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?

[CA_Traveler]

Now I must take the cap off and stick my finger in to check coolant level BEFORE engine gets hot, or wait till it cools down as the reciever tank is mounted too high to see into.

Buy a small round wooden dowel and use it to check the tank level.

[aaron_lloyd]

You cannot plan for all that can happen on the road as the MH has many areas it,s a home on wheels but you can stock some repairs,,carry replacment belts,hoses,fuel filter,fuses,some ele tape,,mechanics wire,,if you have a gas engine stock a spare throttle cable,,you may not be able to install the parts but having them on hand is over half the battle...ll

[PrairieGirl]

2003 Discovery 330 Cat Allison tranny
Our leveling jacks have recently developed a mind of their own. Sometimes they work, sometimes not. I have discovered that going through the gears (on the touchpad) I can eventually get them to extend or retract. Seems their is something NOT connecting in the neutral switch. Does anybody have any info on this kind of failure?
Ray in Oklahoma

[tartan23455]

RV particulars: 1997 Mountain Aire
Driveline Cummins , Allison 6 speed
Miles: 34,000
Year: 1997
Break down Description: Coolant leak.

Symptoms: None - Green coolant all over everything

Effect: Stranded until fixed

Cause: Plastic sight glass in reciever tank blown out

Remedy: Installed plug in hole

On first trip, decided to stop at roadside vegetable market on way to Cape Hatteras NC. After stopping and as I was doing a walkaround check, found coolant all over toad and engine compartment. Found the "PLASTIC" sight glass on the coolant reciever tank was blown out. After much searching of auto parts and hardware stores within 20 miles was able to get a tap large enough and a brass pipe plug and tap out and plug the hole. The site glass is threaded in but is a bastard thread and could not find anything that would fit it. Now I must take the cap off and stick my finger in to check coolant level BEFORE engine gets hot, or wait till it cools down as the reciever tank is mounted too high to see into.

[firemanmn]

RV particulars: 1997 Gulfstream Scenic Cruiser
Driveline Cummins 8.3, Allison 6 speed
Miles: 42,000
Year: 1997
Break down Description: Big Foot levelers acting erratic.

Symptoms: RR leveler would run on after it was retracted. LF and LR would continue to extend after I would stop extending on the control panel.

Effect: I manually tripped the 120 amp circuit breaker in the battery compartment and parked as level as I could for the last part of the trip.

Cause: Solenoids sticking on.

Remedy: I made a call to Quadra Manufacturing for some info and the tech was very helpful. He suggested I change the solenoids on the three levelers that were malfunctioning. I couldn’t find the exact replacement solenoids. I eventually found an after market solenoid from “Stens”. The terminals were 90 degrees offset from the original part, so I had to drill a new hole and resize the buss bar that connects the two solenoids on each leveler. It took about an hour for the first one and half that for the next two. It’s good to level again.

[firemanmn]

RV particulars: 1997 Gulfstream Scenic Cruiser
Driveline Cummins 8.3, Allison 6 speed
Miles: 42,000
Year: 1997
Break down Description: I stopped at a traffic light and noticed the high rpm at about 1100.

Symptoms: After shifting to neutral I could not shift to forward because of the high rpms.

Effect: Towed to a nearby Target parking lot, got the ok to park there from the store manager until Monday (it was Sunday late in the afternoon) to have it towed to an Allison service center. After a while and trying to look up the error message on the shift key pad, I hit the power button on the cruise control and the rpms dropped to idle range. I drove the rest of the way home and had to turn the cruise on and off every time I slowed or stopped at traffic light.

Cause: The ECO Cruise malfunctioned and intermittently would set the rpms to 1100.
The company is out of business so I am in the process of replacing it with a new one from Cruise King.

[BabyBear]

ygohome wrote:
WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD OF FLEETWOOD.

This has nothing to do with it being a Fleetwood and everything to do with it being 21 years old and having been sitting for the last year or so. Master cylinders will go out on any of them.

[ygohome]

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD OF FLEETWOOD. ACTUALLY HAD THOUGHT THE PROBLEMS OF REPAIR WAS BEHIND MH OWNERS, HOWEVER, SINCE OWNING A 1990 1/2 "PACE[LEMON]ARROW" THERE ISN'T A STORY LOGGED IN THAT I COULD NOT TOP. RECORD OF NEVER HAVING TAKEN A TRIP SINCE PURCHASED(1990)WITHOUT SOME SORT OF REPAIR. EACH TIME YOU THINK THAT EVERYTHING HAS BEEN TAKEN CARE OF AND NO MORE PROBLEMS. TOO AFRAID TO START OVER WITH ANOTHER. STUPID THOUGHT,~BUT NOW TOO LATE. DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH SYMPATHY FROM DEALERS/FACTORY, EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE THE DOCUMENTATION TO PROVE NOT JUST SOUR GRAPES.
MY WAIT FOR GOOD SAM ROAD SERVICE WAS 24HRS AND THEY KNEW I WAS IN A REST AREA (COULD WRITE A BOOK ON THE LIVES OF SOME TRUCKERS THAT WOULD SELL).
I DID HAVE WORK DONE TWICE LAST YEAR & NOW HAVING MORE PROBLEMS WITH GETTING IT STARTED.
WILL NOT DISCOURAGE YOU ANYMORE. TRAVELING BY MH IS STILL THE BEST.
THANKFUL FOR HAVING THE EXPERIENCE IN TRAVELING MH FOR 35 YRS.
HAPPY TRAILS.

