Disaster!

After many miles of traveling cross country and towing various vehicles (and finally a boat), my little RV had finally bit the dust.  Traveling east along I-40 towards Chapel Hill, I noticed a knock in the engine.  I thought it was from the valves and assumed they were just out of adjustment.  I continued for another mile and the noise increased.  I pulled over at the nearest off-ramp to investigate.

Tow truck on the side of highway

I started the motor again to see where the noise was coming from and could hear it was in the bottom end of the motor.  It was clear this was going to be a major repair.
Being that this occurred on a busy weekend just before a major holiday (Thanksgiving), there were no mechanics available to take a look.

So I looked at my favorite resource, Craigslist, for a mobile mechanic that was available.  I was able to find a good Christian one.  You know the type, begin and end each conversation with "have a blessed day", with a spattering of "God"s and "Jesus" references thrown in for good measure.  He agreed to come out the next morning, Sunday, and have a look.

The next morning, he showed up with what I later was to learn was "the mechanic".  "The mechanic" looked over the engine and asked me to start her.  Click.  Repeat....click.  She was now completely frozen and wouldn't even turn over.  In his professional opinion, the engine was seized.

We made arrangements to tow the RV and the boat that I was towing to his place where he could at least get me off the highway to someplace safe.  We would evaluate the full damage and he could get me an estimate then.

It was indeed a seized motor, thanks to the complete lack of oil.  It appears that the oil cooler line had developed a sudden leak and all the oil had drained out of the engine.  The engine temp never went up (the first sign I look for to spot problems) because the oil had escaped so rapidly.

"The mechanic" said he could do the job for me and I may even be able to be home by Thanksgiving...