A Rough Start in Maryland

Mechanical issues are never fun. Especially when they come on without warning and prove especially difficult to diagnose. We had ventured down to Maryland to attend a wedding and spend some time with family we have in the area. The bus has performed admirably since our hose-off fiasco last summer (long story, short: our intake wasn’t fully assembled and needed to be put back together). During our time in Maryland, however, we experienced an issue where the bus didn’t want to start. The engine would crank over but never fired up. We had previously had a minor issue with our inertial fuel cut-off switch thinking we’d been in an accident and choosing to save us from ourselves, and the symptoms seemed very similar. On a whim, I decided to go out and record some stats from our ScanGauge and the bus fired right up. Having assumed we were experiencing some sort of fuel issue, we thought maybe we had an air bubble in our lines. The bus continued to run and drive for a few days without incident.

Since everything appeared to be resolved, we decided to shove off and move on to another family visit. We packed everything up, loaded up the boys, said our goodbyes and were on our way. Until we cranked and cranked and cranked and the engine didn’t turn over. We decided to leave the bus alone and try again in the morning (Why not? Waiting solved the problem, last time!) The next morning we turned the key and listened as the batteries sputtered out. We had used our portable jumper box to assist the batteries, but we knew it was pretty much time to replace our batteries. They wore down after a few cranks and we weren’t even sure of their age, since they had come with the bus. Changing the batteries proved to be a non-trivial issue. I knew that one of the batteries would require unbolting the battery box to change so we set to work early. The battery terminals were coated with corrosion, which reinforced our decision to make replacement a priority. Removing the first battery went basically as expected, with the only casualty being one of the bolts that clamps the battery cables onto the terminals. The second battery proved to be a much bigger frustration.

The second battery happens to be positioned beneath one of the joists that supports the bus floor, making it impossible to remove without unbolting the battery box. To Ford’s credit, they did design the battery boxes to be installed and removed by only fully removing one bolt and loosening three others. The issue that we had was that the bolts were horribly seized in place. It would seem that the bolts had previously been installed with an impact gun, tightening them down like crazy. The other main issue we had was that, without a very long extension, there was no room to swing a ratchet or breaker bar to get the bolts loose. We hosed everything down with WD-40 and PB Blaster, hoping that some of the oil would loosen things up for us while we went and grabbed new batteries. We got back to the bus, new batteries in hand, and I started working on those bolts again. After probably an hour or so of struggling against these beasts, we asked a favor of a family friend. He graciously allowed us to borrow an impact gun to remove the bolts and anything else from his garage that might be helpful. Once we got the impact gun hooked up to the compressor the bolts broke loose for us-all except one. The head stripped and we couldn’t get a socket to bite on the rounded head. We ground the head off and FINALLY had the battery box free. On our 3,000th trip to NAPA that day, we replaced the bolt from the battery box and from the terminal clamp and returned our second battery core. With all the parts we needed, we finally put the batteries back in. We cleaned up the clamps to make sure we had good conductivity and put everything back as it should be. Feeling confident in our batteries, we decided to give the bus a few more cranks.

It should be pretty obvious, at this point, that the batteries were not our only problem. From our prior experience, we believed we were having some sort of fuel issue. Knowing that our fuel filters were getting on in age, we decided to start there. The logic followed that if our filters were too crudded up that we would then have issues starting. I had planned to do a filter change when we got back to New York, so this just accelerated our timeline, as far as I was concerned. Having done the process before, it wasn’t too big of a challenge to change the filters. Once you know the little tricks of how to squeeze your hands into the right places and have a general idea of what tools to use, things become much more manageable. We cycled the key a few times to prime the filters and tried our luck. Unfortunately, our luck was still being a little shy.

