Posted by Tim Holloway on Sunday, April 02, 2006 at 9:16AM :
So yesterday my plan had been to drop Claire off at her sitters at 7:00 and head south with the trailer to Connecticut to deliver an engine. (about 5 1/2 hours) Then head west to Binghamton New York to pick up a Power Wagon (about 4 1/2 hours) then head back towards home until I was tired and stop for the night and finish today. Total of about 700 miles.
All went well for the first hundred miles and as I was climbing a long grade I realised I was slowing down and down and down. I pulled onto the shoulder and tried to restart it. No go. great cranking but no fire. A few weeks ago the electronic speedo went haywire so then I started to think maybe whatever glitch did in the speedo also messed with the gas gauge, which was showing 1/2 a tank. The fuel pump was replaced about a year and a half ago and the filter more recently so I convinced myself it was out of gas. I called triple A and they sent a guy out with a gas can. (45 minutes) That did not work, he listened in the fuel neck as I cycled the key on and off and could not hear the pump cycling. He then whaled on the bottom of the tank with a hammer while I cranked it and it wanted to fire but would not quite go. He pronounced it my fuel pump. I was about 15 miles from his shop, and the next town the other way was 10 miles. Triple A basic coverage only covers a 5 mile tow and he starts quoting me 85 bucks to tow the truck and trailer back. He left to go get the tow truck. While I was gone, I called Triple A and asked them to upgrade my membership to deluxe whick gives a 100 mile tow radius. I asked them about waiving the 2 day waiting period and they agreed to cover the tow back to this guys shop. The driver came back and hooked onto the front of my truck and off we went. Tow truck, my truck and a 26 foot trailer. Looked like a road train! He took it to the shop and I spoke with the owner who called around to try to find a pump at 11 am on a Saturday in a small town. No luck till monday. So, I called a friend who agreed to come pick me up and waited the 2 1/2 hours for her to arive. I liked the owner of the shop and didnt feel like he was a shady operator. He offered to fix the truck and then deliver it back to my shop toward the end of the week, without the trailer. So, next Saturday I will try this again, heading down to Manchester to bick up the trailer and continue on the way. So, other than being really annoyed at the shop that replaced the fuel pump a year and a half ago(with an OEM part) things worked out about as well as possible. In the words of Jerry Jeff Walker, "Some of the fun you can have in your pick-up truck!"
Tim
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