OUR MOTORHOME DASH AS WE KNOW IT….. BUT IT HARBORS A SURPRISE
WHAT THE HECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Despite cool overnight temperatures I could feel a touch of warmth in the air at 6 a.m. this morning & that meant we were going to have us a warm day. And we did. While Kelly took Pheebs for a walk I raked up more Mesquite beans & by 8 I was already in short sleeves.
Soon as Pheebs & Kelly were back doggy & I hopped into the Jeep & headed for the nearby desert. Parked outside of the gate near Tenderfoot Road & walked in from there. Figured if I headed in one direction for half an hour then back that would give me an hour of walking which I felt was about right for my legs at this point. Don't want to overdo it then quit walking. By 10 the Sun was already burning holes through my shirt but how nice to feel that warmness after the cold rainy & wind driven days we had earlier in the week.
THIS IS ONE OF 2 GATES THAT GIVE US ACCESS TO THE DESERT NEAR OUR HOUSE
AERIAL VIEW OF BOGATA CANYON IN SOUTHERN UTAH ON THE LEFT……??
NOPE THAT WASN’T BOGATA CANYON IN UTAH, JUST A NORMAL WATER CARVED RUT IN THE ROADWAY….BIRD’S NEST IN A PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS ON RIGHT
THIS IS VERY TYPICAL OF THE DESERT FLOOR IN THESE HERE PARTS
Didn't encounter anything on our walk except for a couple small birds flitting about. No deer, no cows, no rabbits, & most best of all no people. Ground is a hard sandy gravel with varying sizes of small stones, rocks, & boulders. Mainly cactus & Mesquite shrubs along with Palo Verde & Mesquite trees. A few Yuccas here & there.
THE DESERT FLOOR IS CRISS-CROSSED WITH SANDY & ROCK STREWN DRY WASHES WHICH ARE SAFE TO WALK IN UNLESS IT’S MONSOON SEASON WHEN THEY BECOME RAGING TORRENTS OF WATER
COULD THIS BE AN AERIAL VIEW OF A LARGE VOLCANIC CRATER IN NORTHERN ARIZONA? NAWWWW, YOU KNOW ME BETTER THAN THAT BY NOW…….JUST AN ANT HILL BELOW
THOSE YUCCA BLADES ARE DAGGER SHARP
After our desert walk Pheebs & I drove a short mile into Congress. I remember a reader had mentioned last week or so about maybe taking some photos of buildings around Congress so that’s what we did. An easy task mind you seeing how there are very few buildings in Congress. I’ll post the 3 newest buildings first then a few more older buildings over the next couple nights.
I’M GUESSING CONGRESS’S POST OFFICE MAY JUST BE THE NEWEST BUILDING IN TOWN
THE FAMILY DOLLAR & GAS STATION STAND AT THE JUNCTION OF HIGHWAYS 71 & 89
YEP, THIS HERE’S WHERE WE GET OUR GAS ALRIGHT
CONGRESS ONLY HAS ONE MAIN INTERSECTION & THIS IS IT….I’M ON HIGHWAY 71 FACING EAST & ABOUT TO CROSS 89 ….TURN LEFT & HEAD FOR PRESCOTT OR TURN RIGHT TO WICKENBURG
Pheebs & I were home about 11 & an hour later we figured it was warm enough to give Pheebs a nice doggy oatmeal shampoo bath. Kelly did most of the shampooing while I did most of the rinsing & Pheebs did most of the complaining. Between the 3 of us we soon had the job done & now Pheebs smells like nice freshly baked oatmeal cookie & that just makes her a whole lot extra snugly:))
After Pheebs bath we decided to take a drive down to the Congress Garage to see if our Motorhome was finished & ready to be picked up. It was & boy were we in for a pleasant surprise or two.
Little did we know that with the removal of one small Robertson screw directly above the speedometer & out of sight our whole drivers side dash top lifted right up & folded back on hinges. And there as easy as can be was our flasher unit as well as easy access to all instruments in our dash panel including radio, back up camera, & well, just everything. Makes me wonder now if all Motorhomes have that easy access feature to the back of their dash panels. But here’s my question, how did that guy know there was a tiny hidden screw in the dash. It’s not like they would get a lot of Canadian made Triple E Commander Motorhomes in that little garage in Congress Arizona.
OUR FLASHER UNIT IS AT EXTREME LEFT & YOU CAN SEE THE 2 DASH LID HINGES IN THIS PHOTO AS WELL
THE CONGRESS GARAGE GUY TAPED THE FLASHER UNIT DOWN
WEIRD OR WHAT!!
THE SINGLE SCREW HOLDING DOWN THE DASH IS LOCATED DIRECTLY BEHIND THAT YELLOW LEVELER BUBBLE ABOVE THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER
The fella also read the codes which caused the engine light to come on & again it was the same 2 sensors that have caused the engine light to come on before. Sensor Bank numbers PO131 & PO151. Both those sensors are on either side of the exhaust somewhere. I’m thinking they are reading the exhaust emissions then telling the rig’s computer to change it’s fuel mixture or something causing the mixture to run too lean or whatever which results in a sudden loss of power. Anyway the engine light is out for now & if we choose to take a less mountainous way home in March we just might be alright.
