On the road breakdown stories..

Leaving Mesa Arizona heading East one morning my oil pressure gauge started flickering and dropped. The engine sounded just as it always does and the oil light never came on so didn't pull over immediately. Drove about 300 miles and there was a Napa next to where I was getting diesel so picked up a new sending unit. When I went to put it on I found the one on the truck was just loose, changed it anyways.

Several stations in Amarillo on side roads of I40 with better rices than the last many miles either direction. Construction going out and coming back so we didn't try to get into one of the stations. Did manage to get to RV Park for that Steak house that serves the 72 ounce steak.
Glad we didn't get fuel.
Did you call the Dept Ag or whoever and report that station?
Glad you didn't ruin the engine.

Filled up both near empty tanks at a busy Amarillo, TX. truck stop. Off we headed N on 287 to CO.

1 1/2 later, DW driving, the truck died. Just died in the middle of the TX panhandle. Nothing there. Not even a cell signal. A TX trooper stopped & arranged a tow to next town.

Flat towed, with trailer, no power to brakes or steering to a Chevy dealer where they tinkered & got us started.

Off we went. 1 1/2 hours later the truck stops dead. OK panhandle this time, even more remote. Got towed by proper wrecker to next town. Spent night at his garage. Very much an old school diesel mechanic. Got truck started, topped off tank that we had been using (important) & continued to CO. Night in Seibert, CO E of Denver.

Next day CHANGED tanks (100% Amarillo fuel) & headed to Denver. 1 1/2 hours later truck died in the middle of one of Denver's busiest interchanges.

Finding a wrecker capable of towing us was near impossible so this shade tree mechanic & a 25 year veteran of marine diesel engines was left scratching his head to save himself.

Brain fart! Changed tanks (to Amarillo/Oklahoma tank MIX). After repeated starts & stops with priming in between, the truck was running smoothly.

Bad fuel from Amarillo.

At next fillup, (that tank had 3 hours burn taken out of it) added all kinds of diesel additives. The engine has been fine ever since.

Moral of story. Don't count on a busy truck stop having good fuel.

I think I might have told part of this but... Started home in late August,forgot the exact date. Washed coach and hoked up new Ford Edge ST.
Half mile down the road coach starts bucking and car is jumping around.
Brakes are smoking and on fire all four wheels of Edge
Took the car loose and drove to an RV Service. The air brake cylinder mis adjusted. Thought everything was fine now. hooked up with properly adjusted cylinder. Several miles down the road we stopped on shoulder of the road to tend to something. Started back up, the shoulder was loose gravel and dirt. About a half mile down the road smoke was noticed boiling from all four tires of the car. Stopped near rmp got out and looked things over. Car was in park. Tires were ruined with strips of rubber trailing the tires.Traffic was too heavy to unhook, so made sure it was in neutral and proceed very slowly off the ramp.
A couple of nice guys stopped to help. A good think as I'm getting to the point of very bad difficulty in hookup and unhooking.
Called State Farm and they got a flatbed to come, to the middle of nowhere and pick up the car and take back to dealer. A lot of problems getting them to fix it in a timely manner. Six more weeks in the desert. We had to pay, well state Farm did. It turns out when you leave the vehicle, set to tow according to ford nd the manual,if you get anywhere near it again it goes into auto park. When we stopped alongside the road first time I went back and visually checked the car, a habit, everything looked fine. I didn't open the door or anything.
Ford installed a battery disconnect and now we have to unscrew a panel and pull a lanyard to transmission in order tow tow. Two people from the service dept it wa all they could do to pull the lanyard and lock it in a slot. We got home wife easily released it though. So now we have a new tow vehicle we can't handle to setup to tow.
Brakes and rotors were burnt and the calipers melted and four tires ruined. PS: before anyone says anything about my typing. I am having eye problems and go for an injection in the left one tomorrow and have nerve damage in my hands and fingers.
.

July 3,2019 in 98 degree heat, 90% humidity, 5,000+ miles from our home in AK we had a major breakdown in NY state. We were driving happily along climbing a long hill when suddenly the dashboard lit up including the CEL. We were able to get to a safe place at the top of the hill to pull over.

