Well, with the heavy shop loads due to this summer's prolonged heat wave in the West, the earliest I could get the Monty torn down to find and fix the front oil leak was Aug. 6. Meanwhile, we had a scheduled trip up to Seattle that included some camping so I figured with losing 'only' about a quart every 1,500 miles we could take the '97 to tow our camper.

WRONG! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" />

Everything was fine until near the end of the trip coming down highway 299 through the canyons of the Trinity Mountains west of Redding when the dash idiot lights started to glow and the voltmeter started to drop past 12V. In about 20 minutes the alternator quit altogether and 15 minutes later the engine died with a dead battery. Of course no cell phone service in the canyon. A nice semi driver stopped after about 20 minutes and agreed to phone in our AAA info once he got cell service at the top of the pass. Two hours later we were about to set up the camper for the night when a tow truck showed up from Redding. The tow driver said the high heat had all the shops in Redding backed up with 2-3 days work (ours was tow call #95 for the day), so he suggested towing us all the way to Susanville. We agreed and landed outside of the Susanville Towing garage at midnight, 120 miles and 4 deer-in-the-headlights later.

The next day the garage ordered an alternator to be expressed up from Sacramento overnight and the following day we were on our way again.

Alternator failure-- the oil leak had caught dust and dirt inside the alternator and ground down the brushes and salt and moisture in blowing dirt along the ocean may have corroded the coils and/or shorted the voltage regulator. The inside of the alternator was a mess. Clearly, delaying dealing with the relatively 'minor' oil leak was not the right choice.

Oil leak-- This week the local shop found the left (passenger side) cam seal "gushing oil" and the right cam seal and main seal weeping. The timing belt (had been replaced at 67,800 miles by the previous owner) was showing some signs of wear so it will be replaced.

The tensioners and water pump all appear to be in excellent condition. And, the engine temp on the 2,100 mile trip was rock steady in high heat. So, I decided to not replace the water pump or tensioner. With 92,000 miles on the car, am I likely to regret this???

Kudos-- I can't speak highly enough of Duane, the driver at Keith's towing in Redding and Glen, the mechanic at Susanville towing! Both were extremely courteous and professional. Great folks!



Cheers! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />