Blue Truck Finally Got "Sick"

I knew I was jinxing myself by talking about Blue Truck's longevity and over-all good health. No sooner had those words left my mouth than Blue Truck gave a cough and refused to get out of bed.

Finding a trustworthy mechanic who is also fair in his pricing is not an easy task. Getting Blue Truck to a mechanic, even with free towing through AAA, is filled with irksome details. Who can pick me up? How long is the repair going to take? Who can drive me back over there? You all get it. Dealing with car repairs is simply the worst.

2000 Ford Super Duty F250 4x4

To make my job even more difficult, Blue Truck didn't just up and quit all in one day. It took several weeks. The first time Blue Truck had trouble starting was after it had been sitting for a few weeks in cold weather. I immediately chalked up the sluggish start to the battery. I drove the truck home and then drove it for several days without further issue.

A week or so later, the day we re-replaced the first trailer vent in fact, I tried to start Blue Truck to re-park it after the trailer vent had been repaired - we'd hauled it over to the barn to have access to an electrical outlet. As soon as my husband left the ranch, Blue Truck gave a whir, whir, whir ... nothing. I made a hasty call to my husband, and he drove back prepared to jump start the battery.

​Except we could both tell it didn't sound like the battery. And then, because life likes to irritate me, Blue Truck fired right up as though it hadn't been lying at death's door five minutes before.

Blue Truck and Trailer

There was no way I felt comfortable hauling the horses while Blue Truck's ability to start was in question. Driving a nineteen-year-old truck is already loaded with maybes and what ifs. I don't need another layer of hope it starts stress. So, I put in a call to the ranch owner to ask her about the mobile service she uses. She in turn passed my number to Doug who called back right away.

Doug runs a mobile service here in town where he typically services fleet vehicles. I am not sure that his business is geared for single vehicle repairs, but since the ranch uses him annually anyway, he came out to service all the vehicles on the property. This turned out to be good timing for me.

Doug's mechanic started with the easy stuff: oil change, battery check, spark plugs, fuel filter, and ... Houston, we have a problem. You see, like any annoying problem, the truck ran just fine for the mechanic. The first day, he couldn't figure out why it wouldn't start dependably for me. When he changed the fuel filter however, it quit starting all together. A new and healthy fuel filter should not cause a problem.

I have a LOT of old BT pictures. Nineteen years' worth.

The mechanic was certainly puzzled. He left, which freaked me out a bit, but he returned the next day with a variety of gauges and other tools. In no time at all he determined that Blue Truck's fuel pump had seen better days.

Replacing the fuel pump is a lot like an organ transplant - a lot of old stuff has to come out before the new can be installed. Replacing the fuel pump also requires several hours, so it wasn't until last week that Doug could get me on the schedule. 

With very little fanfare, Doug's mechanic replaced what needed replacing. Blue Truck now starts when it's supposed to, and I once again feel safe-ish hauling my boys where they need to go. Not that there's anywhere to go right now, but I like knowing that we'll probably get there and back.

If you're local and looking for a dependable and reasonably priced mechanic, shoot me an email, and I'll share Doug's info with you.