My return from Mexico saga
 

Well I came home today and the trip was not without some excitement. It all started about 5 AM today when I was awakened by what I thought was an earthquake,but turned out to be a clap of thunder from a massive storm that hit us. It rained like crazy for about a half hour and I thought that I was going to be flooded in.I had a dental appointment in Hermosillo, so I loaded up my stuff and the hound into the old girl and we headed into town. There is almost always a speed radar trap near the airport, so I am always careful to slow down before I get there.They flagged me anyway and the officer pretty much demanded 2300 pesos to let me go, around 140 bucks or so. My appointment was in a half hour, so I begrudgingly gave it to him and headed on my way. I stopped by my friend's house to drop off the hound and told her what happened. She said "vamos a recuparar el dinero". We went back and she went around taking pictures of all 5 cops that were there and when I pointed out the guy, she told him "if you don't give back the money, I am going to post these photos in the paper and denounce you. If you give me the money, I'll delete the pics right now. He gave her back the money.

I then went to my appointment and was only 10 minutes late, which is right on time in Mexico. After that I got my dog and headed north. About 100 miles into it, I hit another big storm and for the second time in Mexico, my wipers gave up the ghost. Fortunately the driver side kept working, but there was a nasty clanking sound. I snapped a pic. Between the storms, traffic and 90 miles of road work, a normally 3 hour drive to the border, took 4 and a half. I then get into Az and in about the same place that I hit a massive dust storm that killed 3 people see here:

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...-lucky-260100/

I hit another dust storm, not as bad and it dissipated quickly, but, again I was the only one that slowed down. Everyone else gave me a dirty look as they passed me at 80, morons [nonono][nonono]. Anyhoo, a trip that is usually non eventful and 6 hours, took me almost 8 hours and I think that I aged a few years. The good news is, besides the wipers, the old girl just cruised along...Mark

good job wife! I had the wiper problem when I most needed it in a moab Utah flash flood, it was a plastic bushing on the relay rod worn out, available on auto parts help rack.

Glad to hear you made it thru safe, Mark, and that you got your money back. See? This just validates why I have no desire to visit my old neck of the woods, the Philippines. When I was at the hospital for a week, following this fusion, I would chat with all the Filipino nurses. They told me how corrupt it was back home, and a lot of that police bribery going on. These nurses send money back home to their remaining family members, and said that some of that never makes it to them. [nonono][verymad]
Anyway, on those wiper bushings, I still need to do that replacement just because they're over 20 years old. How many bushings are required for the entire replacement? Probably wouldn't hurt to replace the motor, either.

Thanks guys. I do have to say that in over twenty years of going down there,this is a first. One thing that stands out is that the first thing that the first cop said to me was: you don't have a front plate, are you from AZ?, in Spanish. I didn't think much of it at first,but my friend said that they want to make sure that you don't live there and know the ropes of the place. I am proud of my friend,I wish that I had recorded it. A 5'6" little old Mexican lady taking their picture and shaking her fist at them at the same time. It is the people there that suffer the most from the corruption, but some of them are pretty feisty. Someone, maybe Brian (thashingcows)?, recently posted an upgrade thread to those lousy plastic bushings, this will be the 3rd time for me, twice in blinding rain storms...Mark

Mark,
I have had to replace my wiper bushings two times.
By the way I just came down with Shingles on my face from my right eye down to my lip.
The doctor at Kaiser gave me pills that I take 5 times a day for 5 days.
He said they work if you start taking them within three days of getting Shingles.
I started taking them on the first day.
So far the only problem is my upper teeth from the center to the right side hurt when trying eating.
I look like hell.
I have stopped working on the other truck engine for now.
Bruce

Man that sucks Bruce. I have seen that on patients and I knew that was something I didn't want, so, even though the insurance wouldn't pay for it because I was too young, I got the vaccine anyway.It is only like 75-80 percent effective, I paid the 150 bucks to Safeway pharmacy and the 40 dollar copay to the doc for the prescription. Nasty chicken pox and there are people that purposely expose their kids to this. Maybe the chicken pox isn't so bad, but the Shingles should probably be considered in the decision...Mark

My wife said that is quite common down there. glad you got your money back.

The only time I've been to Mexico was a 3 day cruise to Ensenada. The people were very nice but I never had any contact with the police.

As for the bushings I've only had one pop on the Truck. I have the full set to replace but at the time I was in a hurry so I only replaced the one. The truck sits outside so it collects the smog dirt even when it doesn't rain. The wipers get tested every time I use the washers so hopefully I won't be working in the rain the next time one pops.

Edwin

Dang Mark!....give that lady a shout and see if she wants a Admin job here! [laugh] Glad you made it safe :)

She would do a great job and I don't think anyone would try to take anybody's money [nonono]. I'm going to call her and tell her she's becoming kind of famous, even if it is just with a bunch of first gener's :Cummins: ...Mark

Being 20 minutes from the border,I crossed 100+ times to surf. 1 day to 2-3 weeks at a time. The mordida(bribes) used to be quite reasonable maybe 5-30 bucks. Our last crossing in Tecate was a major shakedown that left my wife in tears. That's it.
The people are warm and industrious. It's the cops who are the problem.

A couple we traveled with last winter had a run in with the police there the year before. At the first check stop they were ordered out of their taxi and told to stand off to the side while it was searched. Cops said it was all good and to continue on.

The 2nd check stop they were ordered out for a vehicle search again and low and behold the cops found a bag of white powder in the car.

They had a choice of Mexican prison or $200 US.

Back in the day a workout buddy of mine used to head down there to hit the pharmacies for some anabolics. He knew the pharmacists would call the border and rat him out. So he would stroll in there and buy bags full of stuff, with a Golds Gym, ripped up tank top on. Then he would go and park remotely and put on touristy type clothes and buy some touristy type stuff. All his goods were loaded into the spare tire. Yes, he had the tools to disassemble the tire from the wheel, stuff his goods in there, and re inflate the tire. He made it across the border okay, but come to find out his goods were all fake, LOL. Sugar pills and sesame seed oil in the vials, LOL.
Stupid move, on his part. Not worth the risk. He never did it again. We still laugh on that stupid move from time to time, and he blamed it on being young, dumb, and full of .....!

Four bushings in total. They're cheap and your time is valuable -- while you're elbow-deep in wiper linkage you should replace all four units. I found the single most useful tool in effecting the replacement to be a good set of channel-locks. And I recommend cleaning everything well and leaving the new bushings dry (ungreased). My OEM set lasted more than 15 years and my second set failed in about three years -- I suspect the lithium grease I was using deteriorated the plastic bushings...

I would leave the wiper motor alone until it begins making noise.

I'm confused.

The OEM bushing I purchased this year came loaded with white grease.


Michael