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JSH · 04-26-2022, 06:44 PM

An update and some preliminary MPG data. In a month I got no interest in shipping the ambulance from NC to OR until the day before I was going to pick it up and start driving back. At that point I had already cancelled my return flight and mentally set on driving it back so I said no thanks. (It also wasn't a sure thing)

I picked up the Ambulance in Raleigh on the evening of the 22nd. Drove to Winston - Salem and stopped for the night.

First impressions - it drives well, has lots of power, and people are SUPER courteous when you are driving an ambulance. Merging onto the highway - people make space. Changing lanes - just put on your blinker and people slow down to let you over. It was a weird experience.

Friday - Day 2: I drove was 450 miles from Winston - Salem to Louisville, KY. Google routed me straight through the Appalachian Mountains on state highways so it was up and down and twist and turns the whole way. The big surprise - The trip computer said I was getting 15 mpg. That was a shock considering the amount of hills on the drive. Truck ran great - lots of power on the hills and it corners decent in the curves.

Saturday - Day 3. My target was Kansas City but I only made it as far as Columbia, MO. Shortly out of Louisville I got a message that the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) was doing a regen and to keep driving. That ended with a check engine light. I stopped outside of St. Louis at an auto parts store for a scan and that confirmed an error code for the DPF. OK - how long can I drive before the DPF plugs up too much? - nobody knows. I'd done some research and the "fix" is a forced regen and the dealer were the truck spools the engine up to 2500 RPM and holds until the DPF regens and clears out the PM soot. He reset the code and I start the truck up again. I immediately get the regen message again so I just hold my foot on the peddle to bring up the RPM and the message goes out with no check engine light. Excellent - good to go - no reason to find a Chevy dealer. Not the case - 100 miles later I get CEL and reduced power message without warning while I'm climbing a hill at 75 mph after passing some semi trucks. I manage to keep it above 55 mph and take the first exit - which is in the middle of nowhere with nothing in sight. My scanner that I bought at the auto parts store (why didn't I bring mine with me) has two codes for the DPF filter. I search for some dealers - there are 5 within 50 miles. I call the one in Columbia but it is now 2:55 on Saturday. They close at 3 - so they politely tell me there is nothing they can do, bring it first thing Monday when they open. So I limp it to Columbia on secondary roads at 35 to 45 mph. Great - I have 36 hours to kill in Columbia, MO.

Sunday - Day 4: It is Easter so everything including the hotel restaurant is closed. I have some of my tools so I fix some little things on the Ambulance body and remove some panels to see what is behind them. The stock layout has a huge amount of dead space behind panels - the box will be fully stripped to back to the base structure. Whoever decomissioned it was really nice and labelled every circuit they disconnected. 0 miles traveled

Monday - Day 5: I'm at the dealer at 6:45 - they say they can get me right in. After about 2 hours they say they can't get it to a forced regen - it starts but the coolant temperature falls and the regen fails. Diagnosis - one or both of the thermostats are stuck open. (I had noticed the temperature gauge moved around a lot) They have the parts and can get it done the same day. That will be 5 hours of shop time and $1000 please. I say OK. I wait, wander the town, sit in a Starbucks for a couple hours, wander some more, get a late lunch at a little diner with the old folks and then head back to the dealer. Good news - they are working on it. Bad news - it is 4pm and there are still parts all around the truck. Seems that putting a 6.6L Turbo V8 into a van chassis means there it very little room to work on the engine. No dice, I'm staying another night. 3 miles traveled

Tuesday - Day 6: They work on the truck all morning and I'm on the road again at 1 pm. I make it 400 miles to Hays, KS. The truck runs well and I'm averaging 13.5 mpg running 70 mph with a strong crosswind. 400 miles traveled

Wednesday - Day 7: Strong 25 mph headwind today and 65 returns 11 mpg. Things are running fine until the 150 miles into the day the DPF cleaning message appears again with a check engine light. I'm a bit smarter this time around so I head to the nearest Chevy dealer. Same DPF Code but now there is a code for the DEF heater. They don't have the part so they do a forced regen and send me on to Denver where maybe a dealer will have the part in stock. I continue 200 miles to Denver. No wind now and fuel economy jumps to 15 mpg at 70 mph. I crash with some friends and have a good evening. 350 miles traveled

