Thursday, June 30, 2011

C. I. T. (Central Illinois Truck)

Mahomet, IL

62 deg. clear, no wind

Forecast = Sunny. Highs in the upper 80s. South winds 10 to 15 mph.

My engine started right up yesterday morning so that Jim could drive me over to Central Illinois Truck to have my starting problem checked out. It wasn't far over there, (just North of Champaign), so it only took us about 20 minutes to get there.

My appointment was for 10:00 and by about 10:15, Jim was driving me around to the rear of the building and pulling me into an empty bay. Once I was in the bay, my engine was shut off and would not start again.
C I T is a pretty big place with lots of big trucks setting around and being worked on. As you can see by the photos below, they work on all sizes of trucks and RVs.

Their main thing though, is to work on the big rigs.

In this photo, you can see me in the 3rd bay between a Fed X truck and a school bus.



My mechanic's name was Josh and he was quite good at troubleshooting electrical problems. After an initial test, he determined that a starter relay was not sending the proper current to the starter, so he proceeded to try to locate the relay. The relay was located way back in my engine compartment and once it was found, it was a fairly easy job to replace it.

The old relay had a connection that looked like it had gotten hot, and after Josh installed the new one, my engine started right up. . . . . . . . . . . For about 5 times and then it wouldn't start again!!! : (

So. . . . . Josh crawled back under me again and got way up beside my engine where he could check out some of the wiring. After about an hour, and after much searching, he found a place on a large wiring harness, (with about 20 wires in it), where it had rubbed on a bracket worn through the jacket and worn the insulation on 4 different wires!!

You see, at some time, someone had worked on me and neglected to fasten the wiring harness back to the bracket and so the harness was free to move around and rub on the bracket and wear the insulation off of the wires. In fact one of the wires itself, was worn almost all the way through!!

In the above photo, you can see the harness running along side of my engine. The harness was worn through at a point way at the other end of my engine. (A real tough place to get to).

Josh got the wires repaired, put a cover on the harness and secured it with wire ties so that this couldn't happen again.

And, I'm glad to announce that my engine has started every time since then!!!! ; )

Yahoo!!!!!!!!

Because Jim and Linda didn't know just where we would be and when, they had the new desk and recliner for me shipped to R & S yesterday. This morning we'll be heading over there and they will help bring the furniture inside of me. Then, if everything goes well, we'll head back to Rantoul and get settled in for the holiday weekend.

Did you know that June is "National Rose Month"?

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Hopeful

Mahomet, IL.

63 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast today = Sunny. Highs in the lower 80s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

I'm hopeful that tomorrow when Jim takes me to a different repair shop, they'll find out what my starter problem is. The mechanic at R & S has pretty much given up on finding the problem,  so Steve, (the shop foreman) has made an appointment for me at a place called C I T. They are more familiar with Cummins engines and the mechanical part of my chassis than R & S.

Also, the desk, file cabinet and recliner are in at Ashley Furniture and will be delivered tomorrow to R & S, where they will stay until I'm done with my appointment at C I T. Then, we'll go over there and the guys at R & S will help Jim and Linda install them inside of me.

Man!! I sure hope this all works out. Jim and Linda are running out of time to get things done before we head up to Wisconsin for the reunion, right after the 4th.

Today I think Linda is going to do a load or two of laundry in my washer/dryer, and Jim says he wants to check the air pressure in all my tires and fill them up if necessary. Other than that, probably not too much will be happening around here.

Last night, Jim and Linda decided that they just wanted to "get away" for a little while, so they took CLT and went over to Champaign, IL to a Lone Star Steakhouse where they both had a very nice meal.

Did you know that New York Sun editor Charles Dana, tired of hearing Chicagoans boast of the world's Columbian Exposition, dubbed Chicago the "Windy City?"

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Still Not Repaired

Mahomet, IL.

65 deg. overcast, W. wind @ 8 mph.

Forecast today = Partly sunny with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70s. East winds 10 to 15 mph.

Bummmmer!!!!

So far, the folks at R & S have not been able to fix my starter problem. We came back here to Mahomet Friday morning and went to the Tin Cup RV Park, which is owned by R & S and is only about 1/2 a mile from the shop.

As soon as we arrived, Jim called Steve and he sent Justin out to work on me some more, but after searching for about 2 hours, found nothing that would help. My starter seems to work OK when my engine is cold, but after driving me for 1/2 hour or so, it will not work at all or will just try to work, kind of like my batteries are dead.

