A breakdown on the way to the hoedown

Sharon’s aunt’s partner’s son’s wedding was to be held outside Bowling Green, Kentucky in conjunction with their annual hoedown and we were invited to attend. Also going was Sharon’s sisters, Cookie and Rachie. The Frog Farm Hoedown was going on its 20-something anniversary and has a history of being a lot of fun so we were excited to hit the road. The only accommodations there was a large field in which everyone was to camp in. Luckily the Ark is perfectly suited for “roughing it.”

We did the usual and got the Ark loaded and ready to go the night before and slept in Ark while parked in the driveway so I could just wake up very early and take off. This way Nora could be sleeping for a good portion of the drive.

The first hours were uneventful, we left around 5am as I slept in a little. The first 4 hours were uneventful. We stopped for breakfast when Nora woke and took back off. It was just before making it to Birmingham that the Ark experienced a breakdown. It started overheating and we were forced to pull off to the shoulder of I-65 as the engine had kicked off. I was pretty worried.

I knew I saw steam and coolant come out, but when I stepped out of the van I saw it had covered the whole passenger side with and orangish-brown looking coolant. “Water everywhere!”, as Nora quipped. Dripping off the door handles, the mirrors and streaking all the way back to the rear windows! This might not be good I thought to myself that the engine might be cracked to let out that much coolant.

So we fired up the laptop and got online to find an auto part store. We were in luck, just a few miles down the road was a Carquest and a Walmart. I filled up the radiator with the extra coolant we had and water from the freshwater tank on the van.

It started right up and ran cool the whole way to Walmart exit. We got off and parked in the parking lot, leaving it run for a bit to see what happened. And it ran just fine. In fact the gauge never went off cold. Which seemed a bit odd. I guessed we burned out the sensor from it getting so hot. I figured Id repair that once we got to our destination.

We bought more coolant and water, and headed on our way. Since the gauge was not working I was on the lookout for the first hint of steam. It was about 15 minutes later when I noticed steam starting to come out of the hood. The van was again overheating, and running very rough this time, and I immediately pulled off and shut off the engine.

I feared the worst, that it was in fact a blown engine. And after speaking to Sharon’s brother who was pretty sure it was a cracked block or blown head gasket I was nauseous. Here we were, 4 hours from home. Scenarios were racing through my head. Do we rent a car? Do we try to fix it here and hang until it is completed? What the hell should we do?

I eventually got hold of my anxiety and looked online again. Just 1.4 miles ahead was a KOA and off that exit was a retail utopia. Anything we needed. We decided to limp to the campground and assess the damage and maybe it will be something I can fix. In the meantime we could plug the ark in and relax a bit and let Nora play, while I researched the problem online. What I found was that the thermostat and other temperature controls are run by the temperature sensor and if it is inoperative the van could overheat. After inspecting the sensor, it was in fact destroyed. I also read that sometimes plugs get fouled, even damaged, when an engine severely overheats, causing it to run rough. So I had a game plan.

Upon checking on google, I found and Auto Zone just a half mile down the road from the campground. I took my bike off the rack and took off to see if they had any ideas what could be wrong also.

They agreed with what I learned and also suggested I get a new thermostat. The guy behind the counter did not think I had blown the engine at all. He knew how tough the engine’s were in the big chevy vans. That gave me some relief. I took off back for the ark. I left with 8 new spark plugs, a thermostat, coolant, radiator stop leak, and a new sensor. I was on a mission to repair the Ark.

The temp sensor was a bitch to get off. It was in an almost totally inaccessible spot for regular wrenches. Some engineer somewhere must have made a special tool for getting to it when he designed the engine. THANKS! Eventually after much swearing and cut and smashed fingers I got it off and the new one in. The thermostat was easy. I hoped the spark plugs would be as well as I had not removed the cockpit engine cover inside the van before to know how accessible they would be. To much great relief it was easy to get off and once removed the spark plugs were all right there. Luck was on our side as I instantly noticed one of the spark plug wires was no longer connected. It must have been blown off when it got really hot. I simply slipped it back on and started the Ark to see how it ran.

It fired right up and purred like a kitten. We wanted to test it before we decided on whether or not to push on to the hoedown so we ventured out for Thai food. Which is our style of comfort food :) The Ark ran beautifully. We ate and went back to the campground and prepared the Ark for an early departure.

I was excited to get going so we ventured as steathily as a hulking old van could be at 3am in the morning. It felt so good to feel it just glide down the highway. It ran smoother than it ever had.

We made it to Kentucky without a another problem. The hoedown was fun, although hampered by a passing storm right in the middle of the festivities. They just crammed themselves into the house to continue the party until the rain stopped. I felt bad for those in wet tents as we were snug as bugs in the Ark.

We did get in a great bike ride during the one day we had to play. We rode down with Nora to a beautiful creek to play at, she had a blast running around the shallow gravel bars and shoals. It turned out to be a very relaxing weekend with family that went by way too quick. Of course we lost a day due to the breakdown, but the crisis was averted so all was well.

As I write this we are gearing up for a Christmas journey to Ohio then to Baltimore and just pray the Ark gets us there and back again. I am not too worried as it is a work horse, but one never knows what lies in store. I just hope it isn’t too cold up there, Nora hates the cold!