Clyde hit 110,000 miles...and needed some serious TLC
We often talk about RV problems on the blog, and this year, there was no shortage of them. We've spent our entire year of travels with a leaky roof, thanks to a blizzard that downed tree branches on us and created holes that don't seem to want to be patched, no matter what we try. Then we have our electric issues, aka the problem that keeps on probleming. Our inverter fried to a crisp a month after hitting the road this year, and just when we thought everything was fixed, we had another blackout, this time seemingly stemming from our battery bank. And who could forget the long road of troubleshooting after we got a flat tire on the scarily dangerous Florida Turnpike in Miami?
But of course, the trailer is only half of our rig setup, and our GMC Sierra pickup truck, Clyde, is the engine that keeps us moving. Clyde hasn't been spared problems this year, either. Two days before our flat tire on our trailer, we got a flat on our truck. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't a big deal. It happened in our campground, and we still had enough air to drive up the street to get a replacement.
But Clyde wasn't out of the woods, and as we plugged along on our New England trip, problems started adding up quickly.
Our first problem happened at our first campground of the trip. We were in NC, at a 2-night pit stop before crossing the border into VA. After a long stormy drive day led to a Tanner accident in the backseat, we spent our only full day in the area looking for an emergency interior car detail. Everything worked out great...except when we got the truck back, we noticed an apparatus in the front seat that looked something like this:
We got the detail in the back seat only, so we doubted it was something left behind by the detailer, but we looked around and couldn't find anything it went to. Well, that's because it belonged somewhere we can't see, and we didn't discover this until days later, after we had discarded the item.
So what is it? It's a glove box damper, aka a little shock absorber that prevents the glove compartment door from dropping too hard when it opens. We don't exactly know how ours ended up on the floor of our truck, but it was gone now, and at some point, we'd want a replacement.
A week later, our truck started giving us warning signs that a lot more was wrong than just a glove box damper. After our stressful drive day around NYC and to RI, where we scrambled to find an alternative campsite at the last minute, we finally settled into our new site. Only, after unhitching, Anthony went to drive the truck away from the trailer, and something very strange happened. The truck rolled forward, almost like it was in neutral, when it was actually in drive. Anthony had to quickly brake the truck to keep it from rolling out of our campsite. We were in desperate need of a break at that point, so Anthony chose denial as the appropriate course of action. We turned the truck off and hoped it wouldn't happen again.
Thankfully, it didn't, but on our way out of the campground a couple days later, we noticed a different, possibly related issue. While towing, our truck made a grinding noise at certain points during acceleration, usually during a gear shift. This wasn't the first time we've had this type of issue, but it was our first time having it exclusively while towing. Back in Season 3, we noticed the grinding sound particularly when going uphill. Once back in New England, we took it to our GMC dealer, who said our transmission fluid was low and topped it off. After that, the problem stopped. Could this be something wrong with the transmission again, and if we were low on fluid again, could there possibly be a slow leak that's gone unnoticed? In order to answer these questions, a trip to a GMC service department would be in order.
As though Clyde knew we'd be making an appointment at a GMC soon, we started getting dashboard alerts that we needed both an oil change and a brake pad replacement. It was a lot to deal with at once, but we were thankful for the timing. Hopefully, we could get everything taken care of in one appointment, and we were finally in NH, where our travels were slowing down a bit.
Typically, we would try to use our GMC service center near our MA home-base. If you've been reading the blog for a while, you know that we've used them for many repairs over the years, and compared to other GMCs in other parts of the country, these guys knew their stuff. Unfortunately, that GMC dealer closed, so we've been forced to find others that are just as reputable. In NH, GMC service departments are few and far between, but we found a combined GMC/Chevy/Buick/Cadillac dealer and service center in Concord. After our stay at Riverbrook near the White Mountains, we had plans to venture further south to clean out our storage unit in Loudon. We didn't have a ton of time – just 2 nights booked – but we decided to squeeze in an appointment at the GMC.
One of the perks of getting service near our MA home-base is that, if we need to leave the truck for extended periods of time, we always had a backup vehicle, because we could borrow Nicole's parents'. This time, we were on our own, and we knew the appointment could last anywhere between a few hours and all day, depending on what the guys discover with our transmission. We debated renting a car, but since we were now in a more populated area, we had the option to use ride shares. Anthony brought Clyde to GMC early in the morning and then took an Uber back to the campground. Then that evening, he called an Uber to pick him up and bring him back to the dealer. Rush hour was a factor, so it took about an hour for a driver to pick up his request, but we weren't in a rush. We expected to be without the truck all day, and that's what happened.
But before we get into the specifics of the repairs, we need to talk about this dealer. We've been to quite a few GMCs in our years of travel, but we've yet to see one that offers such spiffy amenities! Perhaps it's because they also deal and service Cadillacs, so everything is a little more luxurious. Nevertheless, Anthony quickly realized that, if he had needed to wait there all day, he would have been very comfortable. There was a cafe right in the middle of the showroom, and the service center waiting room had leather easy chairs. The staff said many a man has fallen asleep in that room.
As for the service, the guys were extremely communicative, letting Anthony know that it would be a few hours before they could even start on the truck, and then calling to update him throughout the day. The oil change and brake pad replacements were routine maintenance, so those happened quickly and efficiently. They also replaced the glove box damper. The transmission issue, however, needed lots of diagnostic tests.
