2-3-07 - Saturday - Broken Truck,,,

Yup. My truck is a sick puppy. I started out yesterday, Friday, to go up to Wyoming to get a load of sugar and after I picked up my trailer and started up the entrance ramp to I-25, my truck decided that it wouldn't go any faster that 25 mph. It was about -5 degrees and there was 6-8 inches of snow on the road, but that really shouldn't have affected the truck. I got pulled over and almost instantly one of the courtesy patrols was behind me. The guy said I needed to get off the road. I understood and he told me that there was a parking lot just off of the next exit. I struggled to get there and called the Breakdown line at Roehl to explaining the situation.

I told the guy on the line that the truck wouldn't go any faster that 25 mph and that it was acting like the computer was shutting it down. He told me I had a clogged fuel filter and I needed to replace it. I really didn't think that that was the problem. I know what a truck feels like when the fuel filter is getting clogged, and this wasn't it. Then they wanted me to open the radiator cap and visually look to see that there was coolant in it. I could see by the sight gauge that the coolant level was ok, but I did what they wanted me to do. That was fun. Opening the radiator cap when it was at operating temperature.

Finally they let me drop my trailer at the Sapp Bros. and take the truck to the local International dealer. That's where it is now. I'm on some unplanned "hometime", and the truck will be fixed by Monday. Hopefully. I'm not making any money for these few days, but it's nice to have some time at the house.