Started work at 8 AM (slept in) with the long, complex, frustrating assembly. All went reasonably well, except for the tourists who were more annoying today than ever. Some "modifications" of the compressor were needed as it was not exactly a one for one. No big deal but took time (and the electric grinder!) By 3 PM the compressor and pump were in and connected. All preliminary tests were complete and successful. I put RTV (silicone gasket sealant) on the large gear cover plate (about 24" x 36") and tried slapping it in place. Oooops. A ton of RTV now on the plate and I can't get the damn crankshaft seal, press mounted on the plate, to slide over then end of the protruding crankshaft. I should have tried fitting it before applying the gasket sealant, but alas. Screwed with the damn thing and finally got it on, but the seal looked mighty strange - I kind of thought it wasn't right but after all this BS I was tired and just wanted to get the hell off the hill and away from all these damnable stupid tourists. (Oh yes, do I have stories about them!) GRRR!

It's not obvious from this photo, but the large air compressor and hydraulic pump, along with at least a dozen connections need to be put back into the very tight circled area next to the Bosch fuel pump (which made the Germans happy.)

So put the rest together, took the 5 gallons of various fluids that had to be drained and repacked them in containers for proper (seriously!) disposal later, cleaned up and got the hell out of there a 5 PM. Yes - the engine started. Yes, it ran at least 15 miles to the bottom of the hill. Yes, measured the temperature of the hydraulic pump and the compressor and they seemed to be OK.

Decided to stop at a commercial campground in Torrey run by a very nice couple (who also do 4 wheeling.) Got some excellent suggestions for trails around here. BUT...... on closer inspection found an engine oil leak from the crank seal that I didn't think was right. Yup, I blew it and installed it incorrectly. Damn. Double damn. Triple damn. Screw it - go out to eat (not an easy task in the very small town of Torrey.) So now, 10PM, I'm pissed at myself and waiting for morning to see if I can remedy the situation or will need to order a new oil seal Monday and have it dropped shipped here at the campground.

So partial success. The engine runs, the compressor compresses, the hydraulic pump, pumps. All appears to be well except for my stupid mistake. I suppose we'll start to head back one this is fixed. Quadruple damn.

So 10 AM now. I'm not motivated today. Need to get my dirty work clothes out of the garbage bag in the basement (odor containment) and see how badly I've damaged the crank seal.

11:30 AM: And the answer is ....... badly. There's a rust lip on the end of the crank that I should have cleaned off with sandpaper or a drill brush but I didn't notice that. The lip did a number on the seal. Fast and Furious isn't good (both the movie and working.) The leak could be temporarily repaired by slopping some RTV around it and pushing the dust cap back on. That would get us to Grand Junction where there's a large Cummins parts house. There's also chance that one of the local NAPAs might have the seal - but I know where I'd put my money! At any rate, will wait until tomorrow and check with NAPA.

One way or another we'll stay here for a day or two. Winds today are about 20 with gusts to 35. The weather forecast is somewhat convoluted (surprise!) I suspect a storm may be on its way.

The camp hosts here, Dave & Kim, are very nice. Dave is into ATVs (as opposed to RTVs ) and has a pretty good shop set up in the back of 24' enclosed trailer. Kim also collects JAFRs. They've pointed out various things to do and have been quite helpful. For example, he just rode his ATV down to our site and dropped off the names and phone numbers of the local NAPA stores (definition of local: within 40 miles.)

But now, after lunch, am preparing for a drive to Capitol Reef. Need to salvage a little bit of the last few days.

9 PM: And salvaged it was! Here's the short (fortunately) story (but nice photos!)

After a couple days of no sightseeing (excluding the scenic jaunt to Nephi and back) it was time to go for a little drive. Just east of Capitol Reef National Park the landscape changes dramatically into the colorful desert that's typical of the San Rafael Swell west of Hanksville. So here's a photo of my swell 15 minutes in the Swell this trip, with the Henry Mountains as a backdrop. Next year, dammit!

