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.

[soloblazer]

No not yet, i was just asking for my own knowledge, i am going to check them tomorrow.

[Gjac]

soloblazer wrote:
I have another question that deals with the shaking tire thing? alot of you agree with checking the tires to be out of round, but i have a dumb question, if the tire is out of round then it wouldn't balance correctly, right? All 4 of the rear tires were balanced and balanced out to 0 as they should? just thought i would throw that out there. thanks

Your tires maybe in balance but that does not mean they are round. The only way that they can be fixed it to true the tires, remount the tires or buy new tires. I don't know who can true the tires anymore. It entails turning the tire and shaving material off like a lathe. Did you check the tires yourself for being out of round?

[soloblazer]

I have another question that deals with the shaking tire thing? alot of you agree with checking the tires to be out of round, but i have a dumb question, if the tire is out of round then it wouldn't balance correctly, right? All 4 of the rear tires were balanced and balanced out to 0 as they should? just thought i would throw that out there. thanks

[soloblazer]

Yes i am willing to do all the work i can, i am not afraid to dive into into it. thanks for everyones advice on everything.

[Kalexandera]

Sounds like you are handy and willing to do much of the work - good on you! A word of advice - DON'T USE CAMPING WORLD. I am new and started out taking my rig to them. NOTHING they said has proven true and they didn't do as I ask and cost me $9000 for a new engine, which any other mechanic would have known better. I've had GREAT luck with local folks. Check to see how long they have been in the business. Many are 25+ years so they have experience with different rigs and older ones (mine is a 1994 Winnebago Vectra. But stuff at Camping World but don't do repairs there!!!!!

[soloblazer]

Anyone have any idea for first triing to clean out radiator? i have heard of people taking radiator off and filling with CLR or some other rust removers and letting it sit overnight and then flushing it out? just thought i would see what your ideas are.

[havasu]

On the overheating issue, my 1984 P30 454 coach was always overheating on hills - the fan clutch was working but after so many years the radiator was clogged. I had it rebuilt and upgraded - the old one was 3 core and the new one was 5 core. Slightly thicker but fitted just fine. Never had to worry about overheating ever after that, and I pulled grades in the CA desert at 115F towing a Jeep GC so it was well worth the effort.

Flat spotting is caused by sitting still and not be hard braking.

It will be noisier than some other coaches and insulating the dog house will help as will fixing that exhaust leak - for one thing, you don't want poisonous exhaust gas entering the RV, but also temps and other damage will be affected by a leak. 454s are better than 460s and use a gasket (460s don't) and so presoak the bolts in anti-seize for a couple of days before attempting to remove - a good repair shop will use an acetylene torch to heat them up before attempting removal.

I have repaired my own ac on several occasions but you will need to remove it all to flush it out properly and replace the compressor and the receiver/dryer - the good news is that it's all pretty easy to get at on an RV 🙂 Shop around on eBay for the parts and save $$ over dealer.

[Mulberry912]

I had a Class A Winnie with the 454. Awsome engine. The engine heat issue can be fixed easily. Mine ran 190 degrees on the flats. Climbing steep hills she would run up to 210-220. So I installed 2 elecric cooling fans side by side in front of the radiator. They ran when engine started. Made a big difference. It helped blow the hot air out of the engine compartment. After adding the 2 fans temp dropped to 180 on flat highway and 205-210 climbing.

[BillMFl]

Geocritter wrote:
Someone may have over-filled your AC with Freon. It happened to me and I ended up burning out the compressor clutch. You might want to take some gauges and check AC pressures.
Steve

I would also add a small can of compressor oil. You can get it at an auto parts store. It might free it up. The squeeling may also be the pully shaft bearing. Squirt oil there too. It won't fix a worn bearing but if it gets quiet momentarily thats a clue.

