Berlin, OH to Niagara Falls, NY

Youngstown, NY - Events of Tuesday, July 9 to Wednesday, July 10, 2013

We got up on Tuesday morning and finished packing up the motor home, unhooked the utilities, hooked up the toad and pulled out of Scenic Hills around 9:00 a.m. headed to our next destination of Niagara Falls, NY. We made reservations to stay for a week at 4 Mile Creek State Park to the north of Niagara Falls in Youngstown, NY right along Lake Ontario.

It was to be a long drive of almost 6 hours. We initially thought about splitting the trip into two legs; but we couldn't find a campground we liked anywhere near the halfway point, so we decided to drive straight through. At least that was the plan. We were only a few miles up I-77 when the check-engine light came on in the motor home and the engine went into reduced power mode. Uh-oh.

When the engine goes into reduced power mode, it takes the rig a while to slow down; but once it does, the best we could do was about 20 mph. We were right before an exit, so we limped to off the exit to a spot where we could pull off safely so we could call Coach Net Roadside Assistance.

Coach Net found a shop close by that could start work on our motor home the following morning. During the time we were back and forth on the phone with Coach Net, the check engine light cleared, and the engine returned to normal operating mode. Therefore, we would be able to drive to the shop rather than having to wait for a tow.

After we hung up from Coach Net, however, we found another authorized Workhorse repair shop on our own that could start work that day. The shop we found was farther up the interstate; but with the engine running normally again, we decided to head for the shop that could start work right away.

We had to pull off onto the shoulder two or three more times because the engine went into reduced power mode again, but it cleared each time after a wait 5 to 10 minutes. We eventually pulled into Mainline Truck, Trailer and RV Repair in Bedford, OH southeast of Cleveland shortly after noon.

They started the repair soon after the technician got back from lunch, and it took them about an hour to determine the throttle actuator was shot and about another hour to locate the part. Unfortunately, the soonest they could get the part was the following morning.

They put the old throttle body/throttle actuator assembly back on the carburetor so they could start the engine to pull the motor home back outside. That way we could stay in the motor home in the parking lot overnight. There was a 15-amp outlet on a pole to plug into so we could have enough juice to run our residential refrigerator, the TV, the computer and a couple of lights. Staying in the parking lot was much more preferable than looking for a motel. We were very appreciative they were able to accommodate us.

Overnighting in the parking lot of Mainline Truck and Trailer

The part showed up Wednesday morning at 9:00 just like they said it would. They pulled the motor home into a repair bay shortly after that. They installed the new part, and we were all hitched up ready to go shortly after 10:30.

We were very impressed with the service at Mainline Truck. They were very accommodating in getting us in for service the same day and allowing us to overnight in their parking lot. They also kept us apprised of the progress of the work, they were efficient and they were very courteous. Not only is Mainline an authorized Workhorse service center, but they also work on motor homes on other chassis - both gas and diesel. We highly recommend Mainline if you are in need of service in the Akron/Cleveland area.

With our unscheduled stop at Mainline Truck, we only had about a 4-hour drive to our destination. Funny... we never considered them for an overnight stopover when we were planning our trip north. LOL The engine purred the whole way just as it should.

Four Mile Creek State Park has about 275 sites. Roughly half the sites have no hookups and the other half have 20/30-amp electric hookups only. The roads are paved and the sites are pretty much all grass with a little gravel on a few of them. The campground is located right on Lake Ontario, and there are a few lake-view sites. All the sites are nice and big; but unfortunately, as we found out later, many are not very level.

We checked in, drove to our site, unhooked the car and parked it on our site. We then went off in the motor home fill our fresh water tank. We pulled off at one of the fresh water faucets. Paul hooked up the hose and started to fill the tank. The level indicator inside the motor home got to 25% then stopped. Uh-oh. Paul fiddled with the hose and the faucet, but soon realized it was probably the check valve that was blocking the water from flowing into the tank.

Paul disconnected the hose and pulled the inlet screen out of the check valve. Sure enough, the retainer had popped off the plunger inside the check valve. With the lack of a retainer, the plunger, which is supposed to block water from flowing out of the fresh water inlet, was now being pushed all the way back in the housing by the incoming water pressure thus blocking the incoming flow.

Fortunately, the last time the check valve went bad and Paul bought a new one, he repaired the old one and saved it as a backup. He was able to install it in about 10 or 15 minutes and finish filling the fresh water tank.

We drove back to our site and backed in. There was a rise near the front of our site, then a short level spot, followed by a fairly steep drop in back. After almost 30 minutes of trying different locations on the site, we finally found a spot where we were reasonably level and could get the steps to extend all the way without hitting the ground.

Our site at 4 Mile Creek State Park

View down the road from our site

Later in the afternoon, it clouded up and we got several rain showers. Unfortunately, as soon as the first light rain hit, we lost TV reception. Even though the TV worked initially, the signal was weak because it was being partially blocked by the tree to the left in the photo of our site above. Wind blowing the branches of the tree combined with even a small amount of rain in the air were enough to knock out the TV reception so Paul was forced to get out our tripod. After much fiddling with the tripod (interrupted by several more rain showers), he finally got locked onto a strong signal.

After the motor home mechanical problems on the way to 4 Mile State Park and all the frustration getting settled, we were worn out. After a good night's rest, however, we were definitely looking forward to doing some sightseeing. Stay tuned.

Comments

[Marsha Weaver]

New family portrait...very nice.

So sorry about your engine light issue but very happy you found a shop that did the job to your satisfaction.

Oh dear what a trying day! Hope tomorrow is much better for you all.

[James]

Sounds like so much fun. My wife and I did a similar cross country trip in our RV. My favorite part was Yellowstone. You got to go sometime.