Bass Lake to Mount Shasta Oil Leak - 2023

Before continuing with the story of the intrepid Oil Leakers I'll finish the accoun tof Debbie and David's adventure: Following the confirmation that the oil pressure gauge was not lying I decided that the best course of action was to flatbed the car to Monterey. We got lucky and AAA were able to oblige faster than we had expected, and by 8am we were on the road. Earl finishes the trip on a flatbed Meanwhile, back in Chester, Bill and Carolyn both decided to return home, in Bill's case influenced by the forecast for rain in Shasta and a concern about ineffective wipers. The surviving members (now down to 4 cars and 7 particpants) set off for Mount Shasta. A nice drive on Hwy 89 was followed by a detour around Mt Lassen due to road works. It seems that recent Oil Leaks have been jinxed by Mt Lassen, as the 2021 V2VOL also had to detour around the park due to the wildfires that year. Just so you can see what it looks like, here's a photo taken when Lloyd, myself, Jerry an

At the start of the day Lloyd headed for home. With both headlights out due to the earlier accident he decided that it was the best plan to avoid getting further from home. This way he good still get home in one day's driving. This was also the departure point for Mike Humphries though in his case, this was always the plan. We wish them both safe travels home. Lloyd says his goodbyes in Truckee - safe travels home The plan for today was to visit the National Auto Museum in Reno, and then drive to Chester. Since Debbie and I had an urgent errand to perform, we left the hotel early with the intention of rejoining the group at the museum. Unfortunately, as the car warmed up on the freeway heading to Reno, the oil pressure dropped steadily from its normal level of 40+ psi to around 20-25 psi. We pulled over to check the oil level which was OK, but added another quart more in hope than expectation. We proceeded on to Reno but the gauge continued to show around 25psi at 3000 rpm, droppin

On trips such as this it's a great treat to spend two successive nights in the same hotel. No need to repack the suitcases and find a way of jamming them into the limited space available in the E-Type. There's less pressure to keep to a schedule and more flexibility in the route taken and time spent at stopovers. On this trip, Glen managed to incorporate no less than 3 such 2-night stopovers - great job! Today's drive was a loop from Truckee to Nevada City and Grass Valley on some great back roads. First, the convoy headed north on CA-89 to Sieraville, and then turned westwards on CA-49. This road was just the sort of road the E-Type was built for: lots of twisties and changes of elevation in a setting of canyons and forested mountains.  Spectacular views as we drove CA-49 The road surface was smooth (hard to believe we were in California with its neglected major roads) and virtually no traffic. Twice we were warned by road-side signs to expect delays due to road work, but

It's worth mentioning at this point that the weather has been very kind to us on this trip so far. We've enjoyed clear blue skies and reasonable temperatures. E-Types, of course, are always warm inside whatever the weather, but are much more tolerable if the outside temperature doesn't reach the 90s or above.  One of the highlights of today's drive was to be the ascent to the summit of Ebbetts Pass and descent on the other side to Markleeville. On the 2012 California Oil Leak we had driven over the pass just after it opened in the Spring, and celebrated at the summit with an impromptu snowball fight. I was looking forward to reviving those memories as we headed up CA-4 from Murphys. Since the pass is closed during the winter months there are permanent signs alongside the road that indicate whether the pass is open or closed for more than 60 miles before the summit. At this time of year, they all confirmed it was open. Just after we left Murphys there was an electronic s

Today started with considerable attrition to the group. Glen and Jan had experienced untoward noises from the rear of their car that had been diagnosed as problems with the half shaft UJs, and decided to head back to Portland before things got worse. Phil's Mark X voltage regulator problem returned, so he ordered a flatbed truck to return the car to the Bay area, and later he and Tom returned to the group in Phil's Jaguar XK8. Meanwhile, Milton and Carolee were having fuel starvation problems that had started the previous day, and by this morning were preventing the engine running for more than a few seconds at a time. Group members set to work trying to diagnose and fix the problem, and came to the conclusion that rust particles in the tank were causing filters in the tank, and the pump to clog. Though we could clear them temporarily and get the pump to run, the problem returned very quickly. So, Milton and Carolee also returned to the Bay area with their car on a flatbed. Oh

One of the long held traditions of the Oil Leaks is that someone will have car problems on the way to the start. This year was no exception, and the victim was Phil's beautiful Mark X. Charging problems had resulted in a flat battery and despite the efforts of a mechanic in Oakhurst, the car had to be towed to the Pines Resort on Saturday. The suspicion was that the voltage regulator was to blame, and Michael came to the rescue with a new spare part. So, at the crack of dawn on Sunday, Michael and Phil could be found in the parking lot working on the repair.  Michael's E-Type and Phil's Mark X - early morning surgery The Oakhurst "mechanic" had left his mark on the car when he unsuccessfully tried to fit a Chrysler regulator which made it much more dificult to determine how the replacement should be wired, but after some thought we believed we had it correct. The initial results were not too encouraging, as the voltage at the battery remained low, but slowly it be