Throttled by a cable!

This has been quite a day!! The adventure continues, and we welcome the variety and even the problems that fill our life on the road. This is so much more appealing to us than sitting on a porch somewhere looking at the same street day after day and living a predictable, safe life.

This morning, we drove to Delta, about an hour away, and met our daughter-in-law and grandson. Julia and Wyatt were waiting for us when we arrived, but a series of little problems and forgotten items delayed us so we did not get over to see our son Scott until almost 11:00. That would have been fine except we needed to be back to Trans West Trucks in Grand Junction before they closed at 3:30. We shortened our visit with a promise to return tomorrow morning and headed back to the shop around 2:00.

The mechanics were certain they would have received and installed our new throttle cable by early afternoon, and we were pleased to see one of them under the rig as we drove up to the shop. Our joy soon turned to dismay, however, when we got down to look under the coach.

The cable sheath seemed way large and, as it made its way from the engine in the rear to the fuel pedal in the front, was sagging in several places and coiled in a floppy loop ending with an S curve. The mechanic said we might find the throttle a bit "stiff," but it would get better as it seasoned out. What? We started the coach and found that it took a GREAT deal of strength to bring up the RPMs and when you let off the throttle, the engine continued to run at high rev for at least 20 seconds!

We went to the shop office and told them this was unacceptable. We reminded them that the first mechanic had said he thought he needed 50 feet of cable and it should be heavier than the original. I had protested then that he needed to measure, but 50 feet would be way long, and that the gauge of the cable should be close to the original. I was pretty adamant about it. Obviously, he didn't agree, so we're back to square one.

Therefore, we are still in Grand Junction, but we planned to be here at least one more day to visit our son again tomorrow, anyway, so it's not so bad. Monday morning, we'll need to talk to shop management and arrange for the repair to be done properly and be sure we don't have to pay for all this wasted work and $400 cable. Thankfully, we have no real schedule to keep.

On a lighter side, we may have company tomorrow afternoon. Members of one of the Safari email groups we belong to dropped us a line. They are headed to the Salt Lake City area, just as we are, and will be passing through here tomorrow. We sure hope they drop in.