The last couple weeks have been challenging, to say the least.
\
Thursday, I drove to Anchorage for some routine medical stuff and went to Costco to grocery shop. When I pulled up to a stop light, I noticed the oil pressure on my 2001 Dodge Dakota crew cab pickup was low so I checked the oil as soon as I parked at Costco.
There was only a drop of oil on the stick!!! This, along with a strong smell of burning oil, also happened in August. I had the oil changed since then and put 1200 miles on the truck. I drove immediately to the Dodge dealer.
There was no chance to have the truck checked that day. They did, however offer to have the service department top off the oil.
As soon as the mechanic removed the oil cap, I noticed a lot of yellow gummy stuff on it. "Coolant," he said and went to talk to his supervisor. "Park it, " was the recommendation.
They also said I could Not leave the truck there. So there I was. Stranded. They said I'm lucky the truck didn't quit on me altogether. That's scary. A hundred miles from home and temps dropping close to zero. No, getting stranded on the highway in the mountains at night was not what I needed.
 |
| My mid-sized Dodge Dakota, more than a truck should be loved. |
I was stuck. Mid-afternoon and its was getting dark. I had groceries that needed to be removed. I was advised to talk with a salesman, of course.
No way to get around to other car lots to find a vehicle because they had no loaners. By the time I arranged for a rental, all the car lots would be closing.
I had frozen my credit years ago as an identity theft precaution and had no checks with me, only credit cards.
Long story short: I bought a 2011 Ford F150 4x4 crew cab pickup with matching canopy from them. It is spotless inside and out and a nice sterling gray clear coat metallic color. The canopy, should I have to buy one, would be about $5000 painted to match. It has Blizzak tires, like my Dodge.
Ir drives like a dream. Well, considering the dreams I had last night, maybe that isn't such a good analogy.
Why do I need a pickup? We have no garbage service where I live and have to haul my own, 17 miles RT to one site, and about 26 to another. I also use it for gathering firewood, brush removal and disposal, and to clean up litter along 40 miles of highway in the summer. Plus, with 4-wheel drive, I find a truck much safer in the winter.
During the winter, I put lots of split firewood in the bed and park it in the garage for convenient access to dry wood for heating my house.
Gulp.
Not money I needed to spend, and it just contributed to my anxieties.
I transferred all the items in the Dodge into bags in the 8 degree cold and my hands have been chapped and tender ever since.
I loved my Dodge mid-sized truck more than a truck should be loved. Currently, I am in the process of donating it to Make a Wish. The repair might be as simple as a PCV valve, and then again, it might be far more serious and expensive. The charity says it takes vehicles that are not running.
Then came the next problem. How to get into this large truck!!!
At first, I tried grabbing the steering wheel with both hands and pulling myself into the cab. That fiasco was not for public observance and falling to the ground in the process is inherently possible.. I am hampered by restricted use of my left shoulder and no handholds built into the truck.
How, I wondered, was I ever going to manage this?
It worked perfectly! Much easier to get into the driver's seat. Then, disaster! How to retrieve the step from the ground that looked to be a half mile down. Could I tie a cord to it to lift the step?
This was getting ridiculous.
Next solution: The driver's seat is power-operated. I can raise it high enough to see over the steering wheel and dashboard, and , thus, by lowering the seat to its lowest extremity, getting in is possible by grabbing the steering wheel and dragging myself up. Not easy, but possible. I would not want to have to do this often, though.
So, I wondered, how long until power-operated seat breaks?
Possible solutions: Have running boards installed. I'm starting to look into that.
If I don't find a solution, litter clean up next summer will be severely and negatively.affected.
This truck should serve you well for many years. Make sure when you get running boards that they sit low enough for you to get your foot on it easily. Brad just got some for his wife's truck and they are only a couple of inches below the door. They are a long reach, even for me. Brad uses a little step stool or his truck. He has a rope tied through the center of the stool so it lands flat on the pavement.
ReplyDeleteSmart Brad. But even then it's a hassle handling the ladder. Now I'm trying to decide between extrudedmetal that are safer traction-wise but ugly, and solid which are pretty, but can be slippery and impossible to clean.
DeleteWe.. Loved.. The.. Bear.. Expressing.. Itself! Priceless Gullible. Beyond priceless.
