Journal Day 29

Good news and bad news.... went in early to the Jeep dealer this morning, and they were very friendly and helpful.... go me right in and we had a long discussion on the problem symptoms including the gas leaking out the back when you "top off".... he said that should not happen and explained that the overflow hose goes back into the tank, and not just dumping it into the tank shield like I thought.... he said that they just got in a new piece of equipment from Chrysler for trouble shooting these problems and was excited to jump into.... they took the Jeep in and an hour later came out and told me that there was a leak above my gas tank, and the whole unit, tank and seals, would need to be replaced.... evidently at the factory, the seal was warped or put on wrong and that actually distorted the hole in the top of the gas tank... every time the tank was filled, or "topped off" the gas would go out of the top of the tank around that opening, and flow down to the tank shield under it and trickle out on the ground.... since there was a leaky seal, it would eventually cause the "check engine" light to come on and the vapor leak "fault" set internally.... took 4 dealers to figure the problem out.... it all made sense..

Bad news is that they do not have extra gas tanks for new Jeeps sitting around, so will be rushed in tonight, and they will install it in the morning... so we will lay over her for another day and just relax a bit... I asked about transportation since I had to leave the Jeep (gas tank and tow package parts sitting around on the floor)... he checked my extended warranty which covered a rental car, and called a rental agency had them send someone to get me.... best service I have had anyplace... the girl arrived in a brand new 2002 Dodge Caravan with all the toys, and took me back to fill out the forms... I elected to pay $13 for zero deductible insurance which will come out of my pocket, but the rest is all covered by the warranty... so although a day delay again, I feel more confident that these guys have a handle on the real problem and it will be fixed....

So we cruised around in the van, walked a mall near here, and now just plan to relax and get cleaned up for the next leg of the trip... The service advisor told me the Jeep should be ready to go by 9:30 tomorrow morning... so we will get packed up and leave after I pick it up.. for Halifax.... with everything going on in the states, we had discussed coming back early, since it is hard to concentrate on much else here, but have heard that the borders are locked down tightly, with very long delays going back into the US... so we will spend the next few days here as planned and let things settle down.... The Ferry that came from Newfoundland the day after we came back received a bomb scare and had to unload all the passengers and vehicles, causing a substantial delay... News has it that a couple of the Terrorists entered the US by ferry from Nova Scotia, and flew into Canada at Halifax, so a lot of focus on this area right now... these are troubling times we live in....