I have new batteries and the starter has been rebuilt, so we don't think that's the problem. The consensus seems to be that there is a bad connection somewhere that is affected by heat.

This is my site here at the Tin Cup CG. When we got here Friday there was no one in this pull-thu section, but as of today, it's completely full.

So, what's going to happen? Well, there's a possibility that I will be taken over to Bloomington, IL where there is a Cummins dealer so that they can look at me and try to figure out what's wrong. Steve called them Saturday but was unable to set up an appointment.

He'll call again tomorrow and try to set something up.

As you can tell, I'm pretty "down" by all of this. Jim and Linda need to get me ready to head up to Wisconsin for the family reunion, but their items are in storage in Rantoul. We'll need to leave Illinois by the 6th of July, so that's not very far away.

Oh, and on top of all of this, the furniture company wants to deliver the desk and recliner this Wednesday!!! But, the problem is, we don't know where I'll be on Wednesday!!!!

Did you know that on this day in 1956, the U.S. Congress approves the Federal Highway Act, which allocates more than $30 billion for the construction of some 41,000 miles of interstate highways?

Friday, June 24, 2011

Repairs Made But A Glitch

Rantoul, IL.
62 deg. overcast, W. wind @ 8 mph.
Forecast today = Mostly cloudy. Highs in the lower 70s. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph.

The part for my awning came in yesterday morning and by noon my starter was back from the re-builder. My awning seems to be working fine now but when my starter was installed it still wouldn't work properly. Justin worked for hours trying to find the problem and finally found a loose connection in my engine compartment.

After tightening it up everything seemed to be working properly.

By this time, it was going on 5:30, so Jim hooked CLT up behind me and we headed back here to Rantoul. Everything went fine and in just over 1/2 hour, Jim was pulling me back into site #5 at the Prairie Pines CG. Everything went fine however until Jim decided he wanted to move me forward a few feet.

When he went to start my engine, the starter wouldn't work again!!!!! : (

Well, he leveled me where I was and now this morning, he'll call R & S and they'll try to figure out what to do. Jim hasn't tried my starter again, but if it's like it has been in the past, it may work once everything is cooled off.

I sure hope so. I really don't want to get towed out of here. That would be very embarrassing!!!

So, stay tuned. I don't have a clue as to what is going to happen, but I'll let you know just as soon as I know.

Did you know that the average hen will lay 227 eggs a year?

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Rantoul to Mahomet, Repairs, and A Talk With Myrddin

Mahomet, IL.
62 deg. overcast

Forecast = Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs in the lower 70s. West winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 25 mph. Chance of precipitation 40 percent.


After a slight delay, we left Prairie Pines CG yesterday morning and headed to R &S here in Mahomet. The delay was that Jim had to add some water to my radiator because of the Aqua Hot leak the other day. Then, there was one of my warning beepers going off after he started my engine and he couldn't figure out what was causing it.

I had no way of telling him that sometimes you just have to put me in drive and move me a few feet and the air system  beeper will stop, so we waited until he could call R & S and they told him about this little quirk.

It was 8:05 when we left the CG and after traveling 23 miles it was 8:45 when we pulled into the R & S parking lot.

When Justin went to pull me into the shop there was a problem with my starter, so along with the other things, that had to be looked at also.

Now, I'm sitting inside of the shop and waiting on parts. My Aqua Hot is repaired, (just a hose), the dump valve is replaced and so is the black water flush fitting. I'm waiting on my starter, (which is being rebuilt), and a part for my awning.

I don't know how long I'll be here. It could be as much as a couple days, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Oh, and I talked to Myrddin for awhile today, and he said not to worry because Jim and Linda were very understanding about RVs and understood that there would be some problems at first. He said that he had all kinds of problems when they first bought him.

And another thing, you ought to see Myrddin!! He all cleaned up and really looking spiffy!! : ) He said that they've been working on him for  a few days now.

I don't think he'll have any trouble finding a new owner. ; )

Did you know that Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors?

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

I'm Worried, Problems and A Few Pictures

Rantoul, IL.

72 deg. clear, SE wind @ 7 mph.

Forecast, Showers and thunderstorms likely. Highs in the mid 80s. South winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 25 mph. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.

