Breakdown Information

[Badeye]

Moderators Note: This thread is intending to report a problem and its resolution. If you are seeking help or information to help you resolve a problem you would best be served by initiating a thread on the class A forum proper

After some conversation with Diesel-Lover and others on this forum I thought I would try to start a thread concerning breakdowns on the road. We try to prevent this by good maintenance and driving reasonably but it can still happen. As I observed in a previous post, on a roughly 350 mile northbound drive on I-75 I saw 4 class A MH broken down. All were southbound.

If we should have a breakdown and would post the following information on this thread it could be a resource and reminder for others.

RV particulars:
Driveline (Engine, Transmission):
Miles:
Year:
Break Down Description: (You can add any description of the problem here that you think would help others in understanding the situation and problem.)
Symptoms:
Effect:
Cause:
Outcome:

This is the type of information that is recorded in the aircraft industry and other maintenance activities to track failure trends. It will take a while before we see a lot of value in this. If it continues for a time and sufficient data is available, I will analyze the data and put it into a form that I can send by email to any interested parties. I would suspect that an initial report could be done in about three months or when we have about 100 to 150 cases.

What do you think?

[CrabbyCamper]

RV particulars: 1997 Fleetwood Bounder 28T
Driveline (Engine, Transmission): Chevy 454
Miles: 35,000
Year: 2004

Break Down Description / Symptoms: Going up the hill out of Yreka CA the engine started making this sound like air was popping out of the cylinder with each stroke. Then there was a pop and it sounded a lot louder.

Effect: I pulled over to the side and called for assistance.

Cause: One of the spark plugs had come loose and popped out.

Outcome: It didn’t take the threads with it, so they put a new sparkplug in and I was back on the road.

[Griff_in_Fairba]

For everyone with a Dodge gasoline, especially older models:

Carry a spare ballast resistor. Most are rectangular white ceramic, roughly 1" wide and 4" to 5" long, with two electrical connectors and a single mounting screw. Unlike voltage regulators and starter relays, ballast resistors are not grounded and may be mounted on nonconducting material such as plastic.

The ballast resistor reduces voltage to the coil, thereby increasing sparkplug life. The starting circuit bypasses the ballast resistor, resulting in a hotter spark when starting.

Symptoms of a bad ballast resistor: Your vehicle fires while you hold the key in the start position (because of the bypass) and dies as soon as you let go of the key (because in the run position, current is supplied to the coil through the ballast resistor).

I haven't bought one in a while but I seem to recall that my spares were less than $20.

As an emergency fix, you can connect the two electrical leads together but doing so will shorten the life of your sparkplugs and other ignition components.

I first encountered this problem on my '77 Dodge B200 van, purchased new and well maintained. My 1970 Explorer motorhome, on a 1969 Dodge M300 chassis, also has a ballast resistor but hasn't needed a new one yet.

The bad ballast resistor kept my van from going anywhere and frustrated me because I couldn't figure out what was wrong. (I'm a fairly good mechanic with extensive knowledge of the electrical systems in older vehicles - I can draw most of the typical wiring diagrams from memory.) A friend suggested I check the ballast resistor, saving me the expense of a tow. (I bought him a case of his favorite beer in thanks.)

I've heard of enough similar experiences from other people to convince me to always carry a spare. I haven't heard of any going out while the vehicle is moving although I imagine it's possible. All of the cases I've heard of showed up while trying to start the vehicle, leading me to believe a current spike during shutdown or starting cause the ballast resistor to fail.

Hope this helps someone.

[FredC]

We recently completed a trip from Cincinnati to Harlingen, TX where we spend almost six weeks. We then went to Big Bend National Park for a few days and then started out on I10 for Escondido, CA. We were between Fort Stockton, TX and El Paso when we had a blow out of the inside dual on the passenger side.

Good Sam had a tire guy to us in forty five minutes, which I think is pretty remarkable. Even though we had a spare, it was unusable because of its position under the RV and uncovered. So, it was struck by everything passing under the RV. LESSON: If you have a spare, and it is under the RV, cover it with something to protect it.

As a result of the spare not being good, the tire guy drove 75 miles to El Paso to pick up a new tire. Naturally, Good Sam would only pay for the cost of the guy to get us off the road. It was almost 10:00 PM when tire was finally mounted and put on the RV. We spent the night in a dirt field behind a Mexican Restaurant. The next day, we drive to Las Cruces, NM and stayed in a campground/RV repair shop named RV DOC. This shop kindly performed temporary repairs quickly so we could get back on the road.

These tires were only four and a half years old, covered when parked, inflation checked every other day when traveling, and inflated to the proper pressure. It is just one of those mysterious that happen on occasion. I did,however, buy five more tires just for the satisfaction of safety. They were Michelin XRV's 235/80/22.5.