Our next best guess was oil. We pulled the dipstick and had some difficulty discerning the level (it seems as though all the oil was rubbed off by the time the stick came out of the engine) and thought perhaps we were too low or our pressure was too low to allow the engine to fire. Our engine, being a HEUI, depends on adequate oil and oil pressure to operate the fuel injectors. If we were too low on oil or there was too little pressure, it could have been a reason for the bus to not start. Its symptoms would likely be identical to those we were experiencing - that the engine just didn’t seem to have the fuel to kick over. This oil change was the second instance of our troubleshooting work being an acceleration of our maintenance timeline (I intended to do the oil at the same time as the fuel filters). We did not appear to be especially low on oil, but it had definitely seen better days, so I thought maybe the filter was just too cruddy to allow the oil to pass through adequately. After draining the oil and pulling down the filter element, I made my 4,113th trip to the auto parts store (I decided to spread the love and go someplace other than NAPA for this one) for oil and a filter. Once I got back I popped the plug back in, reinstalled the filter and filled the oil. I turned the key, listened for the clatter and fuel pump and cranked away.

I would love to say that it just fired right up. I would love to say that my frustrations and fears and anger all just went away. But that’s not what happened. We listened as the starter spun and spun and the engine never caught. If it hadn’t been disheartening before, it certainly was by then. It seemed like we were reaching the ends of our abilities, pushing the hospitality and kindness of our hosts and their friends and maybe just hitting a wall. It truly felt like the universe was instructing us to give up. To quote some of my elementary school report cards, however, “Craig sometimes has difficulty following directions.” Chock full of stubbornness and being unwilling to walk away from our investment, I set out to do some more investigating in the bus.

*ACRONYM OVERLOAD ALERT* For anyone whose vehicle has an OBD-II Port, the ScanGauge is an incredibly useful tool. It can be used to read engine codes when the Check Engine light comes on but it can also feed lots of real-time data from various sensors in the vehicle. Most of the relevant data we were getting from the ScanGauge appeared to be within normal ranges. Our FICM had proper voltage, the IPR and ICP were reporting normally. The only thing that appeared to be amiss was the FICM Sync - this allows the computer to know that various parts of the engine are properly aligned and are ready for the fuel to be supplied. I went back on YouTube to DieselTechRon’s page for some advice. Based on his advice, I checked to be sure that the Crank Shaft Position Sensor was still supplying data to the FICM, which it was. In Ron’s experience, the sensors are much less likely to fail than the wiring - chafing and heat are two particular issues. From what he said, sometimes just jiggling the wire for the Cam Shaft Position Sensor can (temporarily) solve the issue. I went outside, laid on the ground, found the wires in question and wiggled and jiggled and jostled. I cautiously went in, turned the key, listened for all of the clatter to end and then cranked the engine. I cannot begin to tell you what a relief it was when Charlotte roared back to life. With the new batteries, the engine turns over remarkably well (isn’t it amazing how we don’t recognize the gradual change). Now she’s loaded up with clean filters and fresh oil and ready to take on the roads - once I repair that wiring harness. We could probably get away with not replacing that wiring, but down the road it might not be enough to jiggle the wires. They could completely break. To us, it’s not worth that risk.

This whole incident ended up being extremely emotional and draining. Emily and I exhausted ourselves physically and emotionally researching the problem, running from store to store, troubleshooting and doing maintenance all day. Near the end of the day, when tensions were extremely high, we both questioned whether or not to continue with our journey. If we had been negligent with our maintenance or ignored warning signs of impending trouble, the situation would have been less scary. That the problem caught us completely by surprise and could totally incapacitate us was frightening. Because Charlotte is our only home and vehicle on the road, we are helpless if she ever quits on us. We were fortunate this time that the breakdown happened when we had a place to sleep, vehicles we could borrow to get parts and supplies and access to our family’s network of friends who lent us tools, a sympathetic ear and their expertise. Knowing that something like this could happen when we don’t have a safety net is a scary proposition. All we can do now is keep up with our maintenance and keep an eye and ear out for any warning signs. The fact that our problem came down to some finicky wires made it easier to accept its surprise appearance, disappearance and reappearance. Thankfully I have a soldering iron and lots of wire that I’m happy to put to work solving this particular issue.