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?

[pashir]

1997 Country Coach Intrigue
8.3 Cummins 325 HP
Gillig chassis
King Controls cuise failure
replaced 2 boards before discovering reason. The boards have a stepper motor with a cable wind-up pulley. The pulley on each board came loose on the shaft because the two throttle return springs were way too strong.
bought new springs with proper tension at hardware store. No more problems. Don't know who to blame, CC, Cummins or Gillig.

Another time
Lost power but engine would still idle. When opening throttle, black smoke poured out of the exhaust.
Pacbrake was stuck closed. Let it cool about 15 mins., unstuck and went on with pbrake turned off.
adjusted butterfly stop screw 1/2 turn out to keep butterfly from closing so tightly. No more problem.

One more time
Noise coming from rear while descending a long grade. Sounded like maybe a u-joint failing and got louder and louder.
Hose from pacbrake solenoid was routed too close to the exhaust manifold and burnt thru resulting in lost air. Compressor couldn't keep up and the air suspension was allowing the coach to lower itself down onto the tires. Right rear outside tire was rubbing first and got worse as we went.
Turned off pacbrake and pressure came back up. Replace hose at next campground. Took old one to hose place and had new one made

[pashir]

1991 Flair
Ford 460
In-tank fuel pump failure [common happening with Fords]
Fix: Ford dealer wanted to empty fuel and drop tank [about $500]. Thinking this will happen again sooner or later, I ordered them to install an inline aftermarket pump in the fuel line close to the tank and mount it on the frame rail. Works fine. Sucks fuel thru bad pump in tank and sends on to the high pressure pump.

[Whaler]

Two problems neither of which stranded me but could have.

Cummins 5.9 Allison 5 sp
National Carribean - Spartan Chassis
Mileage 18,000
Electronics
Left home (One mile) start getting electrical fault code which clears
Decide to stop by Cummins Mid- South since it is on my route.
Fault code comes and goes during 60 mile drive.
Finally three miles from Cummins, code stays on and power drops to 50 percent. Limp into Cummins.
They run pc on system finding faulty Crank Shaft Position Sensor.
Replaced and on road in couple of hours, also replaced oil sending unit.

Mileage 24,000
Trip West
Fuel system
Leaving Yellowstone - noticed engine cranked longer than normal.
Engine cranked longer on each of three successive stops
Could not find reason but have had a history of loosing fuel pressure.
Make it to son's in Washington and shut off before going to his rv hookup. Decide to move to hookup. Engine cranked but would not fire, test of fuel pressure was very low at injectors but within specs at fuel pump. Unit was towed (another learning exprience)to Eagle Freightliner where some water was pumped from fuel tank (thought to be the cause)Actual cause was a faulty VP 44 fuel injector pump which Cummins replaced. No other serious problems at 32,000 miles.

Whaler

[wa0mqe]

RV particulars: Damon w/ Workhorse P32 Chassis
Driveline: GM 8.1 4L80E transmission
Miles: 8,000
Year: 2001
Break Down Description: Cruise Control shutting itself off
Symptoms: Slow down.
Effect: Just like you press the brake or turn off the Cruise switch.

Outcome: Problem was a manufacturer defect. Something to do with a resistance wire in the harness to the brake lights. The Cruise Control was sensing this as the brake lights coming on so would shut itself off. Took two tries at the dealer and calls to Workhorse to take care of a fix.

[rooster]

Badeye, good idea. Mine are as follows:
Cat. 3126
Allison
22,000 miles
Alternator needle started going "down"
After awhile, engine was running, but shifting was getting erratic
Cause was a failing Leece Neville alternator
Freightliner dealer in Waco Tx. got us in immediately, diagnosed the problem, & ordered the new alternator. It came air freight, & we were on our way late the next day. Freightliner & Leece Neville declined to cover cost as "it is out of warranty".It was because of the age, by about 4 months, but still only 22,000 miles.
My second was the familiar "zipper" blow out on the Michelin tire. It happened on an interstate, cool temps, not even close to overload, at about 25,000 miles.

[nathan]

Badeye, Thanks for starting this thread. I think we could write a book on breakdowns the last 2 1/2 years including failed slidout and tire blow out but will just recap two major ones.

