OUR TINY HOME IS STUCK, WE ARE TRAVELING, AND RUNNING OUT OF TIME AND MONEY
The Saga Continues…And Worsens And I’m Starting To Feel Desperation Kick In
I’m at a loss right now and things are getting pretty dark for our situation quickly
Even my positivity isn’t going to get our engine to make the leak go away
I’m generally a positive person and I want to hope that I’m overexaggerating and overanalyzing a situation. I don’t think that I am though. We went to AutoZone the other day to get the stop leak for the head gasket and when we followed all of the directions and had to start and leave the engine idle for 50 minutes, the leaking never really stopped.
It got so bad at one point, that we just had to cut off the engine and figure out our next move. We had gotten some of that Blue Devil head gasket sealant and it’s chemically supposed to get in there and seal any cracks in the engine, especially in the head. This wasn’t working though. It definitely didn’t work.
We were hoping even for a temporary fix so we could get to safety
We only needed it to seal it temporarily so that we could get to where we were going instead of being absolutely stuck at a new and relatively unfamiliar truck stop in an unfamiliar city. We are supposed to get back so we can get some food and get to our mailbox and pick up Mike’s laptop. At this point, we’re just spinning our wheels, and that might be a literal thing too.
When we got towed and had to pay that ridiculous $500 towing fee, Mike asked the tow truck driver if we had to remove the driveshaft before he started towing it. You should keep in mind that we are an automatic, rear-wheel drive truck.
The towing company probably did more damage when they towed us
He said not to worry about it and he towed us with the truck facing forward on a dolly with straps and the back wheels down. I’m sure that at this point, and I don’t even want to look at it, the towing company also damaged our transmission and that’s potentially why the situation is worse than it should be right now.
Simply putting the truck in neutral and towing it behind the truck is going to spin the wheels without the gears being properly lubricated. I know that we could go after the towing company if they did in fact damage it by doing this but we don’t need more of a headache than we already have to have to go through those extra steps just to get to safety.
Long COVID, the illness worsening at times, and running out of time and money
Again, continuing to have to try to get us back on the road as we’re both still battling massive bouts of illness with Long COVID is making this ordeal much worse. I was out there with my partner while he was trying to make the seal work and watched as the white thick smoke kept emanating from our exhaust and watched at least a liter or more of coolant mixed with oil leaking out from the head.
This was all happening as I was going over to the back to throw up since it was so cold and I didn’t feel well at all. I threw up at least ten times while we were trying our hardest to make the truck work so we could leave.
We are stuck in a situation that seems impossible at this point. What’s worse is that we are running out of money quickly and we are running out of options. Mike did find a guy who had the same engine used for us to swap out. We could do that but if the transmission is damaged as we suspect, that could all be for naught. Also, there is still the issue of low funds and shooting darts in the dark isn’t exactly a prudent move right now.
Starting to feel like death, out of options, defeated, and stuck
We do need to figure something out though and time is not on our side. I literally was so exhausted by the end of the day after everything today that I nearly collapsed when we got back in back to our bed. I just want to get out of here and get to our destination. I don’t want to be stuck. I don’t want to be sick. I don’t want to feel like I could cough or puke my lungs out and choke to death on my own body.
Mike’s mood today has been visibly defeated and worn and his quiet and dark outlook is getting me to a point where I feel like we could just die here. I don’t want to, obviously, but the desperation in my body, mind, and soul at this point is making me feel like it’s a possibility. I never imagined that the brand-new engine and transmission that we’ve had on this vehicle for less than a year would already need to potentially be replaced. These inline-six engines for Ford are supposed to be indestructible. I guess that doesn’t apply to us.
We shouldn’t be in this situation right now and being stuck isn’t something we can be for long
We have gone through our third engine now since we’ve had this truck and I don’t even run this truck hard. It’s the first time it’s happened since we made it our home but this time seems like the most inopportune time for it to happen. It makes me feel like being stuck is more than just being stuck. I am thinking of every possible scenario alongside my more mechanically knowledgeable partner.
We really just need time and money, those are just two things we are super low on and I don’t know what the right move is to come next. I hope that the short distance (12 miles) that the tow truck pulled us improperly isn’t enough to completely damage our brand-new engine and transmission and that we lucked out this time around. I just don’t know why nothing we want to try isn’t working.
I say curse curses or bless them with blessings but I don’t know about all this…
Mike says he’s cursed. I fail to believe that. I’ve never felt cursed myself in my life and despite my struggles, I’ve been pretty blessed. If he is in fact “cursed” but I’m blessed, I should be able to cancel his bad luck out. We can’t both feel defeated and hopeless. I need him to feel like there’s a solution for us at this point. I’m not the one to figure it out since I know very little about cars, only the stuff he’s taught me.
I don’t know what I’ll have to do or the lengths that I’m willing to go to get us and our property to safety but for now I think I’m going to have to turn to start praying to a God again. Desperation will really take me to places I don’t want to be but I’ll definitely do anything at this point to make sure this is all safe and we’re where we need to be. Pray for us, everyone. And also send us positive vibes too.
We need a miracle or something at this point, I can’t be defeated after everything we did to get to where we are
I don’t know what else to ask for. Maybe a holiday miracle and someone to come along and get rid of our Long COVID, which by the way isn’t contagious after this long and I just found that out recently. I hope we survive this storm literally and also find a way out of this. Our lives and our livelihood depend on us being able to have a warm place to sleep, a place to eat and prepare food and most importantly travel to our next destination safely without having to worry about our truck dying in a random place.