Ah, back in Capitol Reef. I just has to get a photo of Fern's Nipple, the white Navajo sandstone peak in the lower right. Delorme calls it out as Fern's Nipple but the National Park Service seems to have deleted this landmark from their maps. Prudes! Our tax dollars at work, exorcising names from maps.

This road is part of a large loop road that would have been taken if it was not for the errant air compressor. This road has also been on the list for a long while. Next year, dammit!

And yet another butte. I took so many photos it was hard to decide which ones to add here. Awesome, absolutely awesome. Jeez, I love this country!

There are so many roads. So many fun things to do. So little time. Next year, dammit!

And finally here's another idyllic scene. A great way to end a day. It would be delightful to have scenes like this each late afternoon. Next year, dammit!

Tomorrow begins the quest for the great seal in the state of Utah.

8 AM: Parts stores are open but - surprise! - no one has the great seal. Called Cummins in SLC and they will ship TWO down to a Cummins dealer in Richfield, 65 miles away. They will arrive tomorrow around noon.

So what do you do while you're waiting for parts - you go Jeepin'! Kim and Dave provided a number of suggestions that worked out very well. We headed up into the colorful cliffs north and west of Torrey. This was a great ride. The wind had picked up a lot. Puffies are forming but I doubt we'll get rain. It's warm and a beautiful drive. And - as an added bonus, we found tons and tons of petrified wood, just as Dave & Kim had told us.

So had supper, returned to the coach, dropped off the many pounds of petrified wood, did some maintenance on the Jeep, washed clothes, and prepared (mentally) for the drive tomorrow. The wind is picking up even more!

9 PM: The trip for parts was not much of an adventure. 30 mph head winds going, rain, a little solid precipitation but nothing exciting. The parts were there and by 1 PM was back at the camp. By 4 PM all was back in order and we were out of there. I don't feel too badly about screwing up the seal anymore. It turns out about the only way to successfully install the seal is with a little plastic tool that they provide when one buys a new seal. Had I thought clearly, the new seal would have been one of the 20 parts needed on the first trip but hey...Dave's rule of parts says any major repair requires a minimum of at least 3 trips to the store.

The careful reader will, however, say, "But you only made two trips!" Wellllllll, 10 miles out of Torrey, right across from the entrance to Capitol Reef, the low engine coolant light came on and the engine temperature rose very quickly. Pull off to the side, look underneath and see antifreeze all over the bottom. Now what? Turns out there was a defective hose clamp and one of the coolant hoses let go. This was nowhere near, nor even closely related to the compressor problem. What are the odds? Why don't these odds work for me when I buy my one lottery ticket each year? At any rate, it was a 5 minute fix with a new hose clamp (which was in stock!)

The antifreeze used is Cummins proprietary so head back to town and buy 6 gallons of distilled water. I'll use that until Grand Junction where I can get the real antifreeze and add it there. 3 trips!

We were able to pull off into a very scenic picnic area of Capitol Reef when the failure occurred. After the quick repair, I flagged down a ranger and told him of the predicament and asked if we could stay here for the night rather than going to their campground which was already full. I'm zonked and didn't want to drive. He was very kind and said "sure." Then he and I talked about Jeeps for the next half-hour!

So 10 miles Saturday, 10 miles today. How many tomorrow before something breaks again? At this rate it'll be the middle of April before returning to Illinoiz ..... and then it'll be time for me to go to Moab!

Too bad.

Morning came when the sun came up - duh! Grab a cup of coffee and a sweet roll, go outside and make sure the motorhome didn't crap all over the parking area (it didn't.) Just then a Friendly Ranger drove up and informed me that I couldn't camp here. I informed him the Friendly Ranger last night told me that, due to the breakdown, we could stay here. I mentioned that Friendly Ranger #1 said it was OK. Friendly Ranger #2 knew nothing of this but was most accommodating and understanding. Then he and I talked about Jeeps for the next half-hour.

