High Sierra 8/29
This past March at 400,000 miles I had my truck engine rebuilt. Four trips this year to the high country it ran fine. Then I decided to have new fuel injectors installed. The shop was delayed five days waiting for parts and other problems, I didn’t get it until Saturday. I drove it around the block five times, it seemed to run better so I took the rental car back and drove home. While on the freeway I felt something odd with the throttle response. When I backed off from 70 to 60 mph, I felt the engine cut out then a delay before it fired back up when I barely pushed the pedal. Basically it is jerking at low speeds. I had two days to pack up for my next trip so I didn’t have time to take it back for the adjustment.
On the way up to Bishop yesterday it ran good out on the open highway but I could feel the jerky whenever I backed off the throttle. When I started driving in the dirt on the 4x4 road to a trailhead that leads to a lake with golden trout, I shifted into low gear, the truck seemed to run real good.
About an hour into the slow drive the engine suddenly died and would not start. At this point I am over 10 miles away from the nearest pavement and more than likely a tow truck will not be able to rescue me if I can’t get’er going again. I felt small panic setting in as I opened the hood. On the right I could hear a hissing that sounded like the right rear tire was leaking. Turns out pressure built up in the fuel tank and hot gas was leaking out the cap.
I’ve seen this back in the 1970s, especially when you filled your tank and immediately drive to 8,000 feet. You hear the hiss and when you remove the cap to relieve the pressure, gasoline comes shooting out until equalization. Today in my case my tank was not full and I was at 7,000 feet; only hot fumes were escaping. In 30 minutes the engine started and I resumed my journey with the gas cap removed.
This is a first. I have had this truck for 15 years and in all the times I have been in high elevation I never had any issue with un-eaqualized air pressure in my gas tank. I have been to 11,000 feet twice this year and it ran just as well as at sea level. Freaked me out.
As I gained in elevation the truck really ran crappy, it wouldn’t idle and it was impossible to go slow. Same symptoms I felt on the freeway came into play, as when I tried to barely move over the steep rocky zones in the road – aka feather weight on the throttle – the engine jerked around and stalled out. I had to go faster than safe over the rough spots, causing the suspension to stress along with my equipment load… and my mind.
At 5pm I made it to the end of the road where you pick up the backpack trail two and a half miles to the lake. The whole time while preparing my pack I had an uneasy feeling about my ride. Do I dare walk up to the lake tomorrow, then try to drive out on Friday so I can be back to work on Saturday? Or is the vehicle going to totally screw up and I’ll need to use the next three days to get home?
While filling the top half of my pack with fishing gear I realized one main piece was missing: my butt bag full of everything. Two weeks ago I stuffed all my tackle into one bag so all I would have to do is put it in the back of the truck and go. I wanted to apply the techniques I practiced at Secret Brown Trout Lake last month to this new golden trout lake, the big treble hook inflated crawler covered by a wad of Gulp! bait. All my treble hooks and worm inflators are not with me. Now the uneasy feeling in my head just turned into P. I. Zissed.
I went to bed at 9:30 at night and woke up at 9:30 in the morning. I packed up and got the hell out, the truck running badly, cutting out and stalling over the rough climbs. There would be no way for me to pack in, relax and enjoy the lake.
Once I came down to 5,000 feet the truck ran better. I tested it out by driving on a paved road to 8,000 feet. High speeds are fine but when I came to a stop the engine died. I can’t stand it!
Thursday I took it back to the shop and had the big cheese drive it around the lot while I was sitting shotgun. It jerked around so much it popped out of first gear. An hour later they adjusted the throttle position sensor and now all is normal and it runs great and has normal fuel efficiency.
My truck does a lot for me but with all the EFI electronics, when something goes haywire, I can never figure out what to do to fix it. It ain’t like them good ol’ carburetor days anymore. I can't totally blame the shop either. It's a team effort. Here I am trying to keep a 22-year-old 4x4 pickup going and they're just trying to help me out.
This was supposed to be my last sortie of summer, once behind me I'd return to the business of life. But now I have a giant void in my figurative heart and cannot bear ending the season like this. I'll try this trip again in 3 weeks during the last four days of summer.
*****
Breakwall Robert placed a gigantic ling cod into the boat while fishing Alaskan waters in
July. After opening the thumbnail, click next 5 times.
*****
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