Learning about Check Engine Lights and a couple of Sunsets

As I was driving back from the Red Feather Lakes area last week, I got a check engine light while the VRRV was climbing a hill. 

It was a code P0171, new one to me....not the usual P0191 which I believed to be an O2 Sensor fault. (Reporting too lean fuel mix)

I have this inability to not be able to continue driving without clearing the check engine light first, so I did using the scan gauge device. 

This week I took the VRRV through the mechanic to have them look at that P0171 error.  

Turns out, I should not have cleared the check engine light by erasing the code before the mechanic could do a full diagnosis. 

Turns out, that along with clearing the code I also cleared what can be referred to as a freeze frame of existing engine conditions at the time of the error!  This is data that is key to letting the mechanic figure out what's going on.  Doh!

I also learned, that a steady check engine light is just reporting error codes and it's okay to continue driving until you can have the codes looked at. 

However, if the check engine light is blinking, that is bad and you need to stop driving immediately and have the vehicle towed to the mechanic in most cases. 

Tuesday Sunset with Brigitta:

My Sony A6000 has started acting up since last week.  Got the apparently common "camera error, turn power and back on" issue.  The camera becomes unresponsive and you have to take the battery out for it to boot up again. 

Tried all the "fixes" on Google, but they don't last.  Something with the shutter mechanism I believe.

Just as well that I rarely use it anymore, mostly for sunset shots. In fact,  I don't think I used it much if at all the second half of the Iberian Wanderings trip!

This may be the last pic for this blog from the A6000:

Thursday Sunset 

The mechanic hasn't found anything conclusive are the check engine codes I reported.  I'm to drive it some more and see if the codes come back. He suspects it's a possible fuel supply issue, leading to lean fuel mixtures under high engine loads.

Home Again, A Day Earlier than Planned.

Found a nearby neighbor perhaps 50 ft from the campsite:

Its a Yellow-Bellied Marmot according to Google Lens.  

Not much else got done, it was mostly overcast as Noon approached, and enough winds to make things feel chilly.

Wednesday, July 16

Well, I discovered an empty propane tank mid-morning.  I'd been hunting a suspected leak since returning from Europe.

I'd already replace the rubber propane line from the tank to the main manifold tube.  No luck.

Today, I tried (again) spraying all the connections and this time one bubbled when sprayed with soapy water!

It's the flare nut fitting leading to the water heater.  As my propane tank was now empty, I packed up and returned home a day early.  I wanted to run the fridge using shore power you see, while I get the propane leak fixed.

I stopped to refill the propane take in the way home.

Dale B., master plumber and friend came over and he could actually hear the gas leak!  He could also smell it leaking out.

I couldn't hear the leak but had smelled it.  At Dale's prompt, I place my hand near the fitting and yeah, you could "feel" a cold stream coming out, the leaking propane!

Dale B. Is confident he can fix it.  I'm very fortunate that the RV didn't catch fire.

July 17, Update:

Dale B. Came through for me!  We found where the crack was that was leaking the propane out:

The middle piece, the ferrule, was cracked:

So Dale bought an extension version of the fitting on the left so the 3/8" copper pipe leading to the water heater would still reach after cutting off an inch of it.

The copper tube was cut off by about an inch, the new hexagonal cap (right hand item above) and ferrule fitted and flared using special tool.

A little pipe dope, a little propane Teflon for the threads on the new extension fitting and voila....no more hissing noise as propane leaked out, and no smell of propane!

A Ride to Views of the Medicine Bow Mountain Range

After a nice sunrise and a leisurely start to the day, I rode Yagi, my TW200, down Deadman Road to its junction with FR300 at around 10:30 a.m.

I rode along FR300 for about 15 miles or so just to check things out and to map any campsite candidates I might run across.

The road itself starts off pretty good but then theres stretches of rocky terrain that make you pay attention.

I came up on the junction with FR517 and shortly after that while riding on FR517 I saw this view of the Medicine Bow Mountain Range.

A mile or to further on did not render that much in terms of views so I turned around where FR517 and FR173 junction.

On the way back, I stopped at about 6 likely candidate spots for future camping and recorded them on my Google maps profile. 

This little fellow watched me, while sitting on top a rock that was a part of a fire pit at one of the sites:

Things had clouded over by the time I finished a late lunch, so I just relaxed at the campsite the rest of the day.