He left. We left, but back up the hill 10 miles to Torrey and cell service. I'd added distilled water in lieu of antifreeze. I was concerned this might not be a good thing so moseyed on up the hill to ask the Oracle at Cummins if distilled water was OK. The short answer was yes, for a thousand or so miles. Long term, even distilled water will eat a hole through piston cylinder sleeves. That would not be good. That's why one needs the antifreeze with the additives. The Oracle indicated we'd be OK back to Illinoiz but I decided to get some of this magic solution at the Junction and be done with it.

Root Cause Analysis (or Failure Mode Analysis if you prefer....)

I understood the failure mode of the coolant hose. The clamp had been "wound too tight" and was unable to be tightened any more, but was not gripping the hose well since it was too large and had wrapped around itself. It took a long time, but the failure of the factory to correctly tighten the clamp (or use the correct clamp) finally took its toll.

Now the failure mode of the compressor has been terribly vexing. Why? Will it do it again? Was it something I did? Etc. After answering questions about the attributes of antifreeze for diesel engines (at least for these big block jobbie-dos,) I pressed him on the compressor failure. Sonuvabich! It's a friggin' design problem. The Oracle conceded that the front bearing of some of the compressors go to hell after about 50K-70K miles due to too much stress on the bearing because of da hydraulic pump dat's connected to da compressor pump. SHIT!!!! The new compressor allegedly has a much larger and improved front bearing although the Oracle could not confirm this. He also indicated that 7 years on the errant compressor was "good" for that compressor and the bearing. Sonuvabitch! They knew this but apparently there was no recall. I really, really despise corporate America. But now that I've said all this, I feel SO much better. Yeah, right.....

So on our way again. As we approached Hanksville, we passed Factory Butte where there is a war raging. The eco-nazis seem to think the ATV and 4WD crowd is ruining the barren, clay landscape and want to close it up. I thought I'd take this photo to show the tremendous devastation caused by the ATV and 4WD crowd. Terrible, just terrible. Perhaps once all this land was as high as the top of the Butte and all this damaging off-road activity has worn it down to this barren landscape.

I'm sure the world will be a much better place once the eco-nazis solve all the world's problems by closing the trails around here. I just don't get it!!!!!!! Well, actually I think I do - and would be glad to give you my opinion sometime.

So after paying homage to Factory Butte, again moseyed on to Green River (the town, not the drink.) Passed 30 miles to the north of Moab and cried. I don' wanna go home. Eventually got to Grand Junction where diesel fuel was $3.39 a gallon and 3 gallons of Fleetguard antifreeze was $65. Holy shit! Ouch!

Next, move along to Colorado River State Park on the east side of the Junction, with my $65 worth of antifreeze. Decided to camp here for the night - been here before and it's very nice. Arrived about 2 PM and drained 3 gallons from the motorhome and then added the antifreeze with all its magical properties - and for $20+ a gallon, it damned well ought to have magical properties!

While doing that, a Friendly Ranger came by. After ensuring we were "OK", he and I then talked about Jeeps for the next half-hour! (Notice a pattern?)

Once that was done, went into Palisade (one of the burbs that grows a ton of grapes) and purchased a crapload of wine that some, I'm sure, would thumb their nose at.. Cherry, Rosè, Mead, and best of all, a "Satin Cherry Chocolate" dessert wine. I kid you not!

Now it's back to camp, pack up for the trip tomorrow and sample the wine. Tomorrow begins the long and depressing drive home. I need consolation. Yum, yum, good wine. Yum, yum good mead. I don' wanna go home!

Slept poorly last night and realized that for all the crap I did, I forgot to change the oil after the front compressor bearing disintegrated. 8 AM, had a pleasant early morning drive into the Junction for old oil containers, 15W40 at WalMart, and an oil filter at Cummins. Back at 9. Oil changed by 10. On the road by 10:30. Good news: the old oil looked good - no speckles or metal parts. The filter did its job well.

Took a short nap at a Glenwood Springs rest area and was ready to leave when an asshole trucker pulled up so close to us I could not even get the door open. Of course that was done on purpose as there was a lot of extra room. No problem. Out waited the prick and then we left. My opinion of truckers has dropped dramatically during this trip - I mean dramatically and not just based on this episode. All I know is he worked for "SUG" out of Kalifornia, Figures!

