Tim & Jan
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2005
- Posts
- 175
This during our trip across Newfoundland.
Saturday 7/9, Got gas, then stopped at tourist center 1/4 mile down the road. Picked up information, returned to motorhome and it started OK, put it in gear and the engine dies after about 3 feet. After trying to restart several times called Workhorse Roadside Assistance, when they, after making sure that we were in a safe place, transferred me to a service rep. After listening to my tale he had me check four fuses and all looked OK. I asked if he thought that my just filling the tank may be involved and he said no, it seems to be an electrical problem. The rep transferred me back to Roadside Assistance who would arrange for us to be towed. After giving them our location at about one hour west of St. John?s Newfoundland on TC1, they started searching for a tow company. After about a half-hour, they called to say that the only company they could find, that had a big enough truck, was about 200 miles west and if they used that company we would be towed to the mainland, probably New Brunswick. I said that with all the semis up here that there has to be a tow company in St. John?s, the largest city in Newfound land. Got a call back in about a half-hour and they found Avalon Towing, but now couldn?t find a campground to tow us to. I told them that we had reservations in a campground 15 miles away in nearby Greens Harbour, one of the places they called, and then they were able to take us there. Roadside Assistance would have to wait until Monday to try and find a place to tow us to for service.
Monday 7/11, The closest Workhorse authorized dealer is about 1000 mile away, but Roadside Assistance was able to reach an agreement with Hickman General Motors in St. John?s, who have a truck division. Arrangements are made for tow truck to return, pick us up and deliver us to truck dealer in St. John's, about 60 miles away. Arrive at service and they turn the ignition and motorhome starts right up. That's bad news, now the COMPUTER cannot diagnose the problem. We stayed in their lot overnight and restarted the engine more than twenty times and it started each time. Roadside Assistance told the dealer that if it keeps starting OK that they would only pay for one hour of time.
Tuesday 7/12 Next morning it started and we had the dealer replace the fuel filter, just in case. We moved a couple of miles away to Pippy Park campground where we had reservations for 3 days. Arrived and stopped to register. Started up to drive to our site...motorhome dies in about 500 feet, however it restarts and we got settled into our site. Called service guys, arranged to drive back over on Thursday to have them take another look. Called Roadside Assistance to let them know what happened and talked to a service rep that was a real jerk and offered no help, even after we explained that we are now getting real concerned for our safety, not just being inconvenienced since the motorhome just dies without warning while driving. Called Roadside Assistance back, got an understanding person and he got authorization for us to return to Hickman.
Thursday 7/14 We have 8:00 AM appointment, motorhome starts right up and we head over to the dealer. As we make the turn onto one of the busiest roads in town it dies! Fortunately it was 4 lanes so we only blocked one complete lane in the middle of rush hour. We lost track of the number of people that stopped to see if we needed assistance, drivers, walkers, bikers, everyone. They tell us that corner has the most accidents in town. Again called service, they send their guys to us with equipment to check out computer. It took them awhile since they had truck trouble on the way to see us. Finally they found the problem to be the fuel pump which is located inside the gas tank. Two hours later the tow truck arrived to take us to the dealer a few miles away. They removed the tank while we were still hooked up to the tow truck, remember we have a full tank since we have been towed all over the country, and then got towed to the tow company lot. When they dropped the tank, they found that the plug-in connector at the pump had started to burn up. Seems like the only fuel pump is in Chicago and will take a few days. Avalon towing placed us in a spot where they provided electric and allowed us to tie into their internet connection. They wanted to put a barbecue out here for us, we said NO we expect to be out touring.
One more tow back to Hickman should be the last of our saga. This is the short version of the story. We probably will be here until at least Monday, but now we know what the problem is. Life is a trip!! We'll plan some drives for the next few days and then see what happens when the new pump is installed.
We will try to start another topic regarding the old Monaco gas pusher Avalon Towing is converting to a front engine diesel MH.
Saturday 7/9, Got gas, then stopped at tourist center 1/4 mile down the road. Picked up information, returned to motorhome and it started OK, put it in gear and the engine dies after about 3 feet. After trying to restart several times called Workhorse Roadside Assistance, when they, after making sure that we were in a safe place, transferred me to a service rep. After listening to my tale he had me check four fuses and all looked OK. I asked if he thought that my just filling the tank may be involved and he said no, it seems to be an electrical problem. The rep transferred me back to Roadside Assistance who would arrange for us to be towed. After giving them our location at about one hour west of St. John?s Newfoundland on TC1, they started searching for a tow company. After about a half-hour, they called to say that the only company they could find, that had a big enough truck, was about 200 miles west and if they used that company we would be towed to the mainland, probably New Brunswick. I said that with all the semis up here that there has to be a tow company in St. John?s, the largest city in Newfound land. Got a call back in about a half-hour and they found Avalon Towing, but now couldn?t find a campground to tow us to. I told them that we had reservations in a campground 15 miles away in nearby Greens Harbour, one of the places they called, and then they were able to take us there. Roadside Assistance would have to wait until Monday to try and find a place to tow us to for service.
Monday 7/11, The closest Workhorse authorized dealer is about 1000 mile away, but Roadside Assistance was able to reach an agreement with Hickman General Motors in St. John?s, who have a truck division. Arrangements are made for tow truck to return, pick us up and deliver us to truck dealer in St. John's, about 60 miles away. Arrive at service and they turn the ignition and motorhome starts right up. That's bad news, now the COMPUTER cannot diagnose the problem. We stayed in their lot overnight and restarted the engine more than twenty times and it started each time. Roadside Assistance told the dealer that if it keeps starting OK that they would only pay for one hour of time.
Tuesday 7/12 Next morning it started and we had the dealer replace the fuel filter, just in case. We moved a couple of miles away to Pippy Park campground where we had reservations for 3 days. Arrived and stopped to register. Started up to drive to our site...motorhome dies in about 500 feet, however it restarts and we got settled into our site. Called service guys, arranged to drive back over on Thursday to have them take another look. Called Roadside Assistance to let them know what happened and talked to a service rep that was a real jerk and offered no help, even after we explained that we are now getting real concerned for our safety, not just being inconvenienced since the motorhome just dies without warning while driving. Called Roadside Assistance back, got an understanding person and he got authorization for us to return to Hickman.
Thursday 7/14 We have 8:00 AM appointment, motorhome starts right up and we head over to the dealer. As we make the turn onto one of the busiest roads in town it dies! Fortunately it was 4 lanes so we only blocked one complete lane in the middle of rush hour. We lost track of the number of people that stopped to see if we needed assistance, drivers, walkers, bikers, everyone. They tell us that corner has the most accidents in town. Again called service, they send their guys to us with equipment to check out computer. It took them awhile since they had truck trouble on the way to see us. Finally they found the problem to be the fuel pump which is located inside the gas tank. Two hours later the tow truck arrived to take us to the dealer a few miles away. They removed the tank while we were still hooked up to the tow truck, remember we have a full tank since we have been towed all over the country, and then got towed to the tow company lot. When they dropped the tank, they found that the plug-in connector at the pump had started to burn up. Seems like the only fuel pump is in Chicago and will take a few days. Avalon towing placed us in a spot where they provided electric and allowed us to tie into their internet connection. They wanted to put a barbecue out here for us, we said NO we expect to be out touring.
One more tow back to Hickman should be the last of our saga. This is the short version of the story. We probably will be here until at least Monday, but now we know what the problem is. Life is a trip!! We'll plan some drives for the next few days and then see what happens when the new pump is installed.
We will try to start another topic regarding the old Monaco gas pusher Avalon Towing is converting to a front engine diesel MH.
