Didn't see any GMCs in Europe but we did see a few Caravans (Euro for Class C motorhome). I did get a picture of this one in Bellagio, Italy:
Most of them were about this size although we did see a couple that were a little bigger.
Right when we returned, hurricane Matthew popped up and we had a really close shave and the highly damaging winds only missed us by about 20 miles. We went through the whole exercise of getting ready for the first time since 2005. We tucked the GMC and my Cadillac (not in picture) away in our warehouse that houses our Circus School and karate dojo. We could have probably gotten another 2 cars in there with some effort, but it was fine this way.
Fast forward a month and its early November. I'm excited to get the coach out on the road to head up to Auburndale, FL to see the NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION at the Auburndale Speedway. Figure 8 bus races, demo derby, and my fave the boat and trailer race. It's complete mayhem and ALOT of entertainment for 20 bucks.
Had had promised my buddy Dave a trip in the motorhome and being a fellow gearhead, this was the perfect excuse. Quick trip, one night at a nearby state park and meet friends at the race and use this machine for what it was built for.....a mobile party.
I prep it all up and drive up to Lake Worth (20 min) to pick Dave and his girl up and head out. Right there was a warning sign as I broke the passenger side mirror loose while trying to adjust it.... We look it over and come up with the easy solution of drilling a hole through the mounting post into the coach side of the post (slips over a stud) and run a sheet metal screw through it. 10 min later and we are on our way.
Running up the Beeline Highway, the coach is humming along nicely and life it good. We get to Okeechobee, FL and I point out Jeff Sirum's GMC shop right there as you come into town. It's Saturday and I see one car in front of the office. As we are pressed for time, we roll on and pull into the Racetrac gas station about 100 years past his shop. I turn off the motor and gas her up, while the others use the restroom.
5 min later Dave points out I left the lights one while pumping. No biggie right. Then I say something really stupid, "Gee I hope it starts." Well boys and girls, don't EVER say that outloud because right there I destroyed our entire weekend.... I got in the coach and went to start and NOTHING. Not a click, not a pop, not even a half hearted attempt to engage the starter. WTH?????
First pull the headlights back on, yep they still work. Try turning it all off and start over. Nothing. Get the multimeter and check the battery. 13 volts....Hmmmmm maybe the starter switch went bad (my coach is wired with a start button, as the column starter doesn't work right).
After checking all the obvious stuff, I call Mr. Jim B. at the Co op in Orlando. He tells me where the starter wire is on top of the engine. Yep, there it is and look a wire is disconnected. Hook it up and nothing....There is an Ace Hardware across the street, so off we go and get about 5 feet of 12 gauge wire. we then run right from the battery to the starter. It goes click click click from the solenoid. Still show 13 Volts. Damn the starter went. Call the parts store a mile down the road and you know what, They have a starter for a 1976 Oldsmobile 455 in stock (in a town of 5000).
Dave volunteers to pull the old one, and then I hike the 2 miles in flip flops with the 50 pound starter. I learned carrying a load long distance in flippys gives you shin splints....I swap it out and pay the man 80 bucks and hike it back. It feels heavier on the way back lol. Unfortunately the store did not have equipment to bench test it for us. We get the new one in and still click click and not attempt to spin the motor. At this point I walk down to Jeff's shop, but no one is there (he was at a rally of GMCs and someone sent me a pic of him in a kayak having fun)....
Time to call AAA. It's now about 4:30 (3 hours later) and I tell them I need a flatbed. Ok we got someone who will be there in an hour. Great! Well not so fast as they sent this guy:
Meanwhile I called Lucy and she drove the 80 miles out to pick up Dave and his girl as they said only 1 in the tow truck. Well me and the tow truck driver talk, and figure out that if he hooks it up, he'll crush hydraulic lines that run on the frame as the rig pinches the frame rails to hold onto the truck it's pulling. That and the back end will likely drag damaging my sewer tanks......I appreciate his candor and care about my vehicle. Unfortunately, his company's truck that would work is having an engine overhaul, so he tosses me back to AAA
As this story is so long already, AAA basically then said I was SOL. I remained calm and explained that no, I have been paying them for 20 years for a reason and they need to get me a tow. So at 11:30PM the truck and driver show up (details spared). We get it hooked up (I had to steer it with not power onto the rollback (2 inches on either side!)
Got home at 2AM and the driver was a master. He dropped it right in the driveway with me moving the other cars out of the way.....
While I had hours to wait for the tow by myself, I noticed the house lights dimming in the coach and the front battery (starting battery) was warm. Finally putting it all together I knew it was the battery.
Turned out the starting battery shorted and took the house batteries down with it. At this point I tried getting a jump from a few people at the station, but it just wasn't happening as the battery was shorted out (I didn't know this yet).
What threw both of us off was the full voltage while trouble shooting. The house batteries are SUPPOSED to be separate from the starting battery and only bridged via a dash switch for emergency use. The PO must have (or had done more likely) bridged it all together as I now know that the starting battery is hooked to the house lights, disconnecting the ground from the starting battery, there is still 12V available. I haven't figured out yet how it's all tied together to rectify it.
Bottom line was two of the three batteries are done. For now, I have a new deep cycle starting battery and one of the old Optimas still on the house (we aren't going off grid anytime soon) while I save up some money and go to two 6V AGM batteries for the house, get switches and isolators to assure this doesn't happen again....
http://shop.pkys.com/Blue-Sea-6007-Mini-Battery-Selector-Switch-1-2-BOTH-OFF_p_1623.html
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