WHO KNEW EH…………….
And speaking of the Congress Garage here is a good news/bad news scenario. First the good news……when Kelly asked the fella how much our bill was today he said, ‘oh give me 20 bucks. What!! And that included the flasher unit. Any other garage & our bill today would have been somewhere around a hundred + dollars probably. Just goes to show how business is still done out here in a few of these little wayward tumble down towns along Arizona’s long & dusty trails. But here’s the bad news…………….the Congress Garage is closing at the end of April. The 2 fellas running it are both retiring & that will be the end of a garage in Congress Arizona unless they can find someone to take it over………….:((
IT’S ALRIGHT PHEEBS WE DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS BATH THING AGAIN FOR AWHILE
GROANER’S CORNER:(( Nature abhors a vacuum, but not as much as a cat does.
- Q: What do you call an Amish guy with his hand in a horse’s mouth…………..A mechanic.
- Q: Why did the chicken go to the séance?…………To get to the other side.
- A zookeeper is ordering new animals. As he fills out the forms, he types “two mongeese.” That doesn’t look right, so he tries “two mongoose,” then “two mongooses.” Giving up, he types, “One mongoose, and while you’re at it, send another one.”
- Cats are smarter than dogs. You can’t get eight cats to pull a sled through deep snow.
- People in sleeping bags are the soft tacos of the bear world.
Some great pix there today! And what a neat feature on your RV!
ReplyDeleteGreat news on the Rv.....but what is an oatmeal dog bath? Details please....
ReplyDeleteBad news indeed for B&B to close.
ReplyDeleteIf it were me I think I would just replace those two sensors precautionary. They are usually not too expensive and easy to replace. It just might fix it.
ReplyDeleteDave
Both of those codes are oxygen sensor codes.. 131 is bank 1 and 151 is bank 2, meaning the left and right side of the v8 engine. The first thing to do is replace the sensors. Like David suggests in the previous comment.. They are probably older and weak.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics as always. Nice feature on your dash, now you can get at if you need to. Great dollar savings too, these small towns where people have operated for years, know the value of good business. From what I understand about our cube vans at work, the comments from above coincide from what we have told about these senors when we have had similar issues. Take care.
ReplyDeleteGotta love small towns and small business, too bad they are closing down.
ReplyDeleteNice feature on the dash wish ours was like that.
The desert view are so wonderful. love it too.
Poor Pheebs--I wouldn't want a bath with a cold hose either!!! Guess she is a little large to put in the shower! :)))))
ReplyDeleteI sure wish all vehicles had that "convertible dash"...Such a simple thing to add to cars and trucks..and make trouble shooting lots easier!! Love Pheebs bath.. Our Gypsy loved to jump into our above the ground pool..but HATED her baths!
ReplyDeleteThere is a program called All Data that will tell you exactly where these sensors are and how to change them. This program is too expensive for an individual to purchase but it is available free to Libraries. I use it when I want to know how to fix something on our vehicles. I would think all Libraries in the US would have it.
ReplyDeletePlease be careful on the road.
Rex
I'd find out if they are staying in the area. They may want to take on some freelance repair work in their spare time! ��
ReplyDeleteHmm... I'm going to have to look for a hidden screw. :)
ReplyDeleteNow I'm thinking the small section of dash just above our gauges might do the same thing - thanks for the tip! Too bad the last place that worked on it didn't know or tell. I always pictured Congress as just older buildings so I'm looking forward to seeing "the rest" of the town :-) I'm sure Pheebs feels better being nice and clean.
ReplyDelete"Check Engine" lights or "Service Engine" lights have come on on both of our vehicles. They usually refer to emissions being too high, which usually means the catalytic converters or as mentioned here the oxygen sensors have to be replaced. That is a quite expensive affair, as there are multiple sensors and the converters (2) are expensive as well. I don't know whether vehicles need to be inspected in Ontario. New Brunswick has a yearly inspection and if the check engine light is on they will not give you the sticker. Several other provinces have the same rule. For driving there are no serious consequences to fear. If converters are totally plugged it could lead to higher fuel consumption and less power, as the engine has to work a bit harder to overcome the plugged or nearly plugged converters. Before returning home I would check out the cost of replacements down in AZ versus what it could cost you in Ontario. Too bad the Congress Garage is closing shop.
ReplyDeleteOh how I wish the dashboard in my motorhome was that easy to open. Mine has about a zillion screws and every time I had to take it apart, I found too many screws left over... ;c)
ReplyDeleteThe dash on our Bounder flips up. And, although it provides access to everything, it is not NEARLY as well loomed and otherwise organized as yours. Spaghetti everywhere. Can'tell you how many times I have had to trace wires "over the river and thru the woods". Yikes!
ReplyDeleteYou might consider a scanner. I have one of these... www.obdlink.com/lxbt . You can get it on EBay or Amazon. Comes with software for your phone or Kindle. I use my Kindle. It tells you everything about the engine and easily removes codes. It plugs right in to your OBDII port. You can leave it there or go from vehicle to vehicle.