

| Subject: | Busted Down Near Tekonsha, Michigan |
| From: | Pete O |
| Date: | Thu, 24 Nov 2011 08:57:03 -0500 |
The plan was to take JoesVan to In Laws in Saginaw for Thanksgiving, then head down to our friends house in Albion for a weekend gathering and sleep in the bus. Stayed on two lanes for 1st 90 miles, then pulled onto 69 near Tekonsha and much to my horror, saw crazy blue/white smoke billowing out behind in the headlights of the truck behind. (Don't you love those "pucker" moments?) Pulled over immediately and after much crawling around under with 80 mph traffic whizzing by, determined the Transmission was leaking onto the hot exhaust again. First thought was, "thank God it's not the motor loosing coolant!" This trans oil leaking happened two winters ago in the cold and I had a professional trans garage reseal all gaskets and rings, They used a full kit. We have been on the 4 and 5 hour drives with not a drop leaking both summers since then. So, we called AAA and went home on a hook with a very nice flatbed driver. The good part was we had gone just 95 miles and thus saved the $3.75 per mile overage fee. AAA is good, but that one hefty fine for going over 100! Question for those in the know: What would cause these new seals to fail? I assumed when it happened before, it was age related. Do you think the transmission or transaxle is generating heat somehow and causing the seals to compromise? It was shifting and driving normally up to the point I saw the smoke. I have not had a good look yet in the barn, so don't know exactly where it is leaking from - it seemed like there was more on the driver side that the other. Thanks for any thoughts/info and Happy Thanksgiving to all our bus brothers and sisters! We are off to Grandma's house in the Ford Taurus. Pete '79 Westy "Aardvark" '87 Westy "JoesVan" WWW.Busesbythebeach.org <http://WWW.Busesbythebeach.com>
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