Lessons on Desert Driving (Chandler: casino, maintenance, live in)

[ivanabacowboy]

So yesterday I was to drive up to spend the weekend at my sisters cabin up north in Heber-Overgard. Give or take 2-3 hours depending on traffic and whether you get stuck behind a slow moving RV for miles lol. I had just had my car in the shop a week or two ago to check brakes, oil, fluids, tires, lights, belts etc blah blah blah. Filled gas tank. I have kept up my car maintenance religiously (ok maybe other than car washes lol!). My car is at around 45k miles. (Mustang V-6 grocery getter.)

I know the "feel" of my car. I had not even reached serious uphill yet and I could feel the engine running "harder" I guess is the best way to explain. Then the red temperature light came on. (I am by no means a car geek but I do know yellow idiot lights mean "check this out soon" and red idiot lights mean "STOP AND CHECK THIS NOW" lol!) So I immediately pulled off to the side of the road, released the hood latch (from INSIDE the car of course) and shut off the car. I saw a few little whispy puffs of steam coming from the engine!!!!! It only whisped a little bit but I knew that was not good.

So got Ford roadside assist on the phone. Actually quite funny. "I am about five miles north of Ft. McDowell casino." Them: "So we can find you better can we gps your phone blah blah. What landmarks are nearby?". Me: "A lot of cactus and dirt" lol! The ETA for a tow truck was 90 minutes. Good thing it wasn't 115' heh?

However, some pointers for desert road travellers-what I did right:
a) I keep a full case of water in the trunk.
b) Make sure your cell phone is fully charged.
c) Snacks help (lol!)
d) Pay attention to those idiot lights!
e) Do not walk off side of the road in flipflops. (I knew not to do this!) There are scratchy sharp bitey crawly creepy things.
f) And most importantly: MAKE SURE TO STOP AT THE LAST POSSIBLE POTTY BREAK (especially ladies) as there are no porta potties in the desert. ;-)

And Ford says that it was probably a busted hose of some sort as the heat is h3ll on rubber. Will know for sure today. But they said the fact the car still runs (he had to move it 10 feet from where the tow guy dropped it-assured me it wouldnt kill the car to run it dry a few feet) is a good sign I pulled over in time and didnt do anything serious like blow the motor. And I am still under warranty.

[Zippyman]

There could still be severe engine damage even though it still runs. Unfortunately, all too often the lights on the dash come on after the horse has left the barn. The threshold of an oil light is usually 3-5 psi, when most cars really need 40+ psi. Temp lights are notoriously bad, since they pick up the temperature of the coolant- no coolant=no light!

It's not your fault, you did everything right & thank heavens you have a warranty.

[Steve Pickering]

What you should have done is turn around and let the engine idle down hill. It would have cooled off and you could have driven to a location to see why it overheated. Chances are it was a grimmy engine (Yes a dirty engine will overheat in Arizona) or a radiator needing attention.

If it was a hose, ignore my last suggestion.

Now has to water and snakes ..... if you live in Arizona and don't have a gallon of drinking water and few energy bars (not chocolet coated) or cookies stored in the trunk, you are a fool. Also have a car charger for the phone.

We blew a high pressure oil line on my diesel truck in June and spent four hours midday by the Reservation about 15 miles south of Chandler.

[TBCasino]

I'd throw in a blanket and a flashlight, because cars don't always break down in the middle of summer day.

[observer53]

In a pinch, when that happens, (not when driving uphill, unless you have no choice) TURN THE HEAT ON. That will pull heat off the engine until you can get to a safe place.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by observer53

In a pinch, when that happens, (not when driving uphill, unless you have no choice) TURN THE HEAT ON. That will pull heat off the engine until you can get to a safe place.

Kind of an Old Wives Tale. In the past when car heaters had cores almost as big as the radiator it worked to add radiator surface. These days, and with small aluminum core heaters, it doesn't do much more than add heat to the inside of the car.

It also won't pul heat from a car with a broken hose or defective water pump, even if you had a large heater core.

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by ivanabacowboy

However, some pointers for desert road travellers-what I did right:
a) I keep a full case of water in the trunk.
b) Make sure your cell phone is fully charged.
c) Snacks help (lol!)
d) Pay attention to those idiot lights!
e) Do not walk off side of the road in flipflops. (I knew not to do this!) There are scratchy sharp bitey crawly creepy things.
f) And most importantly: MAKE SURE TO STOP AT THE LAST POSSIBLE POTTY BREAK (especially ladies) as there are no porta potties in the desert. ;-)

I definitely agree with e), Ivanabacowboy.

The rule of thumb for a Desert Stroll is . . . if it doesn't Sting you or Bite you it will more than likely Stick you.

Good Luck on your repairs and, hopefully, the warranty will cover everything.

[ivanabacowboy]

My pony is feeling better! Busted thermostat housing or something like that? Covered under warranty thank goodness. But while my total time sitting roadside was sometime less than two hours and I dont think it was much over mid-90s, I am so glad I did these things! You never know how long you are going to sit. Even when I called Ford roadside the lady started getting chatty and I told her to just do what she needed quickly because I wanted to conserve my phone battery just in case. I did have my car charger but didnt know if it was safe to turn on the battery.

I am adding a blanket and flashlight to my trunk as well. If it had been colder I was already going up north so I did have a couple sweatshirts lol!

Interesting about the heater-I remember when I was young sometimes my mom would melt me and my sister doing that in her like 1970-something boat Caprice. I had totally forgotten about that!

[observer53]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

Kind of an Old Wives Tale. In the past when car heaters had cores almost as big as the radiator it worked to add radiator surface. These days, and with small aluminum core heaters, it doesn't do much more than add heat to the inside of the car.

It also won't pul heat from a car with a broken hose or defective water pump, even if you had a large heater core.

Of course it won't work if those conditions exist. I didn't say it would. But, there's usually more signs of that happening than just an idiot light or high temp gauge.

But, if your temp gauge is creeping up sitting in traffic, or you are a little low on water in hot temps, it still DOES work to get the temp down into normal range, or get the light off while you get to the nearest station to get it checked. It worked for me just the other day, when I was sitting on the freeway in the middle of the afternoon and the gauge was creeping up. Years ago, I remember pulling into a garage after I'd done that (and the light had gone off) and the mechanic was amazed thatI knew to do that (I guess he was one of those who thought women knew nothing about cars).

[Zonie5]

way back when the "idiot lights" first came into use i hated them , and still do . give me the gauges any day . the lights were not called "idiot lights " for nothing . as i drive i constantly scan my gauges for any signs of trouble .