Courage

I finally got the courage to take the bus in to the shop. I'm sitting here in the parking lot waiting for them to look at it... maybe not until tomorrow. The guy that worked on before has moved to another location. They're going to give me their best "out of the box" thinker.

Journey to Safety

We made it back to Austin yesterday. The bus has issues. NO power. We had the problem since Slab City, so much trouble shooting was done along the way. Still No power and extremely slow acceleration. 0 - 55 in about 10 minutes. Every incline we had to climb dropped our speed down, sometimes down to 25-35 in an 80mph zone.

I'm going to take it in for an oil change on Monday and ask them about it.

Emergency Stopping Only

Yesterday we learned something about the bus. ... there's a fuel shut off safety mechanism that turns off the gas peddle. We found this out during the part of rush hour on the Ventura freeway just before the traffic slows down... ie 57 miles an hour in a sea of 70mph speeders and 5 lanes of traffic.

I was able to pull off the road and ran down a check list of things that could be wrong.. It was some what traumatic but eventually I was able to analyze it and found the shut off thingy that I had no idea existed just before the highway service truck was about to force a tow on us. .. yeah!

Out of Nebrask and into the Pan

We're out of Nebraska.

Drove about 200 miles today on veggie oil, great drive and the bus ran better'n ever.
BUT
when we pulled in to park for the night we discovered that the diesel return line had melted in 2 on the muffler and we'd left a trail from the exit ramp to the parking spot... we were pouring diesel fuel out of the hoses.
So I have a project for tomorrow...

Turns out the fuel pump was NOT the problem so on top of the $750 labor bill from the 3rd mechanic and 2 weeks down time...
I now have a $350 fuel pump I don't need.

The good news is that Shane at RoverHybrids.com said he'd only charge me 50 bucks if I could get the new one back to him in a week, so we'll be doing that tomorrow too.

We can now also release the stories we were afraid to release while broken down due to fear of reprisal. :)

A Fleet of Cattle Trucks

So... apparently it's the fuel pump.. (still under warranty) at least that's what the expert analysis says. So we're in holding pattern until the replacement pump arrives. There is a chance they will say that whats wrong with it is not under warranty but I think it's slim. A fleet of cattle trucks moved into the parking lot at the repair shop and we've been sleeping with clothes pins on our noses and flies out the ying yang. The truck stop across the street has nice washers and dryers except that every load we did there someone opened the door of the dryer for us before the clothes were dry (4 times). It appears that we're not quite out of the woods yet; hopefuly the clearing in the distance is not a mirage.

4 hours of testing

After 4 hours of testing various aspects of the Bus's fuel delivery system we know a lot about what is NOT wrong. The shop closed at noon yesterday and now we are enjoying the sites of lovely Scottsbluff Nebraska until Monday morning. We are quite happy to at least be 100 milles closer to Denver.. in a different county... dealing with professionals.

Total Lose of Control

8 Days ago a power supply wire slipped off the the fuel pump. We had a sudden lose of power on the step hill we were climbing and the bus slowed and died. I immediatly recognized the symptom as is was identical to the problem I had we hooked the pump up the 1st time; with only 1 poewr supply. So after looking for spewing fluids in the engine I looked at the wiring for the pump, discovered the loose wire and put it back together.

We were over an hours drive from any town with more than 1 diesel mechanic. The 1 local guy came out and insisted that the loose wire could not have damaged anything and then dismantled the veggie fuel lines so that he could understand what was going on with the engine.... His help was cheap but then again he did more damage than good.

We crawled 70 miles over the next 3 days with the longest stretch of driving being about 10 miles; most attempts would net us a couple hundred yards before the engine would die and we would have to let it "rest" before moving again. The 1st mechanic also rewired our back up fuel pump (which we knew was not strong enough for the bus and had forgotten that it had been collecting dirt for about a hundred miles of dirt roads we had traversed on the reservation). Using it spewed dirt into the fuel filter further slowing our progress. He wired it to run directly off the alternator... which meant that each time the engine would die we would have to jump out of the bus and throw the hood up and physically rip the wires apart to stop the fuel pump... and tape them back together we we started back up.

The 3rd day an angel named Terry held our hands for most of the day. He was a diesel mechanic for the railroad and we tried a few more things each time the bus died, but nothing changed our fuel starvation issue. Terry ended up towing us the last few miles just so we could get to Chadron before dark.

