The day was hotter than a linebacker's armpit--but, fortunately, much drier. Wife and daughter were enjoying the air conditioning. The other gal, who was not quite twenty years old, suddenly got cranky; about 12 miles out of Mountain Home, she blew a hose. We coasted to the side of the road. The small by-pass hose at the front of the V8 spewed coolant from a small hole. I knew that my dad could fix that temporarily with electrical tape...but I would have to wait for it to cool, and I would have to be able to get it started again.
Within minutes, the county sheriff himself pulled in behind us. He wanted to know if we could move any farther off the freeway. Nope. The engine wouldn't turn over (we were going to need a tow). He stayed behind us with his lights flashing until the tow truck arrived...and pulled over the guy who refused to change lanes for the tow truck.
My awesome insurance agent answered my phone call; he said that my policy did include towing; the first twenty miles would be free. I confirmed the number that I needed to call for the roadside assistance. I called the number; the tow would not be free because I had not been in an accident. (What? Maybe I planned this mishap?) Anyway. They would find an available tow truck and have me pulled to the nearest shop...in Boise.
Long story short...we waited an hour and a half for the tow truck. We were towed to a place in Mountain Home; the insurance company had assured me the place was open on Saturday. The tow truck driver assured me that they were not open on Saturday; he was right. I decided to have the vehicle towed to my brother-in-law's house about ten miles out of Mountain Home. On the way, the insurance company called to confirm that I would say they had provided me with excellent service. I declined to so classify it. The tow was great...but that was it.
I think there is something about the Mountain Home area that messes with my vehicles; it's sort of a vehicular Bermuda Triangle for me. Every major car problem I remember having while on far travels has been within Elmore county: December 1981, car totaled on the highway from Fairfield a few miles outside of Mountain Home. August 1995, fuel pump died on the freeway between the Mountain Home exits. August 2003, Jeep overheated and engulfed in flame outside Prairie in Elmore County. Add this August 2017 incident to the tally. Maybe it's a good thing that the bad things happen there. It's not outrageously far from help.
My brother-in-law, Dan, is what I call "a car guy" and an extremely helpful, nice guy--and his wife kept us in cool drinks during the stay. At his place, he, my dad, and I (by which I mean that I mostly watched, and held the flashlight) replaced the culprit hose. We also discovered that the rig would run...but the battery was bad...and the housing near the hose was leaking more than a little. He advised me not to drive it home. My parents gave us a ride to their place, and let us borrow their pickup to get the rest of the way home--delayed only by 5 or 6 hours as a result of the unscheduled stop; we got in about 11:00 p.m.
Fast forward one week. Dan had the rig repaired, and enough juice forced into the battery to give me at least one start. I actually got four starts out of it before it was completely dead again a couple days later. New battery time. I charged it overnight; it started. I drove to the auto parts store, bought a new battery and replaced it in the parking lot. I also got a new oil pressure switch (which I suspected was bad because the needle in the gauge bounces at times like a cheerleader on speed). I would discover to my dismay, later in the day, that I didn't have any sockets that were both deep and wide enough to remove the existing oil pressure thingy. The new doohickey required a 13/16 socket; that was too small for the bad one. After removing a front tire and the cover inside the wheel well, three trips to town, four new sockets, and a new socket extension, I was triumphant in making the replacement. I spent more on new tools than the part itself cost. An inch and 1/16 was the size required.
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