technical notes #5 with a special truck update

wow, it has been over a month since i last had to do one of these things, and since i have a minute to sit down and really compile i will try to be as thorough as possible with this one. this cycle started on july 25th when i filled up in new florence, missouri. that was the day that i rolled into st louis and began my adventures there. this cycle ended on september 2nd, somewhere in ohio. that is a 39 day cycle! by far the longest yet and probably the longest on this trip, unless i get caught up in the south somewhere.

i traveled 1724 miles in those 39 days, burned 68 gallons of gas, and spent $195.50 for it. the average price of gas was $2.49/gallon, and i averaged just over 25 miles per gallon of gas! another awesome thing is that i only traveled about 44 miles per day. which, if i were living a normal life commuting to and from work that would be only slightly above average.

so far on the trip i have traveled 8690 miles, over 110 days, burned 349 gallons of gas and spent $908.29. my average miles per gallon over the whole trip is just under 25 mpg, better than i had expected. the last time i calculated i was traveling over 100 miles a day on average, right now that number is down to 79 miles per day. i would like to get that down to 60 or so, that would mean about a tank of gas a week. since i am getting into the east now and everything is denser, that may be possible.

as for the truck, things are looking very good. in indiana i was able to fix some of the problems that existed with it including the interior dash lights, the turn signal and the muffler. i spent about $170 to fix those things, but that was gift return money from my birthday, so i didnt spend any of my savings on it. the problems that do still exist are fluid leaks. and i feel bad about them. the people at the shop said that it would be hundreds of dollars just to figure out what is leaking and where the leaks are at. then with that knowledge they could quote me a price to fix it.

my oil is leaking about a quart a month, but some of that is just burning off becuase i drive so much. the people said that the oil leak has probably been around for years. i havent had the truck for years and there werent any signs of oil leakage while i was in portland. so i assume that my oil burning is just because of the amount of driving i am doing. the power steering leak is getting worse, i have to refill it about once a week, but i have also lost the cap for it so some of it may be spilling out. at any rate, i havent been filling it all the way.

and, finally, i need an oil change. it has been about 4000 miles since my last one and i am sure it is time. i just need to find a place that can do it for cheap, hopefully i will find that today. the way things are going i think that i am going to be putting at least 15000 more miles on this truck, should it hold up. and i think it will.