The local bar patrons suggested 3 mechanics and we called each of them our 1st day in the WalMart parking lot...none had time, all were turned off by the use of vegetable oil for fuel. We then found an interested gas mechanic who guided me through several other process of elimination type procedures... nothing changed the performance of the bus.

Tuesday we vacationed for fixing the bus by filming a meeting of the Republic of Lakota and interviewed Russel Means.

After 4 days in the WM parking lot the mildly mentally deficient "greeter" came out to inquire about how long we were planning on staying... We had run out of things to try so we chanced being able to drive it across the street to the guy who had been helpful's shop. It died on the street in front of the shop as we were discussing where to park it. Today we tested the main fuel pump (which I had feared was now dead) and it appears to be working properly. Which means that the problem is still unknown but the possibilities are getting scarier. It now appears to be a blown injector pump or clogged injectors or .. something.

These problems are all over the head of the gas mechanic who has been helping us. The team at the shop is supposedly calling the diesel mechanics in town this evening .. on our behave, trying to find us appropriate help.

It's been 8 days since the wire slipped off.. We can't leave Chadron until somebody here steps up and fixing this. EVERYONE in town knows us by now.. knows where we're parked.. knows enough about what we're doing to like us OR NOT...

Broke Down in the Bad Lands.. sort of..

The 2nd power supply for the fuel pump slipped off after driving on rough gravel roads for awhile... We fixed that. But there's another, unknown, problem that seems to have been caused by those wires disconnecting while we were trying to climb a fairly steep hill.

We're safely parked in a turn out by an old schoolhouse about 20 miles from Hot Springs South Dakota. We don't have cell phone service, but the Broadband internet card works here. We have #'s for a few local mechanics and will be calling them on a loaned phone in the morning.

The Mobile Broadcast News polo shirts arrived: they were delivered to us while we were working on the engine on the side of the road. They look fabulous.

Mud Stuck Bus

I tried to move the bus across the lot @ Bio Liberty today so I could fill up with oil & Biodiesel and head into NOLA for Mardis Gras and...
Bayou Liberty soil testing confirms large amounts of roots, water, clay, and 8 inches of mud under the grassroots. After several attempts to remove soil tester more soil testing was done and more clay and water were found. Reinforcements were called in. This is a not so mobile broad cast... Thats not news. (comments & photo by Gordon)

To appreciate the Depth of our soil testing; take a look at the mud flap resting on the ground behind the tire. Currently the bus is about 6 inches deeper than the photo with the tail pipe about 3 inches from the ground. It's been raining a little everyday since I've been here. Today was sunny and nice but tommorrow it's a 70-80% chance of rain. Wenches and a Bobcat are expected in the AM.

My 500 dollar Fuel Pump Doesn't Suck

... But it's suppose to. There in lies the rub.

Sorry about yesterdays vague cry for help.. I'm pretty much at my wits end with the bus, because it has cost me so much time and money in the last 2 months that it is now threatening to derail the project. I cannot handle another break down without breaking down myself as was demonstrated on Sunday when I thought everything was working great and headed off down the road to Austin... I got a whole 1/4 mile before slowing to a stop. When I tried to start it back up it wouldn't.. because I was freaking out so much that I'd left it in Drive instead of putting it in neutral. (it only starts in neutral).. Gordon came out with the Bio Liberty tractor to tow me off the road (that's when I realized it was still in drive).

The FASS pump installed made the bus top out at 25mph. Fuel starvation. This pump is built specifically for WVO, Bio Diesel and of course diesel yet they designed it to Push more than pull (suck) even though Most Veggie conversions are configured to suck the fuel through the filters instead of push it through. ANYway, since the crappy 100 dollar pumps I've blown up along the way were able to suck it through (for a limited time); the FASS pump was expected to suck at least as well only last considerably longer. That line of thinking was far too rational for reality. I replaced the fuel filters to solved the problem (wasted money). Then we thought it was the fuel lines being too weak to handle the pressure of this monster pump and replaced them (wasted money). I was about to put the damn thing up for sale and in my anger .. reconnected the (truly piece of shit) fuel pump that brought me to Slidell .. Guess what? Everything worked great. I was back up to my normal 57mph in 1 minute flat. But this one won't pull veggie and is 45psi too low even for diesel; which makes it too scary to leave Slidell on.

