Miata Mailing List: July 1997, Message #112
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From: 	Bill Bowser <webowser@fuse.net>

Subject: Calif. or Bust - Chap. 8

Date: 	Wed, 2 Jul 1997 22:49:50 -0500



Hi Gang,



Installment eight: (The Last)



Still Sun. June 29, 1997



After getting Ruth checked in for her flight home Drifter and I headed

south on US 101 to begin our long journey back to Cincinnati.  The sky

was clear and the temperature was pleasant; it was definitely top-down

weather, but I thought that I had had enough sun for awhile.  So I kept

the top up and the windows down for the first part of the trip to and

through Los Angeles, where we got on I-10, then I-15 toward Barstow.  It

was really neat to see names on signs which I had often heard on TV

programs I had watched in my youth, back in the 1950s and 1960s.



As we got up into the high desert  the ambient temperature rose

considerably.  At our first fuel stop we closed the windows and turned

on the A/C.  While driving along at about 5 mph over the speed limit I

noticed that the boost gauge was not reading as high as I expected and I

started to give that some thought.  Everything else seemed normal so I

wasn’t really concerned.



At Barstow we turned onto I-40 and passed a sign which read “Wilmington,

NC - 2,554 miles”  As we motored through the California and Arizona

deserts I observed the behavior of my boost gauge and came to the

conclusion that I probably had a vacuum leak.  And, as one tends to do

while occupied with something that is mostly boring, I began to consider

what the result of a worsening vacuum leak might be.



So just before dark I stopped and raised the hood while the engine was

still running, and observed that the small vacuum hose running from he

back of the Sebring over to the fuel pressure regulator was being

flattened by the suction and that it was cracked along most of its

length.  As an expert in such matters I immediately recognized that this

could not be good.  I also decided to give Jim Goodroe a call if I

survived my trip across the desert.  



The condition of the hose was quite a surprise because it has been in

service only about three and a half months.  Fearing that I might cause

further damage by handling the hose, I decided that I would proceed to

Flagstaff (more than 100 miles away) and hope for the best.  I knew that

one of the risks of a serious vacuum leak is pinging and overheating

caused by a lean air/fuel mixture.  But since I have the J & S knock

sensor with remote readout I could monitor any tendency for pinging and

I vowed to keep a closer watch on the engine temperature gauge.



As you may have guessed we made it to Flagstaff without any problems and

covered about 615 miles for the day.  Things got a little goofy in

Flagstaff.  I was unable to get through to Ruth on the Motel phone so I

went across the street to a diner.  The clock in the diner was an hour

ahead of Calif. time so I concluded that I had crossed into the mountain

time zone.  After speaking to Ruth I drove around and located some

nearby car dealers and an auto parts store, all of which opened at 7:30

a.m.  So, I returned to the motel, set my alarm clock for 7:00 a.m.,

watched some of the Formula 1 race from France on TV and went to bed.



Mon. June 30, 1997



I awoke before my alarm went off, so I got up, found a McDonald’s for

breakfast and waited for the auto parts store to open.  When 7:30 came

and there was no activity to open the store I went to the gas station

across the street where I learned that it was only 6:30.  Since I didn’t

want to waste any more time I headed back out onto I-40 expecting that I

would encounter a source for vacuum hoses before a catastrophic failure

halted my progress.



As luck would have it I found a NAPA store in Holbrook, AZ just before

it opened at 8:00 a.m. and obtained the hose I needed.  Problem solved,

and Drifter was once again happily speeding east on I-40.



It was really warm going today.  An announcer on the radio as we passed

through Amarillo, TX indicated that the relative humidity there had just

fallen to a manageable 19%.  Hell, this time in Cincinnati we’re lucky

to have the humidity below 60 or 70%.



Drifter and I covered about 865 miles today and spent the night in

Oklahoma City.



Tue. July 1, 1997



We left Oklahoma City early in the morning and headed northeast on

I-44.  At St. Louis we met I-70 which we followed to Indianapolis.  From

there it was I-74 back to Cincinnati.  We covered 857 miles today and

we’ve got a thick layer of insects on the front of the car to prove it. 

Altogether we traveled 5,039 miles in nine days, but now we have to

return to reality.



 I hope you have enjoyed the trip as much as I have.



Regards,

Bill Bowser & Drifter

Back in Cincinnati, Ohio