We were able to get a tow with a wait time of 1.5 hours, someone who really did not know how to handle towing our class B Galleria. This happened just before close of business on the day before a holiday so getting the tow and a rental meant a lot of coordination and rushing around. Thank goodness for generators and air conditioning that work well.

We were towed to the Sprinter/Mercedes dealer in Albany, NY about an hour's drive away who let us know after a wait of a few days that we had a major oil leak due to our "free" oil change that we did not ask for. Apparently Midas in Soldotna, AK used an aftermarket filter which had a gasket that leaked and caused deterioration of the belts. As a result, the belt was caught up in the engine and fan parts.

After almost 2 weeks, we got the Galleria back. The service people were really great, but because Midas did the oil change there was no warranty for this episode.

The guys there took the engine apart 3 (I think) times before they were able to get all the debris out of the engine. We still had a lot of oil in the engine so we were lucky there, but we drove more than 5,000 miles with that incorrect oil filter and gasket.

This could have been a financial disaster. As it was it used up a lot of our "vacationing" budget for our trip and we did not get to do all the things we got to do.

The thing is, we did NOT need - or want an oil change. We took our rig to Midas to have the brakes and tires checked on our trailer for the trip. They threw in the oil change. Up till this time they were very good with all of our vehicles, but they were in the middle of a change in management, I guess.

We normally do not let anyone but Sprinter service touch our van.

I was going to tell about the time my husband had me drive our 5th wheel through a cornfield to park it in our yard, but he didn't think it was a good idea. Sure, the ground was solid, no mud. Right? We had to wait 3 hours for GSC to send us a tow, but our son got us out.

I had a fairly easy breakdown and it was some years ago. Was camping just south of San Francisco. Had just checked into the RV park and we were going to go pull to the spot and park, the truck did not start. Got the hood up and jump cables out and along came a Jeep that was nice enough to get us started.

Got parked just fine and kept the truck running the whole time. Found a local Costco and replaced the battery in the parking lot with full credit on the old one. Sometimes camping in the city has benefits.

BB_TX wrote:
Two in 12 years towing our 5er.

1. Cam sensor on my truck towing my 5er failed just east of OKC. Coachnet sent out a roll back tow truck for my truck and a pickup with 5th wheel hitch for the 5er. Tow truck took my wife and two granddaughters to local Ford dealer. Pickup took me and 5er to KOA east of OKC, parked it in my assigned site, waited while I hooked up and started A/C, and took me to Ford dealer. Friday mid afternoon now and daughters needed to be back home by Tuesday for school. Dealer got me a rent car, sent the truck to the shop, started work early Saturday morning, and ready to go by noon. Great service by dealer and tow company.

2. After towing all day across Texas in temps up to 108 and stopped for an hour on I-40 just before NM due to an accident, pulled into a rest area west of Santa Rosa, NM to walk the dog. After 15-20 minutes go in truck, put in drive, and started to pull out. But it would not move. Tried reverse and no move. After several tries I noticed the truck was trying, but the 5er would not move. Hmmm? Brakes locked? Checked emergency breakaway and it was plugged in. Threw battery disconnect switch and disconnected cord to truck. Still would not move. Getting late and not long to dark, and nothing close. Called local sheriff department. No answer. Called Santa Rosa police department and spoke to someone there and asked about any RV repair facility close. Said yes but nothing would be open this late on a Friday evening.
Beginning to think we would spend the night in the rest area in 100 degrees. Noticed an older latino worker cleaning the grounds and ask him if he knew of any mobile repair person. He said wait a minute, pulled out his phone, and began to speak in spanish. Hmmmm? Don't like the fact I can't understand what he is saying. But he handed me his phone and I spoke to another person with a spanish accent and explained the problem. Breakaway cable he said. Already checked it I said as well as mentioning throwing the disconnect switch and pulling the cord. By any chance are you parked along the side where the big rigs park?, he asked. Yes, I said. Your tires are stuck to the hot soft pavement, he said. What??? Yes, put the truck in gear and give it a lot of throttle, he said. I said I tried that until I was afraid something might break. OK, trust me as I have made several $100 trips out there for the same thing. It is slightly downhill going backward so put it in reverse and give it good throttle, he said. So I put it in reverse, hit the throttle, and after a little hesitation it started to roll. Relief!! I got out and looked and could see depressions in the asphalt where the tires were. I ask what I owed him and he said just give my friend a tip. I gave him a generous trip and we were on our way.
What are the odds of being stuck in a remote rest area, finding a worker who has a friend who is a Mobile RV repairman, who just happened to be familiar with that rest area, who knew right away what the problem was, and who was willing to tell me free of charge rather than coming out and charging for a service call? Someone looking after us????

