March 8, 2004
Well, here are in Kelso, Wa., tucked away for the night. The day just started too good... it couldn't last.

Departure was mid-AM. Earlier than expected. We breezed trough customs. Traffic through Seattle was totally tolerable. Should've known it couldn't last.

Six miles north of Kelso we lost fuel pressure. What should've been a no big deal, turned into a very big deal as we still didn't have fuel, even after switching. As we only had driven 250 miles since last fill-up, the dreaded flip the switch but nothing is happening.

Called Camping World Emergency Road Service and after 5 minutes on hold got to talk to a person and about 45 minutes later we had five gallons of gas to get us on our way.

As I coasted to stop, well off to the side, I turned on the hazard flashers. A Deputy on patrol stopped to make sure we were ok. He suggested I turn on the flashers. Hmmm, I thought I had. He was kind enough to stick around until it was confirmed that help would be on its way. He also gave us his card and dispatch number in case our help was not going to get here. Still not hazard flashers so out came the triangle for the first time since owning the coach.

While we were waiting for our gas to arrive I started to look into why the hazard flashers weren't and as it turned out we had no turn signals to boot. Found a blown fuse and as I was about to change it the tow-truck arrived with our gas so the priority was shifted to getting to Kelso and a gas station. We topped up with 28.8 gallons. We probably had 4+ gallons left of the delivered five. The book says there should only be 8-9 gallons in reserve so I'm not quite sure who/what is right, and it doesn't really matter.

After fueling up we heading to a shopping center parking lot to figure out the lighting problem. Turn signals would work but would not flash consistently, I.e. 3-4 fast flashed followed by 3-4 normal and back to fast, etc. Turn on the hazard flasher and a bit of smoke came out of the steering column and thankfully another blown fuse.

Ok, lets try this again but this time without turning on the hazard flashers. Fuse stayed but we still have the two varying flash sequences when using the turn signals. At this stage we thought that maybe this trip was not meant to be and made plans to return home. Having the uncertainty of an electrical fire to contend with would not make for a fun trip. We decided to spend the night in a Kelso RV Park as returning home at night wasn't very appealing either.

The RV Park had a computer room with a dial-up but I was not prepared  for dial-up. Didn't even have a phone cord readily available. Gene Fisher to the rescue. Called him for ideas and to post to the Net to see what could be flushed out. Several cell calls later from Terry Skinner and Gene and I was able to formulate a battle plan that if successful would enable us to continue.

Terry had some ideas I could pursue, as did Gene. Gene also came up with generic part numbers for the switch assembly. Not knowing which of the two would be the right one and how popular these numbers would be I decided to check with my customer in Bakersfield. He had both possibles in stock. That meant I should have a good chance to find them in Vancouver or Portland so the plan changed to go to Vancouver/Portland to find the switch assembly and then to plug it in as per the book. If operation returns to nomal we keep heading south, otherwise we will be returning home. Flasher will also be changed in the process. Fingers and toes crossed.

I also pursued the fuel selector problem and found the fuse gone on it too. It's the same circuit as for the gauges, which I didn't have any indication of failure. Digital dash. Will be adding a tattle-tail light. Of course I'm not sure why the fuse blew so it could still be a problem but the fuel selector will not be a trip-stopper as it simply means more frequent fuel stops.

As we are watching the full moon in the clear skies over Kelso we decided that was the reason/cause of our grief. That, plus us leaving on time with everything clean and tucked away. Tonight the rig looks a little more normal. Stuff all over the place.

March 9, 2004 - AM
Six AM, starting to get light. Had a good sleep, especially when considering yesterdays events. I'll take that as a good sign for things to come today.

Normally I'd be checking my email now and see what needs tending to. Boy this being disconnected sure sucks. I gave up my slow Aircard a while back as I was confident Telus (my Cell Carrier) would have a roaming agreement in place with Verizon by now. I was wrong. I was also got caught in the practice of Sierra Wireless building their same model cards tied to a specific carrier so that I couldn't even add a plan without a new Aircard. I even considered a new cell phone but as this was an isolated three week trip and I'd have WiFi at customer sites and at the Rally I decided to be frugal. Of course in retrospect, it was the wrong choice. But not all is lost, thanks to the Black List and some willing bodies.

Some reflections on yesterday... I usually don't get away as early as we did this trip so sometimes it's just getting across the border, stop for groceries and overnight at one of the rest areas north of Seattle. The grocery stop is mandatory these days as one crosses the border with an empty fridge. While the grocery stop was postponed, I did pick up the beer and wine I had left in our storage locker from my last trip. Not to imply that I can't live without beer, but it added a nice touch to the circumstance. Dug into our rations instead of chasing down a grocery store or restaurant. Was much easier while assessing our situation and options. I usually do a fuel stop around the 200 mile mark, didn't this time as it was still early in the afternoon by the time we were at that mark. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the next time I needed to draw from both tanks may have been in the middle of the night and out of cell coverage. I still have to determine why the fuse blew, but that can keep until we get back home, which unfortunately may still be sooner than we want it to be.

The much broader reflection is what to do in future. Am I now simply not traveling enough to keep the coach? Considering that I had a fair bit of work getting ready it is something that will require some thought and consideration. Of course one alternative is to use it more often. More rallies perhaps. 

