We pulled out of Longmont and moved over to the Transwest Truck and RV in Frederick as we were advised there is a RV’s courtesy parking lot which has 50 amp power but no sewer or water. We did fill up with water before leaving and when we arrived at Transwest we pulled into one of the vacant sites. There were about 4-5 other rigs in the lot that appears to hold about 10 total. We would be taking our RV over to a work bay the next morning.
As morning came (early I might add) we drove the RV over to the service area and checked it in at 7:00 am. Sharon is never happy getting up that early and was even more unhappy when they didn’t move the RV into a bay until 8:45 am. They spent most of the day tracking down electrical circuits trying to isolate the issue with our gauges going off. At the end of the day they told us they couldn’t get in touch with Freightliner about some readings because Freightliner apparently closed early for the fourth of July.
We drove back to the lot knowing we would be around here a few days as July 4th was the next day and everything would be closed. At least we have power and so we are in good shape. We went hiking in the Hiel Ranch Open Space to do short trail there.This area is a bit higher and more scenic than the Rabbit Mountain area. We had previously hiked in the Rabbit Mountain open space one other time but is sure gets a poor rap from the locals we have met. However as newcomers, Sharon and I thought it was scenic and enjoyable to hike in.
One day we played a little disc golf at another 9 hole park in Longmont and afterward went over to have a beer at a local brewery in Frederick called Echo Brewing which we though was quite good. We met a real nice local couple there named June and Roger and had a great time chatting with them. They have a 5th wheel and are thinking about RVing more extensively. Roger had to go out of town on the fourth but June invited us over to her house for happy hour and then took us to a good spot to see the local town’s fireworks display. What a great time we had and we really appreciated hanging out with June on the 4th rather than hanging out at Transwest! Encounters such as these are one of the best things that makes travel on the road special…
On the 5th of July we took the RV back over to Transwest hoping to hear from Freightliner. At about 7:30 we were back at the service center. About 10:30 we asked if they had discovered anything only to learn that Freightliner was having phone issues and they still hadn’t gotten in touch with them… Sigh… By the end of the day it was finally determined that our culprit was a faulty ECM or Electronic Control Module.
While we are happy they “think” they know what the problem is, we of course won’t know for sure until they install the $1550 part. As we mentioned before, back in Albuquerque they thought our problem was the ABS which we had replaced only to have the had the fault codes and gauges fail once again. While there are no real guarantees this will fix the problem we are certainly hopeful it will just that. It is irritating that back in Albuquerque I suggested to those Freightliner folks that I thought it was the ECM (Electronic Control Module). Anyway, we have to go ahead and pay the high postage to have the new ECM part overnighted so the work can be done of Friday. We will see how that goes…
NOTE: We are now in the parking area of the Freightliner Shop in Frederick Colorado…
Oh boy! We have all been through those, "I think it might be" scenarios but one that costs $1550 plus shipping is a little over the top. Are they prepared to refund if that does not fix the problem? We once had a $500 air conditioning part replaced with a guarantee but of course by the time it failed we were several days and $1000 worth of gas away from the place that would replace it "for free".
ReplyDeleteNo guarantees on electrical parts but it seems to be working well so far...
DeleteYikes.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with those repairs, with newer rv's working on computers they just keep replacing expensive parts until it is fixed, Not like to good old days when all was pretty simple.
ReplyDeleteDo you have an extended warrantee? Ours is about to expire in august and I always dither about the renewal. Our Alfa is over 10, but we have had very few things go bad that the warrantee would cover. Your problem would have been. Craig maintains the arrant is for the really big things like the engine. I just hate to pay the big premium.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on the repair. I hope it is what they say and you get back on the road again.
When we first started RV'ing we thought about extended warrantees but the costs were outrageous! So we self insured and even with the latest bout of expenses we are still way ahead...
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