Flagstaff, AZ – Thursday September 13, 2018

Campsite for Thursday night

Yes this is an overflow sales lot for Evert’s RV Country in Flagstaff, AZ.

This is how we got from Page to Flagstaff. You think gas is expensive this is $4.00 a mile. We stayed with AAA towing because our membership which ended August 31 was on an auto pay plan and was posted the first Tuesday in August. I have to say AAA has done great job this time. The people in the Phoenix call center are pretty helpful and good at follow up

First thing this morning the mechanics looked at the coach and decided the problem was that the ignition key has a chip in it and the key chip and the steering column chip were not talking to each other all the time. We decided we would move on and look for a Workhorse chassis center who could reprogram the chips. We drove a mile and a half to a dump station ( I think the shitter was almost FULL) and than a half block to get gas. After I got gas the ignition key would do nothing. So there we were at a large Shell station under their canopy out of the sun at 11:30 a.a. in or loved but dead coach.

I found this dealership in Flagstaff who will work on the coach. The service manage even thinks he knows what is wrong. He has seen many Workhorse coaches where the power distribution switch at the end of the steering column melts. He said he could look at it on Friday if we got to Flagstaff.

I called AAA about getting towed to this service center in Flagstaff from Page. They said sure, the membership we have covers 100 miles and it is 127.2 to Flagstaff. We would have to pay the tow truck driver (Jack, that would be Mater) for the additional miles. 45 minutes after the original call I called AAA to ask for a ride back to the repair shop to get the pickup. AAA said they were working on getting a tow that the Page people were to busy to help us however they had found a truck in Winslow, AZ and he’d be on his way shortly. The pickup was still 1.5 miles back up the road so I put on a bunch of sun block and a quart of water to go get the pickup. At 2:43 the tow truck driver called to say he was on his way.

Clayton, the driver got to Page at 5:45 and by 6:30 we were moving south. By 9:30 p.m. we were at our campsite for the night. Flagstaff is not noted for being an RV friendly town so we tucked the coach in between several display models the dealership is selling.

We are here and working to fix new problem.

Page, AZ – Wednesday September 12, 2018

Today we got our new fan and radiator installed. They finished at 4:30 and we took it for a drive around town to ensure everything was good.

This is the leak in the radiator and yes it is small and maybe a 64th of an inch more and the blade would have missed the radiator all together.

New and old fan.

I am guessing that this large fitting is why their was no direct part interchange to a Chevy radiator.

Test drive went fine until we stopped and I got out to look for leaks. When I started the engine I got this message on the dash “Reduced Eng Power”. I could get the coach to move from the spot we where in but as soon as I started up an incline the coach would not move forward, only roll back down the small grade.

This was 5:15 and the shop closes at 5:00. I called the shop to let him know where we were and we would be coming back, then walked down to the street corner so I could tell AAA we where.

As I was calling AAA Mike the shop owner drove into the parking lot. He had returned to the shop to get some keys and heard my message. Mike called Joe the mechanic and they both worked on the coach and finally got it to start. We drove back to the shop for another night and they will look at the coach in the morning.

Our Page adventures continue.

Page, AZ – Sunday September 9, 2018

Shorter drive today than the original planned.

We were 10 miles outside Page after a Walmart stop when we heard a Big Bang, (spell check wants capital letters) at the front of the coach. First thought it was a tire but steering was fine. Again we had coach problems where their was a place to pull off the road. Walked around coach and found antifreeze dripping in the front.

This is the drive for the day

And repair shop we will be at for several days.

We are fine coach will need some work.