Truck stops.
After deciding to buy a Fifth-wheel I started thinking what I would need to know about this thing. One of the first things I realized is I have not been at a truck stop with a trailer hitched up sinc...
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Using a busy truck stop does not guarantee good fuel. Filled up, both tanks, in Amarillo, TX. at a very busy truck stop.
1.5hrs later on 287 in the TX panhandle the truck died. Got flat towed to next town, lucky it was only a few miles north. Guy plugs in analizer box pushes a few buttons, truck starts. Off we go. 1.5 hrs later truck dies again. This time in the middle of the OK panhandle. Another tow. This time to the local big truck garage. Old school mechanic pokes around, checks fuel filters. Does not find any significant dirt or water. Gets truck started & I go top off tank we have been running on then continue to Seibert, CO. without issue.
Nobody has figured out what the problem is.
Next morning I switch tanks, onto the 100% Amarillo fuel tank, & head off for Denver. 1.5hrs later, you can guess, it died again, right on the acceleration lane of the very busy I25. I was like Capt Sullenburger who landed in the Hudson. No power & needing somewhere to stop quick.
No tow this time. I am no trained mechanic but have 25 years of marine diesel ownership behind me doing most of the routine service. Diesels are basically simple beasts. Short of catastrophic part failure not much stops them besides a problem with the fuel or the air.
I switched tanks back to the now Amarillo/OK mixed tank & after some coaxing got the engine started & running smoothly again. Figured out what the magic computer thinghy & 2 mechanics could not.
Bad fuel. You can get it anywhere. I did not need one but it is always a good idea to carry a spare fuel filter & know how to change it.
1.5hrs later on 287 in the TX panhandle the truck died. Got flat towed to next town, lucky it was only a few miles north. Guy plugs in analizer box pushes a few buttons, truck starts. Off we go. 1.5 hrs later truck dies again. This time in the middle of the OK panhandle. Another tow. This time to the local big truck garage. Old school mechanic pokes around, checks fuel filters. Does not find any significant dirt or water. Gets truck started & I go top off tank we have been running on then continue to Seibert, CO. without issue.
Nobody has figured out what the problem is.
Next morning I switch tanks, onto the 100% Amarillo fuel tank, & head off for Denver. 1.5hrs later, you can guess, it died again, right on the acceleration lane of the very busy I25. I was like Capt Sullenburger who landed in the Hudson. No power & needing somewhere to stop quick.
No tow this time. I am no trained mechanic but have 25 years of marine diesel ownership behind me doing most of the routine service. Diesels are basically simple beasts. Short of catastrophic part failure not much stops them besides a problem with the fuel or the air.
I switched tanks back to the now Amarillo/OK mixed tank & after some coaxing got the engine started & running smoothly again. Figured out what the magic computer thinghy & 2 mechanics could not.
Bad fuel. You can get it anywhere. I did not need one but it is always a good idea to carry a spare fuel filter & know how to change it.
