Skinny, AECS: The cost to rent a UHaul trailer and truck to tow it that distance, last I checked (about two years ago) was $800. That's IF the UHaul rep isn't a complete idiot and can figure out how to rent a freaking trailer, IF they'll allow such a "massive" vehicle to be towed, and IF the equipment I receive isn't a death trap. The last (LAST) time I attempted to extract a vehicle with equipment from UHaul, they wouldn't let me tow a little VW on a flat bed vehicle hauler with an F-150 because it was "too big", and I'm pretty sure anything else not in their computer or mental view of the world will also be "too big". The LAST time I ever gave UHaul money, they gave me a truck for a one way trip that required 45 degrees of hard steering input to drive straight for 1000 miles, and refused to acknowledge there was a problem. Part of the point of purchasing this truck is as a tow rig for the much smaller, lighter European cars I typically play with.
Davo727, I haven't read about this anywhere in all my research so far. Is this a normal run o' the mill relay? How common do they go out? Is there are part number? Anything of particular interest about it that makes it special? Is it worth jumping the starter leads in the short term?
Recovery4x4, the only curve I'm all that concerned over is the diesel eccentricities, and anything GM messed up at the design and sourcing phase. I've dealt with cylinder counts from two to twelve, air and water cooled, front-, rear-, mid- engined, front, rear, and all wheel drive, British, German, Japanese, American, Swedish, Italian, probably something else I'm forgetting, etc. etc. As an aside, I just realized I've never owned a rotary... I should probably look into that... I've worked on a diesel Mercedes, but nothing specific to its being a diesel. I've just never owned a diesel or worked on anything diesel specific, and never got excited enough over anything from GM to add one to the fleet though I've worked on others' cars who have. I used to work in biodiesel feedstocks, and have plenty of experience with diesel as a fuel, but know more about the chemistry than injector pumps and glow plugs which are about the only things aside from the model specific parts I have any concern over, and even then purely from the point of view of "a wise man knows when he doesn't know". I have a choice of insuring the truck through USAA, who has an excellent towing program as well, or putting it with my other cars on a Hagerty policy, who has an even better towing program.
All, I'm a big boy. This will be the newest car I've done this with by at least two decades. I was about to say it will be the newest car I've owned since college by at least two decades, but I remembered I had a 1974 FJ40 a while back. I daily drive car that is literally twice my age. They're older, more obscure, harder to find parts for, and require specialized tools and shops. I've put out an engine fire and rebuilt a harness on the side of the road in the desert with discarded trailer wire, then drove it 700 more miles. It wasn't my car, and I found out a bit ago that part of the harness wasn't replaced for another two years or so after I bought the car from the guy and replaced the harness front to back. Believe me when I say I've got this. I'm not saying it won't be without event. These are not complicated vehicles, parts exist and are far more readily available than what I'm usually dealing with, and I'll be on major roads and reasonably well populated areas.
What I need to know is what parts I should be sure to replace before I start, what services should I perform or have performed before I start, what parts I should bring on contingency, and what is worth looking out for. Are there any special tools I should be sure to bring beyond the obvious kit? Tires and fluids are a given. I'm not generally concerned about electronics unless the insulation is stiff enough to crack when flexed, someone has poorly installed some stupid stereo or something, or there are obvious signs of rot and deterioration. Things like suspension bushings and window seals will almost assuredly need to be replaced, but they'll be just fine for 1,000 miles; I'm no stranger to keeping a towel in the glove box for rain seeping through ancient window seals. I'm thinking the fuel injector pump might need to be rebuilt. The hardened internals for multifuel purposes should be fine, but there are a number of rubber gaskets and o-rings that might be suspect. Do they frequently fail? Glow plugs are a device I'm not familiar with in terms of longevity with idleness, though I can't think of a reason they would just go bad from sitting. Injectors may need to be cleaned, and I'll probably run some diesel system cleaner through it if the PO hasn't already. This truck will have been sitting for a long time, sure, but it was pretty well maintained before that with relatively little use, and it's a fairly modern design that was made more robust and simpler for its application. Is there anything obvious I've missed? Anything super weird like the glow plug circuit thing that I've read goes bad from time to time and seems to be frequently bypassed? It'll be late spring/early summer though, so cold starts won't likely be much of an issue.
Worst case scenario, I have manuals and plenty of time to study and research between now and when I fly down. Just thought I'd try to cut a corner and ask people who already know versus attempting to reinvent the wheel.
