The Ongoing Saga of the '86 740 Volvo Turbo Diesel Wagon

So the old car was left behind in Asheville, North Carolina at Elijah's house, and I traveled home with mom and Bev. Now here I am a few weeks later back in Asheville, thanks to really cheap airfare on Skybus, and I have been trying to find out what was wrong with the old beast.

I posted on Craig's List asking for a diesel mechanic in Asheville. Gerald wasn't returning my calls, or perhaps I had the wrong number, which was quite possible. I received an e-mail from a guy whose e-mail address was volvoist@.... Well that was promising, but he turned out to be from New Jersey, and just loved these old cars. He once had an old Volvo Diesel, and wrote like someone who knew these well. We wrote back and forth, and he suggested that the head gasket was blown as one of his first thoughts.

Then Charlie called, "I'm not a mechanic, but I've got a Volkswagon Rabbit Diesel truck, and over the last four years I've gotten to know these engines pretty well." You see, the old Volvo has a Volkswagon engine. He offered to check it out for $10 an hour - $15 for repairing.

Charlie came over. He looked at the car, and was totally excited, "This is a really rare car. Not many of these were made, and it's a wagon!"

He tried all kinds of ways to get it going - but no go. We wrote back and forth to Mike the Volvoist Dude a few times, and he kept saying "Sounds like a head gasket to me. These cars are finicky, and often will not start if the head gasket is blown."

This was a few days ago. Well now, a blown head gasket might not be much in parts, but it is much in either time or money. Since I live in Massachusetts time in North Carolina fixing a car is the same as money. So I reluctantly put the old beast on Craig's List one more time - for sale. This did not make me happy. I had been troubled by what looks like a loose-loose situation.

Sell the car and need another vehicle to pull the trailer in the next few months, or spend money fixing something that I really don't have the money or time to fix. So Craig's list it was. This morning the car went on the list at about 9:30am.

Around 10am Charlie called. He saw the car on Craig's List.

"So, you're gonna sell it, huh?"

"Yeah. I hate to, but I don't have the time r money to fix it."

"That's too bad, but I'm excited. I'll buy it from you." Charlie said.

It kinda takes the sting out of selling it. I like Charlie. He loves the car, and will keep the old beast going, and it will definitely become what it was destined to be - a grease car. Charlie hasn't paid for gas in a few years. He and his buddies make bio-diesel, and he runs completely off that.

Day Five to Asheville - Sunday, December 30th - 28 miles to go!

Five days to Asheville - this is getting ridiculous. It shoul dhave been two, but driving between 40 and 60 MPH had slowed us down. Worse yet, having to drive only by day, because the alternator was charging too little, and hitting the New York, New Jersey traffic made it slower still.

(When I wrote this sentence originally I mistyped alternator as "laternator." Seems so appropriate now.)


After stopping the night before, I let the engine run for a few minutes, and hoped to recharge the battery once again. During the evening I was able to watch the Patriots conclude their regular season with the perfect 16-0 record with the come from behind win against the Giants. Even my mom enjoyed that game.

It was raining. I put on my trademark Gortex hat and went out to the start the car. The battery was low, and so I found a guy with a pickup truck to help me jump the car. He pulled up to help me out, and we let the battery charge a bit while we stood and talked in the drizzling cold rain. He was headed to California for a 3 month long job as a boiler repair guy at a refinery in LA.

Once I went to the start the car I would not start up. I had no sense of engine problems upon letting it idle the night before, but no matter how much I tried the car would not start. It had lots of charge, and even sounded like it had fuel getting to it each time I initially turned the key, but it would not start.

My new found friend from Florida who was headed to California stayed to help. We stood in the slowly increasing rain, and tried several times. A diesel emergency repair truck came into the parking lot. The shop happened to be right in front of my car, and they were working on this Sunday morning. The owner of the shop was in the truck, and I thought that this was exactly what I needed. He pulled out the ether to work his magic, but the car still would not start. He stood and looked at it and said, "It got spark. It sounds like its getting fuel. I been doin' this fer 22 years, and I can't say I ever seen somethin' like this. It won't even take the ether."

Great. So I have the unique situation with my '86 740 Volvo Diesel wagon. Unique cars - unique problems I guess.

We said goodbye to our friend from Florida, and called Elijah and Rhonda. They drove up to Waynesville from Asheville to pick us up.

