It has been a while since there has been a report of various failures and my attempts, mostly successful, to get us back on the road. 

The latest round started in the campground at Redlands Truck and RV service. Friday late afternoon Dan the service driver brought the coach back to the campground after a day spent servicing the engine and the chassis, this is an annual event. With the coach back in our possession we set up for the night with the leveling jacks extended and the slides extended as usual. 

In the morning the first sign of trouble was the failure of the right front leveling jack to return to the stored position. This is a hydraulic system and the store command merely opens a valve to let the weight of the coach and two strong springs retract the jack. Very simple. Except the valve didn’t open and the jack didn’t store. Not going anyplace in that mode. I tried a couple of things to encourage it, to no avail. A call to Coach-net, the road service I have used for 17 years, brought the hoped for response, eventually they found a mobile tech who could get to us and maybe get us on the road. Justin , of SOS Mobile Truck Service, arrived with his truck and attempted to get it started, to no avail. He resorted to a tactic I had thought of but was not prepared to do. He crawled under the coach and with two wrenches he opened the hydraulic line and let the oil drain into a pan (mostly), mirabila dictu the jack retracted leaving Justin almost stranded under the coach. He squirmed out, after tightening the line and set about restoring the hydraulic fluid level so I could operate the two slide out rooms that depend on the system. End of part One.

A digression: While parked in a truck stop at the pumps I opened the door and a part of the door handle fell on the ground making enough noise that I noticed it. Fortunately nothing was broken, just a screw had come loose. Maybe in my head by then. Two minutes to find an allen wrench of the correct size and it was as good as, well it was in place and working.

Part Two: Arrival at the campground was uneventful, although I cannot use my jacks to level until I get the system repaired. When Carol went to extend the slides the hydraulic slides, which had worked when Justin left us, refused to move. The one mobile tech I reached wanted 3 hours minimum at $159 per. I verified with Tiffiin Motorhomes what fluid I needed and went to the nearest Napa to get the ATF and a funnel. This took two trips as I only bought a quart which was not enough. On my return I bought 2 more quarts of which I needed 8 ounces. The slideout rooms are now extended. 

Another Digression: The last tech to work on our coach at Redlands Truck & RV failed to secure the oil fill cap properly. We arrived with much oil on the front of the Jeep. I took the Jeep to a nearby car wash and many dinero later the car looks like this: