Long Term Stays

A couple of years ago I worked with mobile RV mechanic getting a 2004 gas Ford V-10 powered motorhome ready for a new owner after it had sat unmoved for 9 years on a leased site in Florida. We replaced the engine battery, coolant, and belts, drained and replaced the oil and filter, bled and refilled the brake fluid, and cranked the engine over a few times by hand. The rig had been parked with a full fuel tank, and the fuel had been topped off periodically as exercising the generator drew it down. When we first turned the key, it spun over slowly a time or two before getting up to speed and firing up as if it had just been shut down. The disk brakes were a little "crunchy" starting out, but cleared up fairly quickly. The first run was just a few miles down the road to a local tire dealer for new rubber, and the grunts and groans from the suspension had pretty much worked themselves out by the time we got there. We did advise the new owner to add a good quality fuel conditioner to the first couple of fill ups and have the unit checked further by a mechanic before making any lengthy trips, but the rig ran really well after sitting still for 9 years.

Well if you want to be safe change oil just before you park and again when you hit the road (Never did that but once, long story on that one)
Main engine unlike generator does NOT need monthly run

Generator needs regular exercise (Once a month, 1/2 hour 1/2 load or more in both half cases) for assorted reasons. some electronic some mechanical
The carbureted engines (Generator) are more senisitive to sitting than injected engines ..> You might want to add the prper Seaforam to the fuel tank for fuel stability.

Since the main engine can not be properly loaded. Running it even at fast idle is not good for it. The thing need to get up to full operating temp under load (Same for generator engine) when running. It needs to work, not just idle.

willald wrote:
Bruce Brown's advice to relax and stay put during long term stays is probably OK for a diesel rig like his. However, it is not necessarily good advice for a gasser.

Letting gas Motorhomes sit for long periods is not good for them. They need to not only be started up, but driven and moved at least every month or two. Reason I say it needs to be driven is, the brakes, tires, axles need to be exercised, too. It would be a good idea on those 'exercise' trips, to put a few gallons of fresh fuel in it, too. Gasoline when it sits for long periods tends to become stale and lead to other issues (especially in a carbureted engine like nearly all gas generator have).

If I was staying on a site for long term stay, I'd try to make it a point about once a month to break camp and take the rig for a good 15-20 minute drive. I'd suggest using that time to put some fuel in it, maybe get some LP gas if needed, and run/exercise the generator in that time, too. The generator needs to be exercised, too, to keep fresh fuel going through it.

Two of my tractors are a gassers (1957 Allis D17, 1966 Massey 1100), and so is my lawn mower(JD X475) - same advice.

How long do cars sit on dealer lots? Yea....just trickle charge the battery.

Bruce Brown's advice to relax and stay put during long term stays is probably OK for a diesel rig like his. However, it is not necessarily good advice for a gasser.

Letting gas Motorhomes sit for long periods is not good for them. They need to not only be started up, but driven and moved at least every month or two. Reason I say it needs to be driven is, the brakes, tires, axles need to be exercised, too. It would be a good idea on those 'exercise' trips, to put a few gallons of fresh fuel in it, too. Gasoline when it sits for long periods tends to become stale and lead to other issues (especially in a carbureted engine like nearly all gas generator have).

If I was staying on a site for long term stay, I'd try to make it a point about once a month to break camp and take the rig for a good 15-20 minute drive. I'd suggest using that time to put some fuel in it, maybe get some LP gas if needed, and run/exercise the generator in that time, too. The generator needs to be exercised, too, to keep fresh fuel going through it.

Good advice above. I'm much more conservative about letting gas engines sit since the gas might dry up or gum up. Diesel no problem.

Batteries if not on shore power certainly will have drains that cannot be turned off like smoke detectors, computers etc. That is why I installed full disconnect switches right on the battery posts which limited the drain to battery self discharge.

As Bruce Brown mentioned, many RV's and farm equipment often sit for months without being run. It's usually not recommended to run a vehicle engine for short periods if the entire drive line can't be exercised at the same time with a few mile run. The onboard generator should be exercised under load periodically though, per the manufacturers recommendations.

Bruce Brown wrote:
I'd park it and enjoy the stay. We park ours in the garage at seasons end (normally mid-September) and fire it back up when the season starts back up again (normally mid-April). We've done it this way since we started this MH deal about 25 years ago and never had an issue.

On my farm tractors it's even a longer downtime (up to 10 months), same deal, never been an issue.

Same here with everything we own (RV, boats, classic cars and backhoe).

Lou
05 Travel Supreme Envoy

I'd park it and enjoy the stay. We park ours in the garage at seasons end (normally mid-September) and fire it back up when the season starts back up again (normally mid-April). We've done it this way since we started this MH deal about 25 years ago and never had an issue.

On my farm tractors it's even a longer downtime (up to 10 months), same deal, never been an issue.

Most of the snow bird parks will have propane trucks that come thru...just check with the front office.

As others have said, if you start the engine, take it out on the road for at least 15-20min, so it gets fully up to temp and works the entire drivetrain...plus the slides, stabilizers and other items that are unused when just sitting.