Thursday - Day 8: I call some dealers - tell them my sad tale - and one says they have the DEF heater assembly in stock and can get it fixed today. I drive over, they say they won't just change the part - they need to do their own diagnostics. They confirm the same diagnosis. The problem in a temp sensor but the DEF heater, temp sensor, pump, level sender, and suction / return it all one assembly. That will be $980 please. I say OK - they go to get started. A sad service rep comes back and says they cannot find the part the computer says they have. So sorry, we will have to order it. It will arrive tomorrow - we can have you back on the road mid afternoon on Friday. I say screw this - I'm out of time - and book a ticket back to Portland. 10 miles traveled but in the wrong direction

I have 1200 miles left to go on the roughest and loneliest sections of highway for the trip. I've driven it before and there are long stretches of nothing but desert. Based on the track record the DPF is plugging up every 500 miles. No way I want to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere, in the desert, at 3 pm on a Saturday with all the dealerships closed and hundreds of miles from an airport. Oh - and there is a forecast for a foot of snow in the passes.

I'm flying back next week and will pick it up Wednesday. That gives me 4 days to get home with dealerships open if I need forced regens. I also bought a Edge Insight that will allow me to keep track of DFP soot levels and do driving and stationary forced regens on my own. I also have chains now - and a pressure gage that works for dual tires.

So - not the trip I expected but it could have been worse. Almost every Chevy dealership was super helpful and got me in with zero waiting even though their service departments are booked out a solid 2 - 3 weeks. There is also a Chevy dealership in almost every town of any size. Pull up google maps just about anywhere and there is a Chevy dealership nearby. That was a factor in choosing the vehicle and one of the reasons I would never buy something like a Mercedes Sprinter for travelling.

.... to be continued.