The I70 trip was nice. All appeared to be well. Pulled into the scenic overlook at Lake Dillon (~100 miles from the Junction) and the engine sounded really noisy - and for a diesel, that's saying a lot! After 2 hours of diagnostics (again!) and using a "listening stick", it appeared the noise came from the hydraulic pump. Shit! But, could this be the reason the compressor's bearing went to hell?

Next two hours: more cuts, more bruises trying to get the miserable 2 bolts out that hold the pump in place. Just at sunset, success! Pump disconnected from the ass end of the air compressor. Crank the engine and, oh my, bits of sleeve bushings and bearings come dribbling out of the compressor! This is not good. But at about the same time, Mike, a Red Rock 4 Wheeler drove by, spotted the DamJP and stopped to offer any assistance he could. Pretty cool, huh? I politely declined as as I was not fit for human discussion with anyone at that point in time. Mike understood perfectly - he runs a repair shop in Avon - he's been there, done that!

We did chat for a while and he left and I spent the next hour putting the POS together again for the morrow's adventure. Could have been a hell of a lot worse. Complaints: YES! - but by damn I'm not going to let this ruin this trip. I'm mellow and by gawd I'm gonna stay friggin' mellow!

I'm too tired and sore to work on this anymore. Besides that, if the compressor was bad, it's under warranty. If the pump is bad, I'll need to get a replacement in Denver, even though Country Coach claims the pump is "no longer available." Huh? What? Screw them! Twice!

Called Dillon towing and they promptly arrived with a BIG wrecker to haul the now, extended, caravan to Denver and Rocky Mountain Cummins. This is a first. Have never, in an undetermined number of years, have EVER had to have a wrecker haul my ass. Oh well. It's a first.

After disconnecting the 100 lb drive shaft completely from both ends, hooking up a 150 psi air supply for the brakes and then raising the front wheels off the ground, we were off for Denver.

Had to ride in the cab of the wrecker, so what do you talk about for 3 hours and 100 miles: Jeepin', lockers, 4WD roads, more lockers, and so on. Yup, I sense a pattern.

Tomorrow I guess we need to go to a flea market. I found a candy factory to tour. I'd also like to go wheelin' in the mountains. Who knows? It's a gorgeous fall day here, almost 80° but by Sunday the weather will turn to shit and they are predicting possibly heavy snow here Sunday/Monday. Ah, autumn in the Rockies. At least we're safe and sound here.

Monday we'll make a decision on whether to wait and drive home or stay here until it's done. I feel just awful about missing work so we may have to rent a car drive back so I can go to work for a few days.

At least Sprint works here, 3G also. So as you read this, feel free to call, I suspect the next few days may be relatively boring. In the meantime it's 20:30, CST and I'm working very hard to polish off a bottle of the Cherry Mead. I was going to save some of the mead stash to share with the folks back home but extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures. In other words, don't expect me to bring any back home to share. Sorry.

The day started well but had many ups and downs, given this is the foothills of the Rockies. First was a 3 hour sojourn to the Mile-Hi Flea Market. I had so much fun and was so captivated that I neglected to get any photos. I'm so sorry. Next was the quest to find the Hammond Candy factory for a "tour." Apparently this was seen on TV as one of the best factory tours or whatever. After a 20 minute wait in their gift shop, my opinion was formed. The hard candy, like suckers, candy canes, lollipops, etc. is hand made and the price is way, way too high - for example: a 3" lollipop was almost $4. And that was about the least expensive. Small bags of candy were $8. One could easily spend almost $100 on a very small amount of hard sugar candy.

Before the tour we were forced to watch a video and that sealed my opinion when they made the statement that while their candy's ingredients are the same as everyone else's, the reason theirs tastes so much better is because it's all hand made. Huh? Once again, I must have been so impressed that I woefully neglected to press the button that would have captured the essence of the four candy makers hard at work on a Saturday afternoon.

