Monthly Archives: August 2012
Rollin’ on the River . . .
We pulled out of the Ramblin’ Fever RV Park a little after 8am this morning, after having the same problem starting the rig that we had yesterday.
Once again the engine took longer to start up than normal, and then died a couple of minutes later. And like yesterday, it started back up and ran fine the rest of the day. When it does quit I get no warning lights or check engine lights.
At this point I’m beginning to think that the culprit might be the Diesel Kleen that I added to the tank when I filled up last Monday. It’s supposed to clean out your fuel system, and my thought right now is that it has dumped some loosened-up junk in my fuel filters.
I’ll try to confirm this by replacing the generator fuel filter after we get to Celina. If that fixes the generator problem, then I’ll change out the filter on the rig. Otherwise, it’s back to square one.
We got into the Tom Sawyer RV Park on the Mississippi River in West Memphis, AR, just across the river from Memphis, TN. We’ve stayed here twice before, and always enjoy parking right on the Mississippi River.
There’s a constant stream of barges and ships coming by morning, noon, and night.
I’d heard on the news recently about how parts of the Mississippi were shut down to commercial traffic due to low water levels, and our view here certainly shows it. We’ve never been able to see that part of the river bottom on the far bank before.
After settling in, we headed out about 4:30 to have dinner at the one BBQ place everyone we talked to named as the best place in Memphis – Charles Vergos’ Rendezvous.
Located in an alley, yes, an alley, in downtown Memphis, it’s been there since 1948, and turns out what Jan and I both agree are the best ribs we’ve ever eaten.
I’m not normally a fan of the dry rub ribs. They always seem too dry to me, but these were fantastic! They apparently put the ribs under the broiler before they serve them so there is a crispy crust on them that makes them crunchy and delicious.
They’re almost good enough to stay over another day to eat there again. But then Nick would get all whiney if we didn’t show up in Celina on Sunday.
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Thought for the Day:
Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned. – Milton Friedman
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Lake Whitney Thousand Trails . . .
After a nice night at the Lake Whitney Thousand Trails I was up a little early to take a look at my Onan generator problem. But, after extending the generator from the front of the rig, I confirmed what I remembered from the last time I worked on it. Everything is contained inside the housing, and there’s nothing for me to check out without climbing underneath and start taking off panels.
One thing I was trying to confirm was whether or not the generator has a separate fuel filter. Turns out it does, but unlike the oil and air filters, it’s not listed on the front of the case.
I did try the manual start out on the generator, again with no luck, so I retracted the gen slide and went inside to start up the rig diesel.
The first thing I noticed was that the engine didn’t start up immediately. Normally, the engine turns over for just a second and then starts right up. However this morning, it turned over for 4 or 5 seconds without catching. Turning the key off and then trying it again, it started right up.
OK. After checking the gauges, I put the engine in High Idle, started the levelers coming up, and went outside to unhook the shore power. And just as I was storing away the cable the engine just up and quit.
BUMMER!
Going back inside, I once again tried to start the engine, and once again it cranked right up. So not wanted to tempt fate any longer, we hit the road.
And then then engine ran fine the rest of the day.
We got into the Ramblin Fever RV Park in Mount Pleasant, TX about 1:30pm and got set up.
After a nice nap, we headed out about 4:15pm to have dinner at Two Senoritas, a Mexican restaurant we passed on our way to the RV Park.
My Chicken Tortilla Soup was really good, and Jan said her Chile Relleno was delicious.
Tomorrow we’ve got a long travel day, 332 miles, that will end up at the Tom Sawyer RV Park on the Mississippi River in West Memphis, AR.
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Thought for the Day:
If it’s true that our species is alone in the universe, then I’d have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little. – George Carlin
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