On the road waiting for a fix

[davidkerryedwards]

We're on the road in Macon, Missouri. Got here last night and stayed
in Long Branch State Park. Noticed a horrendous squealing when I
pulled into camp. Same sound again this morning. Turns out the water
pump idler pully mechanism met its demise. Great local mechanic came
out to the campsite and diagnosed it. I initially thought it was the
water pump. Bird is in his shop right now while he dissasembles the
idler, seeing if the bearings can be replaced rather than putting in a
new ($400!) idler. When he took it off it was way too hot to handle
and disgorged about a quarter of a cup of rust. No indication of a
grease zerk that I could see. I'm at the public library at the
moment. The retrofitted swing out radiator is a godsend. He had the
front end open in twenty minutes. He had tried to change it out at
the campsite but the bolts were too tight to loosen without opening it
up.
Allstate's RV Roadhelp is useless. They more or less said sorry we
can't help you, you're on your own. We'll pay the towing bill if you
can find someone to tow it, but we can't. I'm going to sign up for
the FMCA service, it can't be any worse.

Kerry
82 FC 35
Denver