THEN, while pulling from a fuel stop in Alpine, CA the "low water" light came on then went out. I added a little coolant, but when in Las Vegas, I noticed a drip on the parking pad. A visit was paid to the Freight Liner Oasis there and a broken radiator was found. That visit cost an extra three days and two nights in a hotel , plus a substantial repair bill.

However in seven years of RV'ing, this was our first real trouble on the road. We are home now, and by the way, I don't want to give the RV away anymore.

[windman2]

05 Newmar KSDP
Traveling southern Illinois on 57 where it changes to 24, I thought you guys need to spend some money fixing these roads. Drove for another 10 miles until I could'nt take it anymore. Pulled over to take a look and found my mud flap on the ground. After further review I realized I had no air in my rear end, and a threaded rod, with no nut dangled from underneath the center of the rear end. Spartan techs told me to slip it into a plate and I'd be good to go. Knowing better, I went to the closest hardware store, picked up a 11 cent lock nut and 2 washers and permanently fixed it. By the way, the rod had already come out of the bracket by the time I got to the hardware store, go figure.

[jakcheese]

Re: bolt failure...we have 2002 Itasca 30' Sunrise. We have complained about, but replaced same bolts ourselves with other than "grade 8" from Workhorse...Same scenario, no off-roading etc. The bolts we installed have so far been fine!
While we are talking about Workhorse...ours is in the driveway with the 2nd melted ignition switch. We are 4 months out of factory warranty, but had it replaced 7/5/04 in warranty. I am awaiting a call from the dealer to see if Workhorse will step up and provide "updated" switch w/relay. Is there anything else I should do?
Jakcheese

[Hyrolr]

Badeye:
This is a great thread. Hope you haven't bitten off more than you can chew, though.
Thanks,
...........................Tim

RV particulars: Itasca Suncruiser
Driveline (Engine, Transmission): Workhorse Vortec 7.4
Miles: 12,000
Year: 2000
Break Down Description: Three of four bolts (there are two on each side) holding the sway bar to the A frames broke. Were supposed to be grade 8 according to the markings. I called Workhorse and they said they had never heard of the problem. We have never abused the coach and it's never been off-road (use the four wheeler for that).

Symptoms: Sloppy driving, diving in corners

Effect: Made my wife nervous; then she made me nervous

Cause: Still unknown

Outcome: Out of warranty, so I talked to my neighbor (he owns a precision machine shop). He told me that they could have been foreign bolts and not really up to grade 8 standards. He gave me some new, all-american made grade 10's. I installed them and haven't had a problem since.

[daybreak_2001]

we had a ignition switch problem .we couldn't start the MH. after 3hrs and a towing to a garage we were on our way to get back home.

[mustangman]

JerryKelly wrote:
Freightliner XC Chassis, Cummins 350 ISC

Problems: Exhaust brake not working, coach surging at 66 - 70 mph.
Diagnosis: Exhaust brake not recieving power signal from the instrument panel. Surging was caused by fuel distributor in fuel pump.

The exhaust brake was diagnosed and fixed on the 2nd day. Fuel pump problem was suspected as the cause of the surging, but the Freightliner dealer was told to first diagnose the problem using Freighliner or Cummins software. It took 2 days to load the diagnostic software onto their laptop. Then Cummins took 2 more days to authorize the Freightliner dealer to work on the Cummins engine. Cummins would not ship the part until the authorization was complete (day 4). This was all due to a Cummins shop down the street. Cummins protects the turf of Cummins dealers. Freightliner could not expedite the process. Due to my Freightliner warranty, I could not go to Cummins first unless I was willing to cover the diagnostic costs in the event the surging problem was not a cummins problem. I was not told about the Cummins issue until day 4. My engine brake repair was a freightliner issue, not cummins. I got my coach back at 5:00 pm on day 5. Just in time to drive back home.

sounds like a lot of Cummins breakdowns,alot of diesel breakdowns,i can't work on them wish i knew how,thats why i trust my 460 to death ,it won't let me down knock on wood,,,want to learn diesel have to hit some books,,thanks for posting everyone,,good forum topic

[JerryKelly]

Freightliner XC Chassis, Cummins 350 ISC

Problems: Exhaust brake not working, coach surging at 66 - 70 mph.
Diagnosis: Exhaust brake not recieving power signal from the instrument panel. Surging was caused by fuel distributor in fuel pump.

