So yesterday we loaded up the grand-buddy in the 40 and headed west.
Pretty uneventful drive until we started getting out of town.
As we went up in elevation, performance was going down faster that the fuel gauge or an F4 Phantom with both engines out! It was progressively getting worse as we got closer to the lake. At one point, all she could give was 22 mph in second, no power what-so-ever... My son said "Hey dad, we can pull over and take a look..." I told him we were just 5 miles from the lake and I felt it would get us there... If we couldn't get it running again, we wouldn't get to fish. So in the limp mode of limp modes, we roll into the lake parking lot with it running like complete trash by now. All I can think of is how expensive this is going to be, how long the LC is going to be down... just nothing but a gut feeling of dread and sadness.
With his youthful exuberance, he hops out and says "Pop the hood and I'll take a look"...
This guy... I tell him to chalk the tires and I'll leave it running aaaannnnnd the latches are on the hood. He pulls off the air cleaner cover and hands me the filter. While I'm looking it over, he says "Dad, I think I found the problem.."
15" of problem.... the balled up electrical tape was 7" deep in the carb. As he is pulling it out, the LC is running better with every inch pulled.
With that solved, we turn our attention to the task at hand, FISHIN'!!!
We start getting bites right off the bat with a couple of flies I've designed and tied... but every time we pause to have the grand-buddy come help us, the brief lack of tension allows the trout to throw the hook... Barbless hooks rock, but we need a fish to hand for this mission... Enter the PowerBait... I haven't used it in years, but the middle son and Love Bug like to just throw a line out there and play in the dirt/sand/rocks so I had some in the tackle box. Sure enough, within 5 minutes of casting it out, we have a bite and the little man helps reel in his first fish!
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!
Since this is a put-and-take lake, I have no qualms about whacking this one. Rain wouldn't deter us, but the lightning did. We rode home with smiles on our faces as the grand-buddy crashed as the LC, with it's audible magic, lulled him to sleep. No problems all the way home and "normal" power restored... What a great trip! A little sad we didn't get to do more fishing as we dropped everyone off at the airport today. He might not remember this trip, but we sure will!
Luckily it was in town while running errands so I grabbed the Tundra and flat towed it home... it was running fine, like always, well almost always... Before the electrical tape incident... It was acting like the float bowl was filling... so I am looking it over today and notice no fuel in the window... I pull the 14mm cap off of the top of the carb and there is this piece of something fibrousish... It looks familiar but can't quite place it...
