Few Repair/Maintance questions for new RV owner

[soloblazer]

hey everyone, i have rented Motorhomes in past, and also owned campers, so late last year we decided to buy our first MH, we bought a 97 Fleetwood Flair 31', we got a heck of a deal so couldnt pass on it. We used it a few times last year locally to see how everything work and what did and didnt work, but i have a few things i need some info on before starting repairs.

1. i have a slight vibration, not in steering wheel, but just in general, the passanger seats vibrates if no one is in it, from about 20mph up. i had all the rear tires balanced. i have not had the front ones done yet, but could be next?

2. The rv seems noisy on the inside when going down the road, just all around noisy, i have road in other rv of same age and older and they seem like they are alot quieter. is this normal for the flair?

3. It seems like this is very common issue i have read tons of forums, but i have a exhaust leak, not sure if its a cracked manifold or bad gasket yet, but will this hurt to leave like this for a little while as it seems expensive to fix at least from the shops i have talked to her in NC.

4. I also have the issue of the temp getting hot when pulling mountains or hard acceleration. i dont think it ever overheated as never heard or saw and boiling or overflow. it runs about 200-210 normal and up from there on hills. i have changed and flush radiator and also added water wetter, also changed thermostat.

5. The engine AC unit, when i got it i could turn the AC on and it would sometimes squeal like crazy so i wold turn off and turn on and it would start to work fine and blow cold for 5 mins then start to squeal again. i changed the belt and it work for about 5 min trip then it started to squeal and eventually broke belt. When it started to squeal the compressor still was turning, so it was locked up and is not locked up now. but could it be the compressor bad or what?

sorry for all the questions, but thanks in advance for the answers.

[Gjac]

I have a 1996 M/H on a P-30 chassis and had the similar problems. For the vibration in the seats I would also look at the roundness of the tires. Out of round tires will cause that kind of vibration and wheel balancing won't help. You can check by jacking the MH up with the wheels off the ground and put a block of wood under the tire and spin the tire and see what the gap is from the tire to the block of wood. Mine were 1/8 out of round and new tires fixed that problem. A double layer of insulation fixed the engine noise from the dog house. Headers greatly reduced the engine heat issues. I found that advancing the timing from 4 degrees BTC to 9 degrees also helped and added to the performance as well.

[WILDEBILL308]

1. It may be front tiers out of balance. How far have you driven it? It could be flat spots in the tiers from setting in one spot for a long time. Other listed things are possible but I would do the tiers first. What year are the tiers? Older tiers are harder and will ride rougher than new ones.

2. May just be noisy. You can add some insulation under the doghouse and front floor to help dampen the noise.

3. Could be a bad donut gasket. When you can afford it I recommend headers better breathing and better hill climbing ability.

4. There are several posts on improving the airflow through the radiator on Chevy and Ford powered coaches. Basically you make a tunnel from the grill back to the radiator and block any air leaks so all the air goes through the radiator.
Yes the fan clutch could be a contributing factor.
5. My money is on the bad/ seized compressor. The good news is it is probley a GM product and there are lots of them out there get your part number. Hear is a sampling http://www.summitracing.com/search?keyword=Air%20Conditioning%20Compressors%20%20gm&dds=1

[soloblazer]

The MH has about 60k miles on it, i have not done a timing check, the engine runs great and is very strong, no complaints there.

the engine is what is getting hot, not me.

I guess i will get a new compress unless someone has another idea.

[2bzy2c]

soloblazer wrote:
hey everyone, i have rented Motorhomes in past, and also owned campers, so late last year we decided to buy our first MH, we bought a 97 Fleetwood Flair 31', we got a heck of a deal so couldnt pass on it. We used it a few times last year locally to see how everything work and what did and didnt work, but i have a few things i need some info on before starting repairs.

1. i have a slight vibration, not in steering wheel, but just in general, the passanger seats vibrates if no one is in it, from about 20mph up. i had all the rear tires balanced. i have not had the front ones done yet, but could be next?

As was suggested, there may be an issue with the drive line. However, I would have the front tires balanced. Much cheaper and frankly more common than a bad drive line.