[BabyBear]

1984 Fleetwood Southwind
454 Chevy with carb

Went to pick up my first motorhome in Georgia last Wednesday.I bought it from EBay,and the agreement was the guy was going to have the oil and filters in the engine and tranny replaced,the MH greased,oil in rear checked,brakes checked,etc,etc,etc in order for it to be ready for the 600+ mile trip home,and I would pay him when I got there. When I get there and asked him about it,he tells me he didn't have time,"but everything is ok". I get in it to check it out,and the first thing I spot is the brake light in the center of the dash shining at me. Brakes feel spongly but stop it ok,so I figured they just needed to be bled. I was wrong. I discovered this going into a town called Wren,Georgia when I was barely able to stop at the red light. They had worked fine for the 100 miles,and the light had even gone out.

Here is where the adventure begins. As I am stopped at the red light,I see a Goodyear tire store across the intersection. I was under the impression they do brake work,so I pulled off over there to get them to fix the brakes. I was told,"We don't work on stuff like that. We only work on cars and trucks. You need to take it to the diesel truck repair shop about 200 yards behind us." No matter how many times I told them that brakes were brakes and that it had the same brakes as a Chevrolet big truck,they just wouldn't listen. I go back out to drive over to the diesel truck shop,and my MH won't start. Battery is weak from bad wiring. Go back inside the Goodyear tire store and ask for a jumpstart,and they refuse. "We don't work on stuff like that". They tell me to walk to the diesel shop for a jump,even after I explain to them that I am handicapped and have trouble walking. The guy just shrugged and walked away.

I walk to the diesel shop,and the guy there tells me,"We don't work on stuff like that. We only work on diesel trucks." He agress that "brakes are brakes",but says he doesn't care because he still won't work on it,"and even if I did agree to work on it,it would be the middle of next week before I could even get started." He was nice enough to take his pu and give me a ride back to the MH and jump start it for free. He also told me my best bet was to drive it to Augusta,Georgia because that was the closest place to get it fixed. He said,"It's only about 30 miles."

I head out of town and spot the Chevy dealer. I thought I really had it made then,but was wrong once again. The service manager told me,"We don't work on stuff that big,and don't even know HOW to get parts for it!" I reminded her that it was a Chevrolet,and that Chevrolet had plenty of parts at the same phone number she called to order parts for other Chevies,and then she told me,"We don't even have the books to order parts for 1-ton Chevy trucks because we never sell anything any bigger than a 2500." I aked her,"You mean if I lived in Wren and came in wanting to buy a new 1-ton Chevy pu that you would refuse to sell it to me?",and she said,"Yeah.". Amazing!

I stopped at the NAPA store on the way out of Wren and bought a 1,000 CCA jumper battery pack for $85 so that I will be able to start the motorhome again if I have to cut it off for any reason. No big deal,since I consider these things a essential option for a motorhome that runs off batteries. It's just a good thing to have. I just wish I had been able to get to a discount store and bought one of the $35 ones.

The 4-lane road was practically empty,and since Augusta was the next town I came to,it wasn't that bad driving there because I went slow. Stopped at the first motel I found and got a room because it was after 5 PM by this time,and everybody was closed. Got up the next morning and called around maybe 8 or 9 places before I found anybody who would agree to work on it before the following week. Some just refused,including the Chevy dealer who also sold motor homes. He said they only do house work,not mechanical repairs. Can you believe that crap?

Anyhow,I found a garage in a northern suburb of Augusta who told me,"If you get it here today I will start to work on it today.",so I called the Good Sam Travel Help 800 number for a tow. This was at about 9:30 AM Thursday morning. I told them I had found a guy in north Augusta who would work on it today and that I wanted it towed there. They told me they only tow to the closest repair facility,and that any tow beyond that point was up to me. It ended up that they had me towed to this guys shop anyhow because nobody under contract to the Good Sam Club was willing to tow it that morning because it was raining and they said they were all too busy. Good Sam ended up calling the guy who said he would work on it (I had given them his name and number) to see if he knew anybody who would tow it,and he gave them the number of a guy close by who agreed to do it. This meant that he was the closest repair facility to the tow company. I found this out at 11:30 AM when I called Good Sam back and asked them where the tow truck was. Even then,this guy didn't show up until around 1 PM,and he was so stupid it took him a hour and a half to figure out that if he didn't have the right size wrench he couldn't take the drive shaft off. He kept trying different 13mm,1/2,and 5/8ths wrenches when he needed and didn't have a 9/16th wrench. He would get out from under my MH,go to his truck,and get a different 13mm or other wrench and climb under it again,to once again be amazed that it didn't fit any better than the other 13mm wrench he had been trying.