So the tour was not impressive and there was a pretty hefty purchase made of the highly overpriced candy. Are 3 year olds really going to be able to tell the difference between a $4 lollipop and a 39 cent one from Wally World? And would they even care? Yes, a rhetorical question if there ever was one.

After some discussion, a trip to Boulder was quickly planned since what I'd seen of Denver so far hadn't impressed me much. The goal was to visit Pearl Street, a nifty eclectic shopping area with many unique stores and an associated set of eclectic people. Besides that, the weather was fantastic: low 80s, no clouds, a beautiful day for a road trip with the top down and the wind blowing in one's hair. I thought it was a perfect day....

On the way, the traffic was backed up something fierce. So shoot on off [sic] the main road on to the back roads driving through such delightful towns like Louisville. Arrived in Boulder, a really neat college town. Jeeping down the main drag it was obvious there was a major event about to occur. It turns out, this was CU's (University of Colorado @ Boulder - and why is it CU and NOT UC????) homecoming and a football game with Texas A&M was imminent. The number of motorhomes parked in the lots with tailgate parties going on was impressive. The many college kids wandering around made me pensive. Ah, to be young and in college again. I really wish I would have settled in a college town and taught instead of what I currently do. Sigh. Sigh, again. Oh me, oh my, woe is me. Now that I'm over that, let's move on.

Wound up downtown and took the tour of Pearl Street. Kool stores but the best part was not window shopping but people watching. I did step on my tongue a couple of times, very embarrassing but at least I didn't trip and fall down. Awesome.......

Ah, to be young and in college again. I really wish I would have settled in a college town and taught instead of what I currently do. Sigh. Sigh, again. Oh me, oh my, woe is me.

So it's 7 AM (MST!) and cloudy to the north, south and west. Some blue sky is still to the east. I put the top up on the Jeep last night - a good move as there was light rain. The NWS is now predicting 10 - 20" of snow to the 2 counties to the south of us tonight and tomorrow. We'll see.

Yesterday we apparently missed another fine event, the Aurora (CO) Jack-O-Launch. This would have been worth the 12 mile drive (in the morning.) After looking at their web page and reading their rules, it brought a smile to my face this morning. Besides that, nothing else to do right now! It does make one wonder why they made some of these rules. For example, rule #1: wings, fins, lubrication??? But #3 is my favorite! I'll bet that was an after thought. Some have apparently bent the rules this year as a few of the 'punkins' were shot out of cannons. This would have been great entertainment. - almost as much fun as the dynamite shoots they have out here.

And today there were neither. The snow last night was mostly in the hills and on I70 east of Denver - up to 18" in some areas. We were lucky - only rain and wind all night. This morning there was a little snow but not enough to even talk about - so I won't. It did rain all day, however.

The Cummins service rep, Kit, wasn't sure if they could even get the coach in today so planned on a leisurely morning. At 8:15, Al, "our" mechanic, came knocking at the door. That was a surprise. By 9 AM the coach was in the shop but we were not in the coach. Instead we were herded into their "waiting room."

Soon we were joined by Bill, a truck driver who was blowing smoke (literally), Tom, a Monaco owner who needed a radiator, air compressor (sound familiar?) and an exhaust manifold. We were joined later by another guy who also needed a radiator. Must be a pandemic.

Bill, Tom and I got a long real well making sarcastic comments about most everything you could think of. It was quite entertaining and a a good way to pass the time. They both had an excellent sense of humor and, if one had to be here, it was nice to be with folks that had a good sense of humor.

I'd asked Kit several times about the progress of the work and received no status update until later in the day when Al drove it out of the shop. Hot damn! He replaced the compressor in record time. But....they did no analysis of why the compressor failed. Is it the hydraulic pump going berserk? Why did two compressors die? ARG. So now what? This leaves me with a most uncomfortable feeling. Perhaps I should start a new career as a consultant and teach Root Cause Analysis to the Cummins techs.

