So - badge of shame for my first post being a "save us" thread...
We're towing a load of about 2500 lbs - drove from Southern California to Banff in Canada with basically no problems.
(Yes a heater hose popped on me and yes I had to fiddle with the radiator fan to get it to stop catching on that bolt... yes wife was already annoyed... but nothing crazy)
MANY steep climbs to get this far - slow, but capable.
All of a sudden climbing a not-so-steep hill yesterday sounded almost like being in neutral. Shifting to 3, nothing... 2, nothing. Crawled to a stop while flooring gas.
I popped the e brake (we were on a hill with a trailer blocking traffic) and key off the ignition. Keying it back on, the truck won't start.
Got a jump from a passerby, engine starts but can't push forward more than a few inches. Cables disconnected after a few minutes, engine turns itself back off after maybe a minute. I tried to put it in low range to at least get onto the shoulder, but no luck.
After maybe 15 minutes the hazards started making a ridiculous clicking and crackling noise from near the shifter...
So - is the trans killing the battery? The alternator fried?
We got towed to Calgary but its a Canadian holiday and the shops are closed.
The only thing I can think of that may be relevant is there is a short somewhere that pops my dome fuse (10) every so often. This controls stereo, door open light, dome lights, gas low light, but NOT hazards. I had left the fuse blown rather than keep replacing it.
It rained pretty hard the night before the issue, but since the car drove basically fine before that hill I kind of doubt its a wetness issue...
The other thing is there was a pretty decent oil slick on the tow truck bed when we got to Calgary. I normally have a tinnnny leak, like a bottlecap or less overnight, so this was new.
Please please and thank you thank you, for any advice you can spare.
We're towing a load of about 2500 lbs - drove from Southern California to Banff in Canada with basically no problems.
(Yes a heater hose popped on me and yes I had to fiddle with the radiator fan to get it to stop catching on that bolt... yes wife was already annoyed... but nothing crazy)
MANY steep climbs to get this far - slow, but capable.
All of a sudden climbing a not-so-steep hill yesterday sounded almost like being in neutral. Shifting to 3, nothing... 2, nothing. Crawled to a stop while flooring gas.
I popped the e brake (we were on a hill with a trailer blocking traffic) and key off the ignition. Keying it back on, the truck won't start.
Got a jump from a passerby, engine starts but can't push forward more than a few inches. Cables disconnected after a few minutes, engine turns itself back off after maybe a minute. I tried to put it in low range to at least get onto the shoulder, but no luck.
After maybe 15 minutes the hazards started making a ridiculous clicking and crackling noise from near the shifter...
So - is the trans killing the battery? The alternator fried?
We got towed to Calgary but its a Canadian holiday and the shops are closed.
The only thing I can think of that may be relevant is there is a short somewhere that pops my dome fuse (10) every so often. This controls stereo, door open light, dome lights, gas low light, but NOT hazards. I had left the fuse blown rather than keep replacing it.
It rained pretty hard the night before the issue, but since the car drove basically fine before that hill I kind of doubt its a wetness issue...
The other thing is there was a pretty decent oil slick on the tow truck bed when we got to Calgary. I normally have a tinnnny leak, like a bottlecap or less overnight, so this was new.
Please please and thank you thank you, for any advice you can spare.