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Old 07-17-2010, 05:35 PM   #1
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Canada vacation trip report

Cheryl and I took a trip to Canada for the month of June. We left our home at Rohnert Park Ca. up thru Oregon, Washington, Vancouver Island, up to the north end of Jasper N.P., down thru Banff, Waterton N.P., and back across the U.S. boarder into Montana. We toured Glacier N.P. then down to Bozeman Mt. and over to Billings, Mt. South thru Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and back to California.

Total miles driven: 5,887 miles
Total spent on fuel: $1253.00
Total gallons fuel used: 382 gallons
Overall average m.p.g. 15.4 m.p.g.
Best mileage between Lincoln City, Oregon and Bellingham, Washington. 16.3 m.p.g.
Worst mileage between Squamish, B.C. and Valemont, B.C. 14.6 m.p.g.
Top speed driven: Tried to not to go over 65 m.p.h.
Days on the road: 27
Nights spent in the SMB: 25

The only problem was driving from Billings, Mt. and Dayton, Wy. When I parked at Dayton there was some transmission fluid dripping off the pan on the bottom of the transmission. I checked to see if any bolts or fittings were loose, none were. The next morning I stopped at a dealer in Sheridan, Wy. There was no dripping when we pulled in. A mechanic went under the van came out and said the thought there was a leak thru the seal between the Atlas transfer case an transmission. I could see that was not the problem, I could see the fluid was up to the mark on the sight tube and realized he didn’t have a clue what was going on. He pulled out the dipstick and said the fluid was a half quart low, It looked full to me. He added a half quart and I hit the road. We stopped at a rest area at Kaycee, Wy. and I looked under the van and the fluid was dripping again.
I went under the van and could see the fluid was coming off the top of the transmission, I figured, out the vent. So as we were driving to Casper, Wy. I started thinking, driving from Billings, Mt. to Dayton, Wy. the temp. outside was 96 degrees, we had never driven the SMB when it was that hot outside. The next morning when we drove into Sheridan, Wy. it was cool and no dripping. By the time we stopped at the rest area in Kaycee, Wy. the temp. was 96 degrees again. I stopped at the dealer in Casper and told the service manager what I thought, he said it could be expansion. I had him check the fluid, it was full. We finished out trip and no more problem and the dipstick still shows it full.

I will be doing a post on the good places we ate.

Also, I just finished updating our website with over 700 pictures of our trip.


http://www.beckersminerals.com/

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Old 07-19-2010, 08:15 PM   #2
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Re: Canada vacation trip report


Awesome adventure!! Thanks for sharing. My wife and I have been to some of these same places... but we never encountered as many bears as you did. Next time, I may try the 'dangling a steak from the trailer hitch' trick to see if we have more success.




Cheers,
TWOLOST +1


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Old 07-20-2010, 10:16 PM   #3
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Re: Canada vacation trip report

Thanks for the trip Woody...made me feel like I went there. My boss is gonna like this link. Canada looked killer and I'm going to have to make that trip one of these days. I'm with two lost...got to eat at that steak house. Can you just walk in or do you have to make reservations?

Dave
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Old 07-21-2010, 08:43 AM   #4
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Re: Canada vacation trip report

Dave,

You have to make reservations.
I will be doing a post on the "good" places we ate.

Woody
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Old 07-21-2010, 10:21 AM   #5
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Re: Canada vacation trip report

Woody,

You need an additional transmission cooler. I had the same problem with my van. The stock trans. cooler does not get enough airflow to keep the transmission cool in hot weather because the large Ford emblem blocks much of the air. When the fluid temperature reaches about 240 your transmission will boil fluid out the transmission breather. You may want to read this thread viewtopic.php?f=39&t=2921&hilit=transmission+coole r&start=60

Cheers,
John
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Old 07-21-2010, 11:17 AM   #6
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Re: Canada vacation trip report

John,

Thanks for the info.
I will be getting a ScanGauge soon to keep track of the temps.
Just want to keep the SMB in good health.

Woody
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