1. 260 Cummins 5.9 engine Spartan Summit Chassis
Allison five speed
10100 miles
2001 Travel Supreme

Sympton: temp gauge starting increasing when we were leaving early one morning from traveling in the mountains. Engine shut down. Re-started and same thing happened. Finally started third time and with a highway patrol escort got one mile to safe place to park before shut off again. Saturday late we finally got a tow truck recomeded by Cummins and towed us 30 miles across mountain to Spartan Chassis Approved repair facility. A word of caution here, be sure the tow company has a vehicle that tows motor homes!
Cause: It took Repair shop one month to determine it was a broken serpintine belt! They replaced it and Cummins recomended we take to their facility and have checked out and they determined it was from a defective idler which they replaced. I carry a spare serpintine belt now.

2. Same motor home with 21,350 miles.
Sympton: While taking pleasure ride with mother in law we smelled diesel fuel. We were near an exit and pulled over. Looked underneath and diesel fuel gusshing out. Shut engine off and tried to locat a Cummins or Spartan Repair shop late on Sunday. You guessed it , no luck and cell phone about to go dead. Luck had it we located a RV technican that services the busses for Clemson University.
Cause. One of the fuel lines had worked loose and was almost impossiable to get to. Finally got tightend enough to get to his shop and spend most of eveining trying to fix. Fixed to where we could get on highway. Called Cummins first thing next day and took to their faciliy where they did a through job tighting all lines and steam cleaning engine. You should have smelt the diesel. Everything fine now.

Tried to keep these descriptions to the minimum, just the high lights of the story and to advise if you have a problem withCummins/Spartan look for Cummins first because my experience with Spartans auth repair facility have not been good.

[larmcintsh]

Engine 5.9 Cummins
Transmission 3000 six speed
RV 1994 Monaco Dynasty
Was driving on Highway 54 in Oklahoma, by Guyman. It was raining, and all of a sudden thought I had a blow out in the rear tire. Lost all air pressure and steering. What had happened was the sewer hose which was in a PV pipe. The rear cap came out, and the hose wrapped around the drive line. It cut all air hoses, and hydraulic lines. The road hardly any shoulder. Of course, all air bags lost air, emegency brake came on. Called Monaco, they said it was road hazard, ha. Anyway was towed into Guyman, and was three days getting back on the road. Have since moved sewer hose. If anyone has a sewer hose back there move it. Larry

[wa0mqe]

RV particulars: 24 foot Safari Trek
Driveline (454 GM w/ 4L80E 4-speed
Miles: 16,000
Year: 1997
Break Down Description: Would not start after stopping to dump.
Symptoms: Turned Key to start but nothing
Effect: Setting at the dump station blocking traffic. Was able to start engine with aux battery switch. Drove home.
Cause: corrosion on battery cable connector
Outcome: Had battery checked at auto-store for capacity. Checked
okay, cleaned battery cables and posts real good. No problem since.

Bob Bowers

[Dick_A]

RV particulars: Rexhall F-53 chassis
Driveline (Engine, Transmission): Ford 460, E40D transmission
Miles: 32,000
Year: 1994
Break Down Description: (2002) Engine stalled on warm day at St. Charles, MO
Symptoms: engine popping and backfiring, no power.
Effect: Engine hot and stalled - symptom was like vapor lock.

Outcome: Let engine cool. Engine then started and made it to RV park (Sundermier). Stayed a few days, checked all fluids, changed fuel filter on frame rail. Continued trip. Would run ok as long as we were at highway speeds. Would stall sometimes when pulling off to fuel. Managed to get home a week later after a stop in Wyoming. We had the thermostat changed there, but no help. I had ordered a full Banks system before leaving for trip. During subsequent installation, found radiator plastic tank seal broken. Replaced radiator. Also, several exhaust manifold bolts broken, causing excessive heat in the engine area. Probably causing vapor lock problems. Replaced one head with broken manifold flange, had all valves replaced on both heads, water pump, hoses, fan clutch, etc. Changed all fluids to synthetic, added B & M extra capacity transmission pan and transmission temperature gauge. No problems in 2003 traveling over 8500 miles. Preventative maintenance before 2004 trip: Replace in-tank fuel pump known for early failure.