On the way home I'll stop periodically and shoot the temperature of the pump and compressor and will also take my "listening stick" and try to ascertain if their are any funky sound coming from the compressor or pump. I'm sure if Doc were here he'd have some excellent advice on what do to (perhaps not practical at this point in time, but excellent advice none the less.)

So, 8 PM. All buttoned up at Camp Cummins and ready to leave in the morning. Invited Tom over for burnt pizza and beer. He'll be here for at least a couple more days. Tomorrow we'll see how many miles it'll be before the next major failure. My expectations are set appropriately.

There's probably a lot more to say by screw it. I'm tired, going to have a beer, watch Law & Order and then prepare for the morrow by trying to get a good night's sleep.

It's now 11PM and made it all the way to a Wally World in Omaha. Holy shit - this is a record for the last two weeks.

Got up at 5 AM, couldn't sleep so might as well drive. Pull on out, play chicken with a garbage truck and make it the 1/4 mile to the interstate. So far, so good. I decided to keep it 55 to minimize the stress on the pump and compressor. Drove about 5 miles and the snow and fog started. This was strange. To the north, south, east and west of Camp Cummins, they got tons of snow. I70 east of Denver was even closed. At the Camp we only had a dusting, at most, but a few miles north, I76 turned to crap. Cars and trucks in the ditch. Trees broken from the heavy snow. Fog. Snow. Rain. In some places there was over a foot of snow. The road was clear but it was obvious there was a mess here the day before. The strange part is that as we approached the town of Brush (maybe 60 miles northeast), within a few miles the snow was gone. Good.

So while in Brush, I used that opportunity to rearrange the sheet metal fender on the trailer while dumping a week's worth of black and gray. (That's another drinkin' story!) I also heard very strange noises from the engine and compressor. Checks of the temperature and also listening to the bearings seemed to indicate everything was fine - but still strange noises and the smell of burned engine oil. After a couple of other temperature measurements, and a call to Cummins, both corporate and at the Camp, the two ace tekkies seemed to think all was well. OK. Who am I to argue?

So at that point, my attitude became "F**k it. Drive it 'till it drops." (But carefully!) So eased it through Colorado, past North Platte, Kearney, Grand Island, Lincoln and finally here now at Wally World in Omaha for the night. Each town was a milestone as I kept thinking, "Hmm, only 80 miles to get towed to the next large town." But we made it, burned oil smell and all. The compressor is knocking a little more but the temperature is holding at about 200°. I'm still not convinced. 475 more miles to go. We'll see tomorrow what additional thrills are in store - - still beats working for a living, though!

9 PM, back home - in one piece. The compressor and pump seem to co-exist fairly well. There are some strange noises yet but who cares at this point? The drive from Omaha home was uneventful except for some rude truckers again. Drove about 55 the whole way to avoid stressing the components.

Had a 4' high stack of mail waiting, 95% of it junk mail. When I agreed to take the Two Rivers Jeep Club phone, SBC in their friggin' greedy wisdom sold MY address to the whole world as Two Rivers Jeep Club. Fully 75% of the junk mail was from the address that SBC sold. Beware! If you ever deal with SBC, make sure they understand your name and address is NOT for sale. Greedy bastards!

Current plans are to do a root cause analysis on the compressor failure. That's hard to do without the failed compressors but the plan is to remove the pump and have it thoroughly checked. The other part of the plan is to purchase an optical digital tachometer to measure the fan speed. If the fan speed is not within specs, will then have to replace the thermostatic wax (yes, wax!) valve that controls the speed of the hydraulic cooling fan.

And, in addition, after unhooking the trailer with the Jeep and probably a thousand pounds of JAFRs, found that there were at least 5 or more major cracks in the rails and the frame of the trailer. That could have been a major issue also. Get out the welder!

My work's cut out.

In summary: The scenery was great. The weather was great. I didn't get to go wheelin' much (technically only one day) but there'll be other times. The best news is that I didn't have to go to work! Even with all the grief at the end of the trip, I'd do it again!

Oh yes......within hours of returning I was on the phone with a number of people and we're already planning Moab, 2006! I can hardly wait ! ! ! ! !