It took most of us one time on those cam sensors on the 7.3 . I carried a spare ,and the proper tools to replace it if it ever happened again. The first time I was lucky ,mine went out in my driveway, but had no clue would not start . Had it towed ,and repaired.

No issue with the RV, but twice had to have the TV and HTT on the back of a tow truck and once the TV had to be towed to replace the transmission. We were heading home from Disney World back in 2005. We had just made it to the VA/NC line when the check engine light came on. We were hoping to make it home that day and still had about 7 hours (we lived in NJ at the time). When we finally stopped to check it out, there was tranny fluid everywhere. We were able to limp to a KOA a few miles away. In the morning we had the TV towed to a nearby GM dealer where they had to replace the tranny; a day and a half and $1,600 later, we were back on the road. The first time both HTT & TV had to be towed was on our way from Ocean City, NJ to Hershey Park. We were planning to spend a few days at Hershey's High Meadow Campground and going to the Park. Going up the Commodore Barry Bridge, I lost power for a moment; pressed the gas pedal and nothing. I backed of the pedal and tried again and all was well. Came down the bridge fine and came to the first traffic light to make a left. Halfway through the turn, I lost power and could not get it back. I was able to coast to the right turning lane for a gas station and I think a Walmart, but didn't have enough momentum to get into the parking lot.

Called AAA. The only tow truck they could find that could accommodate our family of 4 with a booster seat and a car seat was actually back at the Jersey Shore, dropping of a vehicle. So we waited. Since we had just bought the HTT a couple months ago, we had a free year of service from CoachNet, so we called them. They told us the same thing. So a few hours later, the tow truck driver calls to confirm what we have and let us know where he was. After he hooks us up and we get on the way, he explains that AAA and CoachNet both contacted him. Since we wanted to get to Hershey, we stuck with AAA since CoachNet wouldn't tow us the almost 80 miles to Hershey Park, but AAA would. Turns out the TV's fuel pump failed.

The second time was more avoidable. I used to organize an off-roading event every year. We'd spend a few days at Rausch Creek Off-Road Park in Tremont, PA and wheel our Nissan Xterras. Since I wheeled with 33" Super Swamper Boggers on my X which don't have great road manners, I had a second set of wheels and tire for the street. I drive up with the street tires and swapped them at the campground. After the last day of wheeling, I took the Boggers off and put the street tires back on. The next morning, I hook up the HTT and head out. I take I-81 to I-78 and head east. I get about 25 miles down I-78 and I can't get the Xterra to accelerate. I can hear and feel the engine revving, but I can't accelerate past 50 mph. I'm a couple miles from the SR 61 exit, where the Cabela's is, so I just accept the lack of power and decide I'll get off at exit 29. It wasn't as built up back then (2008), but I knew there was an Advanced Auto I could go to. About a mile down the road, the rear driver's side tire comes off the Xterra. That corner drops a little and I see the brake drum cover rollback behind me and the tire goes bouncing past me. It bounces over the Jersey wall, avoids 2 different vehicles on the west bound side, then falls. I don't see where it fell. I pulled over and take a look. Four of the 6 lug nut bolts are sheared off and the other 2 are completely stripped. I call AAA. Fortunately the driver isn't far away, but he'll be about 45 minutes. While I wait, I check on my run-away tire. It had fallen just inside the jersey wall, so I grab it and put it in the back of the truck with the other 4 off-road tires. Since we were living in GA then, I just had the driver tow it to my parents in South Jersey. Turned out to be a 98 mile tow, completely covered by AAA Plus with RV. I never found the brake drum cover and ended up having most of the rear suspension replaced. The only things not replaced was the rear diff and axle tube and the axle shaft on the passenger side. We ended up filing a claim with our Auto Insurance.