The exhaust brake was diagnosed and fixed on the 2nd day. Fuel pump problem was suspected as the cause of the surging, but the Freightliner dealer was told to first diagnose the problem using Freighliner or Cummins software. It took 2 days to load the diagnostic software onto their laptop. Then Cummins took 2 more days to authorize the Freightliner dealer to work on the Cummins engine. Cummins would not ship the part until the authorization was complete (day 4). This was all due to a Cummins shop down the street. Cummins protects the turf of Cummins dealers. Freightliner could not expedite the process. Due to my Freightliner warranty, I could not go to Cummins first unless I was willing to cover the diagnostic costs in the event the surging problem was not a cummins problem. I was not told about the Cummins issue until day 4. My engine brake repair was a freightliner issue, not cummins. I got my coach back at 5:00 pm on day 5. Just in time to drive back home.

[didi]

Driveline: Workhorse Custom Chassis, 340 HP
Miles: ll,640.
Year: 2003 Airsteam Land Yacht
Breakdown Description: pull over for gas fill up, shut off engine
Symptons: never restarted, no power to key or instruments
Effect and Cause: to much of a amp load on the harness to the key. Workhorse overnighted the ignition switch kit
Outcome: This was a trip to a ill family member in Indiana, a 12 hour trip. With this breakdown it took me three days to arrive at our distination.

[jimraysr]

By replacing the emergency start solenoid wt. a battery separator (Shure Power, Inc., 100 amp, $75) makes the whole situation much easier in such a failure and makes every day operation and storage easier. The separator closes when the voltage raises to 13.1 volts on either the chassis or house side, thus regardless of the charging source, all batteries are charged.

When in storage and connected to shore power all seven of our batteries are maintained by the three stage converter/charger.

When dry camping, running the generator, likewise will charge all batteries.

When on the road, again all are charged without the voltage drop normally introduced by the isolator.

Wt. the alternator out, you would still have to do as you did in order to back feed the chassis when the generator was not running.

Jim

[FLMOHOMER]

MAP40,
Using the Emergency start switch to tie the two battery systems together did not cause any other damage or problems. The house batteries did not suffer any unusual damage since as soon as I got the low battery light on the dash, I would start the generator to re-charge, maintain the batteries. This also charged the chassis batteries since they were still tied to the coach betteries. Also the batteries did not fully discharge since the warning light comes on when the voltage drops a small amount. I am not sure what the level is, but it is still high to start the generator or even the engine if needed within about 30 minutes of first seeing it come on.

Doug

[map40]

FLMOHOMER wrote:
03, Fleetwood Discovery, Freightliner chassis, Cat 330HP.

On trip from Florida to Arizona, I was less han 100 miles from home when the low batery light came on. I pulled over as soon as I could and wedged a tooth pick in the emergency start switch. This tied the house batteries [4 six volt] to the chassis system and the light went off. I stopped later at a large parking lot and checked the alternator belt and it was OK. I decided to continue the trip using the house batteries to furnish electrical power. When I got the low battery light again, after running several hours at night, I started the generator and continued the trip.

We completed the roundtrip of over 4,000 miles by using this method. We would charge our batteries in the campgound each night and only run the generator when both battery banks got low. Once I almost waited to long to start the generator and was barely able to get it to start on the low battery.

I saw in previous posts that others had run home on generator. I was able to keep the generator off for the majority of trip by using the emergency start feature.

After we finished our trip, we returned the coach to our dealer and had the alternator replace under warranty since it had only 11,000 miles when it failed. I had called Fleetwood to report the failure before I reached 12,000 miles and they stated that I could have the work done under warranty when we returned to Florida.

Doug Ray

I always wondered if this could be done (use the emergency switch to provide power to the chassis in an alternator failiure). Any other side effects? I would agree that you could run the batteries down, but running the generator would not sacrifice them that much, right?

[FLMOHOMER]

03, Fleetwood Discovery, Freightliner chassis, Cat 330HP.

On trip from Florida to Arizona, I was less han 100 miles from home when the low batery light came on. I pulled over as soon as I could and wedged a tooth pick in the emergency start switch. This tied the house batteries [4 six volt] to the chassis system and the light went off. I stopped later at a large parking lot and checked the alternator belt and it was OK. I decided to continue the trip using the house batteries to furnish electrical power. When I got the low battery light again, after running several hours at night, I started the generator and continued the trip.

We completed the roundtrip of over 4,000 miles by using this method. We would charge our batteries in the campgound each night and only run the generator when both battery banks got low. Once I almost waited to long to start the generator and was barely able to get it to start on the low battery.

I saw in previous posts that others had run home on generator. I was able to keep the generator off for the majority of trip by using the emergency start feature.

After we finished our trip, we returned the coach to our dealer and had the alternator replace under warranty since it had only 11,000 miles when it failed. I had called Fleetwood to report the failure before I reached 12,000 miles and they stated that I could have the work done under warranty when we returned to Florida.

Doug Ray

[Smokyjoe]

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