Well, it has been just a little over a year since our last "about the van" post and I figured it is about time to catch y'all up. Where to start?... Picking up where we left off, mechanically the van has been an absolute trooper, basic maintenance has been a breeze, not a drop of oil burnt, transmission fluid bright red and all the way up and where it should be on the "blood stick". Still a small leak from the pinion seal on the rear axle but that is on the list of things to do next time it is in the shop. Carrie and I trucked the chateau to Yellowstone, through the park, and back. The only issues were the check engine light popping on after the first fuel stop (E.G.R. circuit issue) and a small coolant leak from one of the new hoses I had ran to the rear heater core, which turned out just to be a faulty hose clamp, that I was able to fix in the parking lot while visiting old faithful.
Trips to Estacada, Packwood, Crane Hot Springs, Tillicum Beach, Conconully, and lastly Timber Trails. Just over 9,000 miles racked up on the junk yard transmission with no knowledge of its previous history, maintenance record, or level of abuse it had taken before us.
Part 1
Timber Trails...
Pre-trip inspection, all fluids bright, topped off and no odd smells. Tires aired, brakes and universal joints checked the week before, tools and spare fluids packed. The trip started off, and was uneventful concerning the van, that is until the descent down the west side of White Pass. The van was running fine and dandy all the way down to the flat between Morton and Mossyrock. That is when Carrie and I noticed an odd intermittent surge and slow in our momentum unless the accelerator was pressed. It was as if the overdrive was slipping in and out....
Carrie and I reached Timber Trails on schedule, parked the van up in our unofficial "spot", we let the dog out to pee & sniff butts with Jax, and I figured I'd better check the transmission fluid again. So Matt and I popped the hood, and as I expected it was at the full mark, didn't have any off smell or color, so I figured it might be a shift solenoid starting to fail (easy fix but not an $8 one). Shut the hood and enjoyed our weekend at timber trails. When it was time to leave, Carrie and I fired the van up, let it warm up a bit while we finished getting everything back into their travel positions, said our goodbyes and put the van into reverse................................ Long pause and reverse engaged. Oh no.....
The van went into drive fine and I thought that the hesitation into reverse was just a cold or failing solenoid like I had previously guessed. Pulled the hill up and out of timber trails all the way to highway 12. Once on highway 12 heading back towards White Pass the van started doing the hesitation like overdrive was disengaging, so I decided to turn off overdrive since we would only be traveling around 55-60mph anyway. All was fine until the stop light at Mossyrock. We stopped, the light changed, I hit the accelerator, and the van revved and lurched forward...Oh no....
Once we started our ascent up the west slope of White pass things really started to go bad. First, we completely lost the lock-up in overdrive (I had forgotten to turn it off after pulling over because of the stop light lurch). Then we lost all of fourth gear, (it is okay we are really climbing the pass now, so it would be in third most of the time anyway). Then we lost third gear, (Carrie and I really start to worry now). At this time, an emergency call was attempted with spotty at best cell service to my brother-in-law Chris and sister Candice, since they live the closest to White Pass. Right as we crest the top of the pass and start to pull over the call goes through. The van is high geared, and I can do 50mph in second gear without the engine revving too high, so I decided to coast down the east slope of the pass while Chris and Candice start heading our way to rescue us. We pass each other around Rimrock Lake so they turn around and follow us, the van wound out to 4Krpm and running smoothly; no elevated temperatures, good oil pressure and no warning lights. We pulled over at Slims market in Naches to give the motor a rest. Carrie and I mulled over getting a ride back to toppenish to come back with the tow truck, and both decided that the van has made it this far, so were going to just drive it with Chris and Candice following behind. As we turn onto S. Division Street, I can feel second gear starting to slip, and it has completely gone as we pulled into the parking lot of the shop... The van is out of commission again and ifficult decisions have to be made. Find out what we decided in part 2...
~Tim
