Freightliner Service Center, Gaffney, South Carolina

There was a time when I didn't think we would ever get anywhere. . . and here we are in Gaffney, South Carolina, at the Freightliner Service Center. We noticed last winter we were smelling diesel fuel in the undercarriage of the motorhome. It didn't affect the running of the rig, so we planned to get it looked at when we were in northern Indiana. Since that time, we have run about 5,000 miles and still have the fuel leak. But it has gotten progressively worse and we get fumes into the coach.

We did make one attempt at having it repaired in South Bend. Not only did they NOT fix it, but they kinked all the fuel hoses and disconnected the generator, so that had to be fixed. Once they fixed that, they left us with the "still not fixed" fuel leak and another very visible fuel leak. We figured we would decide later what to do because that outfit will not correct their mistakes anymore and we don't want to pay someone who doesn't know what they're doing.

So onward we went with other things we had planned. That stopped short when we developed an apparent problem with a sensor or a module, etc. We were getting a "low coolant" warning, but we were not low on coolant and, in fact, could not put anymore in as it was filled to the top. Grrrrr. We did manage to travel several hundred miles with those warnings because as soon as the engine warmed up, all the lights went out and we could run.

Eventually we made our way to the CAT dealer in Ft. Wayne who reprogrammed our computer to bypass that module to eliminate the warning lights and buzzers. That did the trick as far as running and we have been able to run since then without a problem. We have a Silverleaf Engine Monitoring System that keeps us apprised of the engine diagnostics, so we are comfortable watching that closely for engine activity.

We arrived today in Gaffney, thankful we made it here without a problem and anxious to get the fuel leak and the sensor module fixed. The people here are very nice and we are in a site with 50Amp in their service center parking lot. We have good company around us, other RVers including some fulltimers who are all here for service on their chassis. Our work starts at 8 a.m. tomorrow! Whoo hoo!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Gaffney here we come!

It appears we may get to Gaffney. The motorhome has always run well, but now we aren't getting any error messages so we are rolling. After a week of eating out almost daily, we have settled into the routine of cooking our own meals and that is going well. The dogs are settling into their routine of eating and sleeping on the road with plenty of walks to keep them exercised.

We are spending the night in Renfro Valley, Kentucky, tonight after getting in all our extra doctor appointments and veterinarian appointments, etc. Hopefully the trip down south goes well and we will be able to get everything taken care of. We are now experiencing problems with our dish antenna, but Terry seems to have it under control now. He also had to replace a water pump yesterday but he still thinks we will have to change some relays which he hasn't been able to find. He will have to order those on line but we have to be some place to get them.

We do seem to have some problems of late, but we have now had Phaeton Place for 10 years. It's hard to believe we have been on the road for 10 years. We bought her new and have really had very few problems overall. We have driven her over 108,000 miles over rough roads and all kinds of weather. . . even snow, although that was a freak storm! That has never been the plan! She has served us well and we hope to get many more years of enjoyment out of her.

Till next time. . .

Dale