i know folks who name their things: vehicles, boats, bikes, etc. not something i’ve ever done. but, i do have a fondness for things that serve well their function. whether that be a bicycle or a visegrip or a truck. my truck has served its function well. its a 1990 toyota pickup. i’ve been thinking about getting a newer vehicle, but i kinda wanted to at least get 20 years out of the current one. sometime this coming may will mark the two decade point. when i left for this trip i figured the odds to be about 50:50 that i would have some go wrong. after all, nearly 20 years, 147,000 miles. well, some 12,000 miles later something has gone wrong.
it started someplace in the southwest. i’d be cruising along at 65 or 70ish (that’s mph for the canucks..) and suddenly the truck would have a loss of power and then jerk back to normal. the first few times this happened i figured that maybe my foot had slipped on the peddle and the re-engaged the throttle. well, not so. once i got to florida the problem reoccurred on a somewhat regular basis. the one thing that i noticed was that it only happened when i was above 60 mph.
after some googling i and my check engine light glowing, i find that i have a “42” error code. which translates as a VSS (vehicle speed sensor) error. turns out that the VSS is part of the speedo, which is part of the instrument cluster, which requires tearing into the entire dash, including removal of steering wheel.
as it is, if i had an automatic transmission or cruise control the problem would be much more serious. but, the only apparent symptom the truck has is the rather disquieting habit of having a complete fuel cut off at speeds in excess of 60. once one gets used to that its not too bad. except when one is driving in heavy traffic with an 18 wheeler 15 feet behind you.
now, a smart guy would get this fixed right away. but, i figure there is at least a 25-50% chance that i can nurse the truck back to fairbanks and have it fixed, maybe, there. thus, i have a new rule, keep the speed to less than 60 mph. — i get passed a LOT — but, what care i?
in the process of diagnosing the above error i made a discovery. there is a “low fuel” light on my truck, see below, i never knew that!
