STRANDED

dragonsdofly

@Ick001, as I get older, and hopefully wiser, I find myself looking at life much the same way. I have a friend who claims I am a pessimist, but I look at myself as an optimist with 65 years of actual life experience. Experience is a great teacher, and life,  is the ultimate learning experience.

Homebodyatheart

@dragonsdofly it’s good to hear from you this morning! I’ve had a touch of frost
inside once, but the alde kept me warm! Ok, so did a few layers of warm clothes. I’m a bit
of a wimp early in the cold weather  season. Probably due to my Southern Californian roots! By March though I’ll be taking the trash out with no jacket! Have a safe and warm day, and know that many are rooting for you both from afar!

jgram2

@dragonsdofly I’m hoping you’ll post up a photo of your “vacation” spot before you hit the road, and if you could include the sheep, well, that would be icing!

ChanW

Yes please do include the sheep!

But don't let your DH pose with it!
It might be the beginning of a whole new repair story! Argh! 

jgram2 said:

@dragonsdofly I’m hoping you’ll post up a photo of your “vacation” spot before you hit the road, and if you could include the sheep, well, that would be icing!

dragonsdofly

Yes, folks, pics to come! Hopefully, just as we go. In the meantime, this is Nova, the dog that we have made friends with. In fact, our grocery trip Saturday included a box of dog treats just for her. Nova lives with the family who has the aforementioned sheep.

Homebodyatheart

@dragonsdofly Nova is adorable! I love those socks! Thanks for sharing.

jkjenn

You are in the midst of a surreal situation. It really feels like  a movie.

TerryV6

Is this your location?  If so, perhaps Jenn could use her drone to drop some provisions and dvd movies....

dragonsdofly

@TerryV6, yes, that's where we are. Husband walked to Jody's Diner to pick up lunch for us. Sheep, horse and goats have retreated to the barn as temps have dipped into the teens.

And just where was @jkjenn and her drone when we needed the tranny delivered?

jkjenn

Drone? I could have driven there, from Pittsburgh, by now! If only I had more vacation time! Thatbis my kind if weather and Wyoming in the winter is on my bucket list!

WilliamA

As a lifelong mechanic and diagnostic technician, I offer this simple, basic explanation of most troubleshooting principles:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXW0bx_Ooq4

Enjoy
WilliamA 

falcon1970

@WilliamA
That is without doubt the most splendid explanation of a turbo encabulator that I have ever heard!  Such a shame that they don't teach this in mechanic schools anymore.

Homebodyatheart

Hey, @dragonsdofly... do you remember the Forum mantra...”pics or it didn’t happen?” Well... sheep? What sheep? 

Seriously, @Ratkity if nothing else, I’m thinking that a new badge of courage and endurance should be offered to @dragonsdofly from the Tab University.

Ratkity

@Homebodyatheart Of course! A Master's T@B University badge. Endurance under extenuating circumstances, courage to face sheep (or a big sheep) when stepping out for fresh air, fortitude to send other half to fetch provisions and lunch... this list goes on. We should have a special badge for this type of stuff.

ericnliz

Ahem, I believe that would be called the "Intestinal Fortitude" badge....in honor of those who persevere in the midst of diversity. I am in awe of how your spirits stay up @dragonsdofly, and how your sense of humor has stayed intact. Any word on when you can be "On the road again..." ..."just wanna be on the road again"  ????

jkjenn

ericnliz said:

Ahem, I believe that would be called the "Intestinal Fortitude" badge....in honor of those who persevere in the midst of diversity. I am in awe of how your spirits stay up @dragonsdofly, and how your sense of humor has stayed intact. Any word on when you can be "On the road again..." ..."just wanna be on the road again"  ????

rkj__

tabiphile said:

dragonsdofly said:

Repayment of a family members cc for the tranny and other repairs. .......

You should not be paying for the transmission under any circumstances. They misdiagnosed the problem and threw a transmission into your vehicle only to learn that it was not the problem. Get a refund. Have them put your old tranny back in. Work something out before you pull away from there and head home. When a professional mechanic makes a major (and that is major) mistake, it is not your obligation to pay them. If you paid it on a card, protest the charges to your credit card company. Make sure that you have paperwork that shows what the real problem and fix were..plugged cats. Anyone that did not think look at the cats first on an 05 jimmy with that many miles is a fool...and it is not your obligation to make them whole. Seriously...sitting here 1,500 miles from your situation the problem was immediately clear from the description you offered and noting the age of your car. How you ended up with a transmission should be beyond any quasi mechanical persons imagination. Stand firm on this.

I agree, that under no circumstance should the owner of the truck have to pay the full cost of the transmission swap in this scenario. 

Dragonsdofly, don't just bend over and take this hit. 

dragonsdofly

Day 14. The sun is shining.

Temp is 10°F. Feels like -2°F, according to the local weather report.

@WilliamA, laughed so hard I nearly wet my pants and am sure I missed the part where the fission reactor connects to the flux capacitor. Now, if I can just get the truck back, get the whole rig(including t@b in tow) up to 88 mph, I'm sure we can be home before all this actually happens. 

