In my entire lifetime I have ever only owned one brand new vehicle. Second hand has always been pretty much all that was in my budget or price range. And I’ve always sought to buy the vehicle cash up front to avoid payments over an extended period of time.
Our current truck is no exception. We purchased it from an independent dealer and it came with a safety and all its documents, although it was a rebuild.
Since we purchased her in 2018, she has been a powerhouse. We’ve had to replace the brakes once but otherwise she has given very few problems. This is not to say she didn’t come with, or have issues. The exhaust manifold has needed replacing since day one, but it’s a repair which would likely cost more than what we paid for her.
Another intermittent issue, has been occasional stalling out. This has occurred in very hot weather, and usually when she has been running and is hot too. She’d sputter and stall (or at times just try to stall) but fire right back up and carry on as if nothing had happened.
Until last week.
We drove to town late in the afternoon to get a few needed supplies, and parked, ran our brief errands and came back to go home, and she cranked but wouldn’t start. We tried in vain a few times, and then let her sit for about 20 minutes. After that she fired up as if all was forgiven and got us back to the camper without issue.
A few days later, another very hot day, and a grocery and water run, she wouldn’t start again. She cranked, but wouldn’t fire. We tried a few times and then decided to wait. 20 minutes. She cranked and wouldn’t start.
We tried to add more gas (although she was showing above a quarter tank) which Sandy walked to the gas station to get in our gas can. This didn’t help either. More waiting. Online searched to try to guess the issue. Neither of us are what I’d call ‘mechanically inclined’, so the prospect of the fixes an online search gave was daunting.
After almost two hours in the hot sun, we called a friend who graciously picked us up in her truck and drove us back to the camper, abandoning our truck on the main street in town. After settling back in at home, we arranged with another friend to drive me back to town to pick up the truck (or try to get it started) the next day while we researched more of what the issue could be.
We decided that the truck may need a new fuel filter. Failing that it may need a new fuel pump. The fuel filter is something we think we can do ourselves. More than that, not very likely.
The next morning, I got a ride into town, and, as expected, the truck fired up right away. I drove to the only parts store in town and purchased a fuel filter, and drove home with no issues.
Since that day, it’s been insanely hot. 30c and above every day, and we have yet to attempt the fuel filter replacement. We have, however, made a run into town for water and food, but I stayed in the truck with it running while Sandy ran all the errands as quickly as possible, and we made it back to the camper with no issues.
And now we wait for the heatwave and the intermittent rain to hold up long enough to attempt to change the fuel filter on the roadside in the middle of nowhere. We’ll keep you posted!!
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