We departed from Kerrville Tuesday, May 11, and joyfully headed north on our adventure. Our goal was Abilene State Park just outside of Abilene, TX. ‘Twas not to be! Get ready – there are going to be lots of pictures!!
We were approaching Ballinger, TX, having chosen to drive on “red roads” coming from Kerrville. These are the US Highways, state and county roads which are such a delightful alternative to Interstates. Richard, my husband and our trusty driver, suddenly commented that our motorhome was unable to produce enough rpm’s. We couldn’t make any speed at all. So we limped into Ballinger.
Long story made short, we wanted to contact our emergency road service (ERS), Coach Net, but OF COURSE, we had no Verizon cell signal at all! Only Sprint and AllTel, as I remember, are providers here. (Later, Richard took our truck to Wal-Mart and bought a Trac-Fone (prepaid service) which would work here.) Coach Net advised Richard to try several different things, none of which solved the problem. There is no diesel service facility in Ballinger, let alone one which is familiar with motorhomes. It was very late in the day when a local person told us about the Ballinger City Park and gave us directions. What a find this particular evening!! It was really, really hot, we were tired and distressed, and the park provided 30amp electricity and water – for $9/night!!! We were so relieved! We could run one of our 2 air conditioners! (One of our neighbors said that Ballinger may be installing 50amp electrical hookups and would likely raise the camping rates.)
We were so glad that, if we had to have a “hiccup”, it happened here, not up in Alaska. The motorhome was drivable but just didn’t have any “oomph”. Plus, not knowing the exact problem, we didn’t want to make it worse by driving very far.
The next morning, Wednesday, May 12, we called Coach Net again. They had a contact, Corley Freightliner, 37 miles away in San Angelo, which was also a certified Cummins Engine service center. (Our motorhome’s engine is a Cummins diesel.) After much discussion, Richard agreed that it was best for us to be towed to Corley in San Angelo. Both of us were really concerned that 1) a big enough tow truck be called into service (our motorhome weighs 33,000 lbs.), and 2) that the tow truck driver know what he’s doing. Coach Net covers all sorts of motorhomes, and they’ve done very well by us in two previous minor service calls.
After notifying Coach Net where the tow driver could find us, we positioned the motorhome at the Wal-Mart in Ballinger to await the tow truck – big parking area off to one side where we could be hooked up without being in anyone’s way. Coach Net assured us that the truck was on its way. And this is what arrived (It was the BIGGEST tow truck I’ve EVER seen!):
It has a 50,000# boom on it and will lift even a fully loaded Heavy Duty Truck like it was nothing!
Here’s our trusty tow truck driver Chris:
(Don’t ya love that purple boom on the truck? Hey, for me, it was the perfect touch! I found some helpful humor in it to distract me!)
Chris was extremely skilled at what he did and had prior experience with towing diesel pushers. You see, it’s more than just attaching to the appropriate place at the front of the motorhome, but also the drive train in the rear has to be disengaged. As he positioned the lift boom under the front of our motorhome, he was very precise: small, slow, careful adjustments. As you’ll see by the photos below, it was a gradual process, then pretty alarming as he raised our motorhome’s front end about 18-24” off the ground!! Another thing which eased our fears was Chris’ calm, deliberate, and pleasant nature. What a blessing he was!!!
Here are the step-by-step photos:
And off Chris carefully goes, 37 miles to Corley Freightliner in San Angelo! We felt better but, as we followed Chris, we were still a bit anxious. Other drivers…what kind of place is Corley’s?…how much will this cost us? All the understandable concerns.
Everything went smoothly en route to San Angelo. In order to back our motorhome into Corley’s front parking area, Chris had to make a quick decision. He’d already pulled over to the curb with us right behind him. Suddenly he pulls out right ACROSS traffic and stops broadside to everything! Gulp!! Only later did we find out he’d seen a good break in traffic and needed to make his move for a good position for backing up. OK, that all makes sense but when you see YOUR beloved motorhome serving as a traffic barricade—YIPES!! And, of course, there would be the two idiots who had to cut both in front of the tow truck and behind the motorhome!! Finally, the remaining drivers waited patiently while Chris did his thing. It took two tries before he got it into the right position in the lot. Whew!! Here’s your view from our dashboard:
(Above) Broadside across traffic!
(Above) She’s a beauty!
(Above) Corley Freightliner, our savior!
(Above) Settling in. We served as night time security! For liability reasons, we couldn’t park inside Corley’s gates at night so spent 2 nights out here, but moved the motorhome to a service bay during the day.
OK, so by now, you (like us) are wondering what the problem was. A print-out from the engine’s computer was done, initially reviewed by our tech, Doug, and Chris, the Shop Manager. They then called Cummins, our engine’s manufacturer. Cummins suggested a couple of things for the guys to look at.
Oh, and our Cummins 5-year warranty had expired on April 20—just over 3 weeks earlier!!! Naturally!! If we needed a new turbocharger, that would cost +/- $1200, a dismal thought. Would Cummins make an exception an honor it as a warranty item??
The boys persevered and, on Friday a.m. May 14, told us the testing results: the sensor in front of the turbo had failed, our turbocharger wasn’t getting the right information and couldn’t do its job. Angels were watching out for us because 1) it wasn’t the turbocharger, and, 2) Corley had the replacement sensor in stock (most unexpected!!). The boys put in the replacement sensor, we did a road test, and everything worked!! Yay, team!! Whew!!
We were so lucky to have had Chris and then the competent crew at Corley’s. And that we could park somewhere safe until we could get the problem resolved. Several things to be put on tomorrow morning’s “Gratitude List”!
Our checkbook didn’t get hurt as badly as we’d feared (even though Cummins wouldn’t cover the sensor), so off we went heading north. On the road again!
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