He finally gets me hooked up with the driveshaft still in it and the motor running in neutral,and gets me to the repair shop at about 3PM or so. Too late to work on it Thursday,but at least they get to look at it,figure out what it needed,and order the parts so they could work on it Friday. These are nice people,and they even give me a ride to a motel and then picked me up the next day when my MH was ready. They had it ready for me Friday afternoon,and I get out of Augusta at about 5:30 PM. They did good work and they did what they said they would do. I can't recommend them too highly. I get no money or anything else from recommending them. I am just putting this out here in case any of you who travel through Augusta ever need any repairs. You know that this guy won't jerk you around,do inferior work,or rip you off doing unneccessary repairs.

Quality Car Center
4293 Triangle Industrial Drive
706-651-8631

The next 500 miles went smoothly,and the MH is sitting out in my yard right now while I try to figure out what is wrong with the wiring.

[Ciaoyall]

Roadster20 wrote:

Excellent. I am not a first time buyer but I sure found it informative. How can I cut and paste to word program to pass to some friends?


Roadster20, I have copied your message by highlighting it and then pasting above. To copy and paste to a Word program, an e-mail or something else, just hi-lite what you want to copy by holding down the left button on your mouse and drag across whatever you wish to copy. Once you have it hi-lited, right click on it and a flag will pop-up...click on "copy". Now open whatever you want to copy it to and left click on the document. Now, right click and again you will get a pop-up..click on "paste".
Now you just proceed with completing your document and send or file, etc.

Oh yes, if you want to copy and paste the "complete" document to send, etc; just right click on the document (you don't have to hi-lite) and when the pop-up appears, click on the "select all". Now just as above, paste it to your document for sending.

Just do it a few times and you will find it is very simple.

[Bob_D]

Just registered and was hoping I could get some helpful information regarding the tail lights on my 2003 Fleetwood Discovery. Bulbs are good fuse is good but the tail lights are not working. Thinking maybe a short. Wondering if anyone else has experienced this dilemma on the road. No Fleetwood dealers anywhere in my area. Help!

[geomerc]

RV particulars: Itasca Sunflyer
Driveline 454, carb, th400
Miles:62,000
Year:1989
Break Down Description: Lost power after driving 2 or more hours

Symptoms Engine popping through exhaust and carb

Effect had to camp on side of road

Cause: This problem had several causes drove me crazy. During test drive we noticed engine popping under a load at 60 mph. Previous owner had new wires and plugs and cap and rotor put on, next test drive good so we bought it. Several short trips it started acting up again. Pulled the engine cover to have a look a round. Mechanic didn't bother to route the wires the way he should have several laying on manifolds and they didn't fit in the heat shields properly, they kept falling off on short trips. So replaced with NAPA truck wire with ceramic boots routed correctly. Test drive good. Went on longer camping trip started pulling hills started popping sounded like running out of gas. Had partner pure gas down carb as I tried to keep it running to get to a spot we could get off the road(we were at elev 6700 ft). Next day added in line fuel pump cause I figured tank one was bad and kept on camping. On way home after several mountains started acting up again only we were able to go 15 mph up hill and it got hot. On flat land ran good. Got home dropped the gas tank and looked inside. Looked like a big rusty cow pie right under the pickup. Took to radiator shop and had cleaned and coated for 150.00 tested the fuel pump, it was dead, so bought a new one and put it back together. Also had radiator recored while it was down. Just got back from 4600 mile trip had no problems!
Outcome clean fuel tank and replace in-tank pump. road test good

[treecounter]

We broke down this spring on the way home. WE were just out side of Zion NP. When we lost oil pressure. We were in our 1 ton dully Dodge Diesel pulling a 35 ft. tith wheell. WE were toed back to town where it was determined the only thing wrong was the sender. With a manual Gage we had 80 lbs. of oil pressure at idle. We had to drive to St. George about eighty miles to get the part. One day delay. Cost for part was $120. Thanks to good Sam road service no tow bill.

[Wilky]

Just a quick thought, or maybe I read pass it. This is a GREAT post but maybe if from here on we could add manafacturer, or maker of M.H.? Just a idea. Great work ALL!!

[ka3ohl]

RV particulars:
Driveline (Engine, Transmission):Ford V10 Thor WindSport
Miles:8,400
Year:2005
Break Down Description: Engine would not turn over. No clicking from starter senolid.
Effect: Engine would not start
Cause: Starter relay - front of engine on frame.
Outcome: I had a volt meter and found that 12 volts was not passing through relay when inginition switch was turned to start position. Jumped relay to start went to Ford dealership where the replaced relay in about and hour. No charge.