The inevitable breakdown on the road....

[NVR2L82AV8]

It finally happened to me...I became "that Guy" yesterday. The law of averages met our camper head-on far from Vegas but luckily not "100 miles from a dial tone" like the back country Olympic National Forrest/Park areas we were in less than 24 hours earlier - Trip report on the expedition to those areas deep past Wynoochee Lake or, BIGFOOT country later.....so I digress.

Came out of the "outback" for a little tour around Lake Quinault - beautiful area - then over to Pacific Beach for the night. Next morning after 200 plus miles all over the Olympic Backcountry, we headed back to "the Five (I-5)" the location of our family reunion. Disclaimer alert - Born and raised up here--family all still lives here...but I digress.

So, Driving South down SR109 life was good then a light faint noise followed by a "Shudder." My DashBoss BlueTooth engine monitor on my iPad immediately begins flashing and screaming just like my frequent flight simulators when every emergency is thrown at you. FLY THE JET FIRST! I quickly surmise I lost the alternator as the BATT shows only BATT Voltage not 13.2 plus volts while driving and my FICM (Fuel injection Control Module) input voltage shows the same - NOT GOOD. The Dually is motoring fine on the shoulderless two lane highway....no CRISIS to just make another crisis -- OK. I have the DW "reset the Master Caution light" (quelch the iPad DashBoss noise) and notice Coolant temps on the rise and smell burnt rubber. Time to DIVERT to the nearest airfield!

I look at the Garmin and get into the Checklists. Town ahead 2 miles...gotta get off this shoulderless road, gotta keep up the airflow for cooling (and flying too) cause I know the serpentine belt is toast, and need a parts store. DW quickly sees a NAPA 3 miles away. Cleared to land. Issues abound and we make headway...steering is way tight and no powered brakes. DARN, where are all those aviation system backups when you need em! I use engine power and the tranny to slow. I turn off into the NAPA Auto Store - all things being considered I'm feeling pretty Blessed today - and I have to put muscle into this like I'm back flying a cable controlled Boeing Jet. I make the turn and use the emer brake to not take out the passenger gate (the front door). Whew, ALL Good.

This is gonna be a quick fix. I open the hood and confirm my suspicions. I go in and order a belt. "Sir, gonna be two hours before we get one in the store..it has to come from Aberdeen." Ok, "no problem." I'll just get the tools out while it cools down, map the serp-belt route, confirm my pulleys/pumps are all free and and be ready. So, I go outside climb up and do some more inspecting. OH NO. The serpentine belt has made a mess but I've got a "ground stop." The pulley on the water pump has sheered off. Looks like this is a major repair now. I call USAA for a Tow to the shop.

Folks, every single tow company within 100 miles does not want to have anything to do with that tow with the camper on top. Think about this--this is camper country. Luckily, across the street was an RV repair shop who graciously let me off-load the camper on their premises. I got a tow to the shop recommended by the "locals" and now we wait for some parts--Mechs confirmed my diagnosis.

Big family reunion in a few days so will try and get the camper back to the family reunion location (75 miles) where we can use it as our quarters. Gonna have to grab a low-boy from the farm for a tow as this saga continues.....

[Highbeam]

The good news is that the ford 6.0 water pump is a simple deal to replace. It's just the impeller unlike the 7.3 before it that is a monster thing. I would worry more about your somewhat fancy coolant and whether the mechanic ruined it by refilling with the junk they have in the drum. I too have cat ELC in my IH diesel and would rather they just dilute it with distilled rather than contaminate it with "their" coolant.

[Fisher_Bill]

Sounds very familiar, I did all the same repairs at 155K-160K, only the water pump plus parts was done out of necessity

tmartin000 wrote:
Funny, in the past 3 months.....

150k mi on the truck...

