Got stuck in tunnel - need advice for ODBII scan tool

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boulderado

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A couple of weeks ago my wife and I got stuck about 15 yards into the Eisenhower tunnel here in Colorado, coming up from Denver on our way to Breckenridge. We were towing our 6,000 lbs travel trailer and the drive was uneventful until then, the transmission running 220-230 and the engine about 210-225.

As soon as we reached the tunnel - 11,000 feet - the Yukon started sputtering, lost power and died, within 30 seconds. I tried to restart it, but no luck. A few cars flew by in the left lane and we were like WTF. Next thing I know there are signs lit up to 'Stay in vehicle, help is on the way'. I see one guy running down the catwalk towards us and next thing a tow truck shows up. The guy ask 'what happened, did it just die?', I responded yep and he said it is probably vapor lock. They had the Yukon hooked up in a few seconds and started towing us the 1.5 miles to the other end. While being towed I noticed there was no other traffic and commented to my wife that I think they closed the frigging tunnel. As we were getting closer to the end of the tunnel and up to speed we noticed traffic starting to pass us on the left again.

With no power brakes it was a bit of a chore to get it stopped at the other end. The tow truck driver said to pop the hood and gas cap, enjoy the scenery and try starting it in 20-30 minutes. They had another tow truck check in a few minutes later to let us know that would help us out (at no cost) if we couldn't get it started.

In any event, after 30 minutes of cooling off it started right up again. Came back a few days later through the tunnel, no problems. In fact, it has been running great since. Took it to Advanced Auto today and the dude did not find any codes with the scan tool. He suggested vapor lock as well and recommended Sea Foam, I bought a can, but did not put any in yet, any experience out there with this product? Any others I should consider? I have not used any additives in the fuel since we bough the Yukon used almost three years ago.

Also, looking for an affordable ODBII scan tool to add to my toolbox, any recommendations on a model that works well without breaking the bank?

Thx as always.
 

ccapehartusarmyINF.(ret)

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boulderado

boulderado

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Thanks, Chris, this looks like a great gadget with excellent reviews on Amazon. We have a couple of Android devices so it should work with those.
 

BirchyBoy

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Hey there Boulderado. I'm a fellow Coloradoan, and I've been hesitant to head West with my camper in tow because of the passes. I'm glad that they were able to help you so quickly and that nothing terrible happened!
 
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boulderado

boulderado

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Hi Alan, CDOT was really great. I swear it took less than three minutes from when we stalled out to when they had us hooked up and ready to tow. We have been going through the tunnel in various motorhomes over the years and never had any problems (until now).

Eisenhower-Tunnel-July-2014.jpg
 

Gzes

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i just got in a cheapo one today and it works fine with torque pro bootleg
 

ccapehartusarmyINF.(ret)

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yeah the issues with the cheap ones or clones is that they dont work with all vehicles and it varies from device to device as to wich vehicle it may not work with
but for the most part they work fine when i bought mine the BAFX one was only 10 bucks more then most of the clones wich was worth it to me
also if you have an androind phone dont just buy torque check out all the obd2 apps before you pay for torque i wasnt all that impressed with torque
 

CrashTestDummy

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Just in case any iPhone users are reading this, these ELM327 devices WILL NOT WORK ON AN iPHONE! Apple's bluetooth standards are too tight for the devices to link with the phone, in spite of the app vendors telling you all you need is an ELM327 device.

Ask me how I know.
 

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