TerryV6

WilliamA, that was hilarious!!

and the head code... that’s easy for anyone to get....

Ratkity

@WilliamA where in the world did you find that? I about wet myself. Classic.

Spectre9

Have you been off-road? I’ve had strange no code behaviors when I had lost a ground strap so parts of car intermittently would fail or reset. Wouldn’t respond to key at times.  Usually on debug list, but looking for torn straps only takes a flashlight and manual. 

dragonsdofly

@Spectre9, no off-roading. Never have. I have come to believe a gremlin has begun residing within my vehicle. It's a sneaky little devil, with typical gremlin behaviors. Moving from place to place and causing all sorts of mayhem wherever it goes. I'm not that particular if a marker light goes out, the hood release gets difficult or an annoying rattle starts getting on my nerves, but I am going to insist it leave my engine, drive train, brakes, and all other safety equipment alone. It's nothing my dragon couldn't eat.

TerryV6

I’m seeing a book coming from this experience...  At least a short story...

WilliamA

Ratkity said:

@WilliamA where in the world did you find that? I about wet myself. Classic.

Find it?  I wrote the troubleshooting guide at the end....

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0535/6917/products/consultingdemotivator.jpeg?v=1416776147

WilliamA 

WilliamA

There are really only 3 basic causes for a plugged catalytic converter:
1. Too much fuel (bad plugs, etc)
2. Burning oil.
3. Coolant leaking into the combustion cycle (head gasket, etc)
let's not forget that it may be a combination of causes but the result will be melting of the ceramic coating within the converter that plugs the metal screen.  The commin thread is excessive heat in the converter.  Very often, the culprit condition may exist but not be bad enough to notice until another factor (like towing a trailer) exacerbates the condition, making it worse.  Modern control systems have gotten much better at mitigating and managing engine management to the point where such problems are not evident until an event (towing) radically alters the computers block learn integrator (yes, that's  a real thing. It's motor-eze for how your cars' computer "learns".)  The computer stores events (also called "start cycles") in blocks, then compares them to develop and average how much fuel, air timing advance etc the engine needs during a typical "start cycle".  The computer meters fuel etc to make the engine as efficient as possible within the given parameters.  Then, you pull a trailer...or dramatically alter the use of the vehicle in a way that falls outside of the specifications of the block learn, which is basically a rolling, constantly updating 2 dimensional array of numbers.  When that happens, the computer is unable to compensate enough and has to make the best choice available to protect the engine.  The computer default is to add fuel and retard timing to reduce overheating in the engine, which conversely causes overheating in the exhaust as there is almost certainly a rich condition caused by too much unburned fuel.  When this happens, it won't necessarily set a trouble code as the engine itself is still within the operating parameters of heat etc.  Given enough time, excessive fuel delivery will set a code but the computer is programmed to "be patient" and wait a number of data cycles before the bells and lights go off.  That's why an event such as this may happen without setting off a warning light.  
As an aside, it's within the realm of possibility for something as unconnected as transmission temperature to cause plugging of the converter.  The transmission sheds its heat through the radiator.  If that causes overheating in the coolant and thus, the engine, the computer will try to cool the engine by richening the fuel mixture and...voila...a plugged converter!  I am not saying that's the cause.  I'm saying that it's a "system" so apparently unrelated problems can appear as gremlins throughout that system.  When the mechanic tries to diagnose the problem,  the actual fault has disappeared altogether leaving only some failed component upstream or downstream as its "victim".  It takes very little time for an overextended system to be outside parameters long enough to plug the converter.  After the fact, it may be difficult or impossible to reproduce the fault.  Then, the mechanic must fall back on his or her own "block learn" (experience) to come up with a diagnosis.  It should also be noted that often, when the owner looks back,  he or she remembers something ignored that "wasn't quite right."
The sad mantra of we mechanics has always been not a matter of "if", but "when" we make the wrong call.
WilliamA 

ChanW

Interesting summary @WilliamA! Thank you. So, does "resetting the computer" by disconnecting the battery, cause it to relearn from the beginning, or does it retain its 'blocks'? Would that help it to learn the 'trailer towing' block more quickly?

Also, with my manual transmission, does higher RPM (for example climbing a hill while towing) cause more (or less) overall stress or wear, as long as the temperature gauge is normal?

My theory has always been that 4500RPM is fine, for example if the red line is at 5200.

dragonsdofly

Day 15. Temps in the teens. Clear skies. 
Truck still giving codes, MAP sensor and O2 sensor, even though all that has been changed, but we're leaving soon anyway.
 A few pics of our home for more than 15 days, Phillip's rv park, Evanston, Wyoming.

dragonsdofly

@WilliamA, while I understand your layman's explanation of the reasons we may have encountered our vehicular problems:

I promise to never, ever, never set out on a trip without having my truck's turbo encabulator thouroghly discometeorologized, and certified as such, again!

Amen.

dragonsdofly

Rolling. P.S.

jgram2

Good Grief, that’s a BIG sheep! You’re right @dragonsdofly (or a miniature horse). Did you round up the picnic tables as a line of first defense? Thanks for the photos.