Our RV Adventures

We’ll See.

After fortifying myself with a lot of coffee, I was outside a little before 1pm to jump into replacing our rig’s oil filter.

First up, I put the filter’s rubber gasket in a bowl of oil to marinate while I was prepping the rest of the stuff.

I gathered everything into the bucket so I could pull it all under the rig at one time. I had my flashlight, filter, long tie wraps, EMT scissor to cut the tie wraps, shop rags, and brass brushes, etc.

The filter wrench, ratchet, and extensions were still underneath the rig from the filter removal.

Under the rig, I tied the electrical cables back and got out my brass brushes and scrubbed down the inside of the filter mount, since that was possibly causing my leaking problem.

However after I wiped it down with an oil-soaked rag when I was done, I still had this residue that you see on the right side of this close-up. This outer ring is where the filter gasket seals.

It’s not just a discoloration, but I could actually feel it on the surface THROUGH the rag. I scrubbed and scrubbed it, but the brass brush wouldn’t touch it. I had a set of steel brushes but I was loathe to start scrubbing with a steel one, afraid I would scratch the surface, making things worse. So I’ll keep it in mind in case I still have problems.

I don’t know if this had any thing to do with my original problem, but I guess I’ll know soon.

I then did a test install of the filter while it was still empty of oil, to make it a little easier to handle. And with the cables out of the way, the filter spun right on with no problems. I tightened it up until it was snug to see how far it would travel, and then took it back off. Then it was back outside to prep the filter. I filled it with about 3/4 gallon of oil, reinstalled the marinated gasket, and then it was back under the rig.

Turns out the biggest problem was lifting the now MUCH heavier filter out of the bucket while holding it at arms length. But once I got it overhead, it was no trouble. I got it hand-tightened down and then used the filter wrench to snug it down 3/4 of a turn. I said yesterday that it was 1/4 turn, but I mis-typed.

Pulling everything out from underneath the rig with me, I topped off the oil in the engine and then went inside and crank it up. And after 5 months, it cranked over and started right up. Then after the the oil pressure was up to snuff, I waited a minute or so and then bumped it up to high idle, which is about 1000 rpm, and let it run for 30 minutes before I shut it down.

And, after I checked for leaks, and found none, I was done for the day. Now it’s on to our full test drive next weekend.

Crossing my fingers. Third time, or filter’s the charm, right?

Tomorrow evening we’ve got our Puddles Pity Party concert at the Stafford Center,

preceded by dinner at the Floyd’s Cajun Seafood up in Sugarland.

Since it may be late before we get home, there may or may not be much of a blog tomorrow.

We’ll see.

Thought for the Day: 

In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

We had originally planned to have lunch today at our local Floyd’s Cajun Seafood, but then realized that we were also planning to have dinner at the one up in Sugarland Monday evening before our Puddles Pity Party concert. So it was off to SnoozeAm for breakfast.

We got there about 1:30pm and since the place was really busy, I dropped Jan off to get us checked in while I parked. When I caught up with her, she said there was a 45 minute wait.
Yikes!

That means we would get in about 2:25pm, 5 minutes before they were supposed to close at 2:30pm. Now we had noticed in past visits that they let people in right up until they closed, but we weren’t crazy about the wait.

So we decided to sojourn right down Bay Area Blvd to our used-to-be favorite The Egg and I. And it quickly became obvious that it was a lot of people’s ‘used-to-be favorite. There was no wait, and, actually, it was almost half empty.

Quite a difference from before Snooze opened a few months ago.

We had stopped going to the Egg a month or so ago due to sloppy, slow service, and it hadn’t gotten any better by today’s visit.

Snooze is owned by First Watch, and we’d heard that they were converting under-performing Egg and I’s over to First Watch locations. Something we weren’t happy to hear, since our two visits to the one in League City were underwhelming, to say the least.

The last time we were at the Egg, they didn’t know if they were going to be converted, but today they confirmed that they were.

Very possibly because they’re now an ‘under-performing’ store?

Assuming the weather holds, tomorrow it’s back under the rig to do the new oil filter install and test high idle.

Since, according to Cummins, the original problem may have been caused by the rubber gasket not having enough oil on it, causing it to heat rot and leave small rubber particles on the filter mount. So, while I’m doing the test install, I’m going to be soaking the gasket in a bowl of oil.

Then I’m going to do the test run by getting the filter started on the mounting while it’s still empty of oil, after I tie the electrical cables out of the way that I think were keeping me from getting the old filter reinstalled the other day.

Then I’ll fill the new one with oil and give it a go. Once I’ve got it installed and tightened down, (according to Cummins, that’s 1/4 turn after the filter contacts the mount surface), I’ll remove the ties holding the cables.

Next, after topping off the oil, I’ll give it a high idle (1000 rpm) run for an hour or so, looking for any leaks. If all goes well, next weekend we’ll do an hour or so drive up and down the Interstate for a further test.

We’ve been keeping an eye on all the Yellow Vest protests in Paris, since in many cases they’re taking place in prime tourist areas.

The Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Élysées, right next to the Louvre, both places we’re supposed to visit.

And then there’s our scheduled lunch at the Eiffel Tower.

Hopefully things will be a little quieter when we’re there.

Thought for the Day:

Would lightning be faster if it didn’t zig-zag?

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