Wrench Turning and Dirty Hands

With the official move in date quickly approaching, today I put my foot down in terms of getting some RV work done. Then I failed miserably.



Okay, no, I didn't fail, Lexington and the auto part industry failed, but let's back up a little first, and talk about something I've been working on for a while now.

That damn water leak.

After a grand total of four attempts at patching the leaking water pipe that is rendering my water system useless, all of which have proved fruitless, I have temporarily abandoned the effort to be a plumber. I'll be revisiting this little issue, from a different angle entirely, in the very near future, but since I've made the decision to go ahead and move in, the leaky water pipe has been temporarily shelved. Bitter in my defeat, I patched the hole that I had cut to access the piping, put the wheel back on, and set off on different pursuits.

The first task of the day was to replace the windshield wipers. This doesn't sound like it would be something that would be much stress at all, but alas, the universe had different ideas. As it turns out, the connections on the existing wiper arms, the pieces that attach to the wiper blades, are so outdated that no company makes wiper blades that will work on them, and haven't in decades.

So the next logical conclusion would be to replace the windshield wiper arms with ones that would accept modern windshield wiper blades. Well guess again viewers! The existing wiper arms mount on a ridged bolt, like any other, but the hole that said bolt fits into on the arm itself is twice as big as ANY available wiper arm at ANY of the SEVEN auto parts stores that I visited, including BOTH of the local RV parts and service departments. Three hours of driving back and forth across Lexington, and the final product will likely involve some duct tape.

I did make some forward progress today. With the living conditions in the RV at a stand still until I can repair the water system, or afford to get the air conditioners, or the solar panels for that matter, I have turned my attention to the engine. I have driven the RV, more than once, so I know that the engine is in, at minimum, decent condition, but when approaching interstate speeds, power seemed in considerably short supply. It was difficult, in fact, and I believe in the end that a hill was involved, to even reach 60 miles per hour. For the amount of traveling that I intend to do in this RV, especially with Tinderbox Circus Sideshow, this just will not do.

The first step, and at least in my mind, the likely solution, is a simple, but comprehensive, tune up. I started with what I thought would be the most challenging step (and it was, in truth, an absolute nightmare), replacing the spark plugs (and plug wires. Give me some credit, I'm no savage), and while I was at it, I purchased a new air filter, and everything necessary to change the oil, which will be happening tomorrow after I get off work (even in the rain, should that be necessary), as well as topping up the radiator and transmission fluid. Hopefully by Thursday I will be able to get everything on my Tune Up To-Do List finished, and get back out on the road for another road test. More as it develops.

In other news, I've figured out all of the hiccups in my new stereo head installation, so I'll be able to repair that soon, and I've started the packing process. There's already been a good bit of stuff moved in, and more to come as the week goes on.

So much to do, so little time.

-Z


P.S. As well as a busy week, this will also be a terribly expensive week. As a pandering bum, I'm going to post an amazon wishlist somewhere on the internet (probably here and my Facebook), in case anyone is feeling extra generous and wants to buy me things.