[Impetuous]

Engine: 454 Chev.
Miles: 36,000
Year: 1994 Pace Arrow

Symptoms: Lost all power
Effect: Would run at idle only, just able to pull to side of road
since we were going up a long hill
Cause: Throddlecable broke
Outcome: Was towed to a campground in Bullhead City, AR. It was
Saturday and nothing open so waited until Monday, went to
Napa. They found one and had it the next morning. I
installed the cable and was back on the road by 11am.

Jim

[campingshadow]

RV particulars: 2002 Georgie Boy Cruise Master
Driveline (Engine, Transmission): W22 w/ Alison 8.1
Miles: 8,000
Year: 2003
Break Down Description: Key will not turn in ignition, unable to shift gears while parked
Symptoms: Cannot turn key - cannot move vehicle
Effect: Total lock up of steering wheel and ignition
Cause: loose fuse
Outcome: After being towed 200 miles, fuse was reseated and all worked fine after that.

I pulled into a gas station and turned off the engine to fill the tank with gas. When I went to restart the engine, the key would not move. The gearshift lever was locked solid. The steering wheel was locked solid. Was under Warranty by Workhorse so called for repairs. They towed me 200 miles (back from where I had come from) to nearest W repair facility. Spent the night at the repair facility and next morning repairman came out and checked fuses under the hood AND under the dash by left foot. One fuse was loose (in box by foot). Pushed it in and everything worked perfectly. Resumed trip with no problems.
Very expensive fuse....tow bill alone was $1500....paid by Workhorse.

Shadow

[bobpie]

RV particulars:Itasca Suncruiser
Driveline (Engine, Transmission):Triton V-10, 4 speed with OD
Miles:7580
Year:2001. 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:In heavy rain the engine would misfire and the check engine light came on. I pulled over 3 times under bridges and drained the breather element and filter, full of water.
Effect:water ingestion through the air intake Cause:Poorly designed air intake system. Ford TSB (tecnicle service bulletin) Outcome:Took her to the ford delership and they installed a plastic shroud around the air intake opening, no charge. They also checked out the air sensor and said it was OK. My check engine light rests itself after 3 engine cycles. Cold start, reach operation temp, shut down,cool down, do again.

[bobpie]

RV particulars:Southwind 32-K
Driveline (Engine, Transmission):454-4bbl
Miles:48000
Year:1989
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: engine popping and backfireing under load,( going uphill)
Effect: a pulsation feel in the coach and a popping sound while driving up some grades. Cause:never really found out. I did change all the plugs & wires, cap,rotor,ignition control module
Outcome:This did work for a while but the problem came back after about 2 to 3,000 miles. Also I did replace burned out #8 plug wire twice during this problem time frame. Traded in the coach with 52,000 miles

[pulsar]

RV particulars: 2002 Winnebago Adventurer 32V – Workhorse W-20 chassis
Driveline (Engine, Transmission): Chevy 8.1L, Allison 1000
Miles: 20,155
Year: 2002
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: RV began pulling to the right. We could smell what we thought was a burning electrical odor. When the brakes were applied, the MH pulled sharply to the left
Effect: We pulled off of the road at the earliest opportunity and called our road service (Coach-net) We advised not to drive further. (We were told later, that a wheel fire has resulted from similar incidence.)
Cause: Poorly designed brakes system. This Bosch ZOTS system, manufactured prior to October 2001, was used by many MH chassis manufacturers. I understand that an International chassis with this system was used on some school buses.
Outcome: Although only the brakes on one wheel locked up, the calipers, slides, and pads were replaced on all wheels. New pin kits were used. The right-front rotor was replaced.

Here is a link to a discussion of a National Highway Transportation Safety Administration investigation of these brakes.

Workhorse brake problems and NHSTA

Tom

[gMw]

RV particulars:
Driveline (Engine, Transmission): Cummins 5.9, Allison 5 spd
Miles: 16,993
Year: 2001
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: Engine wouldn't start after refueling. Dash lights work, key switch works, starter motor – nothing (no sound, no turn, nothing). Batteries fully charged, everything else working normally.
Effect: Engine will not start, towed to Frieghtliner...
Cause: Bad starter motor
Outcome: Starter replaced, now starts normally. Problem solved!!