Why Did We Stay in Fresno–The Bad Side

We have been under a black cloud of repairs for about 6 months and hopefully we are at the end of these repairs.  To keep things organized (and to help us remember the details) I am putting our repairs in topical order rather than chronological order. 

RV Repairs

First off the body repairs on the RV, DA PAD. The blowout on the outer dual tire literally ripped the side of the rig off, damaged the air bag and did some minor structural damage behind the wheel.

		Damage Repaired VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

Refrigerator

Refrigerator would not cool while plugged into electricity. Dometic was called and after technician, Daniel, had tested a lot of electrical wiring, Dometic said we should replace the computer card. Computer card replaced, electric cooling not fixed. Dometic called again, suggested heaters be replaced. Heaters replaced, electric cooling not fixed.  Dometic called again, suggested a new cooling element. Cooling element replaced after 12 hours with 1-3 techs muscling the refrigerator out, laying it face down on the floor, and replacing the entire back of the refrigerator. Electric cooling not fixed.

Final solution: A replacement refrigerator with our paying the difference between the old Dometic which was not longer manufactured or available and the new Dometic Elite 2_2.

		New Refrigerator Moves In VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

Toilet Fix

We have one of those “push the button” flushing toilets, Dometic Aria II, that decided to not flush. It started with the click, click, click and progressed to growl, growl, growl. The slider part was replace and it worked perfectly. We were scheduled to go to the WARE, Western Area Rally for Escapees, in Lodi and planned to travel on to Napa to visit with our cousins. While in Lodi we had no toilet problems, and while in Napa for a couple of days we had no problems either. That is until the third day. We detected a leak, a odiferous leak, we returned to Fresno.  This was an easy fix with a sealer between the toilet flushing mechanism.

Hot Water Heater and Water Pump

While not related both these appliances quit and had to be replaced.

Front Air Conditioner

As if all the rest of the repairs were not enough, the summer heat in Fresno was just too much for our front air conditioner and the compressor went out.  The fix… a new air conditioner.

Jeep Repairs

The problems with the Jeep probably began when we were at the FMCA Rally in Indianapolis; the Jeep died while waiting for a signal to turn green and would not start. We called our friend, Quentin, and by the time he arrived the Jeep started. We did not have another problem until we were back in Fresno. It seemed this only happened when the weather was hot, the air conditioner was on and we had made several stops and starts during the day. The first time we were towed the Jeep died, we waited 5-10 minutes, the Jeep started, we drove several miles, and the Jeep died again. This happened 3 times within an hour and we had the Jeep towed in to Sunnyside Auto Repair. Because the problem could only be diagnosed when it was occurring, we picked up the Jeep and drove it to Harbor Freight.where it died, would not start and was towed again. Over the course of about 4 weeks, 3 rebuilt computer cards were replaced. To make a very long, long story shorter, we were towed 5 times. For a while it looked like the final card was working. Then our 3 month old battery had a dead cell and was replaced. Again, Jeep would not start, alternator was replaced, crank shaft sensor was replaced. Jeep worked for the hottest day of the year, 110 degrees, then the next day it wouldn’t start. We were scheduled to leave Fresno in a week. We bought a new Jeep.

The Old and the New DA TOAD VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We hope this is the last blog detailing the worst sequence of repairs in our married life. We did have to laugh when our friends, The Kings, who are experiencing a couple of RV’ing mechanical problems, said if their problems did not stop they were changing their name to Westerfield.

So now we will be On the Road Again, Caching Places that We’ve Never Been IN A NEW JEEP.