Well…
On our way out of the Ogden area, making the climb out of Utah toward Idaho, we finally hit a point where we needed to make some kind of change. We had been adding coolant at a more rapid pace, about every hour. We also stopped using our exhaust brake after leaving Soldier Creek. During the climb toward Snowville, we hit 240 degrees, and that’s just about to the point of overheating. We pulled off, put in more coolant, and then limped it slowly into the Flying J, watching the temperatures.
It was at this point I struggled to understand Good Sam’s Roadside Assistance. I called, to try to make it easy on all of us, and they would only tow our truck to the nearest service shop, leaving our fifth wheel at the Flying J, because it was not “technically” disabled. I would have had to pay someone else to tow the fifth to some place we could stay.
Chrysler would do the same thing, so Good Sam really was not helping us here. The lady on the phone couldn’t even find the Ram Dealer in Burley an hour away, I had to find it for her.
So… I thanked her for her time and we went to plan B.
We both uncoupled from our fifth wheels, and we put our heavy duty B&W hitch in John’s (Nathan’s father) truck. They had an Anderson but this was the quicker swap.
They left their trailer at the Flying J for a little while, while they towed ours to an RV Park in Heyburn. We followed behind in our truck, unloaded, trying to make sure the temperatures stayed low and kept full on coolant.
After we made it into Burley/Heyburn, and were situated, they dropped off our hitch and then went back down to Snowville to get their fifth from the Flying J… and then they drove all the way home to Boise.
John would come out the next day and pick up our trailer, and then we’d once again follow behind in our unloaded truck, but this time all the way to Boise.
There was a nice positive from this unexpected stay. The Riverside RV Park in Heyburn. It was only $25 a night, and it had full hookups. It was also right next to the park, with access to the river. We would come here again.
In the end, after making it back to Boise, and having the truck looked at, the local dealer determined the cause of the problem was the EGR Cooler. I guess it had cracked, and it was letting the coolant mix with the exhaust. We were SO glad it wasn’t the head gasket. And thankful for the warranty.