We left the Volvo and the trailer at Midway Motel in Waynesville, NC on Sunday, December 3, and 28 miles later we were at Elijah and Rhonda's house in Asheville, NC - but their house is another tale. The tale of the 1986 740 Volvo diesel wagon will continue tomorrow. Tomorrow would be Monday and we could deal with it then.

Fourth Day to Asheville - Saturday, December 29th - Over the Great Smoky Mountains

Sorry for posting this late. I did not have internet access on the final part of the trip, and was busy working on Elijah's place once we got to Asheville. We are home now, but here is the continuing story - in a couple posts

The Ramada Inn in Harrisonburg, VA has a breakfast as part of the deal. They also require that someone with a pet sign a paper saying that they will not leave the pet in the room alone. Bev and mom had some breakfast. I stayed with Crash the Hound in the room. They brought me some biscuits and gravy, even though I had hoped to go to the breakfast room myself, but I ate quickly and started the the old 740.

This morning "the beast" started up immediately. I have become pretty good at backing the Volvo up to the trailer hitch, and don't need someone to stand there and line me up. I had backed the ball under the trailer hitch the night before in the rain, and was able to simply drop the hitch down an the ball, hook up the lights, and make sure everything was ready to go.

We packed our few bags and Crash the Hound, and were headed for the Great Smoky Mountains.

The day before Highway 81 took us along the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the old Volvo 740 diesel beast took some of the hills easily at 60 MPH, and others dragged on long at 40-45 MPH. At one point I had to pass someone on a hill, because they were going so slow, and I remarked that this was probably the third vehicle I had passed in three days. Even the big rigs were passing me on the hills.

The day looked something like this: Drive for an hour. Pull over and add some water. Drive an hour. Get some gas, and check the coolant again. Drive an hour. Get some lunch. Check the coolant. Drive again. Always I watched the temperature as I drove up the hills.

I had previously been warned by Elijah not to take route 26 from the 81 down to Asheville, because it is a steep difficult climb into the mountains. Instead we opted to take a longer route. We would travel into Tennessee, and take the 40 east back into Asheville. According to a few friends who knew the area somewhat, and an online discussion about the routes in and out of Asheville, it appeared that this route would be winding, but less steep than others, and so we headed toward Tennessee, and the 40 east.

Upon entering Tennessee we came to the top of long hill, and the car was registering hot so we stopped at a rest stop at the top of the hill to check and fill the levels. I thought it was getting hotter than it should have and discovered that i forgot to replace the oil cap on the previous stop. Fortunately it was still sitting in the top of the engine, and I did not loose it on the drive.

I had been running the heater to keep the temperature down, and the running lights on the trailer, so I was not able to restart the engine, I had to get a jump. Across the highway was a guitar store shaped like a monster guitar. Any other time I would have had to visit the place.

It was late afternoon and we started what would be our last leg to Asheville - west on the 81 to 40 east and over the Great Smoky Mountains.

The car ran well all through the rest of the trip until we reach the windy section of the Great Smokies. The roads were steep, and had switchbacks almost like hair pin turns at times. This was the most difficult climb we had made on the whole journey, and it was getting late. If it got too dark I would have to stop, because we still could not turn on our headlights without draining our battery too low. So I had until about 5:30pm until it was too dark.

The hill got steeper, and the car was only able to pull the trailer at about 40 MPH. The big trucks behind me weren't doing any better it turned out. After a number of miles I pulled over at a rest stop to allow the car to cool down, and added some coolant. After unscrewing the cap slowly to allow the pressure to release, I waited a moment to add the coolant. Suddenly coolant came bubbling up into the overflow tank, and out over the top. I released why I had been loosing coolant along the trip. My thermostat had suddenly released and the water was flowing out all over. The cap had pressure release valves, and apparently thy had been letting the fluid and steam out when the thermostat released. Perhaps this had not been working properly the entire trip - then again perhaps I was just pulling too much weight for this poor little old 740 diesel wagon.

I now was getting too dark, and I did not have much distance to go, but it was still too far to Asheville to travel. I would need to use m y lights any moment. I got back on the road, and made it to the last exit to Waynesville, NC. We stopped at the Midway Motel. The name should have given me a clue about where we were, but I was too tired to think about it. I back the trailer into a slot next to the big rigs, and we got a room for the night, knowing we only had 20-30 miles left to get to Elijah's house in Asheville.

