A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To North Dakota...My Odometer Stuck At 999,999 Miles !!

        It was 12:30 Saturday afternoon May 17, 2008.  I received a phone call from a vendor wanting me to pickup
    a package in Troy, OH and deliver it to Bismarck, ND.

        When I left home that day...my odometer on my Chevy Van was at 999,245 miles.  So I made sure I had
    my digital camera with me because this would be the trip I would reach the Million Miles.

        I was at Exit 3 just north of Rockford, IL on interstate 39/90...I stopped to fuel at a Love's truck stop.
    I had carefully mapped out all the cheap gas with my laptop along the way to Bismarck, ND...and Love's 
    was 20 cents a gallon cheaper in this particular area.

        After pumping close to $100 of gas into my van...I grabbed a sandwich inside the truckstop at Hardee's...
    and headed north into Wisconson.  I glanced at the mileage I had written on my gas receipt...999,713 miles.

        Wow...only 287 miles to go I thought!  Hey...I better try and figure what time I will be hitting the million
    mile mark and set the alarm on my cell phone.  It'd be my luck that I would get to thinking about other
    things and forget all about it.  Little did I realize...I wouldn't have to worry about that.

        At around 1 AM Sunday morning CST...my cell phone alarm went off.  I glanced at my odometer...only
    had another 65 miles to go.  I set the quick alarm for 30 minutes...and when it went off...I set it again for
    10 minutes...and then again for another 10 minutes.  I was making sure I would not miss this special moment!

    My Odometer Stuck At 999,999 Miles!

        At 2 AM CST...Sunday morning...May 18, 2008...I-94 / Exit 10...In Roberts, WI...east of St Paul, MN about
    25 miles...the odometer on my Chevy van turned to 999,999 miles.

        I drove approximately a quarter mile down the highway before I pulled over onto the shoulder... just shy 
    of Exit 10...I was gettting a little nervous because I didn't get stopped quicker.

        I put it in park...and there I sat...all by myself...no fan fare...no celebration...no one to call...just me and my 
    van...in the dark of the night.  And then a warm feeling came over me...my Chevy van has been like and ole 
    shoe to me...keeping me warm...keeping me cool...keeping me safe and secure...thank you Lord for your
    hedge of protection around this vehicle. 

        I quickly snapped a half dozen pictures of the odometer...and reminded myself...I had to be in Bismarck ASAP...
    because Bobcat had a line down...and I had the part to get that line up and running again.

        However...I wanted to get pictures of my odometer at all zero's.  So I pulled up the exit ramp...knowing
    that the odometer would turn to zero's anytime.  I kept driving and driving and then onto the get-on ramp 
    of I-94...and then onto I-94.  

        The Odometer Didn't Budge...I Thought It Must Have Broken!  

        I pushed the trip button back to my trip miles...and noticed it was working and that I had gone over two 
    miles by now.  I switched back to the odometer miles...still stuck at 999,999 miles.

        I made my delivery to Bismarck, ND...ahead of schedule...took a much needed nap...and headed back to
    Ohio...with my odometer still stuck at 999,999 miles.

        Monday morning while driving through Illinois...I called the dealership in Greenville, OH where I get my van 
    serviced...and told the service manager Tony...what had happened.  He had never dealt with anyone who
    had turned a million miles on their vehicle...so he had no answer to why my odometer stuck.  

        About an hour later he called me back and told me that the odometers do not go back to zero's.  They
    stop at 999,999!  He told me they would have to remove it from my vehicle...have it sent in and reset
    to zero's!  

        Since my old odometer was showing signs of wear...speed needle would stick when slowing down...
    and the oil pressure needle would fluctuate when the engine was idling...I asked Tony to order me in a new one.

        So It's Going To Cost You For Turning A Million Miles...

        About $250-$300 to replace your odometer.  Kinda gives yuh warm fuzzies dosen't it? 

        On May 21, 2008...I had the new odometer installed.  Sure seems strange...when writing the
    mileage down...over 8,000 miles now...it's much easier than 750,990 or 999,990!

        Lord willing...I hope to drive my Chevy van another 2-3 years.  It's starting to show the battle scars of
    over the road.  Got some rust spots developing and the front bumper looks like it's been sand blasted.

        The Million Mile Transmission is still shifting smooth as butter.  

        Can you ask for anything more out of a transmission that has taken you a million miles?  I still find it
    hard to believe...that a million mile transmission is powering me down the highway.

        GM makes a tough vehicle and a tough transmission.  And Amsoil makes a tough transmission
    and motor oil that will get you the maximum mileage out of your vehicle.    

        I may decide to go ahead and replace the transmission in the near future.  When the valve stuck on my engine...
    I was down for 6 days.  That was costly.

        I have found that replacing parts before they fail...is kinda like having a piece of fresh wholemade apple 
    pie topped with ice cream...sure makes the trip alot more enjoyable! 


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    Happy Trails...

    John Schlimmer                                    
    Greenville, Ohio                                                                
    937-548-0239...office   ...   937-417-1127...cell                                  
    Independent Amsoil Dealer ...  jbs33@embarqmail.com 

    Copyright 2009   ...   by John Schlimmer