Are there 2 different Monaco's?

Back to the "how many different Monaco's", our '08 Knight is fabulous. Basically the same coach as a Diplomat / (HR) Endeavor, but with a 360hp ISC cummins instead of the 400HP ISL.

Note the earlier Knights (and HR Ambassadors) used the 4 bage chassis, I wouldn't touch one ever period, hope you don't either)

Same coach, same colors, same layouts, same pretty much everything.
The only thing I don't love is the DPF... Always seems to need to regen at just the wrong time, and the only time I ever took her to the shop was when I decided to ignore the regen light.
WHEN THE LIGHT COMES ON, STAY ON THE HIGHWAY UNTIL IT GOES OUT, PERIOD.

Some day, when my wallet is a little fatter, I'm gonna get my ECU reflashed to eliminate the DPF regen, and hack off that 55 gallon drum sized muffler, replace it with an Aero resonator, and listen to some good sounds.

My previous coach (08 Safari Simba) had the C7 ACERT engine and for the most part was a trouble free engine for the 35,000 miles I drove it. It did have one abnormal aspect to it, as it did not like to start immediately. I would have to keep the starter engaged for about 7 or 8 seconds before the engine would run on its own. However, I found that if I plugged in the engine heater a couple of hours prior to starting (regardless of the outside temp), it would start a little quicker...mayby 3 to 4 seconds with the starter motor engaged.

This was never really a problem, just a little annoying. The engine ran fine, had plenty of power and over the 35K miles, I averaged 8.6 mpg (even with pulling our 4000 lb toad).

Ron

Any Cat with a DPF is something you do not want. The pre 07 engines are fine. BTW I think all the "c" engines are Acert.

Moisheh

One of the reasons I brought up only the Patriot Thunder and Marguis in the Beaver line is that they use the Cat C-13 or C-15 not the C-9.

eheading wrote:
For those of you who had the CAT C9 and had a bad experience, my heart goes out to you. However, we had a 2005 Revolution LE with the CAT C9 engine in it, and it was a fine engine. I really couldn't see any difference in dependability or reliability between that and the 4 Cummins engines I have had. We put 90,000 miles on the Revolution with next to no problems.

Ed Headington

Your C9 is an early C9, not saddled with the emissions like those of 07? and later Cats. Those are the ones to stay away from. That ACERT emissions system really changed everything.

Think about this, CAT did not get out of the on highway market after the 07 to 09 engines came out because they were ultra reliable sought after engines and they were making tons of profit on them. More like the engines were giant turds with the ACERT system and they were losing money on warranty service . My CAT C9 cost about 30,000 in 2009. In 4.5 years, Cat paid out $40000 in warranty work.

Keep in mind this was in an RV that was always religiously maintained according to specs and had an easy life driving down the interstate. Think about the trucker that does 60,000 miles a year in the oilfield or farmfield or quarry or the engine on a shrimp boat or a marine generator that is not as well maintained and does tons more miles and hours than a simple RV will do. How much did CAT pay out in warranty for these guys.

From experience, the issues are never fixed, they will just fix it until the same part breaks again.

Wow, I'm sure happy I posted this thread, this is some great information. I'm happy to know all this and that I can add these coaches to my list!

Really great stuff guys, thanks so much,

HJ

For those of you who had the CAT C9 and had a bad experience, my heart goes out to you. However, we had a 2005 Revolution LE with the CAT C9 engine in it, and it was a fine engine. I really couldn't see any difference in dependability or reliability between that and the 4 Cummins engines I have had. We put 90,000 miles on the Revolution with next to no problems.

Ed Headington

bluwtr49 wrote:
One thing to remember is that during that era Monaco also made the Beaver which model for model was an upgraded interior and other features.

The Patriot Thunder and Marquis in that time frame was really the top of the Monaco line although largely forgotten about since Monaco decided that coaches at that end of the spectrum no longer had a market and discontinued the line in 2008/09.

And don't forget the Holiday Rambler rigs in the mix. They, like the Beavers, sometimes get lost in the shuffle and you can save some money versus the actual Monaco named models, even though they were build by the same company. The Holiday Rambler Navigator is pretty much on par with the Monaco Executive and the HR Imperial is a close cousin to the Monaco Dynasty. Pre-2009 you won't go wrong with any upper end Monaco Product be it Monaco or Holiday Rambler. Great coaches with top notch build and excellent chassis and drive trains since they both used Cummins engines, Allison transmissions and Roadmaster chassis.

The C7 is the "best" of the Cat Acert engines but unfortunately that is not saying much. If you have a C7 I'd probably keep it as you will not get much for it if you trade. The bigger the HP the worst they got all because of trying to meet the EPA emission requirements. Having made a fair amount of money with Cat heavy equipment it's sad that the same absurd EPA requirements now apply to off road machines too.

Ivylog wrote:
While I 've owned two Beavers and was looking for a third one I would not buy any of the last years with a Cat engine. Poor mpg and poor reliability with the Acert engines even after several computer reflash's.
IMHO the Dyansty gave the most bang for the buck.

Quoted for truth. I just got out of a 2009 Safari Cheetah, which is basically a Beaver. Built in the same factory in Oregon. Phenomenal Cabnetry, Phenominal Coach quality, all saddled with the worst engine Caterpillar has ever produced. The Cat C9. I think the Cat C7 also has a reputation for being equally terrible. I basically drove from Caterpillar dealership to Caterpillar dealership instead of going on vacation.

I sure have seen a lot of them !

In your RV search, this goes for any brand with late C9 or C7 engines. I think Fleetwood and Winnebago used them as well. There is one report on irv2 of a Cat C9 in a Fleetwood Revolution actually blowing up at 40,000 miles. Stay far away from anything with these.

For hours of reading fun, just google the words cat c9. You will find that in the marine world, you cannot give away a boat with cat c9 propulsion engines. Breaking down in the ocean every 100 hours is quite different than on land. Also enjoy reading about Cat C9 powered generators. Manufacturers actually filed a lawsuit against Cat for those.