Stranded in Oklahoma
RV life drama
I have a This or That question for ya’ll — would you rather be stranded in Oklahoma or Arkansas?
We left Chickasaw National Recreation Area on Sunday morning, March 26 expecting to make good time heading home to Ohio for the month of April.
Heading north on Highway 177 out of Sulphur, Oklahoma, it was only 63 miles north to Interstate 40. I wanted to take the scenic longer way home so the plan was to hit I-40 and take it all the way to Nashville, Tennessee. Then hit I-65 North to Indianapolis, Indiana where we would get on I-69 to Fort Wayne, Indiana. Our daughter and her husband live just over the state line in Ohio.
Their home is our home base while we are living in the RV and traveling. That is where all our mail gets delivered and the address we use now.
Stranded
We made it to Tecumseh, Oklahoma which is about 50 miles north of where we were camped and the motorhome started acting up. It was spitting and sputtering and would not shift into the upper gear past 45. I was afraid it was the transmission. Rich drove with his flashers on to a Walmart in Shawnee.
He checked the oil and the transmission fluid. They were both a little low so he walked over to Walmart and purchased some to put in.
We went on down the road a bit and it was getting worse not better.
We got onto I-40 but then pulled off at the Okemah exit and into the Love’s Truck Stop. Right beside it was Okemah Truck & Trailer Repair, but it was Sunday. We figured they wouldn’t open until Monday morning. So we parked in Love’s and set up to spend the night.
Rich got busy on his phone checking for RV repairmen and places, and the first one that came up was the guy across the street. Google said he was open on Sundays and available 24/7.
Rich walked over there and pretty soon came back with Ray. Ray is one of the nicest guys we have met on our travels and he was ready to help.
First thing he found was a clogged fuel filter. I would never have thought to check the fuel filter. We got one from O’Reilly’s Auto Parts a few miles down the road. Came back and Ray put it on for us. The old one was completely clogged. He suggested two cans of Berryman B-12 Fuel Injector Cleaner. He told us to put that in and drive it a few miles down the road and back.
We did, and it sounded a little better but I still heard a hissing air sound and it still spitted and sputtered. I wanted Ray to drive it or ride in it and listen to it.
He came for a ride with us and sure enough he heard the hissing air sound too. He pulled off the engine cover and told Rich to start it. One or more of the exhaust manifold gaskets was leaking. He would have to order them in.
Sunday night we slept in Love’s parking lot.
Monday came and went and O’Reilly’s couldn’t get the gaskets so we had to wait until Tuesday morning when the local NAPA store could get them.
Today is Tuesday, March 28.
Ray got the parts and started working on the exhaust manifold about 10 am. Pretty soon he came to the door with a burnt spark plug wire. He suggested Rich go to the NAPA and get a whole set. He would replace them all. We did. Only one of them was burnt, so we kept the other seven used ones that were still okay.
The RV engine is an 8.1 Chevy Workhorse. Ray replaced four gaskets on one side of the manifold. Four new gaskets, eight new spark plug wires, and $327 later and here we sit stranded at the first rest area in Arkansas.
The motorhome drove great for about the first 80 miles and then we started hearing a loud exhaust sound like we just blew a hole in the exhaust system. Pulled over at the Arkansas Welcome Center and Rich crawled under the engine.
Two of the bolts that connect the manifold to the exhaust pipes were missing. Rich called Ray and told him. Ray said he is sure he put them in there and I believe him because it sounded great and ran great for the first 80 miles.
Ray said they were old and probably broke. The roads are bumpy enough to do that. He should have replaced them with new. He told Rich he would drive here and fix it for us. How cool is that?!
We are 107 miles down the road and Ray is going to drive here free of charge and replace those two lousy bolts for us. He gets a tip for that. Maybe it was his fault, but maybe it wasn’t. Either way, he is going out of his way to help us and we appreciate that.
He is a great mechanic and full of knowledge and we are glad we found him instead of ending up at some big company RV repair place spending a thousand dollars for the same work.
Signing off — still stranded in Arkansas. Stay tuned.