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?

[andyroo]

Sadly, I am still involved in a breakdown.

Traveling down from St. Pete FL to Sarasota FL, I was with the DW and baby when about 2/3rds of the way there I had a sudden loss of engine power and a sudden increase in vibration. This vibration was enhanced when I stepped on the gas.

Loss of power and major vibration. Not good.

Luckily we were able to get to Campbell RV's service dept and although it was 3:30pm on a Friday, they jumped right into my engine. Great people!

Long story short.....looks like I bent a push rod under the valve cover. This caused Campbell to back off and suggest I go to Sun State International, a Cummins engine specialist.

So, the RV is being towed now.

Monday, they will look at it.

Monday night, I am getting drunk.

[vermontertom]

Unfortunately I can contribute to this forum which I think is a great idea.

I have an Itasca class a 2000 32V on a Workhorse chassis with the 7.4 L gas engine.

While traveling north on I-287 in NJ my engine appeared to be running out of gas. I would lose power and then it would come back. my gas gauge read 1/2 full and based on my odometer I was sure I had gas. I was able to limp into a service area, got gas and the engine appeared to run fine so I continued on towards home. A little while later, the engine suddenly died and I had to coast to the roadside. The engine would turn over, but not fire. I called Good Sam (thank goodness for their great service).

A mechanic came out and was unable to get it the engine to fire. I had to be towed to his service shop. After some further diagnosing and no results, the mechanic became suspicious of the computer. He had one in the shop and decided to swap with the one In my engine. When he went to unplug my computer,he found that the connections to the computer were not fully plugged. He plugged them in and problem solved!!!

Thank goodness for ani honest repair shop they could have said my computer was bad and charged me big bucks ! I have no idea why or how the compute connections became loose, I had 40,000 + miles on It at that time and over 50,000 now and this is the only time I have had this problem. To finish the story,, it happened late on a Saturday afternoon with he temp in the high 90s.,

[deaton60]

heavy -

Yep, cut both battery switches and also removed the negative side of both battery banks just to be extra safe. Never can tell what may be wired around those switches.

And you are right, the gap between that positive lead on the starter and bare frame metal is about an inch in some places. No way to turn that thing without banging the wrench into the frame.

But thanks for pointing that out.

[heavyequiptmen1]

deaton60 wrote:
Over Labor Day, we took our 2008 Monaco Camelot out to the Texas hill country to attend a rally. It's about a 285 mile trip from Beaumont to Boerne, Tx. Ariving at the park, I shut down the Cummins ISL 400 to unhitch the tow and register with the office. I Came out after about 15 minutes and the coach would not start.

Dash had power, fuses all checked out, batteries had 13+ volts on the meter. Generator was running just fine, keeping all the batteries charged. Starter appeared dead.

Called GS road service. Tech came out after about an hour and reviewed all the stuff I had checked. He said, "has to be the starter". I said, "What do you want to do? Hit it with a hammer?" He said, "Yeah, why not?"

The tech crawled under the coach. It was pouring rain. Hit the starter with the old ball peen hammer and, voila, the thing started right up.

He confirmed my suspicion that the starter must have a "bad spot" and should be replaced. I paid him the $200 for hitting it with the hammer (after hours rate is double) and we drove to our slot in the park. The next day, I called Cummins Southern Plains down the road in San Antionio to see if I could bring the coach in Friday before Labor Day) and get them to check out the starter. They advised they were way too busy and probably couldn't get to my coach before the following Tuesday.

On Monday, Labor Day, we drove the coach to another rally south of San Antonio. It started up without any problem. We parked for that rally which ran through the following weekend. Then we headed back east toward Beaumont. The coach started right up that time as well.

My past experience with Cummins Southern Plains in Houston had been good, so we pulled in there last Monday to see if they would check it out. They provide prompt service and advised that while the engine was still well within warranty, the starter was NOT because it had not been supplied by Cummins. It seems that Monaco, like many other manufacturers, buys their Cummins engines sans the starter and buys the starter elsewhere - to save bucks no doubt. Since my 2008 coach is "pre-bankruptcy", it was not going to be covered by Monaco nor was it covered by Cummins. Southern Plains wanted $725 plus tax to swap it out for a new rebuilt unit.

Since the coach seemed to be starting ok after the hammer trick, I passed on that offer and drove on back to Beaumont. I put the coach in it's garage and, just for "luck" hit the starter. Nothing happened! It was stuck dead again.

I didn't tell DW, because she would be real upset with me for not getting the thing replaced in Houston, but I promised myself I would come out the next day and try the hammer trick and then, if that worked, I'd pull the starter and send it to the local repair shop that my company often uses to rebuild motors of all types.

Arriving at the garage yesterday afternoon, I slid under the coach with my trusty hammer. Looking up at the starter, I could not help but notice that the positive lead, that attaches to the top rear of the starter was not only loose, it was REAL LOSE. Like three turns of the nut lose and tilted sideways.

