If It's Not One Thing, It's Another. The Story of our Canadian Breakdown :(

[Paul & Deb]

We entered in Ontario at Thousand Islands and spent 4 spectacular days with Cate and Rob and Jim and Ginnie. We feel so lucky to have these wonderful friends! Cate and Rob took us all boating on the St. Lawrence river and site seeing and man, we could never repay them for their hospitality. We Love them like family! While there we stayed at the KOA in Ivy Lee and it was okay. Terrible internet and essentially no television reception which was fine with us because we were out of the trailer except for sleeping.

We left Ontario on Thursday and drove straight to Quebec City. Again we stayed at a KOA just outside of old Quebec City. The KOA again was nice but, as we have experienced pretty much everywhere, terrible internet access. We toured Quebec City and absolutely loved the old world charm fro architecture to small colorful streets and alleys. A little tougher in Quebec as compared to Ontario due to the language difficulties but we were amazed, I guess, by how many people spoke excellent English.

We left on Sunday heading to the east coast of Maine where we were going to spend the next week or so hiking in Acadia National Park and scarfing as much lobster as possible.

You know what 'they" say about best laid plans though! We have been having issues with the emissions on our new 2016 GMC Denali 3500 almost since new. At 2,000 miles we started getting Check Engine Lights and each time took it immediately to a GMC dealership to be checked and they always say they can't find a problem and reset the code and send us off. Then we started getting "Cleaning Exhaust Filter, do not stop driving" message on the DIC. Again, a trip to a dealer and they reset it and send us on our way. Well, just before we got to Canada I got a CEL again and I made a conscious decision to keep on trucking because I would get the same non-response from the GMC dealer.

Well, we made it to the riverside town of St. Georges about 47 miles from the boarder crossing and the truck went into "Reduced Power Mode". Ah, so close. I pulled over in a closed (Sunday) business parking lot to try and troubleshoot and see if I could get it across the boarder. i tried resetting the computer by disconnecting the batteries and letting the retained power drain. This actually works on some trouble codes but not this. I reconnected the batteries after 1/2 hour and, boom, right back to where it was. I had to move the trailer so I put it in drive and we drove off down the road for a few miles, barley making it up a grade, and spotted a Shell station with a bunch of empty parking spaces right along the street and away from the pumps, The spot couldn't have been more perfect. So I pulled in parallel to the street and across the parking spaces. Whew, at least were temporarily in a secure space.I went inside to explain my dilemma only to welcomed by the nicest young people who assured me we would be okay there overnight at least so we could attempt to get hep.

As a side note; it happens to be nearly 90 degrees and humid right now in this part of the country. We couldn't open the dining room slide but were able to ope the kitchen and bedroom without issue. We fired up the gennie and turned on the A/C and there we sat and slept until Monday morning.

Monday morning we disconnected the truck and limped to a GMC dealership. We were sitting there by 6:45 for them to open at 7 :30 am so we would hopefully be first in line. 7:30 came and went and not a soul to be seen. Finally Deb asked me if I thought the service bays looked active. So I went up to the sliding door windows to peer inside and they were gutted! Not a single tool or anything. Just to add insult to injury, the dealership had moved their service department to a new location and block away! What?

We finally found, by accident, the new service center by 7:45 and walked in and were pleased to find the one and only service writer spoke broken English. We explained our situation and he wrote up a service request and told us there was a waiting room around the corner. I could go on and on about the communications as the day progressed but the Readers Digest version is that we left after 8 hours with them telling us they needed to order part(s) from the US and it would take 1 week to get them.

To this minute I'm not sure they actually have a handle on what's wrong and how to fix it. Let me give you an example .... as we were finally leaving, they finally had told us they have a shuttle service and could get us back to the RV, i was in the truck getting essentials and the head mechanic looked under the dash and asked "what is that? is it aftermarket?". He was pointing at the OBDII access port! All day they long they have been "running diagnostics" (as they told us). How in the heck have they been doing that without even checking the computer for what the trouble codes were? I don't have a lot of confidence here but I don't know what else to do at this point.

The information that we wouldn't get it fixed today let alone in a week only came to us at the end of 8 hours! So now we had to decide what we would do for a week with us and the trailer.

Understand that this part of Canada closes up, as far as campgrounds, around September 10th! As mentioned before the weather is unseasonably warm, no HOT! Usually tourists are long gone by now and no one is camping. We checked on multiple campgrounds and they were all closed. The very nice folks at the Shell station were willing to let us stay but I couldn't imagine that for a week or more. So finally we located a campground on the river that, although they are also normally closed, have stayed open due to the weather. Yippee!

Time to contact CoachNet and get the trailer towed. Yeah, right. After a couple hours dealing with some chick in who knows where, we were stuck without anyone who could come and tow us. Oh, she had a guy who even called me direct to get clear directions and he was nice, spoke English and would be here in 1/2 hour. Sweet! Well, not so much. The CoachNet chick called me back 45 minutes later to tell me they had a problem with the "contractor" and he would not be coming. As best I can tell, she pissed him off somehow and bailed.

While Deb was hearing me on the phone with CoachNet she took it upon herself to call the campground we had found directly and see if someone there could come get us. After some English to French problems she worked out that the CG owner would come for $75. Fine with me, come get me!