I assume I did not torque down the rear driver's side lug nuts before leaving the campground and they worked themselves loose. I guess the weight of the HTT and the Eqaul-i-zer hitch removed the wiggle from that tire so I had no idea there was an issue with the tire until it came off. I had plenty of tools with me and could have replaced the lug nut studs in Advanced Auto's parking lot if I could have just made it there.

-Michael

March 2018, not even 25 miles from home after a 2500 mile trip, pulling out of a tollbooth and headed to an uphill exit ramp, on the 1-2 shift end up with idle power only. Torqued up the ramp off the toll road at idle creep, because getting towed off that in a Class C would have been an expensive experience. Then continued at that pace a mile up the next freeway, remembering there was a Ford dealer not far from the next exit. Crawled there, where they panicked seeing an RV pull-in. Since I had creep power, I was able to maneuver it out of the way while waiting for a tow truck they'd called for me to haul it to my local in-town Ford dealer. This was all transpiring at about 11am. I had to be on a plane at 6pm that night for a work trip, with a stop into the office before, as well as winterize the unit before leaving as it was still very much winter in the northeast. Tow truck finally shows up, gets us to my local dealer about 2pm, they take my wife home to come back with our truck, and the 4 gallons of pink stuff, to unpack and so I can winterize in the dealer lot. I get the arrangements made and start dumping water, and the tech comes out right away to see what he's in for. I was thinking transmission, since it happened right at a shift. Plugs in the scanner. No accelerator pedal signal. This is a DBW throttle. The pedal is a rheostat that has fried itself at only 48k miles. Turns out I could have limped it home via using the cruise control buttons on the steering wheel as a hand throttle. Got the RV winterized, food and clothes unpacked, stopped at home and showered and packed a different bag for the business trip, was able to stop at the office and made my plane.

The next time was October of last year. Second day out, driving down the eastern shore of MD and VA. Headed to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel and points further south. Slowing down for a red light on US 13, feel a skip. Taking off on green, I'm now clearly driving a V9. After a few minutes, a flashing CEL starts. We try to count flashes as sometimes they will morse code you the problem, and internet via phone a diagnosis. No help. Put-put along, as this happened about 50 miles north of the bridge and Virginia Beach. There is an Advance Auto Parts no more than a couple of miles off the end of the bridge, and they'll read codes. I'm suspecting coil and this store even has a few OEM Motorcrafts in stock. Sure enough, the OBDII reader says #8. Have some Advance bucks on my account so even get it at a discount. This is my first time diving into the hell of Mod motor coils and plugs. The cylinder code is via firing order, and #8 is center of the left bank. Yay. The airbox and snorkel had to come out all the way to the throttle body, and the electrical connections to the coils back of #8 removed as well. This was also the first time my wife had ever seen the doghouse off, where upon I was able to point out the proximity of the right bank exhaust manifold and downpipe as to why she complains how hot the passenger footwell gets. Anyway, the R&R working from both the front and back of the motor in the Advance parking lot, including lunch and a bathroom break, took about 45 minutes. Starting up, no more skip! I suspect this coil had been on its way out for sometime, as the first few years I owned this RV from new a couple of times a year it would misfire on deceleration. That went away, but mileage had deteriorated about 0.5-1 mpg. After the coil replacement, there was a bit more seat-of-pants power, and the fuel mileage now is better than ever, getting 9 mpg tanks with the cruise on 70.

5 miles short of our intended campground, suddenly my rig (1979 Roll-a-Long, Ford chassis) dropped into 2nd gear; no way to get it back into 3rd. Drove slowly (at 10pm) the rest of the way to the campground and pulled in to our site. At that point, realized I also had no reverse (luckily, it was a pull-thru site). Spent the weekend camping, but pulled out early Sunday and headed home. Drove in 2nd gear at about 40mph 150 miles across the desert from Blythe to Banning CA. Limped it to a shop the following weekend for a trans rebuild.

Same RV, different trip (but to the same campground); Headed home at about 2pm; it was at least 110 degrees out. After about 15 miles, the water pump belt failed. Bought a new belt at Autozone in Blythe, and changed it in the parking lot. Worst part was the fact that it was the inside belt (of 3 belts), and so all of them had to come off to replace this one. Did I mention it was 110 degrees? Yeah, it was at least 120 on the parking lot asphalt that I was lying on under the front of the rig! It was like working inside an oven!