First trip.......the good, the bad and the ugly!

I decided to take the Travco on a trip to Camden, Maine for an extended Labor Day vacation. It might have been optimistic on my part but I trusted that all the work done by Henry's Diesel, in Westport, Massachusetts, would make it road worthy for this trip. That was my first mistake.

I gave the inside a superb cleaning and checked out the electric and air conditioner to make sure they would work. The electric was fine, the interior air blowed cold air, but the dash air was warm. The days ahead called for record heat but I thought, since I was roughing it, I would make do.

I loaded up the dogs, who were as excited as I was.



Took off and stopped at the local station for a fill up.



Looks good, so far, doesn't it? Drove to the Orient Point-New London Ferry and waited on line.





Still, so far, so good. The route I decided to take was a long one, backroads, little use of Interstates, One of the problems I encountered was the Travco had a tendency to backfire. When I was driving slow and people were tailgating me, I would let off the gas and BOOM. It did stop the tailgating and scared the crap at more than a few people, including me. I thought that is something that definitely needs to be taken care of. Maybe a new carb would help. The backfire reared it's head at Henry's but Henry could not find the cause. They adjusted the carb, thought it might be a vacuum leak but nothing could be found.

One thing I noticed before the I left was that the coolant level in the expansion tank said "add". I pick up a gallon and added some. The temperature gauge has showed hot since I picked up the Travco, but Henry's explanation was the the idiot gauge was not correct. He said the gauge is old and was not reliable and everything was OK. Mistake #2.

I stopped for gas and noticed coolant blowing out the expansion tank. My initial thought was, maybe it was because I added some and the Travco was mostly running great except for the backfire. I drove on, mistake #3. You probably get were I am going with this.

I guess it was bound to happen, traveling backroads, I got lost. I found a state park in Massachusetts along the way, stopped and gave the dogs and me a good break and dinner.

Moved on. I thought I would be optimistic and hopefully get to Southern Maine for my first night. Mistake #4, the Travco is 41 years old and should not be pushed like that. Like I said, I was lost and broke out the GPS. It put me on Interstate 93. Being a little frazzled, I hoped on the South exit instead of North... ugh, but the good news was a sign for Interstate 95 and I knew that would take me on my way North to Maine.

Now for the bad news. As I was approaching New Hampshire. still on Interstate 95, I smelled burning coolant. Next thing steam coming for the engine compartment. I pulled over. I was about a mile away from the NH rest stop and I was planning a stop there, but for now the side of the road would have to do.

I gave the engine a good hour to cool and added the gallon of coolant I had to the radiator. Unfortunately, I could see it drip slowly down on the ground. Major problem, I thought. I checked my GPS and saw there was a Walmart, also about a mile away. I thought that would be my better choice to access my problem. It is great of Walmart to allow RV's to overnight in their parking lots and this night it was much appreciated.

There was about 8 other RV's there.





I filled up the radiator with another gallon of coolant and about 1/2 gallon of water. I also added Prestone Stop leak and crossed my fingers one time.

In the morning I took off to find a mechanic. Went to one only to find they were closed, early start to the weekend. Stopped at the second, he could not help but gave me the names of 2 others. I went to #3 but there were the biggest assholes (I wish I could remember their name). Told me there was nothing in it for them to help me out........ another ugh.

The radiator seemed to be holding up alright at this time. I saw no leaks and behold, the temperature gauge was reading normal. Thanks Henry for the misleading advice!

I decided to try and make the next mechanic recommended by stop #2. He was about 10 minutes away on the Interstate. On the way there was a NH Liquor Store, so I pulled in just to check things out. Ugh....... I could tell we were running hot. I gave the Travco a rest, hoping to make it to the next mechanic. I made it about another mile, overheated and pulled over.

This time a police officer stopped and asked if I need help. He said he heard the backfire, LOL. With the overheating problem the backfires were the least of my problem. I sensed he wanted me off the road, so I agreed to a tow. Another mistake, this one #5. It cost me $240 for a mile tow. I have Coachnet and should have waited and called it in myself.

We towed the Travco to Frank's Auto Repair in Hampton, New Hampshire. Frank seemed like a very nice guy and a fellow dog lover. He had 2 dogs sitting with him at his desk. He and one of his mechanics took a look. The found a hole in the radiator, which they felt was caused by the fan clutch. They said the fan clutch was to close to the radiator and worn a hole into it. It seemed like henry's put in the wrong fan clutch. The radiator would have to be pulled, sent out and re-cored and the right fan clutch would have to be installed.

Since Henry's had just installed the fan clutch and worked on the radiator, I decided to give him a call. He was not there but I left a message with Stephanie and she said he would call me back. Good thing I did not hold my breath. I guess after spending close to 8K with him, he offered no help and no return call. I will follow up, once the final verdict is in on what was wrong, but if Henry's screwed up he will hear from me. Funny thing about the internet, google Henry's Diesel and see what comes up first. It is my blog and my previous post about Henry's Diesel.

Now back to the rest of the story. The dogs and I were stuck at Frank's. I will not bore you with all the details, just the condensed version. The Travco was going to be left and I needed to find a way home. I called friends that were not far away but that was not going to get me home. Tried my son in Rhode Island, but he was on duty for the next 48 hours, he is a fireman. Called friends back home but either there vehicle was too small for all of us or the needed a few days to come. I thought about staying at a hotel but my problem was no car to get me there. Did I say there were no rental cars avaible in the area.

My sister came to the rescue. She rented a SUV and came to get me the next day. Frank allowed me to stay overnight at his Dad's storage facility next to his shop. In the back it was really peaceful and the dogs and I spent the next 26 hours.



Now the good. My sister, Theresa, got there, we loaded up the SUV and took the trip to Maine. We did not make it to Camden but went to Freeport. We shopped, ate good food, and did doggie stuff. Everybody, including the dogs had a great, great time.

I usually go to Freeport every year. I stay at a cabin at Recompence Shore Campground. I called to see if a cabin was available and there was the one I usually rent was available for one night. Well, good luck must have shined on me a bit because right before I got there there was a cancelation and we were able to rent it for the rest of our stay.

The good............ I love the Travco. It is perfect for me and the dogs. Hopefully Frank will get it all straightened out. Besides the radiator, I asked him to find the cause of the backfire and fix and to get the in-dash AC to work. The other good was the rest of my mini vacation, spending time with my sister and my dogs.