I had opted to take a different route home, than the one on the way up, as we would have gone through Atlanta in the later part of the afternoon, which didn't really appeal to me much...
We headed east after a stop in Cadiz, KY for some gas and breakfast (to go fresh made for us). We hit the Nashville area around 10:30 and there was ALOT of traffic, so we baled off the highway and took some surface streets. By chance, we would up passing Prince's Fried Chicken again! By using a few different surface streets and US Hwys, we avoided the traffic jam and wound up on I-65 heading south through rolling hills. Everything was running good, and we were doing well with time....too good.
Soon enough we hit the Alabama
The girls have this handstand deal they do at the state welcome centers, so of course I go to pull off at this one too. As I'm coming down the exit ramp all of a sudden the engine dies. Everything dies, no electrical... Now I have no power brakes or steering which could be scary, but I'm on an off ramp and still rolling about 40-50 so I can steer ok for the moment. I take aim at a spot and we glide to a stop without making a scene. WTH now!?
Well, it doesn't take me long to figure out what happened:
The battery cable which is new, was made too short. As you see in the above picture, the battery has slid (not held down) toward the driver's side. The terminal was a crimp on, and pulled out. As I didn't make any sudden lane changes just before, I can only surmise that it was teetering on the brink for some time. I'm so glad it happened when it did as I was safe in a parking lot and able to work on it. I inspected it and figured out the orientation and it slid right back in and I squeezed it with VIse Grips and taped it up again. It works! But wait, what is that noise? Sounds like the fuel pump is running and there is no key in the ignition......Great now what? I turn off the battery kill switch and sure enough it stops. Turn it on and the it starts running. I start the engine and it's okay, turn it off, fuel pump still running. Flip the kill switch and go to the toilet and get a cold drink.
Now I need to prevent the battery from moving. A 2x4 would be perfect, but I don't have one handy, but I do have a leftover piece of Hickory, so I put that in the battery tray and run a screw into it to hold it in place. Ta-Da! When in Alabama...as they say lol.
Now I need to prevent the battery from moving. A 2x4 would be perfect, but I don't have one handy, but I do have a leftover piece of Hickory, so I put that in the battery tray and run a screw into it to hold it in place. Ta-Da! When in Alabama...as they say lol.
This didn't set us back too long, and I make a call to the shop to find out about why the fuel pump won't stop (and let the owner know, his tech should have used a little more wire on the battery cable - honest mistake trying to keep it clean and tidy). I talk to the engine mechanic and he assures me the fuel pump won't burn up as it's constant duty and cycling fuel in a loop for the FI system. He suggests trying to reset the Computer in the FI system. At this point, I'm wondering, why I didn't put a Quadrajet on this engine (oh yeah, the hope for better fuel economy). I decline to mess around with the software 800 miles from home and I NEED to be back at work the day after tomorrow. Since it's running I'll just flip off the battery when I stop and off we go.
I'll add as a side note that after being home and calling FI Tech, they issued an RMA to return the unit for repair as the computer is telling the FP wire to be hot all the time (should prime for 2 second, then drop until the engine is started).
A few hours later we are hitting the Birmingham Area and the rain starts. Did I mention we have no AC in the coach? Traffic is a snarled mess and slow and it's getting to be a steam bath in the coach...
We make a pit stop at O'Riellys to pick up a clamp on battery terminal and some belt dressing. The alternator has been a pain as over 3000 RPM the belt slips as mentioned in earlier posts. The belt dressing in short was a waste of money as it didn't help. I don't take the time to swap over the battery connector as it's still raining pretty hard.
We finally run out of the rain after a couple more detours to avoid traffic stoppages on I-65. We get close to Montgomery and now I'm looking for an alternator as we also saw voltage spikes up around 16 volts while humming down the hwy. Once it went up that high, it would stay there until I stopped the engine. We find a cluster of 3 parts store near the highway and go for it. I pull into the lot at O'Riellys (first one) and the parking lot is not level where I stop so one of the front wheels is on an incline while the other 3 are not.
The store doesn't have the right alternator and I take the few minutes in the shade (why I picked this parking as it was 90+) to replace the battery terminal connector. I go in coach and notice that due to the way I parked and stopped for an extended period (as opposed to driving a over a bump). I obviously put a twist strain of the body and roof of the coach as my driver's windshield is now sporting a top to bottom crack!
The store doesn't have the right alternator and I take the few minutes in the shade (why I picked this parking as it was 90+) to replace the battery terminal connector. I go in coach and notice that due to the way I parked and stopped for an extended period (as opposed to driving a over a bump). I obviously put a twist strain of the body and roof of the coach as my driver's windshield is now sporting a top to bottom crack!
Right about now, a nice guy in a pickup truck rolls up and asks if we need help and he loves GMC motorhomes, lurks on the Facebook group, etc. etc. As you can imagine, I'm not at my best right now and while I answer him politely, my answers are short matter of fact and probably not too friendly sounding at that juncture. I assure him, I have it under control and need to get on the road as I want another 200 miles before we stop for the night. We both head out and I feel bad that I wasn't nicer to the guy. It's about 5PM and we get through the rest of Montgomery and start to head SE towards Dothan, AL. For a town I never knew existed 2.5 years ago, this will be my second visit in 2 years.
As the hours tick by, I'm really in a bad mood about the windshield, the alternator, oh and it rains some more. Back on a US Hwy, I'l enjoying the lack of traffic but my mood is dour at best. I have Lucy start calling around the Dothan area to procure us a hookup for the evening. She's finds us a spot at the A Okay RV Park just south of town. We are about an hour out and the guy says he was about to leave but will wait for us. We arrive at 8:15PM in the dying daylight. He is super nice guy, and we quickly hookup and then head over to the office as he has showers and will wait for us again! We chat a few minutes and then head back to the coach as I'm wiped out. I managed to squeeze an extra hundred out of those 200 miles I was hoping for (Tallahassee).
Since the fuel pump kept running, I had to kill the battery so NONE of the interior lights (they are all 12V) worked. We had fun with flashlights for the evening and used my 110V Drop light as well.
Since the fuel pump kept running, I had to kill the battery so NONE of the interior lights (they are all 12V) worked. We had fun with flashlights for the evening and used my 110V Drop light as well.
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