We stopped in Arlington in order to be in position to get some work completed on the motorhome.  It’s a long story that I will try to summarize.

Back in mid-April, when we pulled into Myers Flat, CA, after shutting off the engine I heard a hissing sound coming from the engine compartment.  My impression was that it was an air conditioner hose but wasn’t sure.  There was a mechanic just outside the entrance to the RV park and he checked it out and concurred that the A/C hose had developed a leak.  He attempted to order a replacement from a local Ford dealership but when I went to pick it up to was not the correct hose.

Subsequently, I contacted Winnebago and ordered a hose from them.  They said it would be a hose without the end connectors which seemed odd.  When we reached Gig Harbor, WA, I arranged for a recommended mobile service to come check it out.  They said that the hose was not correct but they went ahead and removed the existing hose and said they would seek a replacement.  Over the next few days they failed in every way, didn’t call me with any update and failed to get a replacement.  I once again contacted Winnebago and arranged to return the hose and this time with a different representative was able to get the correct part, confirmed by an engineering drawing they emailed to me.

Before we left for our cruise, I located a shop in Everett, WA, that was qualified for A/C repair and made an appointment the day on which we would be on the road when leaving Bothell, WA, following the cruise.  When we went to the appointment, they said that the desiccant canister would need to be replaced but they were unable to find the part locally.  Since we would be routing back through Everett in about 10 days we arranged to come back.  Subsequently, they secured the correct part and we returned.  That was our purpose for stopping in Arlington, WA.

On the appointed day, after a couple of hours, they discovered that the guys that had removed the old hose wreaked the threads on the A/C compressor.  This would require the compressor to be replaced.  This didn’t surprise me since two guys spent about 30 minutes struggling to remove the old hose.  The shop was able to obtain the compressor and complete to repair by the end of the day.  Fortunately, our extended warranty covered the bulk of the cost but it was a much bigger job than we anticipated.

This experience illustrates the difficult logistics of dealing with (seemingly) simple repairs while continuing to move from place to place.  Locating parts, having them shipped to where we’re going to be and arranging for what we hope will be reliable service.

Next stop:  Eatonville, WA