[Geocritter]

Someone may have over-filled your AC with Freon. It happened to me and I ended up burning out the compressor clutch. You might want to take some gauges and check AC pressures.
Steve

[soloblazer]

Great ideas, i took the Mh to a tire shop and they check the tires and said they look good, they also balanced them, i still need to get the front done.
I will check Lowes for material to insulate the engine.
I did not change the cap out
I am going to change the fan clutch out because it does not seem to be roaring.
I understand its a entry level rv, no insult taken. again its a starter MH.
I am pretty handy with working on cars, and have change ac compressors out on pickups and cars before. so should be straight forward, not sure if compressor broke as again it still turns with a belt it just squiks really bad, and still turns but slow, almost like the compressor is getting ready to lock up. i can turn the ac on and it will make a loud squeking noise but the air gets cold, so i know it working just cant run for more then a few minutes as it will break the belt.
Do the headers that will bolt up to my exhaust, meaning i can change the headers myself? without welding?
thanks again for all the info...

[BillMFl]

soloblazer wrote:
Ok, i will try the tire thing and see if out of round.
What kind of insulation did you use in the dog house to quiet it down.
If i replace the headers do i have to replace the whole exhaust system or are they bolt on? The exhaust is in good shape all the way back so hate to replace it all.
Can i just replace the AC compressor my self and add freon from parts store, or do i need to replace compressor and take it somewhere for them to fill it?

If the Y pipe and the rest of the exhaust are in good shape they can be reused. The scary part is the bolts for the headers. They often break and have to be drilled out. Labor $. And the longer the leak goes on the greater the chance for damage to the head or block surfaces. As for the ac, I have changed them myself, but you need to know what you are doing. If the compressor blew up there may be trash thru the whole system especially the expansion valve. If that isn't a problem, then you need to replace both the receiver/dryer and the compressor. While refilling the system, bleed the lines at first to remove any trsh or water. Also add some compressor oil. Beware of the high pressure side. In a shop they use a vacuum device to empty the system before refilling and by law they are required to capture the refrigerant and not release it into the air. But we shade tree mechanics do lots of bad stuff (like millions of gallons of old oil) so buy a Chilton's or some such for that engine and have at it if you are fearless and handy. 🙂

[Galvanizd]

Billy,

Congrats on the new to you Rv. 1st , don't get discouraged while you work your way the the problems of new to you Rv . Sometimes it's an easy fix, sometimes not. We've all been there .

On the vibration . Check the age of the tires. Your Rv could've been sitting a lot and someone else mentioned flat spot. To check the age, it's usually found on the tire sidewall near the DOT imprint in an oval encasement, something like this (0610) the first 2 numbers are the week and the last 2 numbers are the year the tire was built. If you knew this already, sorry for the rehash., but you might have an old bad tire(s) causing vibration, happened to me. Sometimes the tire is mounted with the imprint towards the undercarriage.

Just a thought on the overheating. Did you replace the radiator cap with a new one when you flushed. I had a bad radiator cap caused my temp to rise.

When this happened to me on the ac prob, it occurred just before my alternator froze up, my compressor was working fine. Just a thought.

Check with Home Depot or lowes for material to insulate the engine

You've got a older puller, your close to the engine , more noise.
Not trying to insult you here but you have an entry level Rv , in the interest of weight management they use lightweight materials to build your Rv. More susceptible to road noises.not a thing wrong with , just the way it is.

More knowledgeable people here than me, but maybe some of this will help.

[soloblazer]

Ok, i will try the tire thing and see if out of round.
What kind of insulation did you use in the dog house to quiet it down.
If i replace the headers do i have to replace the whole exhaust system or are they bolt on? The exhaust is in good shape all the way back so hate to replace it all.
Can i just replace the AC compressor my self and add freon from parts store, or do i need to replace compressor and take it somewhere for them to fill it?

[BillMFl]

Gjac wrote:
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.

Good idea. It is possible the previous owner had to brake extremely hard in an emergency type situation and you have "flat spots" on your front tires. Once there they never go away. Some tires come slightly out of round from the factory and get worse with time and abnormal wear.