Out "ride" showed up 1/2 hour later right as scheduled and towed us to his nearly empty CG and set us in a really nice space with a great view and full hook ups, although only 30 amp which is no big deal.

So, here we sit with no transportation for a week until we hope and pray they can get our truck running so we can head home or wherever.

Tomorrow we will try and see if we can rent a car so we can at least get out a bit and shop and see some local sights. We hope this weather breaks too as it's currently 94 outside and we can only run one A/C.

I'm really nervous about the truck but if they don'f fix it I'm not sure what we do next. I know one way or another I will be filing for a Lemon Law refund as I've had this damn thing in various GM dealerships 5 or 6 times for the same problem.

As far as our unexpected costs, I don't think I have any recourse. I checked my CoachNet benefits and they only provide reimbursements if the issue is due to an accident, not a breakdown, so no luck there. I have no idea if GM is responsible for anything but I doubt it. If anyone has any thoughts on this, please chime in.

I will return here with updates when they occur but I have some GD, friends who are also friends on FB, and they have been offering all kinds of moral support which we appreciate, but I thought I would share our story with the rest. BTW, I no longer post on the GD FB page, it's a joke (for me).

[N6ZCM1]

OH MAN!!!!!!

Try to remember... What a GREAT adventure!!! in a few months you will laugh about it!!

Can't wait for the update!!!

[RamGunner]

That is a real ordeal! Hopefully the dealer can get it figured out - although I'd be really nervous if they were asking about the OBDII port too. Doesn't make you feel a warm and fuzzy.

We got an Insight CTS monitor and keep it in our truck. One of the things it will do is read - and clear (at least, ones that can be cleared) - codes. I think they have a mount for them for your truck, and it might be something to consider.

[grampscamper]

My goodness Paul what an ordeal! Hopefully it will all work out.

[TxCowboy]

Man, tough situation. But you are all safe and in a place you can relax so that's all good.

[Paul & Deb]

OH MAN!!!!!!

Try to remember... What a GREAT adventure!!! in a few months you will laugh about it!!

Can't wait for the update!!!

We can only hope.

That is a real ordeal! Hopefully the dealer can get it figured out - although I'd be really nervous if they were asking about the OBDII port too. Doesn't make you feel a warm and fuzzy.

We got an Insight CTS monitor and keep it in our truck. One of the things it will do is read - and clear (at least, ones that can be cleared) - codes. I think they have a mount for them for your truck, and it might be something to consider.

I had one for my previous truck but sold it with the truck so I will eventually get one but I certainly didn't think I would need one with a new truck. That was a dumb assumption.

My goodness Paul what an ordeal! Hopefully it will all work out.

We hope so too.

BTW, so much for the 30 amp being no big deal. The power has shut down twice today in the middle of the hottest time. We had to go without A/C for a couple of very hot hours. We've turned it back on now that it's getting later in the day and the temps are supposed to start going down tomorrow so we're hopeful it will be okay.

Side note: this is the first time the SurgeGuard has shut down when running 1 A/C and imagine, this park is nearly empty. Can't imagine what it must be like here in the heat of summer when everyone is running the A/Cs at the same time.

[cmillsbl]

Wow!! Sounds very much like our trip out west in August. Our F250 started having problems while in Yosemite and continued to Ely Nevada. Eventually had to be towed 150 miles to a Ford dealership in Delta Utah. Spent 6 nights there waiting for a part. In our case, the truck came with Ford's 5 Year Roadside Assistance which covered the tow for the truck, but not the camper. Check with GM to see if your truck came with a similar program.

Our problem turned out to be a wire harness that was damaged during assembly of the truck. The dealer in Delta didn't diagnose it (they did fix a steering problem). We limped 2000 miles home (with the truck also going into "limp" mode periodically). We got home on Sept 3rd, dropped the truck with our dealer, and just got it back last Friday. Good luck with the truck.


We did the Old Quebec City, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont road trip last October. Awesome trip. Didn't own a 5th wheel back then. Nice to know there is KOA near Quebec City. My wife has been wanting to revisit that area.

[Second Chance]

Paul,

So sorry! We left Acadia last week and are in northern New Hampshire on our way to Burlington, VT, right now - but 165 miles and three and a half hours away from you. I wish we had been a bit closer and knew about your troubles sooner. We'll be following this thread to see how you get along. Let us know if there's anything we can do.

Rob

[RamGunner]

I had one for my previous truck but sold it with the truck so I will eventually get one but I certainly didn't think I would need one with a new truck. That was a dumb assumption.

It wasn't dumb, you really SHOULD NOT have to worry on a new truck. Sadly, reality is different. Just like how the dealer SHOULD know what an OBDII port is.

I'm sorry you are having to go through this.

[Canyonlight]

Wow, Paul !......when Jim mentioned on another thread that you were having truck issues, I was going to PM you to find out what was going on. It does make you wonder if it is essentially the same issue all along and no dealers which you have been to can figure it out and fix it........sucks ! Wishing this gets resolved and the rest of your trip will be fine. Just another example of why they make adult beverages !

Dan