Third Day to Asheville - Fri. Dec. 28th

Of course there should not have been a third day to Asheville. We should have arrived yesterday, but then we could not drive by night, because we can't run with both our headlights on and the trailer lights and still recharge the battery - even with the rebuilt alternator, and the new battery.

But here we were in New Jersey. The first day we only got out two hours in the evening, and had to stop in Sturbridge, MA. The second was all traffic through Connecticut, New York City, and New Jersey, because we had to travel by day.

I attempted to start the car in the morning, but after ending the previous evening driving around looking for the motel with my lights on I did not have enough power to start it. We had hoped to be on the road by 7am, but after waiting for AAA to help start the car we did not leave until after 8am.

Leaving the Econo Lodge on the New Jersey Turnpike we headed south, and were able to travel a little faster than the previous two days. Now we were typically traveling between 55 and 60MPH, and the trailer wasn't swaying behind us - well, I had to slow down once in a while. So we were making our best time yet.

We were supposed to be staying at Rhonda's dad's house just south of DC, but that was supposed to be after the first day of driving. We knew that traveling by day only, we would just have to go as far as possible. Bev called Sarah (Rhonda's step-mom) and told her we would just have to travel as far as we could during the limited daylight.

After traveling nicely for a couple hours we came to long gentle inclines on 95 in Maryland. We were taking the hills a little faster than the previous days, but soon we found that the old 740 was over-heating. We pulled over at a roadside stop, and I found that I needed to add quite a bit of fluid to the cooling system, and wondered where it all went. This became the ongoing problem for the day. We would travel a ways. We would watch the water heat gauge rise as we traveled up hills. We would stop. I would find no leak in the system. I would add coolant - sometimes lots of it. We would travel again.

At 4pm it grew dark. It began to rain at about 4:30pm as we were traveling down highway 81 in Virginia. I suggested we go as far as Harrisonburg, and so we made it to the Ramada Inn - another place where they accepted dogs.

Moments of interest along the way:

We were talking about Charlton Heston, and mentioned Bible Movies, and guns. Bev was sitting in the back seat, and thought we said Charlton Heston was about Bibles, boobies, and guns. I suppose that might make a good book title.

We made our last stop before coming into Harrisonburg. Once again we were over-heating, and ended up low on coolant. Bev and mom saw a used car, and trailer lot on thee side of the road. They wanted to stop, and trade the Volvo in for a truck to pull the trailer. Hmmmm...good idea except for the fact that I have a 1986 Volvo with 215,000 miles, and I'll get a few hundred for it, and need to pay a couple thousand for something I can be just as confident about.

Well, I unhooked the trailer after arriving here, and drove to a store across town - in the dark with the lights on, and Crash the hound in the car. I made it out and back. The alternator will charge the battery sufficiently as long as the trailer is not attached with its lights it appears.

Second Day to Ashville - December 27th

We awoke late.

The curtains in hotel rooms keep all light from the room. It was 8am, and we jumped up, and all got on the move like we were Marine Corps privates being yelled at by our the Sarge.

The parking lot was slippery, because there was an ice rain over the night.

I went to the old Volvo hoping for a minor miracle - that the old diesel might start. Bev was walking Crash hoping for a minor miracle - that he might pee. I sat in the front seat, put the key in the ignition, whispered a prayer, and turned it. It roared to life!

Crash just sniffed the snow, he did not pee.

We began our travels toward North Carolina once again. We were not much farther than the night before. I had discovered the previous night that I could not travel much above 50 MPH. The trailer wanted to fishtail if I went much faster, so my travels would be quite slow. Besides that I was lucky to hit 50 MPH on a decent hill.

So here was the challenge for the day: I was going to be traveling slow - between 40 and 55 MPH. I was going to be getting hot going uphill, and turning on the heat would be necessary to help keep the engine cool. All extra electrical draws upon the engine would have to be avoided so I could keep the battery charged enough to start it each time I stopped - thus, no lights, no radio, no heat. Okay, this was going to be tough.

So here is our plan: Travel by daylight. Use the heat only when straining uphill. Go as fast as safely possible - probably 45 to 55 MPH.

We got going about 8:30am, and hit South Western Connecticut, New York City, and New Jersey between 11am and 3pm. Yep, it took that long to go that short distance. What would be an hour without traffic took almost 4 hours. This is what I hoped to avoid - traveling by night.

When the traffic was normal speed everyone passed us. Big trucks roared by, and nearly caused the trailer to fishtail behind me each time. When the traffic was crawling I almost was thankful for it - it crawled for hours.