So what does this mean? I think it means we have to redo the FASS pump to push through the filters which means adding another 3 port valve and small screen filter prior to the pump.. mo money, mo time, mo uncertainty... At this point I think I would have been better off just paying for fucking diesel.

Thanks to those who called. I got a mechanic to "look" at it and gave me things to try which eliminated some of the variables leading to reconnecting the old pump just see if the bus was fucked or not. He'll help with remodeling the conversion later this week...

~~~
disclosure: the pump itself was not 500, the pump, the wasted filters and wasted hose was well over 500... another week of my life... priceless.

I Need a Fucking Diesel Machanic NOW!

seriously.

call me
310-430-4405

Over Pass Texas

The bus has 2 brand new batteries thanks to DG & BMcG. The old batteries were testing as Bad/Weak/Replace; when fully charged. so we thought that might be the "alarm" issue. Also, since the "alarm: would not repeat it's performance for the guy who could fix it... I've been instructed to disconnect the battery if it happens again. Problem Solved?

The Skinny Chef and I headed off to New Orleans for the O27 weekend.

We broke down again on the way, in Beaumont, TX. The New fuel pump bought in Junction had cracked wide open ...

Getting AAA to tow it again only took an hour and a half of arguing instead of 4. However, at 4am, after 2 hours of trying to fix it and an hour and a half of arguing; they said they couldn't get it towed until 9am. Since we were precariously perched on an off ramp over pass with semi's whizzing past a foot away as the bus bounced and swayed a foot from the rail and 40 feet up... they also suggested that I call the cops and they could get it towed quicker and then I could petition AAA for reimbursement... we waited until 9am.

The tow guy showed up about 9am and said they had just called him 20 minutes ago. They had told me at 7:30 am that the truck would be there in 45 minutes. He also said the real reason nobody wants to tow me isn't because of the bus but because the tow companies have as much trouble getting AAA to pay them as I do getting them to agree to honor my card.

So he towed us to his "buddies" place. They found the cracked fuel pump and replaced it but we decided to bypassed the veggie system completely (for the time being) because I was running on veggie when it blew.

I'd spent almost all available funds on veggie oil and diesel when we left Austin. So she payed the repair bill 200 bucks. I scrapped enough together to diesel us into New Orleans and sent her home yesterday with a check she can cash tomorrow...

Solo, bus in New Orleans, I need to get 40 more miles down the road to Slidell to get the bus painted but I don't have enough $ or diesel to get there without risking "running low" again; UNTIL LATER TODAY.

Look for a NO27 video on MBN.

How Do You Turn Off The Alarm?

I went in to settle up with the repair shop yesterday. After the pleasant surprise of a smaller than expected bill; the guy say's .. "oh yeah, and the oil change guys couldn't figure out how to turn off your alarm and had to disconnect the batteries."

"I don't have an alarm"

"Well, when they started it up the horn started honking and all the lights came on and they couldn't get it to stop..."

"That's part of the problem..."

"oh... you sure you don't have an alarm?"

"It didn't come with one.. and I sure didn't put one in..."

... so the bus ain't done yet.

This "alarm" type behavior seemingly happens at random. It did not happen at the previous day working on it. We started it up on the lot after the discussion and.. repeatedly no alarm. They'll be looking at it Monday, seems like a short, but the mechanic said that the horn COULD NOT do that without an alarm device...

Tried to move the Bus today

Today I tried to move the bus into my friends driveway to get it off the street so that the mailman would deliver her mail again.... It started, died, started honking and flashing even with the key off.. and won't start again.

Of course now the battery's dead again.. the interior lights and horn would not stop until the it was completely dead. ... looks like I'm stuck here for awhile, too. It's not nearly as traumatic as being stuck on the side of the road; but it is becoming far too frustrating... I just worked off the advance i got to get it fixed in Junction. I'm currently broke but fed. I don't even want to look at the damn bus... until I've made enough money to get it fixed and be broke again, again. You're lucky this isn't an audio blog. The neighbors weren't so lucky.

Anyone with a suggestion as to what the fuck happened; I'd love to hear it.