By the time our appointment rolled around, we had had a few more travel days and had gathered more information. It was true that the grinding sound only happened when towing, but upon further observation, we discovered that it was only happening in tow mode. We didn't know what this meant, and we still wondered if it could be something as simple as before, where all we needed was more transmission fluid. But the guys called us and let us know that this wasn't the case. Our fluid level was fine, but they did detect some metal in it.
Typically, if there's metal in the transmission fluid, it means a component is breaking down. Specifically, they told us that we'd likely need our torque converter replaced. The torque converter connects the engine to the automatic transmission and helps to keep the engine running smoothly when idling and accelerating. If the torque converter starts failing, the truck might exhibit symptoms of grinding/clicking sounds, shuddering, or a lag when accelerating. We couldn't deny that some of the symptoms matched up, but we really hoped this wasn't the issue. For starters, this would mean a replacement would need to be ordered, but we wouldn't be in NH long enough to wait for it to come in. We'd need to drive all the way back to SC with a failing torque converter and then find a service department in Myrtle Beach, who would need to order the part. Second, this part would set us back a whopping $4000. The guys at GMC said they needed to run more diagnostics to be sure, and this way they could give us a thorough report, which we could pass onto the next service techs.
A couple hours later, we got promising news...well, sort of. Further testing showed that the metal in our transmission fluid wasn't ferrous, which if the torque converter was breaking down, it would be. We didn't need to spend $4000 on a replacement. Only, why was there metal in the transmission fluid, then? No one could tell us for sure, but they replaced the transmission fluid and told us to keep an eye on things. At the time of writing this post, we've towed twice since that appointment, and we haven't heard the grinding noise again. However, we're still staying observant for transmission problems down the road, since this wasn't our first experience with them.
The GMC appointment was only one part of Clyde's 110,000-mile makeover. As you probably read recently, we've had issues with a couple of devices that we keep on our dashboard on travel days. Our Garmin GPS' connectors melted, leaving us without a reliable RV GPS for over 1100 miles. A few weeks before that, we discovered that our dash cam's cord failed, likely also due to the hot temperatures we experienced in SC this spring. Dash cameras don't take normal USB cords because they need a specific amount of power, so we needed to by a dash cam specific cord, one that would work with our brand of camera. Easier said than done considering our camera was discontinued, but after some research, we found a cable that we were hopeful would work. As soon as we got to NH, we slowed our travels enough that we could order some packages. The dash cam cable and new Garmin were two of our first purchases.
The dash cam cable is great. It has a sturdier connection point than the old one, came with all the adaptors someone might need, and it connects into our truck's auxiliary outlet, leaving our USB ports free for other devices. And, in case that's not enough, the auxiliary plug also has two additional USB ports built in. This cable seems to be compatible with most dash cams. Since ours is discontinued, this is the updated model that's most similar to ours.
As for the Garmin, we immediately noticed lots of updates compared to our old one, which we had purchased 5 years ago. The graphics are more modern, there's a new navigation voice, and we noticed some pretty cool added features. When we approach a destination, the side bar shows a satellite view of the location. We can use an app to plug in directions and send it to our Garmin. This app connection also allows for faster traffic updates. We're sure there are even more features we haven't seen yet. Setting up the Garmin was as simple as the first time we did it. It walked us through the steps to input our rig's measurements, followed by our preferred navigation settings. Even though we technically didn't need the Garmin our last couple of travel days because we were taking familiar roads, we used it anyway, and it was 99% accurate. The remaining 1% wouldn't have been dangerous, but since we're local, we knew a less narrow, less "tree branchy" alternative. Perhaps it's best to try the GPS on familiar roads for this reason!
Don't worry, we're not ignoring the pattern of melting devices this year. Myrtle Beach had an extremely hot spring, and that heat followed us north on this trip. After never having one before, we finally decided to purchase a sunshade for our windshield. Frankly, we can't believe it took us so long to get one. But of course, as soon as we got one, this is what happened to the sky:
We had days of rainy weather and wildfire haze, and after leaving Riverbrook, we had only campsites nestled under tree cover. We've yet to use our sunshade, but we're sure that day will come soon enough, especially when we're parked back in Myrtle Beach.
And since we were on a roll with our dashboard upgrades, we decided to take our backup camera out and have a go at reviving it. We hadn't used it in years and actually forgot specifically what the problem was. Then it all came rushing back. Our rig is very long and very metal, so the signal strength from the camera's antenna on our dashboard, to the camera way at the back of our trailer, has always been weak. Then, when we got our truck windows tinted, we erased the little bit of signal it was getting. We upgraded to stronger antennae, but it didn't help. We can get signal if we hold the camera near the open driver's side window, but not when it's mounted to our dashboard. However, the camera itself is still working fine, and the customer service has been helpful in the past. We haven't had time to do so yet, but we're thinking about researching if any new solutions have come about in the past couple years. Because Nicole always serves as spotter, the backup camera hasn't been as necessary. However, now that we have our SC cottage, there's a likely chance Anthony will be towing the trailer on his own, to take it to repair appointments. He can always use the backup camera in a pinch by holding it near the window, but if we find a cheap and easy solution to boost the signal, we'll probably implement it.
We didn't expect to need to tend to Clyde this much on our trip, but these things happen when we're traveling thousands of miles, towing thousands of pounds. It all worked out for the best, though. Not only did we get Clyde taken care of right away and not risk worse issues down the road, but we also found a great service center that will be our local go-to once we settle in NH. 110,000 miles is still young for our beast of a truck, and we're sure we have many more adventures ahead.