2. The rv seems noisy on the inside when going down the road, just all around noisy, i have road in other rv of same age and older and they seem like they are alot quieter. is this normal for the flair?

Probably yes. But you mentioned below about an exhaust leak. That certainly would contribute.

3. It seems like this is very common issue i have read tons of forums, but i have a exhaust leak, not sure if its a cracked manifold or bad gasket yet, but will this hurt to leave like this for a little while as it seems expensive to fix at least from the shops i have talked to her in NC.

It is an expensive fix, but worthwhile in my opinion. The solution is to have headers installed. They are not cast iron, and do not have the cracking or bolt breaking issue as with your original equipment

4. I also have the issue of the temp getting hot when pulling mountains or hard acceleration. i dont think it ever overheated as never heard or saw and boiling or overflow. it runs about 200-210 normal and up from there on hills. i have changed and flush radiator and also added water wetter, also changed thermostat.

What is getting hot? The engine or you?

5. The engine AC unit, when i got it i could turn the AC on and it would sometimes squeal like crazy so i wold turn off and turn on and it would start to work fine and blow cold for 5 mins then start to squeal again. i changed the belt and it work for about 5 min trip then it started to squeal and eventually broke belt. When it started to squeal the compressor still was turning, so it was locked up and is not locked up now. but could it be the compressor bad or what?

Probably the compressor. Junk yard item.

sorry for all the questions, but thanks in advance for the answers.

[donn0128]

How many miles on the motor? If I remember correctly the big blocks could be hard on timing chains. Have you had a timing light on it yet? If you get a chance to do so, be sure to run it through the range to be sure that the timing is actually following the RPM properly.

[soloblazer]

thanks for the info, i have a fan clutch on order, hope to put it on soon, ad good idea about the quilt idea i will try that as well.
Im not 100% sure if it was the correct belt, i just went to parts store and that is what they looked up, i will try another before taking it to the shop.

[hershey]

Good response to your query. I'd add to check the fan clutch as the cause of the overheating. When the temp rises to 210 + or - a few degrees, you should hear a definite change in engine noise. You should detect, easily, a definite roar indicating that the fan has engaged and is now pulling air through the radiator.
Good advice on the U-Joint(s) and carrier bearing. Throw a quilt over the engine hump and see if that quietens things down a lot. If so, the leakage is around the engine hump and lack of insulation to quieten things down.
If it doesn't....learn to live with it. 😞
Perhaps your belt is't tight enough on the AC?? Is it the right belt?? Pitch and width?

[soloblazer]

Sorry i posted it in my second post, but its a 1997 fleetwood Flair chevy P30 454

[desobelman]

soloblazer,

Really important that you give us aas much info as possible. Year, make, model, chassis of your coach.

You said it is a Flair, so based on the model year it is probably on the Ford F53 chassis. Again, year makes big difference in what/how to fix.

If it is a pre-1999 model then it is most likely the Ford 460 V-8. If that is the case, I highly recommend you make the investment in the Banks exhaust system. Full Banks Powerpack w/TransCommand runs around $3500. Best investment I made on my previous coach, a 1998 Dolphin with the 460. No more header bolt problems, terrific increase in poower and torque and the engine ran much cooler, even on long uphill grades.

Happy Trails! :W

Darryl

[soloblazer]

donn0128 wrote:

soloblazer wrote:
hey everyone, i have rented Motorhomes in past, and also owned campers, so late last year we decided to buy our first MH, we bought a 97 Fleetwood Flair 31', we got a heck of a deal so couldnt pass on it. We used it a few times last year locally to see how everything work and what did and didnt work, but i have a few things i need some info on before starting repairs.

1. i have a slight vibration, not in steering wheel, but just in general, the passanger seats vibrates if no one is in it, from about 20mph up. i had all the rear tires balanced. i have not had the front ones done yet, but could be next?Drive shaft vibration caused by a bad carrier bearing would be my first guess. Next would be a bad universal joint. Ok, i dont think carrier bearings are that expensive so may try that first. I guess i could change U joints while i am in there? thoughts, should i just change it all?