I set my hammer aside and went to get a 3/4 inch box end wrench. I torked up the nut and went to the cab. The engine started on the first try and on each of three subsequent tries. I think I've fixed my problem, and I'm happy with the fact that I appear to have saved the $725. I am a bit upset with the fact that both the roadside tech and the Cummins Southern Plains techs looked at that same starter and didn't notice the loose lead.

Moral of this case is to check everything you can yourself and don't just trust the story you get told by the tech.

I trust that you thought about removing the ground lead on the battery before you started turning a wrench on the positive lead for starter.(Could contact engine block and shot out battery.

[Nowitall]

RV particulars: FLEETWOOD SOUTHWIND
Driveline (Engine, Transmission): Workhorse Gasser 5 Speed Allison
Miles: Approx. 25K
Year: 2004
Break Down Description: After driving 300 highway miles for the day, we came to stopped traffic on a freeway in Denver, CO. Upon attempting to move on, the engine died. Three times.
Symptoms: Loss of power
Effect: Sitting on the side of the road!
Cause: Guessing it was high altitude, hot (but not overheated) engine, creating fuel vaporization when we stopped in traffic. Otherwise known as vapor lock.
Outcome: After a 15 minute rest, the Windy restarted and made the 2 mile remaining trip to the RV park. A mobile mechanic replaced the fuel filter as a precaution and ultimately we made the 1100+ mile return trip home without a recurrence of the problem.

RV particulars: SAME
Driveline (Engine, Transmission): SAME
Miles: VARIOUS
Year: SAME
Break Down Description: Overheated brakes, various locations, various occurrences.
Symptoms: Burning smell, one brief episode of flames, mushy brake pedals, fried ABS sensors, dragging of the affected wheels.
Effect: Wondering if we were ever gonna be able to travel with the Windy again.
Cause: %$&#@!! Bosch brakes what don't like southeast Texas hoomidity.
Outcome: Caliper replacement more than once, and waiting on the resolution of the recall. We were able to make a 2200+ round trip recently with no further brake trouble.

[deaton60]

Over Labor Day, we took our 2008 Monaco Camelot out to the Texas hill country to attend a rally. It's about a 285 mile trip from Beaumont to Boerne, Tx. Ariving at the park, I shut down the Cummins ISL 400 to unhitch the tow and register with the office. I Came out after about 15 minutes and the coach would not start.

Dash had power, fuses all checked out, batteries had 13+ volts on the meter. Generator was running just fine, keeping all the batteries charged. Starter appeared dead.

Called GS road service. Tech came out after about an hour and reviewed all the stuff I had checked. He said, "has to be the starter". I said, "What do you want to do? Hit it with a hammer?" He said, "Yeah, why not?"

The tech crawled under the coach. It was pouring rain. Hit the starter with the old ball peen hammer and, voila, the thing started right up.

He confirmed my suspicion that the starter must have a "bad spot" and should be replaced. I paid him the $200 for hitting it with the hammer (after hours rate is double) and we drove to our slot in the park. The next day, I called Cummins Southern Plains down the road in San Antionio to see if I could bring the coach in Friday before Labor Day) and get them to check out the starter. They advised they were way too busy and probably couldn't get to my coach before the following Tuesday.

On Monday, Labor Day, we drove the coach to another rally south of San Antonio. It started up without any problem. We parked for that rally which ran through the following weekend. Then we headed back east toward Beaumont. The coach started right up that time as well.

My past experience with Cummins Southern Plains in Houston had been good, so we pulled in there last Monday to see if they would check it out. They provide prompt service and advised that while the engine was still well within warranty, the starter was NOT because it had not been supplied by Cummins. It seems that Monaco, like many other manufacturers, buys their Cummins engines sans the starter and buys the starter elsewhere - to save bucks no doubt. Since my 2008 coach is "pre-bankruptcy", it was not going to be covered by Monaco nor was it covered by Cummins. Southern Plains wanted $725 plus tax to swap it out for a new rebuilt unit.

Since the coach seemed to be starting ok after the hammer trick, I passed on that offer and drove on back to Beaumont. I put the coach in it's garage and, just for "luck" hit the starter. Nothing happened! It was stuck dead again.

I didn't tell DW, because she would be real upset with me for not getting the thing replaced in Houston, but I promised myself I would come out the next day and try the hammer trick and then, if that worked, I'd pull the starter and send it to the local repair shop that my company often uses to rebuild motors of all types.

Arriving at the garage yesterday afternoon, I slid under the coach with my trusty hammer. Looking up at the starter, I could not help but notice that the positive lead, that attaches to the top rear of the starter was not only loose, it was REAL LOSE. Like three turns of the nut lose and tilted sideways.

I set my hammer aside and went to get a 3/4 inch box end wrench. I torked up the nut and went to the cab. The engine started on the first try and on each of three subsequent tries. I think I've fixed my problem, and I'm happy with the fact that I appear to have saved the $725. I am a bit upset with the fact that both the roadside tech and the Cummins Southern Plains techs looked at that same starter and didn't notice the loose lead.