ReplyDeleteI am amazed that, evidently, you don't almost constantly check your engine oil level as a routine practice. Oh sigh. Who knows what the engines interior condition is. Best you got a "new ride" Gullible. Bud has a great suggestion: A rope tied through the center of the stool. Your new truck really looks great.
You have one photo (the next to last photo) that is not loading. Smiling .. Cap and Patti
The not-loading photo is a piece of clip art that I copied, I do check oil, and while driving, frequently look at the oil pressure. It remains good until I am idling at a light, for instance. As to the burning oil, the power steering fluid has a slow leak and I have to top it off every couple years, so I figured that accounted for the oil smell until recently when it became very strong.
DeleteYeah, could be a PVC valve , head gasket, cracked head. Who knows?
DeleteGullible, sorry to hear you are tremendously inconvenienced with truck, climbing into and money issues, aggravated by the onset of a cold Alaskan winter. I was a wrench monkey for a few decades. Yes, the frothy gunk in the oil cap usually suggests that an engine has leaking head gaskets, or, at worst, the heads have developed cracks. And the reason the oil is getting low. Leaking coolant into the engine crankcase will usually cause the oil to be mixed and drawn into the cylinders and combusted as 'blow-by' (mixture of oil and steam/coolant). Just a suggestion since a good truck is valuable in Alaska. Do you have any neighbors or community friends that could disassemble the top end of the truck (the heads and attached components) to examine if the head gasket has corroded to the point of leakage? It may be a worth-while endeavor to spend $4-500 to replace the head gaskets. It is pretty commonplace. Then you could either keep your old reliable truck and sell the one recently purchased. Just a side note: From Wasilla I commuted to Anchorage to work for GCI, roundtrip for 5yrs, and then after being laid-off I was hired by the FAA to begin a new career supporting computers for the next 10yrs. I commuted to Kenai weekly, once down at the beginning of, and back home at the end of a 4-10's schedule. The winter driving ate my lunch with all of the extreme winter variables and white-knuckle challenges. But alas! We survive to see another new day! Each with it's own set of challenges. It most certainly doesn't get easier as we age. I know, I'm going on 77yrs! Now that I reside in the low AZ desert I share with visitors the immense challenges that Mother Nature brings our way both in Alaska, and now here, in AZ! The main point I tell them is that through it all we best be prepared with the emergency preparations. I'm sure you are! I'll pray that you get a gift solution to your vehicle issues. Be safe!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michael. I suddenly had a lot to consider when I discovered the collant/oil mix. The truck is 2001 and has about 205,000 miles on it. I knew it was a matter not of IF but of When. The module that the lights and radio wiring goes through is faulty and replacements are no longer available. Putting thousands into checking/repairing the head gasket or heads was not worth it. There was also a worrisome loud ticking from the engine. Salt brine on our highway wasn't doing the body any favors, either.
DeleteThis F150 is too big for me and will cause some inconvenience, but I think it's more reliable that my Dodge Dakota.s
PS: I donated my truck to Make a Wish. If nothing else, it was full of gas. And I have been trying for years to buy an extra set of wheels, to no avail, so they are worth something. Doors and tenders and tail gate can be recycled.
DeleteHow is your right shoulder? The extra handle in this article is small and removable. You would need to remember to leave it by the side of your seat and might be enough to help you get in. https://www.autoweek.com/gear/g36753056/aids-to-help-with-getting-in-and-out-of-the-car/
ReplyDeleteThankfully, it's my left shoulder and it has been damaged for decades. I've adapted and learned to compensate. I can still use the arm for most tasks, but can't raise it more than shoulder high.
DeleteHi Michael. Gullible, as do Patti and I, really appreciates comments to her Posts. I don't think, in the 13 years that I have been following Gullible, she has ever had a comment of the magnitude of your comments. Smiling .. Cap
ReplyDeleteNo, I sure haven't and I appreciate every word and second of the time he took to respond. But, asI replied, I didn't have any options. The dealer said I could NOT leave the truck on their lot, nor could diagnose the problem that day, nor was it worth repairing. Well, of course they would say that. But 3:30 in the afternoon, darkness, and a hundred miles from home.... Unless Behemoth Gargantua developes some unexpected mechanical issues in the near future, I doubt I could have found a better replacement vehicle.
Delete