Current Location: Vacationer RV Park, El Cajon, California

Back to work for Malcolm today. On the way out the door, however, he dropped the truck off at El Cajon Ford which is right next door. A two minute walk back to the trailer to grab the rental car and he was off for the day. Val stayed home and relaxed all day.

We had taken the truck in to have a screeching noise checked out. The noise crept up as we were traveling across the Rockies but got worse as we were traveling down the coast. The noise would only occur when the cooling fan was engaged and at higher engine speeds. Malcolm suspected a failing fan clutch.

The dealer called Malcolm later in the morning and indicated that the noise was probably the serpentine belt slipping on the water pump pulley (the smooth backside of the belt drives the water pump and fan). So they replaced the pulley. Malcolm had them replace the belt, both radiator hoses and the de-gas bottle (coolant tank) since it was yellowed and starting to crack..

The shop also replaced the thermostat and housing with a newer, improved version. Malcolm also requested that they use an upper radiator hose designed for the dual alternator equipped trucks since it routes around the serpentine belt instead of through the belt like the stock one. That way, if we ever want to replace the belt we won’t have to remove the hose and drain the coolant.

They called at 4:00 to let Malcolm know that the truck was done, so he left early at 4:30 and met Val at the dealer. We paid for the truck and headed home to eat. Tonight was grocery shopping night. We also filled a couple of our running prescriptions at Walgreens.

We are not sure if we will be heading east this weekend yet. Malcolm has left the option open to work here one more week, if needed. He will make that decision by the end of Wednesday so we can let work, the RV park and the rental car place know.