Before we went to the Kootenai Swinging Bridge, I noticed that the
van with a name in spite of having a full tank of LP gas wasn’t letting any of
it out. It wasn’t letting any gas get to the stove top or the generator.
No LP gas wasn’t really a issue for our run to the bridge as
the van’s koffee equipment is electric, and we only needed the microwave for
cooking. But I mainly use the van in the spring and fall, and heat is sometimes
real important and the heat runs on LP gas.
No problem I thought. I looked up some RV repair places in Spokane, and since I have had pretty good luck with mobile repair guys I called RV Rescue.
The fellow arrived in a retired ambulances all kitted out for his work. He crawled right under the van without using a mat, or pad, and quickly found the issue. The coil for the gas valve had burned out.
He rummaged around in his portable shop for a bit, and then
told me he didn’t have the part, his suppliers didn’t have the part, and he would
look further and call me back. Which he never did. He charged me $50.00 for
finding the issue and I thought that was fair and paid him in cold hard cash.
There are lots of RV shops in Spokane and I figured if I called
a couple, I could have the part in no time at all.
The parts department at the big time Camping World were not
sure that RV’s even used LP gas and if I wanted to talk to someone who knew
something I could make a appointment for next week and have a conversation with
them.
I called another place in Liberty Lakes Blue Compass, and
those parts fellows knew what I was talking about and thought they might even
have one. We loaded up and headed even deeper into eastern Washington. Those fellows
looked and looked and pulled up a photo of the elusive coil, but alas they had
none to sell.
This is ridiculous I thought and even tried to call the
dealer I bought the van with a name from, but as expected the parts phone was a
recording and leave a message. So, I did. “Hi I need a replacement coil for my
fuel valve, part number and phone number, and please don’t call me back. They didn’t.
The closest dealer to me turned out to be in Kelowna, and after talking with them it seemed like the best place to go. I didn’t want to go to Seattle anyway.
The road to Kelowna is a pretty nice drive. The border
crossing was a breeze, and soon I was looking for the button to put the van in
Km, and cruising along at 90.
I stayed in an RV park along highway 3. They had everything I needed for 13% less. I even drained my nasty water tanks there.
In the morning, I set the GPS to the dealer’s address, and
it took me right to it except it was across a major highway, and there was no
left turn as instructed possible. Fortunately for me there was a Tim Hortons on
the corner, and I made a bee line towards it. Rummaging around I even found
enough Canadian change for the legendary Bismark and some coffee.
At the dealer the parts woman said she found the coil at a
company over seas that they do not trade with. Desperate I asked, did you call
the manufacturer of the van with a name?
No, they did not do that as that is high zoot and required
special clearance from management.
The nice parts people suggested that I go around the block to the propane place and see if they could help. Well, I thought it’s closer than Saskatoon, the birthplace of the van with a name so I will give it a shot.
The propane dealer looked at first glance as another dead
end, but as soon as the fellow filled up the customers ahead of me, he pulled
out of thin air it seemed the proper coil for the gas valve. He even let me
install it on site and came over and checked to make sure it was working.
Thanks Gas Man…
No comments:
Post a Comment