The Rest of the Story

[JudyJB]

This is long, so I decided to put it in its own place. You all probably know about my problems with a radiator hose leak, but I want to add "the rest of the story," that happened today. First, however, a quick summary. (And seriously, I am not making any of this up):

- Had radiator flushed and new hoses installed in Feb, 2023, in Phoenix.

- Discovered in Frisco, CO, in late May that coolant was leaking. Connection tightened by mobile technician, which fixed major leak.

- Week or so ago, I discovered coolant still leaking, but much more slowly. Kept watching and adding coolant while trying to find someone to fix it.

- Found brand-new Ford commercial service place in Traverse City. Went there last Wednesday, and they discovered that the new hose had tiny hole, and since it was Ford part, covered under warranty, but they had to order new hose.

- Also, discovered a few days ago that coach water pump had died. Had to take showers by dumping bucket of water on me last three days.

- Went back to Ford place this morning (Friday) and technician put in new Ford hose. No charge, of course. I grabbed lunch at McDonald's and made a quick stop at Macy's. (Did not buy anything.) Headed 6 miles down US 31 to RV place to get water pump fixed.

- Got 1 mile within RV repair place, and hose came apart and dumped coolant, plus engine overheated, and horrible noise and a little smoke came from engine.

- Immediately, pulled into parking lot and called Ford.

- They sent out technician who opened hood and found that new hose he had put in 30 minutes earlier had split and gotten caught in fan, which made noise. (Is there an award for part failing within 5 miles???)

- He went back to shop, and they said it would take until Monday to get another hose, but they could put my old hose back. I agreed since I did not want to spend night in mattress store parking lot or get towed to who knows where. But technician came back with new hose he had gotten at auto parts store, and put that in instead. Brand was Gates.

- Technician admits he put Ford hose in backwards. (End to end??) And profusely apologized. I was polite, but I told him that if engine was damaged, Ford would be responsible and owe me a new engine. (I have a feeling this would not be good for his career.)

- Plan was to replace auto parts store hose with Ford one on Monday. I called my engineer son, and we agreed that replacement was probably as good or better than Ford brand, so tentatively, I am not going back on Monday.

- HOWEVER, all this hose stuff meant I missed my appointment to get water pump replaced!!! Rescheduled for Monday.

Part 2- While I was sitting in vehicle with generator and AC going, waiting for the technician to come back, I called casino I was supposed to stay in tonight (Friday) and Saturday to see if I could extend to Sunday. Except, they have a new system and lost my reservation, even though I had confirmation number. No space tonight, but they are going to comp me Saturday and Sunday. (Whole purpose for going there is that elderly cousin lives nearby.) Suggested I spend tonight in parking lot at casino.

I had already driven 110 miles from Mackinaw City to Traverse CIty, so I was really exhausted and shaky after having smoke and noise coming out of engine, so instead of spending the night in the casino parking lot without power or water, I found a luxurious, full-hookup RV park for tonight near Manistee, which I thought I deserved. Did laundry and am using city water, so was able to take a shower with hot water and without a bucket. Yea!! Will head to my free spots at casino tomorrow and visit cousin on Sunday. (She was my babysitter when I was a child, and I am closer to her than my two dozen other cousins, but she is 8 years older than I am, so need to visit her now.)

Monday, I will go back to get water pump fixed or replaced first thing in morning. i did confirm that they had right one in stock. Then I need to get the heck out of Michigan before anything else breaks.

Anyway, it has been quite a week!!

[JudyJB]

Can't forget get the good news I did get this week.

When I was in Napa, and got the new shocks and front end alignment, the truck repair place I went to told me that my springs underneath my motorhome were in very bad condition, and I needed to replace them all immediately. Son was with me, but I told them not right then, that I just could not afford the extra $8,400 they quoted for spring replacement. Said I would get it done later in the Spring.

So, while I was at the Ford truck place, I asked them to have someone check under my vehicle and let me know the condition of my springs. The technician (not the one who put the radiator hose on) said he looked over all of the springs and everything else underneath my rig, and it was all in decent condition and perfectly safe to drive.

So, on the positive side, I saved $8,400, but on the negative side, it is really irritating that the place in California tried to take advantage of me!!!!! The worst thing is that I have worried about those supposedly dangerous springs for the past 6 months, and it was completely unnecessary!!

[snowball]

Wow Judy you have had quite a few days ... glad that it's all getting done
I hate it when they try to take advantage of anyone but especially women...
it will be nice when the pump is fixed
sheila

[MandysMom]

Goodness Judy! Quite the saga! Hope you have kept a journal, because you might want to write a book someday! What adventures you have had!
Velda

[OregonLuvr]

Happy to hear all is well now in your world. What a catastrophe tho. You need another water pump??? you should buy stock in those things. Anyway hope the rest of your trip is uneventful.

[Cudedog]

Very scary story, Judy.

Hope that all is well now, and you are back on the road.

Anne

[SoCalGalcas]

OMG Judy. What a horrific adventure you have had! Things like this ( hose put in incorrectly) are happening more and more frequently all over the country. I have no idea what the cause is, but it is scary.
Hope as you travel on that things go much more smoothly.
Think of you “on the road “ often.
I have dreams frequently where I am camping. Good feeling dreams. Sure miss it.
Lyn

[BarbaraRose]

I sure hope things quiet down for awhile for you now!

I think because there are so many more RV's on the road now after Covid, that shops have had to hire a lot more mechanics and I am sure many of them are not very qualified or experienced, hence more mistakes being made.

[Shirlv]

Judy, you can do without these kind of adventures. Like Lynn said shabby work is the norm. I am impressed the mechanic took responsibility for mistake.

[JudyJB]

Anne, it indeed was very scary when the hose blew! I was shaking when I called Ford and was still shaking a bit even later when he had replaced the hose again, which is why I decided a relatively expensive over-55 RV park was what i needed. And today I am taking it easy in my free casino electric and water site. Will see my cousin tomorrow after she comes back from church.

And, it is true that an apology goes a long way. A long time ago, my mother had a reaction of delusions while wearing a pain patch for severe pain. I took her to U of Michigan Hospitals Emergency Room and a doctor ordered two intravenous injections. (This was after my mother had described the children's party and the clowns in the waiting room and the people coming out of the ceiling in the emergency room.) I asked nurse what the shots were, and she said it would help reduce the delusions. Turned out, the drug was Narcan, which is what they use for drug addicts who had overdosed, but not the best for an 85-year-old lady. She went into immediate seizures, so for the next several hours we had our own private RN who was not allowed to leave my mother's side during that time. (Maybe a tenth of a dose would have been OK, but they were really afraid they had killed her.) They also hospitalized her for several days and ordered a 24 hour-a-day sitter.

A couple of months later, I got a phone call from the hospital. Person apologized for the intravenous Narcan and said they were using her experience as a teaching case. I felt better to know they recognized their error and were doing something to prevent it from happening again.

[Redetotry]

Oh Judy what a terrible experience. There should be a web site for RV people to leave reviews for repair service, both good and bad. Glad you splurged on a good park you deserve it. Enjoy the visit with your cousin.