Posted by Keith in Washington on Thursday, June 29, 2006 at 8:22PM :
We finally got home yesterday morning from Hollister. We made a run to Yosemite and to Reno to see my kids. We had a great trip.
I was a little concerned about the expense of fuel before we left. Turns out fuel was not the major cost on the trip. Both my WC53 Carryall and my F-350 had some problems. In fact the Carryall and trailer are still in Reno. I will pick them up when I go to Hot August Nights in August.
Here is what happened to us:
Carryall:
1) At Hollister I got something into the carb as it was running very rich. I took the top off and found something holding a needle valve open. We got that fixed and caught up with the trail ride. The truck was also running a little warm but it was over 100 degrees. Later that day The truck would not idle and would not run below 1500 RPM. I guess more junk go into the idle circuit. When we got to Reno I went to Summit Racing and bought a new carb. It has been on my list for several years. Man it sure runs nice with the new carb. It has never run so well.
2) When in Reno we ran around the area were my daughter lives. The Carryall was running a little warm (210) but it was over 100 degrees. We decided to go up the ridge behind my daughter's house. The truck started to heat up to 220 to 230 when climbing but would cool down to 200 if I reved the engine to get the fan going faster. Finally the temp spiked to 240 and I said it was time to go home. Coming down the trail we could see a line of antifreeze on the trail where we had come up. By the time we got home it was dumping a lot of fluid. We got that fixed and put an overflow bottle on it.
3) After fixing the overheating problem I took a good friend's kid for a ride up the same hill. We got up a good ways and the carryall suddenly became very loud. We stopped and got out and the whole right half of the exhaust system was on the road 20' behind the truck. The carryall now has an entirely new dual exhaust system.
F-350
1) Going up a steep grade near Yosemite we were greeted with the loudest bang I have ever heard and the truck lost power. We found that the clamp holding the rubber connecting hose at the exit of the turbo had split in two. Looking at it I found many stress fractures in it. A kid going by stopped to help then ran to his shop to get us a couple of 3" hose clamps. We put one on and headed down the road. We went to a FORD shop the next day and they fixed it a no cost.
2) We were driving in Yosemite and had come to a stop at an intersection. We started off and when we got to the other side of it we got bounced like I neve have had. We heard a big crunch above our heads. We get out to see the the front of the camper had hit the running lights on the cab. None were broken but two were dented into the cab slightly and all of the lights had dented the camper. We went back to look at the bump. It looked like a the road was caving into a crushed pipe. There was no sign or was there the typical oil spot on the road associated with a bump. Now it is off to the shop.
3) Finally when my son and I were driving through Reno we head a slight tick sound on the windshield. Minutes later he asked is that new. Yes the 18" crack is brand new. You can see where a very small rock hit the edge of the window. Now I need a windshield.
We had a great trip. All we can do is laugh at all the problems that we had. This is the first trip in 30+ years that we have had more than a flat tire.
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