Paul Dahl Jinx? (PDJ)

 

Wesley Chapel, Florida (high 90, low 70)

 

We left Naples about 11:30 for our 187 mile drive back to the Tampa area.  We arrived safe and sound with me following behind Al in the motorhome.  This week we will take the truck in to fix the cable for the driveshaft disconnect. I hope it will be a simple job.  Yeah right.

Since we missed our target truck stop to refuel, we were anxious to get some diesel.  We weren’t really worried, but since our fuel gauge isn’t working, we both would feel better knowing we had a full tank.

The last time we filled up, I wrote down the mileage so I knew how many miles we had driven on that tank of fuel.

We also have a Silverleaf computer program that calculates the mpg we’re getting and how many more miles we can drive on that tank of fuel.   You just have to remember to clear the tank data out every time you fill up, so that it knows you’re starting again with a full tank. 

This program runs on my laptop and when we’re traveling I plug the laptop into the motorhome engine diagnostics plug.  It tells us a lot about what’s going on in the engine.  Many newer motor homes have this system built in.  Ours didn’t, so we purchased it.  I’d rather know sooner rather than later if there is any problem brewing.  It’s a great program.  You install the Silverleaf program on your laptop, and then hook it up by cables to the engine diagnostic plug on the motorhome. 

I didn’t connect the program  when we left the Keys and I wondered if it would still calculate our miles left on the tank when it was disconnected.  Before we left the Keys, I noted the mileage it said was left on the fuel tank and then before we left Naples I started it back up and noted that id indeed calculated how many miles we had driven and the remaining time we had left on that tank of fuel.  Pretty amazing, since it wasn’t even plugged in. Good info to know.

Anyway, after we left Club Naples Rv Resort, we planned on stopping at a Pilot in Fort Myers, which was about 30 miles away.  Fortunately, we didn’t miss the station, although our RV GPS had us get off at exit 138 while our car GPS said exit 139.  We decided to trust the RV GPS since it knows how big we are and we remembered using that same route on another occasion and it got us there just fine.

 

Before we left Naples yesterday morning, I read Paul Dahl's BLOG about how every time he fills up their Journey,  a gallon  or so of diesel splashes back out at him.  We always refuel at the truckers lanes because it is easier getting in and out and you can get more than $75 worth of fuel without having to run your card through again.  Plus, they pump fast….really fast!!   We have never had any diesel fuel spill or splash back at us.  Paul said he had trouble getting the big nozzle into his fuel tank. (does that sound dirty?)  We don’t have any trouble getting the nozzle into our tank, so  I think our fuel tank opening must be larger than his and maybe that’s why our fuel never spills.

Anyway, as Al was preparing to pump the fuel, I started to tell him what Paul said,  but before I could say anything, a fine white mist started blasting back out of the tank around the nozzle.  It was a LOT.   It just blew back out of the tank.  It was really weird.  My first thought was that Paul jinxed us.  It seemed like the fuel was pumping too fast and it was going to blast back out at us and spill all over the place like it does to Paul.

My second thought was what did we do wrong?   Did we inadvertently pump DEF (for newer motor homes with a DEF reservoir) into the fuel tank?   NO, double and triple checked.  Tried again…still getting a blast back.  Looked around for an attendant.  Was there some bad duel in this tank?  No attendant around, so Al  started pumping again very slowly and it finally quit.

Since this has never happened before, we wanted to know why.  We didn’t want to ruin an engine if something was wrong with the fuel.  I walked over to the next lane and talked to a trucker who was also refueling. I asked him about it and he said it just happened to him as well.   He said not to worry because it happens if the fuel tank is low.  There are coils or something in the tank that keeps it warm in cold climates.  It prevents the fuel from gelling in cold weather.   He said it was doing what it was supposed to do and that we had and we were lucky we had it.  Okay, now I felt better. 

I guess the reason we had never seen that before was because we try not to let the tank that low.  As it turned out, we used almost 70 gallons of our 100 gallon tank, so we had plenty of fuel.  I guess with only 30 gallons remaining in the tank, it’s low enough to cause this issue.

The rest of our day was uneventful for us, but not so for two other folks we saw.  We saw a truck and trailer overturned off on the side of the road.  Probably going too fast, and couldn’t control the trailer.  It was a big utility trailer of some sort, not a travel trailer.  I hope no one was hurt. 

A few miles later we saw a car on fire on the other side of the road. 

We got back to our spot in Quail Run. It’s such an easy site to get into which is nice for a change.  We got parked, pushed the button for the satellite, put the slides out, let the kitties out of their travel carriers and went outside to visit with some friends.  We came back in, Al watched the rest of the football draft, and we chilled the rest of the evening. 

Two days of traveling is tiring, both on us an the kitties (who do nothing but nap the entire time).

I can’t exactly say we’re glad to be back in the Tampa Bay area, but I will be glad to see Mom today.

We do have a really pretty view from our patio though. It it weren’t for the damn FROGS that are EVERYWHERE!