I’ve learned to be prepared for breakdowns with this good ole truck of mine. Extra oil, extra coolant, tool bag under the seat just to name a few. These preparations came in handy today as our love-hate relationship continued.

After my ‘falling in the rain’ accident in Cracker Barrel’s parking lot we started on our way towards Mercer, PA to see my sister. If you’ve never heard of Mercer, don’t worry, most people haven’t. It’s of the small-town variety tucked away in the country about an hour north of Pittsburgh.
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Along the way, we stopped off to see other relatives in Virginia. I had a great chat and a lovely cuppa with them while the kids played with toys from days long gone by. Who new a marble run could successfully extend well over seven feet up in the air? I didn’t, but my kiddos were determined to make it so.

After some delicious homemade pizza, we got back on the road and continued on our way. All was good until we hit the Allegheny Mountains (the part of the Appalachian Mountains crossing through Pennsylvania. Did you know each state has their own name for them?).

Remember that shop in Texas I raved about for fixing the truck (in case you don’t it was North Texas British). I retract any and every good thing I said about them. They were dead wrong about there not being an issue with the vehicle overheating and simply a problem with the gauge.

Not once, but twice, the engine overheated and started spewing coolant out everywhere as we chugged up the mountainside, not to mention the exorbitant number of times I stopped off on the side of the road to try to prevent it overheating. Thankfully, I was prepared with not only a jug of coolant (used it all up the first time it overheated) and a 2.5 gallon jug of water (used it all up the second time) so we weren’t stranded on the side of the road waiting for roadside assistance.

Needless to say, I’m annoyed and rather ticked off at this point in time. Now I have to find somebody up here in the Northeast who is knowledgeable about Land Rovers and can address the problem, hopefully fixing it right this time. All in time though. I’ll worry about it after we visit with my sister. We finally made it up and over the mountain and down the other side without further issue although it took over twice the time it should have.

The overheating issue continues, however. Knowing the gauge is indeed accurate and North Texas British was full of nonsense, I’m having to keep the speed to 55mph and under or risk damage to the motor and another coolant explosion. Oh well, it is what it is I guess. We made it safely to Mercer and the truck’s still running, so we’ll just take it slow and enjoy our time here.