turns .... the tow truck finally arrived .... I couldn't help but smile because just, like our truck, it turned out to be on a Freightliner M2 Chassis .... the driver proved to be very good at his job ....

[Shakey Jake]

Yeah, we all know about those expensive repairs of a minor problem. Happens to the best of us sometimes in life. Glad it's fixed and hope to see you in March.

[JEBar]

most certainly looking forward to March as well .... hopefully it will be warm and dry .... if so, I foresee some days spent on a firing range

[JEBar]

what a beautiful morning followed by an equally beautiful day .... warm and sunny, that's been a relatively elusive combo during this winter's stay in Texas .... first thing this morning I spent some time checking a few things on our truck and taking care of some others that resulted from the truck being in the shop yesterday .... out truck has 3 12V fuse boxes .... its been a good while since I paid any attention to any of them .... it took most of an hour for me to pull each fuse, visually check it to ensure it wasn't blown and to clean the prongs to ensure a good contact and to put them back in place .... the good news is none blown blown but several needed their prongs cleaned .... while in the shop yesterday they apparently threw the battery disconnect switch .... when that happens a host of gizmos in the truck automatically go back to their factory default setting .... an example the default setting for the review camera turns it off .... to turn it back on you have go into a settings area and do so manually .... we took on fuel yesterday so other than needing to wash the windows, she's pretty much ready to roll .... a good while back, we bought some pork ribs to smoke .... the weather has been such that today was our first good opportunity to do so .... they are now wrapped in foil and in the frig ....over the weekend we hope to reheat them coated with Maureen's homemade BBQ sauce .... later in the afternoon a friend and his wife who live in this area joined us for some grilled South Dakota sirloins .... yep, its been a good day