Gaffney, SC and Freightliner Custom Chassis

I have been remiss. We have been on the road for five days and I have not spoken up.

We spent my seventieth birthday on the road to Hardeeville, SC which was our intermediate stop enroute to our annual maintenance service with Freightliner in Gaffney, SC. Barbara has a dog training session near Asheville, NC this week so we combined the two events to create our first out of state trip in the new-to-us motorhome.

The trip was uneventful, though we had anticipated traffic in Daytona Beach due to it being race week. It turned out to be a non-issue and we made it to Hardeeville in good time. The Hardeeville RV Park is a no-frills campground. There are no amenities. It is close to downtown Savannah, though, and close enough to I-95 to be a good stopover point.

Sunday morning the adventure began. As we tried to depart the campground it was evident that the engine had de-rated and the “Check Engine” light was on. For those unfamiliar with modern diesel engines, de-rating means that the engine is protecting itself from damage by restricting the power available. The computer does this when certain parameters are exceeded, but unfortunately the driver does not always get a clue to what is happening by looking at the gauges. Such was the case here. We limped back to our campsite and pondered. We pondered some more. All the while the engine was idling, but would not accept throttle input. The coolant temperature gauge was reading low and it seemed to be taking considerable time warming up, so I thought perhaps the thermostat had failed open not allowing the engine to reach operating temperature. Eventually the engine got over what ever was troubling it and off we went not knowing what had happened, but thinking it might be the thermostat. We added that to our list of things for Freightliner to look at and marched onward.

Just short of our destination we left the highway at a truck stop and topped off the fuel in preparation for having the coach weighed. As we re-entered the interstate the engine de-rated again and would not allow more than idle RPM. There was a lot of traffic, but we managed to get to the narrow shoulder and stop. There was not a check engine light or any other indication of what the problem might be. After a few moments we had power again and I limped to the next exit, which thankfully, was where we were to get off anyway.

The great folks at Freightliner managed to get everything done that we came for, but they could not duplicate the power issues we encountered. The diagnostic computer did find codes that indicated that the Throttle Position Sensor had been having issues since before we bought the coach, so we ordered a new throttle assembly in the hope that the problem will be solved. If the problem was a clogged fuel filter, that would have been cured by the replacement which was done as part of the annual. Time will tell, but I am going to be a bit nervous until we have some miles on the coach. We had to wait a day for the part to be shipped, but it is now installed and we are ready to go. Which brings us to the weather.

Gaffney is lower pin. Flat Rock is the upper.

The local area is now under a winter storm warning and eight to ten inches of snow is expected tonight. We originally were going to Flat Rock, NC for the dog training class, but it is in the mountains nearly fifteen hundred feet higher than here. We have elected to forgo the fun of 6-7% grades in ice and snow, and will keep the coach here in the Freightliner lot and commute the hour to the classes. If the roads clear enough over the next few days we will move up the mountain and hope that the weekend weather will be nice enough to not create a problem for coming back down the mountain for our return to Hardeeville Monday. Meanwhile, we are tucked in here with the slides drawn in to prevent snow/ice damaging the slide seals or canvas covers.

20 years in Florida. Never thought I would buy one of these again.

The before shot. Ready as we will ever be.