Bev and Mom laughed about the journey, and talked about how we looked like the Clampett's headed to Beverly Hills. I was intent on the road, and the trailer, and tense with concern for safety's sake, and for the prayer that the old car would keep going. Such tension made me grumpy if my attention was diverted even a little. By about 3:30pm we were more comfortably traveling the New Jersey Turnpike, and sometimes safely traveling at 60 MPH. Woo-Hoo!

We made a couple roadside stops. It wasn't until almost 4:00pm that Crash peed. He peed a long, long time. That was good.

As the daylight wore to an end I had to turn on my lights, and we looked for a hotel. Here I am at EconoLodge at exit 5 off the New Jersey turnpike.

Driving by daylight worked. I can drive with my running lights so the trailer has its lights on, and periodically use the heater to keep the engine cool going uphill, and still recharge the battery sufficiently to start it easily again, but the headlights draw on the power way too quickly, and I noticed this even having them on for half-on-hour tonight.

It is dark by 5pm. This is not a good time of year to have to drive by day.

Benezir Bhutto was assassinated today. The owners of the hotel are of Indian or Pakistani descent - I am not sure which. They were quite caught up in the news when we arrived, and seemed almost rude, but then we had not heard the news until after we checked in.

I walked around the area found a mall, a Coldstone Ice Cream, and brought mom and Bev a surprise treat. It was a treat for Crash too. He likes to lick the cups afterward.

Tomorrow we leave earlier than today, and hopefully do not have the traffic we had today. But alas, Washington DC is ahead of us.

I've been having to add a little anti-freeze at each stop, and a little oil at every other stop. This old Volvo burns oil pretty quickly.

First day to Asheville - December 26th

We decided to leave in the evening. Traveling from Salem, MA to North Caroline requires that we go through Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. By any standards of traffic that is a nightmare except between 11pm and 5am. We decided to leave at 7pm to hit New York City at about midnight.

First thing in the morning I hooked the loaded-to-the-gills 12-foot cargo trailer up to the '86 740 diesel Volvo wagon. I have new springs, and heavy duty shocks, but the back went way down, and the front came up. Now that means two things - the load is really too heavy to to pull, and the trailer is loaded with too much weight in the front. I can manage pulling the heavy load - maybe, but I would need to redistribute it. Good thing I picked up Chuck the other day. Chuck helped me unload, and then Evan appeared.

Evan and Missy are going to be moving in to the rooms Elijah and Rhonda have left vacant. He started helping unloading and reloading as well. After a an hour and a half of unloading and reloading the weight was nicely distributed, and the load sat well on the old Volvo.

After preparing the last items for the trip, we left at 7pm.

A stop or two for some necessary items, and two and a half hours later we were at road stop near Old Sturbridge Village on the Mass Turnpike. The Volvo would not start. I received a jump from a concerned, and helpful man in a large diesel one ton truck. Somehow my recently rebuilt alternator was not recharging the brand new battery sufficiently. All the typical things have been taken care of, but still it wasn't doing the job.

We limped to a hotel near Sturbridge Village - a Motel 6 which allowed for pets. Mom, Bev, Crash the dog and I snuggled into the beds as best as one can snuggle into a extra stiff mattress, and slept till morning.

Tomorrow will give us a new adventure. Hope fully a good one

Meeting Earl the Angel

I have not seen "Saving Grace" with Holly Hunter as the tortured detective, but I've seen the TV ads. She kneels over a body in the road, and cries out for help from God. Earl appears from the fog, and says, "Hi my name's Earl, can I help you?" or something like that.

I was testing my '86 Volvo diesel wagon to New London, NH to pick up Chuck, who is watching our dogs while we are gone. I'm hoping to pull an overloaded trailer to North Carolina. It's a two hour trip to get Chuck - one way. I arrived at a toll both on interstate 93 in New Hampshire, and saw lots of steam coming from under my hood. Ouch! That spells trouble. I looked at the water temp, and it was in the red.

I pulled over to the side of the road, and found a stream of steam blasting out from a small hose. After filling my over flow tank with enough water to get me to the truck stop a few miles away, I limped to the truck stop hoping to find things I needed - like a part's store - Yeah right, as if anyone has a hose for an '86 Volvo diesel.

