Sydney, NE & Cheyenne, WY

Monday - Today's excitement. Towing the RV to a truck repair shop in Sydney, NE. The truck arrived only a couple of minutes after they said he would be there. It was quite the process hooking up the RV. Since the engine doesn't start, there isn't any air pressure. Since it has independent front suspension, it needed to be towed by cradling the front tires. He also needed to connect an airline from the tow truck to a special connection to inflate the airbags. He had this line connected the entire time. He also needed to remove the drive shaft to prevent the transmission from heating up.

All in all, quite the process. The capacity of his lift was 20k lbs so the front of the motorhome was well within the capability of the tow truck. He mentioned that diesel pusher motorhomes are the most difficult. They are low to the ground and removing the driveshaft is a hassle. The engine not starting also complicated things.

Tuesday - Wednesday - The RV was in Sydney at a truck repair shop. After inspection, they concluded that the engine needed to come out and they were not equipped to handle that job on an RV with a Caterpillar engine that needs to drop out of the bottom. They thoroughly examined the engine looking for an oil leak and didn’t find anything. They concluded that the oil was coming out of the crankcase vent pipe. 

On Tuesday, we “moved” down to Fort Collins. Friends, whom we had met several time while RVing, invited us to stay at their home while the RV was being repaired. So thankful for them. 

Thursday - Last night, Coach-Net towed the RV to a different shop in Cheyenne, WY.  This time it was a larger Caterpillar shop. They had the tools, shop, and experience to deal with the engine. We met with them this afternoon and they listened carefully to the symptoms and history. On Monday, they plan to pull the RV into the shop (after steam cleaning the back and frame) and drop the pan. They will inspect the cylinders for scoring. If they aren’t scored, there is a possibility that the engine can be salvaged. Otherwise, new engine… mucho $$$!!