I don't think my truck likes it out here...
When I drove it over the mountains two years ago, it sputtered white smoke as we descended from about 7500 feet over some range in Idaho. Pulled over at a rest stop at the bottom of the descent, it took a few revs' of the engine for the problem to appear to go away. Since I'm not a mechanic, and it's incredibly frustrating to be so inept at trying to troubleshoot what's wrong with the truck, 'go away' is synonymous to 'fixed'. Very much like a PC problem right? Well no...
A little history.
| Timeline |
|
Cost |
| Jan 2006 - Sep 2007 |
- Has 'loss of power' intermittently. When pressing on the gas, truck RPM goes around 3k but speed is stuck around 30 mph.
- Stereo quits working while listening to it prior to a mtb short track race in summer of 2006. From that day onward, works only intermittently, and as of about 9 months ago it doesn't work at all.
|
$0 |
| Sep 2007 |
- Upon return from Europe the truck won't start. Take it to Jen's brother-in-law's shop. Replacement of alternator and both batteries.
|
$600 |
| Oct 2007 |
- On the way back from Bend, OR. Truck dies on I-5. Towed to previous shop. Told that alternator went again. Sent for warranty replacement. Mechanic said I should have dealer run truck through computer.
|
$0 |
| Dec 2008 |
- Based on recommendation of co-worker. I take it to a local shop in Vancouver. He finds that my power problems are due to a bad fuel injector pump. This issue is prominent in Dodge diesels. Needs to be replaced. Also paid and extra $100 for a warning light when fuel injection issues.
|
$3000 |
| Mar 2008 |
- Truck dies again. Have it towed across the rivers to the Vancouver shop. Says it's alternator again. I tell him the history. Warranty on parts, not labor. So for a modest amount, we replace the alternator (a third time) and the belt since it's all cracked.
- Find out that the power issues when starting out is because the transmission won't shift into first gear... /sigh. So I have to take it another different shop for that, "sooner rather than later."
|
$150 |
| TBD |
- I'm expecting the alternator to go again... then we'll maybe get to the real problem.
- I have yet to take it into a transmission shop to get it looked at. For now, I manually shift from first into drive and that seems to work.
|
$? |
This doesn't include oil changes, gas, and truck payments.
As silly as is sounds, I'd like to keep the truck around for those recreational related trips and the possibility of one day owning an RV again. I think the facts say to get rid of the damn thing though, because it is a money pit.
Well, as I've always said, if you don't know what to do, don't do anything.
Later.
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