2. The rv seems noisy on the inside when going down the road, just all around noisy, i have road in other rv of same age and older and they seem like they are alot quieter. is this normal for the flair?Probably common for a 16 year old RV. You will probably have to take it for a drive while you or someone else looks for rattles and such. Yea not really rattles, more like road noise? but thats not a huge deal.

3. It seems like this is very common issue i have read tons of forums, but i have a exhaust leak, not sure if its a cracked manifold or bad gasket yet, but will this hurt to leave like this for a little while as it seems expensive to fix at least from the shops i have talked to her in NC.What chassis? What motor? If it is a big block Ford, then yes, it is common. Usual cause is broken manifold bolts. Not an easy or cheap fix. sorry its a p30 chevy 454.

4. I also have the issue of the temp getting hot when pulling mountains or hard acceleration. i dont think it ever overheated as never heard or saw and boiling or overflow. it runs about 200-210 normal and up from there on hills. i have changed and flush radiator and also added water wetter, also changed thermostat.Remember the motor is in a really tight enclosure. There is going to be a lot of heat IF you are pressing it hard. Back off on the throttle and go up the hills slower helps a lot.

5. The engine AC unit, when i got it i could turn the AC on and it would sometimes squeal like crazy so i wold turn off and turn on and it would start to work fine and blow cold for 5 mins then start to squeal again. i changed the belt and it work for about 5 min trip then it started to squeal and eventually broke belt. When it started to squeal the compressor still was turning, so it was locked up and is not locked up now. but could it be the compressor bad or what? My guess? the AC compressor is locked up. A good AC repair man should be able to fix it for you. Again, it is not going to be cheap. Ok, the compressor is not locked up its still spins just seems very hard, didnt know if there was too much pressure there or what.


sorry for all the questions, but thanks in advance for the answers.

[donn0128]

soloblazer wrote:
hey everyone, i have rented Motorhomes in past, and also owned campers, so late last year we decided to buy our first MH, we bought a 97 Fleetwood Flair 31', we got a heck of a deal so couldnt pass on it. We used it a few times last year locally to see how everything work and what did and didnt work, but i have a few things i need some info on before starting repairs.

1. i have a slight vibration, not in steering wheel, but just in general, the passanger seats vibrates if no one is in it, from about 20mph up. i had all the rear tires balanced. i have not had the front ones done yet, but could be next?Drive shaft vibration caused by a bad carrier bearing would be my first guess. Next would be a bad universal joint.

2. The rv seems noisy on the inside when going down the road, just all around noisy, i have road in other rv of same age and older and they seem like they are alot quieter. is this normal for the flair?Probably common for a 16 year old RV. You will probably have to take it for a drive while you or someone else looks for rattles and such.

3. It seems like this is very common issue i have read tons of forums, but i have a exhaust leak, not sure if its a cracked manifold or bad gasket yet, but will this hurt to leave like this for a little while as it seems expensive to fix at least from the shops i have talked to her in NC.What chassis? What motor? If it is a big block Ford, then yes, it is common. Usual cause is broken manifold bolts. Not an easy or cheap fix.

4. I also have the issue of the temp getting hot when pulling mountains or hard acceleration. i dont think it ever overheated as never heard or saw and boiling or overflow. it runs about 200-210 normal and up from there on hills. i have changed and flush radiator and also added water wetter, also changed thermostat.Remember the motor is in a really tight enclosure. There is going to be a lot of heat IF you are pressing it hard. Back off on the throttle and go up the hills slower helps a lot.

5. The engine AC unit, when i got it i could turn the AC on and it would sometimes squeal like crazy so i wold turn off and turn on and it would start to work fine and blow cold for 5 mins then start to squeal again. i changed the belt and it work for about 5 min trip then it started to squeal and eventually broke belt. When it started to squeal the compressor still was turning, so it was locked up and is not locked up now. but could it be the compressor bad or what? My guess? the AC compressor is locked up. A good AC repair man should be able to fix it for you. Again, it is not going to be cheap.

sorry for all the questions, but thanks in advance for the answers.