I was on my way south in Baja once again having a good drive with good weather conditions and Big Red was purring down the road. It was around 325 miles south of the Tijuana border when I smelled something suspicious. I looked at my gauges and noticed my temperature gauge was showing my engine was overheating at 245 degrees when the normal temp should be 190 degrees. I immediately pulled off the road. Fortunately right then, there happen to be a turn off spot. I shut the engine off immediately.
I got out of Big Red and went to the front and I could see steam and hear some bubbling noise from the engine and I could feel the heat. I sat there on the side of the road for about 45 minutes until the engine was what I thought was cooled down. I took a rag to put over the radiator cap just to make sure I didn't get sprayed with either steam or boiling water. I turned the cap on the radiator and nothing came out so I was lucky there. I got out a gallon of water and poured a little into the radiator but when the water went down into the engine, the engine was still so hot the water started boiling right away! I could hear it just bubbling away.
Finally after another 10 minutes and 3 more gallons it stopped boiling and I could fill the radiator. Now I was ready to move on down the road. I started Big Red and rolled onto the highway and within a 100 yards it was back up to 245 degrees so I immediately turned off the engine. At this point there were no turn offs, but I was on a downhill grade and the road in front of me was a straightaway. I coasted down the grade as far as I could. I figured at least I was on a long straight section and could be seen a long ways away from either direction so I knew I should be safe enough.
I got out and walked around to the front once again and this time I happen to see what the cause of the overheating was. The fan belt was hanging down and when I looked at my alternator it was not in its proper position. The bolt that holds the alternators tension on the fan belt that turns the fan and water pump had snapped so the water pump that pumps water to cool the engine wasn't being turned. Fortunately the fan belt didn't break, even though I carry a spare. So now I had to figure out where on my rig would I have a bolt that I could possibly be the same size. Fortunately the piece of bolt left on the alternator I was able to remove so I cold try and match it up with something on Big Red.
I began looking around and the I saw the bolt that holds the battery cable to the battery was the same size but unfortunately it was metric and the bolt I needed had to be a standard thread. I got my mind working on where else I could find the right bolt. I was walking towards the back when a semi pulled up. The Mexican driver got out and asked if I needed help. I told him what had happened and he said maybe he had a bolt in his truck that might work. A few minutes later he came back with a few bolts but nothing that was the right size. I thanked him and soon he was on his way.
As he was driving away I turned to the back of my rig and I realized that the porch on the back was held by 3 hinges with bolts that could possibly be the right size. I held the broken bolt up to one of the hinge bolts and it was the right size! Got my tools, unbolted the bolt and got underneath Big Red. I put the fan belt back on the alternator, put the bolt in the alternator, then adjusted the tension on the fan belt. All the while I was in the middle of the highway 1, only the semi passed by and by now the sun was just beginning to set. My timing for this fiasco was just lucky enough to have given me enough sunlight before I would have been a sitting duck in the dark, stuck on Highway 1.
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