Oh! No!!!!! I'm worried!!!!!! Yesterday I was wondering if anything important would happen for me to write about, and now I wish there wasn't!!!  : (

 First of all, there's a problem with my main awning!! You can put it out but when you want to retract it, it stops and you have to wait for awhile before you can retract it some more and then it stops again!!! Second, my Aqua Hot furnace has developed an anti-freeze leak. Third, when Jim went to dump my tanks, he took off the sewer cap and got a handful of sewage water, and then when he went to flush the black water tank, water squirted all over the place!!!! Then, to top it off, Jim fell down my entry steps!!!! I don't think he hurt himself too bad, (mostly his left leg), but I think he's going to be sore this morning. : ( 

What I'm worried about is that if I'm having these problems and I already caused Jim to get hurt, will they want to keep me? I heard Jim talking to Steve, (the foreman at R & S where they bought me), on the phone and they're taking me back there tomorrow.

I'll bet Myrddin is still there and they just might put all their belongings back in him and leave me there!!!! Then what would I do? Once an RV gets "tagged" as a "lemon" or a "bad luck RV", they just set on the dealers lots for years and years until the dealer finally sells them as junk!!!!

I know!! I've seen it happen!!!!

Oh, No, What am I going to do???????

I was going to show you a few pictures of me that Jim had taken, but now I don't know if I should or not. But, I guess I might as well. : (

This is of me sitting in site #5 here at Prairie Pines Campground

This second picture shows my 2 slides on my left side. The front one has the couch, stove and sink it it, so it's pretty big and extends about 18"  The rear slide has the head of the bed in it, and extends about 24"
Jim and Linda have both been working on organizing their things. Linda spent most of the afternoon yesterday going through old papers and documents and Jim worked some more on the things in my basement. Then for dinner they went to Monical's Pizza.
I sure hope today goes better than yesterday, I"m not getting off to a very good start. : (

A Point to Ponder : Grandmas are just ancient little girls.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Thank You, Rearranging and Visitors

Rantoul, IL.
70 degrees, cloudy, light rain,
Forecast = Occasional showers and thunderstorms in the morning...then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Locally heavy rainfall possible in the morning. Highs in the mid 80s. South winds around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 80 percent.

I am really pleased. In just one day, I've had over 150 people look at this blog and I already have 12 followers!!!! ;>) 

Thank you so much!!!

Linda has been busy rearranging some of the cabinets inside of me. There were a lot of items that just were stuffed into them so that we could leave R & S. Actually, even though all those items were moved and packed away in just a couple days, it's wasn't really too bad.

Jim has been working on doing basically the same thing to my basement compartments. It was really muggy outside yesterday though, so he didn't stay at it for too long.

I've had 3 visitors here at the park already. First I met Paul and Louise, (the people who manage this CG), and then I met Mark, (Paul's son), who lives in this area. They all seemed to like me and congratulated Jim and Linda on their purchase.

I know some of you are wanting to know more about me. I'll be telling you more as time passes, but right now, I'm just trying to get settled and learn about this posting thing.

I'm going to quit for now. Hopefully I'll have something more important to write about tomorrow.

Oh, I almost forgot!! Myrddin told me that many of his readers enjoyed the "Did You Know" and "Point to Ponder" that he put at the end of his blog, so I'm going to try to continue it here.

Did you know that Ford Motor Company signed its first contract with the United Automobile Workers of America and Congress of Industrial Organizations (UAW-CIO) on this day in 1941?


   

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Hello, I'm Emrys

Hello, my name is Emrys.

I'm a 2000 Newmar London Aire Motor Home. I'm 45' long, have 2 slide-outs and a large Cummins engine.

I'm new to this posting thing, but Myrddin, my predecessor, told me that if I just take my time and start out slow, it'll all work out. I know this blog looks pretty rough righ now, but I'm hoping to refine it in days to come.

Well, it may take me a little longer than that. :>)

I know that some of you are wondering about my name. It’s not a common name so many of you probbably are not familiar with it at all.

The name Emrys,  (pronounced Em ris), is of Celtic (Ancient Welsh) origin. It means “of the light,” “divine,” and “immortal.”  It refers to the ancient Welsh (Celtic) god of light and the truth. “The truth” is because of the fact that when the light shines on anything the truth is revealed. 

I hope you'll follow along as I take Jim and Linda to destinations across this country.

I guess that's all for my first posst. I'm just sitting here at the CG in Rantoul while Jim, Linda and I all get used to one another.  Thanks for reading this.