Shut Down in Cheyenne

It's tuesday, and I've been here since being towed in on friday.

Friday, a stretch of the I-80 was shut down--gates across the road, and you're shunted off on an exit ramp. They have to do this sometimes due to drifting snow that the plows just can't keep up with. The north wind is always a factor here.

Like many other trucks, I hit the edge of the ramp to park. My APU had picked this very day not to start, and it was arctic cold even without the wind chill, so I left the engine idling. The cold and wind actually drove my coolant temperature and heat down to half operating temerature.

After about two hours, the freeway was re-opened, so I pulled out. The truck died in the middle of the exit ramp, and the starter wouldn't engage. Only later did I find coolant under the truck, but I had no check engine or low water lights, and it cranked...sort of.

I scrambled to call the locan Sapp Brothers, who referred me to a towing company. He said he'd be there in an hour. Three hours later, I was towed by a guy who'd been called by the Highway Patrol...who was parked behind me to help prevent some dumbass from running over my cones (which cost 80 bucks and which I forgot) and hitting me.

The original wrecker had broken down himself.

This was New Year's Eve, and the tow cost 950 bucks. Then Sapp Brothers couldn't even look at the truck til monday, since it's a Mercedes engine.

I checked into the on-site hotel, which I'll never do again. They hadn't cleaned the tub for months, and the heater's thermostat was haywire, alternately broiling and freezing me. Saturday I caught a shuttle to the Holiday Inn, which was awesome.

Monday, miscommunication kept my truck out of the garage til late afternoon. Then they told me the good news. Everything worked, but I had a bad cooolant cap. That doesn't make sense to me, absent any engine codes or alerts when I broke down, but there it is.

They also fixed my APU, which was just clogged with carbon.

But I went to start it and the batteries were dead. And a part they need for the trailer (major air-bag leak I'd been putting of fixing but could no longer...it can lock your brakes and kill you in the mountains) won't be here til 1600 local.

...and there's a weight restriction in effect, and I'm under 20k...and the batteries shouldn't have been dead, and the starter...the starter...

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