04-26-2022, 06:44 PM	#46 (permalink)
JSH AKA - Jason Join Date: May 2009 Location: PDX Posts: 3,601 Adventure Seeker - '04 Chevy Astro - Campervan 90 day: 17.3 mpg (US) Thanks: 325 Thanked 2,147 Times in 1,454 Posts	An update and some preliminary MPG data. In a month I got no interest in shipping the ambulance from NC to OR until the day before I was going to pick it up and start driving back. At that point I had already cancelled my return flight and mentally set on driving it back so I said no thanks. (It also wasn't a sure thing) I picked up the Ambulance in Raleigh on the evening of the 22nd. Drove to Winston - Salem and stopped for the night. First impressions - it drives well, has lots of power, and people are SUPER courteous when you are driving an ambulance. Merging onto the highway - people make space. Changing lanes - just put on your blinker and people slow down to let you over. It was a weird experience. Friday - Day 2: I drove was 450 miles from Winston - Salem to Louisville, KY. Google routed me straight through the Appalachian Mountains on state highways so it was up and down and twist and turns the whole way. The big surprise - The trip computer said I was getting 15 mpg. That was a shock considering the amount of hills on the drive. Truck ran great - lots of power on the hills and it corners decent in the curves. Saturday - Day 3. My target was Kansas City but I only made it as far as Columbia, MO. Shortly out of Louisville I got a message that the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) was doing a regen and to keep driving. That ended with a check engine light. I stopped outside of St. Louis at an auto parts store for a scan and that confirmed an error code for the DPF. OK - how long can I drive before the DPF plugs up too much? - nobody knows. I'd done some research and the "fix" is a forced regen and the dealer were the truck spools the engine up to 2500 RPM and holds until the DPF regens and clears out the PM soot. He reset the code and I start the truck up again. I immediately get the regen message again so I just hold my foot on the peddle to bring up the RPM and the message goes out with no check engine light. Excellent - good to go - no reason to find a Chevy dealer. Not the case - 100 miles later I get CEL and reduced power message without warning while I'm climbing a hill at 75 mph after passing some semi trucks. I manage to keep it above 55 mph and take the first exit - which is in the middle of nowhere with nothing in sight. My scanner that I bought at the auto parts store (why didn't I bring mine with me) has two codes for the DPF filter. I search for some dealers - there are 5 within 50 miles. I call the one in Columbia but it is now 2:55 on Saturday. They close at 3 - so they politely tell me there is nothing they can do, bring it first thing Monday when they open. So I limp it to Columbia on secondary roads at 35 to 45 mph. Great - I have 36 hours to kill in Columbia, MO. Sunday - Day 4: It is Easter so everything including the hotel restaurant is closed. I have some of my tools so I fix some little things on the Ambulance body and remove some panels to see what is behind them. The stock layout has a huge amount of dead space behind panels - the box will be fully stripped to back to the base structure. Whoever decomissioned it was really nice and labelled every circuit they disconnected. 0 miles traveled Monday - Day 5: I'm at the dealer at 6:45 - they say they can get me right in. After about 2 hours they say they can't get it to a forced regen - it starts but the coolant temperature falls and the regen fails. Diagnosis - one or both of the thermostats are stuck open. (I had noticed the temperature gauge moved around a lot) They have the parts and can get it done the same day. That will be 5 hours of shop time and $1000 please. I say OK. I wait, wander the town, sit in a Starbucks for a couple hours, wander some more, get a late lunch at a little diner with the old folks and then head back to the dealer. Good news - they are working on it. Bad news - it is 4pm and there are still parts all around the truck. Seems that putting a 6.6L Turbo V8 into a van chassis means there it very little room to work on the engine. No dice, I'm staying another night. 3 miles traveled Tuesday - Day 6: They work on the truck all morning and I'm on the road again at 1 pm. I make it 400 miles to Hays, KS. The truck runs well and I'm averaging 13.5 mpg running 70 mph with a strong crosswind. 400 miles traveled Wednesday - Day 7: Strong 25 mph headwind today and 65 returns 11 mpg. Things are running fine until the 150 miles into the day the DPF cleaning message appears again with a check engine light. I'm a bit smarter this time around so I head to the nearest Chevy dealer. Same DPF Code but now there is a code for the DEF heater. They don't have the part so they do a forced regen and send me on to Denver where maybe a dealer will have the part in stock. I continue 200 miles to Denver. No wind now and fuel economy jumps to 15 mpg at 70 mph. I crash with some friends and have a good evening. 350 miles traveled Thursday - Day 8: I call some dealers - tell them my sad tale - and one says they have the DEF heater assembly in stock and can get it fixed today. I drive over, they say they won't just change the part - they need to do their own diagnostics. They confirm the same diagnosis. The problem in a temp sensor but the DEF heater, temp sensor, pump, level sender, and suction / return it all one assembly. That will be $980 please. I say OK - they go to get started. A sad service rep comes back and says they cannot find the part the computer says they have. So sorry, we will have to order it. It will arrive tomorrow - we can have you back on the road mid afternoon on Friday. I say screw this - I'm out of time - and book a ticket back to Portland. 10 miles traveled but in the wrong direction I have 1200 miles left to go on the roughest and loneliest sections of highway for the trip. I've driven it before and there are long stretches of nothing but desert. Based on the track record the DPF is plugging up every 500 miles. No way I want to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere, in the desert, at 3 pm on a Saturday with all the dealerships closed and hundreds of miles from an airport. Oh - and there is a forecast for a foot of snow in the passes. I'm flying back next week and will pick it up Wednesday. That gives me 4 days to get home with dealerships open if I need forced regens. I also bought a Edge Insight that will allow me to keep track of DFP soot levels and do driving and stationary forced regens on my own. I also have chains now - and a pressure gage that works for dual tires. So - not the trip I expected but it could have been worse. Almost every Chevy dealership was super helpful and got me in with zero waiting even though their service departments are booked out a solid 2 - 3 weeks. There is also a Chevy dealership in almost every town of any size. Pull up google maps just about anywhere and there is a Chevy dealership nearby. That was a factor in choosing the vehicle and one of the reasons I would never buy something like a Mercedes Sprinter for travelling. .... to be continued.