Boondocking again near Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

 I had not planned on0 leaving home till tomorrow morning but Martha pointed out that traffic would be much less on a Sunday since I had to take I-25 most of the way towards the turn to Red Feather Lakes.

About two and a half hours later, I was at the same spot I camped at last time I was here. I took Yagi off the rack and rode about 8 miles to explore other sites to see if they were available. 

All the creekside sites along Deadman Road were occupied darn it, oh well. 

Kind of surprising, as I had seen more RVs, travel trailers, campers and cars with camping gear streaming out and away from the area as the weekenders went home.   I think a lot of them had been in the North Fork Poudre Campground.

I have very slow signal via cellular, but I have Starlink so if I need faster than texting speeds, it's available. 

The above speed test was with the dish inside the bunkhouse of the VRRV where it rides all the time. Not bad! 

Some views of the campsite:

A quick litter pickup had me thinking that the previous camper had done a pretty good job. But then I ran into a full bag of garbage that had been left behind, torn into by animals and the contents spread all over!

Sadly, based on the diapers I found, the idiot who left the full bag has bred, continuing to pollute the gene pool.

On a different note, I experimented not running the propane refrigerator while driving, it's safer apparently in case of an accident. 

I've been driving the VRRV several years now with the propane on with no issues, there's no federal law against it and you're supposed to shut off the propane when at gas stations.

I have been remiss about shutting it at gas stations. 

Anyway 4 hours later after I shut off power to the fridge, the inside had gained 20° F both in the freezer and main compartment.  Not bad but not great.  It was 41° in the freezer and 56° in the main compartment.

This was with the addition of three ice blocks used for the transport of medicines in the main refrigerator compartment.

Tonight's sunset was pretty good, add in some post-processing to bring out the colors more....you get this:

A Little Riding, A Little Climbing....Mostly Relaxing

Tuesday, July 8

A little bit of riding just to see if I had campers nearby, none for a mile or so.

The lighting was pretty good on Pikes Peak before the clouds moved in after 11 a.m.

Spent most of the relaxing at the campsite, reading an ebook and enjoying the quiet solitude.

A total of five cars drove by going somewhere else, that's it.

Mild winds, a little bit of a sprinkle for rain, and that was it for weather today. Very nice conditions for the most part. 

Tuesdays post-sunset was not bad: 

Wednesday, July 9

A bit more riding than yesterday, roughly 12 miles of forest road goodness.

First a stop after 2 miles from camp to check out the view atop the rocks near the site of the annual "Revival" campsite on FR324.

A view of Pikes Peak

I then rode along FR324 to its junction with FR323.  From there, it's less than a mile or so to Scorpio Rock Dome.

Parking Yagi under the shade of a tree, I walked up the path that leads to the exposed rocks of the Scorpio rock dome. 

Got back to camp by Noon with no issues, Yagi performing like a reliable champ.

There's now a small group tent campers in the site next to mine with the nice view of Pikes Peak.  They're doing some target shooting, very sporadic but quite loud.

Although Martha and I have camp there before, it's more of a group site and hard to hold just by oneself.  Glad I picked the one I'm at!

Temperatures were in the mid-eighties but I stayed comfy in the gazebo.  Using camo netting from Amazon for shade that lets air pass through.

It's a better option than the solid tent material panels that can be bought with the gazebo.  Those are better in windy and cool conditions.

Oh, and also using a spray bottle full of water to act as a mister, works pretty good!

The sun though, when not blocked by clouds, radiates heat through the roof panels of the gazebo.

Trying two of the solid panels to act as barriers to the radiates heat.  Seems to help but of course, once I had them in place, it got cloudy.  We'll see.

Weekday Camping Again

Well, survived yet another 4th of July Weekend's fireworks idiocy.

I heard though, some teen lost his arm while engaging in a Roman Candle fight.  Darwin at work, folks.  Another will probably lose an eye due to fireworks.  

In the Stoner State, it's illegal to use fireworks which explode or leave the ground, this includes Roman Candles.  Enforcement thereof is nonexistent as far as I can tell.  

Now camping on Rampart Range Road area, in the Pike National Forest, north of Woodland, CO.  

Weekday Camping is camping during the work week, planning to return home for the weekend.

The weekends, with school out, tend to be full of weekend campers, frantically trying to get their money worth out of their noisy SxS and ATVs.