The end of the trip from Labor Day at Osage Bluff, Missouri

[HandyDan]

I had posted in the Emergency Help!! shoutbox about my misadventures going to Osage Bluff campground at Truman Lake, Warsaw, Missouri.  The Holiday Rambler starting stalling anytime the RPMs got below 1200.  This made for scary corners, stop lights, etc., etc. since losing power brakes and steering in the middle of a turn or coming into traffic is dangerous.  Well, this is the rest of the story.  Yesterday was the day to leave the campground.  I had called Good Sam Roadside Assistance a week ago advising them of my situation and that I was going to need a tow on Tuesday, September 8.  The nice lady took all the information down and put it in the computer.  She said that I should get a call at 9:00am on Tuesday morning about the tow and that everything was all set up.  Well, at 9:15 on the appointed date I still had not received a call, so I called GSRA again.  Although they had all my information, no tow service was ever arranged.  I had to go through the same process over again.  She said she would call me back in 15 minutes to let me know what she had set up.  True to her word, she called back and said a tow truck from Collins, Missouri would be there in about an hour and a half to tow me to Collins.  I said that was not acceptable because Collins is 30 miles south in the wrong direction and I wanted to go north.  I told her the previous lady had said she set me up with Don's Towing in Sedalia, MO which is 40 miles north and I wanted to be towed to Fast Frankie's (not as bad as it sounds) which I had already scouted out and had arranged for them to look at it.  Fast Frankie's was just 17 miles away.  She said she would call me back in a few minutes, which she did.  In about an hour a big yellow truck from Don's Towing showed up.  Naturally, it started raining just before he arrived.  He couldn't have been more nicer and got the HR all hooked up and the drive shaft unhooked.  Off we went to Fast Frankie's.  It was an uneventful trip.  Wife and I left the HR with Frankie and drove the 100 miles on home. 
    Today I drove back to Frankie's to retrieve some items that wouldn't fit in the car yesterday.  Frankie had already discovered the problem.  The thick gasket under the carb had been burnt through on the passenger side.  The old heat riser (I'm not sure what to call it, but it controls the choke by transferring engine heat to the spring on the choke.  It looks like a long loop connected to a steel plate.)  had rusted or corroded on the side facing the carburetor.  It was shooting hot engine gases straight at the gasket under the carb and eventually burnt it clean through.  That allowed air to enter under the carb.  The mechanic said I was lucky that the engine didn't catch on fire since there is so much gasoline in that area.  Kind of scary when you think about it.  Anyway, after they get the parts needed, my Harvey the HR RV will be back in service and I will be a happy camper again. 

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Wow!  Glad it didn't catch fire, and I'm extra glad that its a relatively easy and cheap fix!

Kev

[Rickf1985]

Can't say I have ever seen that combination before. I have seen many of the choke heaters go bad and blow out but never saw one burn through the carb gasket. Hopefully it did not warp the carb flange.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

LOL!  Eeyore!     

Kev

[chicknnhead]

Dan where are you from, I'm in O'Fallon MO

[chicknnhead]

o I looked at your profile, i'm 100 miles east of Columbia, you look about 100 miles west...