New Update, June 12:

With the $2600 folks generously donated to the first round of this GoFundMe (thank you!) I was able to get the water pump and serpentine belt replaced at a shop in El Cajon and head for Idaho and Stickerville (old time music camp in Weiser, ID). But my trip north was marked by mechanical failures and I got stranded for the weekend in Wells, NV, a one-horse town that did not have the resources to help me. I managed to limp to friends' in Boise and get the bus to a mechanic there. I now have to spend another $2400, most of that to make the previous mechanic's work right, though there were also a couple new issues. So, I have reopened this GoFundMe campaign.

More details: After getting the water pump and serpentine belt replaced in El Cajon (near San Diego) I headed north. Several hours south of Wells, NV the alternator stopped charging the battery. When I got to Wells (after 5pm on a Friday, of course) and was driving around trying to find a mechanic it overheated badly enough to dump 2.5 gallons of coolant. I was stranded for the weekend. (The good news is I ended up next to an Indian restaurant that I highly recommend if you ever find yourself in Wells.)

Monday morning a local mechanic looked at it and determined that the serpentine belt had not broken and it had not blown a head gasket (which it hadn't occurred to me to worry about). The alternator is custom built for the bus (just rebuilt as part of the $4000 worth of work I'd had done in Seattle last fall) and there were no resources in Wells to deal with anything custom. He topped up fluids and thought I could make it to Boise. So off I went.

Driving to Boise the bus did fine (no overheating on the highway) except after a few hours the alternator stopped charging again. When I got to Boise and had driven about 20 minutes on surface streets and pulled into my friends' driveway it overheated again.

I got it into a shop on Thursday. What they've found is a cascade of problems: The F-terminal inside the alternator is not working so it needs to be repaired/rebuilt (again!). The fan clutch is bad. The serpentine belt is frayed because one or more of the pulleys and/or tensioners is wobbling. And a serpentine belt needs to be replaced if it gets any coolant on it (which happened in the El Cajon shop, though all they did when I complained of belt squeak is put belt dressing on it).

So, I'm getting the fan clutch, serpentine belt, and pulleys dealt with here in Boise. I can keep the starter battery charged from my solar batteries/inverter until I get back to Seattle and can get the alternator dealt with.

The work in Boise is going to cost $2400. I do not yet know what the alternator will cost. Donors have been extraordinarily generous in donating for the water pump work. And now, with this updated GoFundMe, I am asking for an additional $3200. Thank you so much for your generous donations to help get me back on the road.

[Note: Yes, I'm frustrated and I do plan on having a conversation with the El Cajon shop that did the water pump/belt work and the Seattle shop that dd the alternator work. But right now my focus is getting back on the road.]

1st Update, June 5: This fundraiser raised just over $2600 and that's what the repairs ended up costing. The only additional repair they made is replacing the serpentine belt. I'm very relieved that they didn't find any other catastrophic problems. So, I'm back on the road thanks to everyone who donated. Thank you.

Original text: Last fall I spent nearly $4000 repairing my 2012 Chevy Duramax shuttle bus that is my tiny home on wheels. This depleted my resources and now it needs the water pump replaced for another $2300. The pump isn’t all that expensive but it’s at least 8.5 hours of labor to get to where it is.

I’m currently in San Diego and can’t come home to Seattle for medical appointments and the summer’s music gatherings until I have this repair done. So, I am asking for help with paying for this repair.

Thank you in advance for helping me get back on the road.

With much gratitude,

Barbara