Moral of this case is to check everything you can yourself and don't just trust the story you get told by the tech.

[kitterly]

A basic fact that you should be aware of before making a RV cover purchase is that these covers should not be 100% waterproof. A waterproof cover is not breathable and does not let any moisture and vapor to escape from inside.

[GIFF-TURBO]

Inter-cooler picked up road grime thus blocking sufficient air flow, charge air temps caused over heating under moderate load. This was in a rear radiator coach.

[bionic4_0]

RV particulars: gulfstream sunstream 8270
Driveline (Engine, Transmission): 454, turbo 350
Miles: 63k
Year: 86
Break Down Description: after driving down I-75s we stopped at Bush gardens for a day of fun. backing in to a spot in the rv over flow lot. i lost all steering.
Symptoms: Rag joint had torn. or so we thought was the only problem.
Effect: ability to steer
Cause: battery acid had leaked down on the the frame where the steering gear box connects to the frame. and ate it all up causing it to tear the rag joint and pull the frame out.
Outcome: having the cross member replaced and realigned.

[charwan]

On way home from trip, was 6 miles from home and fan belt broke. Has 50K on MH. It is a 04 Winnie Adven. CharWan

[Livin_Good]

Great

[Johnamac123]

1986 Fleetwood Southwind
454 Big Block V8
65,000 miles

Rookie owner on first vacation trip. RV running fine, made trip from FL to KY with no problems. Stopped at Rest Area in WV. When we tried to start, got nothing. Checked all fuses and tried to jump battery, no help. Called Good Sam road service. Two hours later wrecker showed up. Driver knew where to look, wiring touching the manifold had burned through. Had some wire and replaced burnt section, RV started up.

Followed to Chevy dealer for the night. Replaced wiring harness and starter which was also heat damaged. Recommended that we put back heat shield that was missing.

Actually, pretty lucky this happened at a rest stop. Other than loosing one day and $400, no other issues. Good Sam driver was VERY helpful!!!

[stewarttate]

Lil Truckr wrote:
Unfortunately I have to be a contributor to this thread.

Last August when we were north bound on I-39 somewhere between Bloomington, Ill. and Rockford, Ill. I went over a bump in the road caused by road construction.

All of a sudden my coach had no power. No electrical, no transmission, no engine, no nothing. I managed to coast to the side of the road and their we sat. When I turned my ignitions switch, to attempt to start the coach, nothing happened. I waited a few minutes and tried again and it started only to stop running again. I then went and looked into the battery compartment to see if maybe a battery had came loose and was shorting out against something but they were okay.

I then went back and attempted to start the coach and it started right up. It kept running so we headed out and made it back to Stevens Point, Wisconsin without further incident.

I took the coach up to my dealer who looked the coach over from front to back but they couldn't find a thing wrong with it. So, somewhere in my coach I have a problem waiting to jump out and bite me and there's nothing I can do to prevent it. Scary ain't it.:(

Check your master shutoff switch usually located in the engine compartment. Your problem description happened to me:B

[StickyDrumGuy]

Babington style waste oil heater pumps

The cam gear pump works fine for filtered WVO or used motor oil Babington heaters and I have installed it on my Babington style heaters. Ldu Company's stock number is 450516 , The only thing about the cam gear pump is that the fire kind of pulses as the cam gear rotates. If you use the spur gear pump that is LDU's stock number 450512 then you get a steady non-pulsing fire. The WVO pump website is http://www.liangdianup.com/subpages/oilpump_1.htm or you can click through to the tools section from the home page at www.LDUcompany.com

LDU Company also has other parts that I use for building my waste oil burners, like gear reduction motors. I find it best to turn the pump slower because you really don't need a whole lot of oil dripping on the atomizer ball.

[rm23956]

1989 Allegreo
Chevy 454 engine
75,000 miles
Long story short-Fan belt broke and engine overheated and before I caught it, it threw a rod. Had motorhome towed 300 miles home to Atlanta and I replaced engine with a crate engine. On the next trip, had the new engine destroy a rod bearing in Gaffney SC, probably due to improper pre-oiling by the engine rebuilder. Got to a Chevy dealer who said they could change it. Original engine builder rebuilt engine under protest and Chevy dealer in Gaffney installed it. Next trip, 700 miles from home, bolts holding front pulley broke from being over torqued by the dealer, went through radiator and cut two brake lines. Peterbuilt shop made repairs at over $3,000, drove back home and traded it in because wife wouldn't get in it anymore. Moral: Don't by a crate engine from just anyone and make sure the guarantee is good. I wouldn't buy from anyone but Jasper or Mr. Goodwrench at this point, and make sure, if you have a shop do it that they have mechanics who know what they are doing. Obviously the Chevy dealer didn't.