Serb Belt
idler pully (2)
auto-belt tensioner
water pump
thermostats (2)
Upper & Lower Hose
another odd hose

All in the hope to limit my emergencies. (HOPE HOPE HOPE)

[is_it_friday_ye]

I changed my serpentine belt at about 90,000 miles before we made a couple thousand mile trip to Florida. The belt looked ok but I thought it would be good to replace. I have the old belt under my back seat just in case. Changing it on the side of the road would be a pain but I could do it if I had to.

[tmartin000]

Funny, in the past 3 months.....

150k mi on the truck...

Serb Belt
idler pully (2)
auto-belt tensioner
water pump
thermostats (2)
Upper & Lower Hose
another odd hose

All in the hope to limit my emergencies. (HOPE HOPE HOPE)

[Camper_Jeff___K]

Serpentine belt is one of the items I keep a spare of onboard. I also keep a couple sparkplug seat repair kits and ignition coils for when those blow out un expectedly. 3 down, 5 to go.

[Grit_dog]

Old-Biscuit wrote:

jimh425 wrote:
I'm in the replace "disposable" parts before they fail side as well. I guess I had to walk too far after failures when I was younger. 🙂

So what is your criteria that alerts you when to replace.......
In other words how do you know before hand when something is going to fail so you can replace it prior to failure???


OP........
Good job with dealing with 'mechanical' failure.
Stuff happens...it's the way you deal with them that matters.

It's a little bit of gut feel, bunch of past experience and in today's world, the Internet.
Dedicated truck forums, with some reading, you can get a feel for "problem" areas with particular models and it's always easy to ask the question "Got xxx miles on xxx trucks, what has gone wrong?"
By polling the crowd, you can get a feel for things that may break before they do.
Not an exact science by any means but if I can reduce the chance of a roadside repair or a tow, I'm all over it.

[ralphnjoann]

As me Mudder used to say, "Someday, we're going to look back and laugh at all this." Comes in handy when you're in the midst of a crisis.

[Naio]

Good job, and good writing. Good luck!

[mabynack]

Sounds like you lucked out. Glad it seems to be working out and you're able to find the humor in the situation.

[Old-Biscuit]

jimh425 wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
So what is your criteria that alerts you when to replace.......

Just time (I go for 5 years) unless they already have a schedule replacement time period as part of servicing. An alert would only work if the parts didn't have catastrophic failures. Yes, that means that I'm probably replacing some parts before they need it. Fortunately, batteries, hoses, belts, aren't very expensive. Tires are, but I can afford every five year replacements assuming they don't wear out before that time.

Water pump, fuel pump, alternator, u joints.....replaced at 5 yrs also.

Point is..things fail.
Preventative maintenance works but does not cover all aspects.

30 yrs in power plants where maintenance was on-going to try and prevent failures because they cause HUGE LOSS OF $$$$$$$$$$$$$ and yet things fail.
Like I said earlier.....how one deals with those says a lot.

[jimh406]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
So what is your criteria that alerts you when to replace.......

Just time (I go for 5 years) unless they already have a schedule replacement time period as part of servicing. An alert would only work if the parts didn't have catastrophic failures. Yes, that means that I'm probably replacing some parts before they need it. Fortunately, batteries, hoses, belts, aren't very expensive. Tires are, but I can afford every five year replacements assuming they don't wear out before that time.

[Old-Biscuit]

jimh425 wrote:
I'm in the replace "disposable" parts before they fail side as well. I guess I had to walk too far after failures when I was younger. 🙂

So what is your criteria that alerts you when to replace.......
In other words how do you know before hand when something is going to fail so you can replace it prior to failure???


OP........
Good job with dealing with 'mechanical' failure.
Stuff happens...it's the way you deal with them that matters.

[jimh406]

I'm in the replace "disposable" parts before they fail side as well. I guess I had to walk too far after failures when I was younger. 🙂

[SoCalDesertRid1]

I usually carry a spare belt for each truck. Of course, when there's also a sheared off pulley shaft, having a spare belt doesn't help much... Hope you find a new water pump and get it put on.