2022 Tiffin Open Road, Ford 7.3L V8. Exhaust system too hot

[Abrams1]

After 6000 miles on new 2022 Class A with Ford 7.3L V8 happened to notice melted wire loom, scorched and heat damaged electrical conduits and scorched aluminum faced insulation mats under coach in area of exhaust pipe and catalytic converter. Very concerned of course. Dealer and factory say motor diagnostics are normal and that "no other similar issues reported with any other Open Roads they know of nationwide." After almost 8 weeks in the shop dealer and factory do not yet know what to do to fix the problem.

Curious if any other Open Road owners or other RVs owners with new 7.3L V8 have seen evidence of scorching or heat damage under the coach especially near the exhaust system. Any info on remedies undertaken would be much appreciated

[eastfizz]

While I realize this is may not be the best comparison, we encountered a similar problem when we bought our "new to us" 1997 Rexhall Aerbus in 2006 (460 cu in V8). We purchased the RV in California and during the drive to our home in Colorado, my right foot became very warm (even hot at times) due to the coach design and the placement of the factory exhaust manifold. We installed a Banks header system and, besides the added power, my "hot right foot problem" vanished. I am not familiar with the new Ford V8 configuration, but just relaying what worked for us.

One would think the coach builder would have thought this through, although that was certainly not the case for us. Hope the OP can find a solution. We still have our Rexhall and, for the most part, it continues to be a great RV.

Best regards,

Lowell

[larry_cad]

H8W8N wrote:
Figures quality would suffer at Tiffin now that they are controlled by Thor Industries.

I was thinking the same thing. Too bad if that is the case. Tiffin has been a good company for many years. Now Bob is gone.......

I've never been impressed with Thor quality.

[H8W8N]

Figures quality would suffer at Tiffin now that they are controlled by Thor Industries.

[rgatijnet1]

It appears that your dealer is doing everything possible to deflect the problem rather than correct the problem. Dealing with heat from an exhaust system is a routine fix for most shops. They make heat shields that can keep the heat away and there are ways to adjust the exhaust pipes and cat to move them away from sensitive areas. Cats usually will run hotter if there is something wrong with the air/fuel ratio but Ford is probably giving you the standard "not our problem" answer to any issues. Both the dealer and Ford are playing the blame game and you are stuck in the middle. It is too bad that your new coach is being held hostage at the dealer for 8 weeks when it would be a somewhat simple thing to take it to a QUALIFIED mechanic and get an honest answer to your issue.

[Dufus]

Could be combustion occurring in the exhaust.

[WILDEBILL308]

Abrams1 wrote:
After 6000 miles on new 2022 Class A with Ford 7.3L V8 happened to notice melted wire loom, scorched and heat damaged electrical conduits and scorched aluminum faced insulation mats under coach in area of exhaust pipe and catalytic converter. Very concerned of course. Dealer and factory say motor diagnostics are normal and that "no other similar issues reported with any other Open Roads they know of nationwide." After almost 8 weeks in the shop dealer and factory do not yet know what to do to fix the problem.

Curious if any other Open Road owners or other RVs owners with new 7.3L V8 have seen evidence of scorching or heat damage under the coach especially near the exhaust system. Any info on remedies undertaken would be much appreciated

I would report al the damage under your warranty. Get it on record.
Bill

[Gjac]

Bruce Brown wrote:
I can see nothing showing up as being wrong on the Ford side, it seems the issues may be caused by the house builder not letting in enough air. We had a Fleetwood Flair that suffered the same.

I had this problem also, sparkplug wires would burn, the plastic on the shifting cable melted where it was hard to shift, along with other wire components that melted. Long runs uphill in the summer would cause the heat build up. Check to see if the house builder supplied air dams to force air through the radiator or is there open areas where the air could go under or around the radiator. Once I added air dams the heat was manageable. Adding headers further reduced the heat to where the fan clutch seldom engaged. The 7.3L is a big block eng like the old 460's and 454's(7.5L and 7.4L) which produced a lot of heat.

[larry_cad]

Bruce Brown wrote:
I can see nothing showing up as being wrong on the Ford side, it seems the issues may be caused by the house builder not letting in enough air. We had a Fleetwood Flair that suffered the same.

Good to see you on the front lines again!

:B

[Alex_and_Tee]

We had melted hydraulic lines for the leveling jacks. Can’t say that I really looked for excessive heat as it appeared the hydraulic lines weren’t properly secured and fell down against the exhaust pipe. We have just over 5000 on ours and quite frankly are disappointed with build quality. Have had hydraulic lines replaced, gas regulator replaced, leak in the Truma repaired, windshield wiper repaired and just had the front ac/heat pump replaced today.

Have also had various and sundry other minor issues such as split wood, mis-aligned cabinet drawers and doors, replaced a basement door strut that kept falling off, two letters in “Allegro” on the front fell off. Furnace wires reversed ( front switch turned on the rear and vice versa).

Wife hates it and will probably get rid of it shortly.

[Bruce_Brown]

I can see nothing showing up as being wrong on the Ford side, it seems the issues may be caused by the house builder not letting in enough air. We had a Fleetwood Flair that suffered the same.

[WILDEBILL308]

Interesting, Sounds just like the problems they had with the old 460 V8s. Do a search for 460s running hot/hot exhaust manifolds. Some ran air ducts to let more air in to flow over the engine and exhaust.
Bill