I arrived and there were no parts at the minimalistic truck stop. So I stood forlornly by my car with the hood up. A little old man with a limp came by with his
broom, and trash catcher. He asked how I was doing, and I explained my situation. He walked me into the convenience store at the truck stop, where he worked cleaning up, and looked around sheepishly, "we don't have what your looking for here." After a glance or two at the other workers, and a little glint in his eyes he asked if I wouldn't mind taking a ride in a Lincoln Continental. Then we were riding down the road to a parts store on the day after Christmas.

I said, "My name's Phil."

"Hi I'm Earl."

I found a hose which I was able to cut to fit, I got back on the road, and picked up Chuck without another hitch.

Holly Hunter has a tobacco chewing Guardian Angel named Earl. My Earl had a limp, and Lincoln, and his wife's Bible in the front seat.

I said, "Earl you have been a blessing to me. Certainly God placed you in my life. I can not thank you enough."

Earl said, "Well I figure that's why we're here. We can't make it without helping one another."

Bless you Earl.

Surgery Complete and Successful - Updated 11pm

Elijah is out of surgery now. The doctor says it went well. His friend Jason Rozen who was the donor for the kidney is doing well also, and should be awake soon. Elijah will be awake in a couple hours, and after that I will give another update.

Thanks for all your prayers.

Update: Elijah came out of surgery about 2:30om, and finally came to consciousness about 5:30. He is in room 1023 at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and will be there for 4 to 6 days. He looks very good considering the stress a surgical prcedure places on the body. He is in good spirits as well, and telling jokes as is his typical style.

Jason Rozen (the donor) also is doing well, and is room 1011 on the same floor. Jason is our hero. Jason should be in the hospital for a couple days, and then be home and taking it easy for about a month.

Thanks for your prayers

Day Before the Transplant Doings

Tomorrow morning Elijah goes into the hospital for his kidney transplant. Today I am at home. I am only doing a few things: praying (anytime I am not doing something else, and sometimes while I am doing something else), reading (I am bouncing between an online version of Peter Chelchicky's Net of Faith, The Truth War by John MacArthur, and The Last Word by NT Wright. I recommend the first and last. I will comment soon (perhaps in a series of posts) on the second. In all my reading, it is my praying which is taking the precedence. Many of you have let me know that you are, and will be praying and considering our son as he heads toward surgery.

For those of you who have not met him, check out the video he is in with his buddy Dan. They made it as a support Elijah Wyman kidney transplant commercial.

This is what Elijah has been up to. Someone donated some money for him to buy whatever he wants to have with him while he is in the hospital for the 4-6 days of recovery. So he rode down to Target on his Moped, and bought a Nintendo DS lite, and a Mario Cart game. He's been messing with it most of the day. We are going to visit one of his favorite places to eat - Tapas (which is a misnomer, because nothing comes in small amounts, but the food is good) at 3pm with Rhonda.

Elijah's Kidney Transplant - Wednesday Morning

Our son Elijah is going in to Beth Israel Hospital in Boston on Wednesday morning. Sometime around 9:30am he is scheduled to have the transplant. His friend Jason is donating the kidney, and will be in for the surgery about an hour before. Your prayers for Jason and Elijah would be greatly appreciated.

For those who have asked about donating to the Elijah Wyman Kidney Fund - click here.

Six Days to Go - Is this Good? or Something Other?

My son Elijah is having a kidney transplant in six days. People say things like, "That's great!" and then ask, "Are you excited?"

How on earth am I supposed to answer that question? I have been responding like a deer in the headlights. I blink a couple times, and then stare blankly.

It is a very good thing that a friend of his is willing to be a kidney donor. It will be better for Elijah after the transplant than it is now - by far. Is it good that he is even in this position? - heck no. Somehow I can't make a tantalizing meal out of this bitter season of life. Maybe down the road I'll be able to see this kidney disease in a different light. For now I blink, and then stare blankly.

Elijah's Kidney Fund - Help Needed

My son Elijah will facing a kidney transplant within the next two weeks. It has been a rough road over the last year and a half since he was discovered to have a life threatening, rare kidney disease. Your prayers, words of encouragement, and even financial support through this extremely expensive process are deeply appreciated now. You can donate through The Gathering to Elijah's Kidney Fund.

It is during these times when we discover what it means to have others help us with those burdens which are too great for us to carry on our own. You can visit the donation page HERE.

Blessings on you, and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Phil, Bev, Rhonda, Crash, Puppy, Holly, Forrest, and especially Elijah Wyman