Breakdown

We had a pretty full day scheduled yesterday. The first stop was at Josie's work to get her paycheck and then go to the bank, followed by a trip to the RV show in Peoria Stadium, Sam's Club, Joann's and then home. We made it to Josie's work, but on the way to the bank (around 11:30) to deposit her check, we had a huge surprise. The truck just died on 99th Ave in Sun City going south, just short of Bell Rd. I coasted to the shoulder where we called AAA for help. It acted like there was no gas, but we knew there was fuel according to our gauges and the battery was fine as it tried to start. It seemed like there was a problem somewhere in the fuel delivery system.

The AAA tow truck came about a half hour after we called, and our "fun" day was underway:

Our truck was towed to the Ford dealer on Bell Rd - Peoria Ford - where it was placed in the queue with all the other "unscheduled" service requests. We weren't going to waste the whole day sitting in the waiting area, so we took their shuttle to the RV Show which was only about a mile away from the dealership. The RV show was a big one and is the same one we went to last year at this time. By now, we were hungry, so we stopped at the refreshment stand as soon as we arrived which was very close to the entrance:

There were lots of interesting RV's and we enjoyed walking around to see the new 5th wheels, trailers and a few motor homes. We got some good ideas from these, but really didn't see anything that grabbed us to the point where we "had to have it". The best thing we took away from the show was that there is a dealership in Anthem we didn't know about that had some quality units at the show. We will take a short drive to that dealership sometime to check it out.

Anyway, we called the Ford dealer where our truck was finally in the service bay to diagnose the problem. The shuttle came to pick us up from the RV show:

and we were back at the service desk by 4:30. At first, they couldn't nail-down the exact cause because diagnostics showed 12 different problem codes, where the normal is for about 3 or 4 codes. The decision was made that we should get a rental car from the local Hertz office and be prepared for a couple days of being without our truck. Fortunately, we have an extended warranty on the truck which we purchased following the radiator debacle a year and a half ago. As we were preparing to leave to pick up our rental car, the service technician said he discovered the problem. It seems that there was a wire that broke loose from the fuel pump harness that resulted in a short to the fuel pump. He thinks the fuel pump is OK, but the harness needs to be replaced which is a very difficult and time consuming task. Of course, they have to make their money any way they can, and bilk the customer. It appears that it will require a few days to accomplish this seemingly easy task, so we are driving a 2013 Mustang for a few days. I didn't get a shot of the car yet, as it was dark by the time we got home.

I have to take Josie to work today - 7 AM - so I can have the use of the car in case a miracle occurs and we can pick up the truck before the close of the service department for the weekend. Josie has to work a long day today - until 5:30 PM, so I guess I'll just hang out and wait for a call from the Ford Dealership...