Back to the business at hand
Time to think about moving on. With daylight I reassemble the glove box and the few odds 'n ends I left undone. The flasher goes back, but not clipped in back into its place. The wire now has a long piece of electrical tape attached to it so that it's easily found once we have parts. Dash cover stays off. Time for breakfast.

While Kelso is a nice little town, Longview across the river would offer up several parts stores in the yellow pages. We plug a few addresses into MS Streets and off we go quite encouraged that we'll be able to resolve our little dilemma in a positive manner.

First stop, Schucks. No switch assembly, but they offered to order it in for 94 bucks and 4 days. Don't these people know there are other parts stores close by? Stop number 2, Carquest. No stock, but they had both in Portland and could have them in the afternoon. We settled on a Portland customer pick-up if I came up empty elsewhere. Third stop, Napa. Success with one of the numbers. Cost: 35.00. Shame on Schucks for trying to get 94. I guess you all know what store will be my last choice in future. The picking of stores was simply closest one first, and so on. The intent was to try Longview, Vancouver, WA and then Portland. Got the Echlin DL6209 and a couple of heavy duty flashers and left the store with optimism and hope. Before leaving I asked if he could check his computer for stock at other stores towards Portland, in case we needed the other number... no, my computer doesn't have that capability was his reply. Had to chuckle on that one as it never ceases to amaze me the crappy software these big guns run their stores on. Sure would be nice to get an opportunity to show them what we (Byte Designs) have to offer. Seems we can never get past the gal/guy that keeps covering his/her butt by not allowing any encroachment into his/her little kingdom of data processing. 

With switch and flashers in hand, I head back to the rig. Plan A, leaving the switch connected externally falls by the wayside. I wrongly assumed complete assembly meant lever and all. Thinking back, I don't know why I did that. Must've been the heat and stress of planning alternatives the night before. However, with switch in hand we can picture a little bit of what goes on there and we get a little braver. Two wires seem to be just a switch. With luck this would be the hazard switch. I disconnect the plug on the steering column and remove the two pins I think just might be the hazard switch. It was operation of this switch that caused the concern when smoke arose and the fuse blew. taped up the two pins so that there was no possibility of accidental contact, plugged in a new flasher. Hold breath, switch on turn signal. (The sequence is important). A slow and steady click with the corresponding indicator flashing in the dash made for a beautiful sight and sound. Another hold breath, this time while activating the hazard flasher switch. Still a nice and steady click from the flasher and dash indicators showing flashers on but I turn them off right away, remembering the last time I tried this. The pins I removed from the connector obviously weren't for what I thought they were. Well, we had to find out for sure what would happen if we left the hazards on for a bit longer. It blew the fuse yesterday, lets hope it will again if still unhappy. Re-inserted the pins I had removed from the connector and it's hold breath for third time. All appears normal. Turn signals, flashers, all appear normal.

Time for a full re-assemble. I make an attempt to clip the flasher back into its hiding place, behind the dash, next to the fuel selector switch. As the flasher is a heavy duty model it doesn't want to slide/clip in and I don't want to push my luck and dislodge a plug or worse so the flasher gets securely taped to one of the uprights and the cover gets re-installed. We're off... southbound.

A little recap reflection
What have I learned? Carry a spare flasher, note I bought two :-)) Seriously though, seems the flasher failed in a somewhat unorthodox manner, allowing current to pass when it shouldn't have. I.e. the intermittent fast flash cycle indicated more current, more heat, faster flash cycle. I can only guess, but it seems rational (to me) that when the hazards were turned on even more current was passing, heating up the switch assembly. Perhaps heating it up sufficiently for the lubricant, which may be on or around the switch in the steering column, to smoke. By this time the current draw exceeded twenty amps and pop goes the fuse. Of course the time span of all this happening is seconds or less.

What have I learned about my GMC? Am I still liking my GMC? It goes without saying that while in going back home mode I was not happy about the possible consequences. I had put quite a bit of work in before departure, none related to the problem, but a lot of work doing this and that. Would I never be able to have a trip in the GMC without problems? Would a new SOB serve me better? Do I even want a Motorhome, now that I'm traveling less in my business and only have limited time to travel for pleasure? Lots of unanswered questions.

No answers, but a little dissecting of some of the questions. It goes without saying that I still like my GMC. But is a 28 year old GMC a reliable method of traveling for fun. Emphasis on fun. It's no fun when disruptive events occur during a trip, bad enough when the occur while at home. I know more about my GMC than I would about any SOB. Does that add the comfort level or the level of anxiety? It would probably be easy to vote against the GMC were it not for the GMC Net and Rogers' Black List. Thank you Patrick, thank you Roger.

Had it not been for the 'Net, which would also mean no Black List, I would have had no choice but to try and find a repair facility which 1) wanted to work on the GMC and 2) was ethical. Chance are I would've struck out on both or at the very least would have been in shop much longer and my wallet, or rather my credit card, would have taken a severe beating. As it was, with the help of the 'Net I was able to plan for the worst as well as some alternatives, with good information (part numbers and how-to) in hand. Even if I had to resort to a repair facility I would not have been totally at a strangers' mercy. The 'Net and its subscribers (contributors and lurkers alike) are truly extending the life of the GMC. Would a new SOB improve the travel environment? Not likely, not the way they build them today anyways.