Wednesday, December 5, 2012 (Pleasant Harbor RV Resort, Lake Pleasant, Peoria, AZ)

I was up at 5:20 this morning...on purpose this time.  Since we were leaving for Phoenix at 7:00, to take the truck in, I wanted to give myself some extra time to enjoy my morning coffee.  Steve got up at 6:00 and while he was having his coffee, I got myself cleaned up and ready to go.  It was just too early for breakfast so we will grab something later...we will likely be spending a good part of the day at a mall that won`t open until around 10:00, so we will find a restaurant and go out for breakfast.

We left just before 7:00, joining the ranks of people on their way to work.  Steve doesn't mind driving the Phoenix highways as the traffic moves unless there's an accident. In fact it's the best highway system we have been on in our North American travels to date. The route to Midway GMC was very direct...east to I-17 and then straight south to Bell Avenue...a half hour drive.  We were greeted by Brian, the service manager, who took all our info about the issues—the fan clutch and the disappearing coolant.  Then we were off to the customer waiting area where we requested a shuttle ride to Arrowhead Mall.

We were dropped off at an Appleby`s just across the street from the mall.  The Appleby`s wasn`t open yet but there was a Denny`s right next door...which is where we really wanted to go but didn`t know it was there.  It wasn`t until the driver dropped us off that he noticed it and yelled out the window to tell us.  Steve loves the Grand Slam breakfast...two pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, orange juice and coffee for $8.00!!

It was around 9:00 when we were all done breakfast and heading across the street to the mall.  Since the mall stores don`t open until 10:00, we joined the "mall walkers" and then settled at a table in the food court.  Steve was on the iPad and I had the iPod.

The stores had just opened and I went to explore a bit while Steve remained at the table, when he received a phone call from service manager Brian at Midway.  After a 40 mile test drive by the mechanic, the computer read-out from the truck indicated that the fan clutch was cutting in and out at the correct temperatures and an external and internal inspection showed no sign of a coolant leak. Sheesh!  It was a little difficult to discuss much in the noisy food court, so we called for the shuttle and returned to Midway.

But before we do that, we wanted to go to the "Sketchers" shoe store.  We both wanted a new pair of walking shoes.  As usual, they didn`t have Steve`s size in the pair he wanted....so that was that...we`ll have to go to another store...sometime.

We called the shuttle and were waiting outside one of the mall entrances when Steve received another call from Midway...this time it was Ralph.  Steve explained his concerns and they decided that Steve would take a tech out for a drive to recreate the "excessively loud fan clutch" problem.

It was noon by the time the shuttle driver dropped us off at Midway...the lunch hour...great!  I left Steve at the commercial truck division and went to wait in the customer service lounge.  I`d say it was a good hour—hour and a half when Steve came back to get me.  I`ll let him explain the end result...

To make a long story short...after a test drive in which it was concluded that the fan clutch was loud and a phone call by the Service Manager, Brian to somebody else I was told that they wouldn’t replace it for noise as it is operating at the correct temperatures. Technically the fan clutch isn’t covered under the extended warranty and I wasn't about to pay for fan clutch #4. Today was a waste of time...however it was good to have these things looked at and documented before the warranty expires in case we have issues in the future.

One cool thing Brian showed me was the computer printout called the health report. It’s just like a flight data recorder showing: Fuel economy...7.13 mpg, fuel consumed...4,623.13 gallons, engine/emission and brake condition, highway/city miles driven, idling hours and idling fuel consumed and much more...interesting stuff.

With all of the test drives, the truck was running on fumes so the first thing we had to do when we left Midway was to fuel up with diesel.  There was a Fry’s just down the street with diesel at $3.70/gallon...the cheapest we have seen it since we’ve been down south.  Unfortunately, the maximum authorization when using a credit card at the pump is $150, which didn’t fill one tank...so we ended up just putting $150 in each tank.  That will do...we can fill up another time.

After a stop at Walmart for some groceries, we headed home.  It was just after 4:00 by this time.  The Christmas decorations at the park entrance...

I put the groceries away while Steve puttered around outside.  We were about to relax in our chairs and watch the sun go down when we thought we would go over and meet our neighbours.  They happened to be from BC as well...Nanaimo, as a matter of fact, more Vancouver Islanders!  What a small world.

We sat outside for a bit and once the sun went down, it got quite chilly, so we headed inside.  We are looking forward to just having a relaxing day around here tomorrow.