Gotta Fess Up. Guilty Conscience...

[TucsonJim]

I don't know what your opinion of GS roadside assistance is, but I sure had them chasing shadows. Last January, we took our 4x4 Chevy 2500 and FW on a local trip to do some fishing. When we got to our campsite, we had to back up a pretty steep incline to get to level ground. My tires started slipping, so I put the TV in 4-wheel low and made it no problem.

We didn't have any luck fishing, but sure enjoyed the company of friends that were camping beside us.

On Sunday morning, we hooked up the FW, broke camp, and headed the 100 miles towards home. OMG, transmission problems. It wouldn't shift correctly. The engine was screaming at very high RPM, and we couldn't get up to speed. I pulled over and checked the transmission fluid, and hooked up an OBD scanner to see if anything was amiss. No problems were indicated. We pulled back on the highway and the speed limit increased to 65mph. We could barely hit 40 before we were nearly red-lined on the transmission. There was no way we were going to make it home safely. So we pulled off on a wide spot on the road.

We dug out our Good Sam roadside assistance card and made the call. They were amazing. The first comment from them was "are you in a safe place?". Once we assured the operator we were, he went out of his way to pinpoint our exact location and dispatch a tow truck that could handle our TV and FW. So, we sat for about 10 minutes, and it hit me like the proverbial "Ton of Bricks".....

I was still in 4-wheel low!!!! Good Lordy Agnes. How stupid of me. I felt like a four year old that was caught with my hand in the candy jar. I sheepishly called the GS agent and told him we didn't need the tow any more. He asked what happened and although I didn't really lie (okay, maybe I did a little), but I told him that it just started working fine! He called off the tow truck, and we headed for home at 65 uneventful MPH.

So there, I've come clean in a public forum.

[EcoBullet]

The first time I tried out 4X4 on the 2008 Chevy I had, I tried shifting back into 2WD to no avail. Drove 15 miles back to dealership in 4L. They told me you have to shift into neutral. I guess you are supposed to read the owners manual.

After launching, my boat wouldn't start. I pulled it back up the ramp, unhooked the trailer, pulled the truck around, hooked up jumper cables, cranked good, still wouldn't start. Then I noticed the toggle kill switch wasn't all the way in the run position. Duh!

Last year, when putting the pin through my trailer hitch, instead of stopping when the spring caught, I pushed through all the way, thinking of a pin with a hole in it instead of one with a groove around it. Drove all day with it that way and discovered what I had done when I unhooked that night. The Lord watches over fools sometimes!

[gbopp]

This could possibly go on your permanant record. :E

[Paul_Clancy]

I had a time where my 5th was on and truck back end was sliding sideways as I tried to get started on a grade with water on cement. Slid sideways twice and thought what in the world can I do here. Then it hit me! I have 4wd!! 4 hi and off I went. Did remember to go 2wd shortly afterward.

Doh moment for sure.

[kknowlton]

One of those "face-palm" days. We've all had them. 🙂

[Lessmore]

We've all done things like that. I recall a buddy about 45 years ago on the side of the road. He was anxiously kicking over his motorcycle engine...a single cylinder.

I pulled over on my motorcycle. He said I can't get it to start and it has no compression. I looked at his engine, noticed the spark plug was on the ground. I screwed it back into the head, put the plug lead on, turned the ignition on, kicked started it and voila...the engine started.

But then I recall when I had my first motorcycle. I was 16 and knew everything. My motorcycle engine stopped suddenly. Couldn't get it started.

Pushed it home. When I got home I told my father, I think the engine may have seized...or maybe the points were worn...or it could of been that the magneto shut down.

He kept on saying...did you check the gas tank ? He said this about 4 times while I was 'diagnosing' the problem.

To humour him, I finally unscrewed the gas cap, took a flashlight and peered into the tank.

Not an ounce of gas.

:S :B Les