First Trip Issue and Questions

[thefuzz4]

So we had our first trip with our new 96 Coachmen Leprechaun. The trip was an overall success despite the major mechanical problem that we had.

We're pulling with our camper, our car hauler with all of our ATVs on it and I knew going into the Colorado mountains that once we started to hit the hills, it would be slow travels going up, especially up and over Berthoud pass. So we got to our camp site for the weekend (which we did this from Jun2-5) which was way later than we anticipated due to leaving the house so late, once we got there I smelled what I thought was brakes but upon inspection all the brakes were fine, what wasn't? The tranny was pouring all of her blood out onto the ground. Thank goodness we had other people coming up on Friday and we were able to have them bring us some more ATF along with a bottle of Lucas Tranny additive (per camping world's service department recommendation) After adding the ATF and additive into the tranny we were able to move the camper around the site a little bit and ran it through its gears. We managed to get it back home on Sunday and took it into the shop on Monday. Well finally after a complete tranny rebuild she's back home and on the side of the house in her resting place. We have another trip planned to go back to the same area in a few weeks so I'm looking forward to putting that new tranny through its paces.
During the rebuild we had them put in the double billet torque converter which was on the higher end of the price range but we decided the extra 400 was worth it over a stock converter. The mech's told us that the converter is what failed and there is no telling how it happens it sometimes just does, and of course we have no way of knowing what the previous owners did to the tranny either.

So here is our question: does anyone have any idea what size the fuel tank is in this thing? They seller told me it was a 32gal but when I finally filled it up for our trip, she was at 1/2 tank (according to the guage) and took 31gal so either its got a 60gal tank or the guage/sending unit is bad. Thank you all for your help with this and can't wait to get back on the road.

[thefuzz4]

@sam and @rock
We are planning on before our next trip hooking everything up and finding out exactly how much we weigh. The trailer empty is at 2K and we have 3 400lbs ATVs on it and then 2 little things for the kids. I've been considering getting a Echo ATV trailer for us since I know that they're a lot lighter than our hauler.

EDIT: And yes I definitely don't want to burn up another tranny thats for sure.

[Sam_Spade]

rockhillmanor wrote:

I think you do need to sit down and look at what the whole package weighs. And then check what 'your' MH is rated at for towing. Before you maybe burn up another trans. :W

This is the point I was trying to make.....but he said he doesn't know. HE NEEDS TO FIND OUT or he likely will be dumping his rebuilt tranny too.

A little excess weight might not be too important on the flat but going up and down steep hills it becomes VERY important.

If the vehicle speed drops below where the torque converter "unlocks" and stays like that for long stretches.....UP goes the temperature and DOWN goes the tranny.

[rockhillmanor]

Sam Spade wrote:
....If you really want to discuss this here and come away with some USEFUL information you need to tell us how much weight you were towing at the time.....as was requested by another poster already....

How many ATV's do you carry? I think the average type ATV are around the 400 to 500+ lb range. Most I've seen are around 700 lbs. Heck the Polaris Sportsman 850 XP weighs in at 784 lbs!

Not all, but most of us try and stay real low on the weight of what we tow with a gas Class C. We buy the smallest car possible to tow with a C. Trying to stay under 3,000 to 4,000 lbs less is better.

You said the car hauler weighs 3,000 empty? If your running with 4 ATV's let's say weigh 700 lbs. each you're pushing towing 5,800 lbs.

I pull a 3,000 lb car and I 'know' it's back there 'climbing any type of grade'. You won't see too many Class C's haul'n around a car hauler 'because' of how much it weighs before you even put anything on it.

I think you do need to sit down and look at what the whole package weighs. And then check what 'your' MH is rated at for towing. Before you maybe burn up another trans. :W

[thefuzz4]

Sigh I'm such a scatter brain lol yes it is a E350 as well. We went through the chasis owner manual but well that thing is just assuming that we have a Van lol and goes over all the features that the van model has. We also read through front to back the owner manual from coachmen but it doesn't say anything about the fuel capacity there either. Thanks for the help on the tank size.

[thefuzz4]

Hey Sam and Drew,

My apologies I don't know what my complete weight was I know the trailer comes in at around 3K fully loaded. Yeah the RV had 37K on it when I bought it and not sure when it was last changed. I'll also look at changing out the brake lines and fluid as well.

Sam, they said the converter likely seized and that it just got really hot. I told them what we pull with it and everything because I wanted to make sure that the cooling on the system was adequate. The cooler got a complete flush while everything was out and they made sure that we had good flow. Good points on the trailer, is there an easy method to determine if the bearings are tight? I know that when we change the tires out on it, I can freely spin them with no issue, not sure how accurate of a method that is.

Yes I am looking to get as much useful information as possible not trying to beat around any bushes here because well I don't want to go back down this road for a very long time :).

[Sam_Spade]

thefuzz4 wrote:
Thank you all for your replies and information.

And what did the transmission guys tell you about the CAUSE of all that ??

If you really want to discuss this here and come away with some USEFUL information you need to tell us how much weight you were towing at the time.....as was requested by another poster already.

Dragging brakes or tight axle bearings on the trailer can be a problem too.

[DrewE]

Assuming it's a Ford E-SuperDuty chassis (which was pretty soon renamed to the E-450), you do have a 55 gallon gas tank. Probably also if it's the E-350 chassis.

Sorry to hear about your misery. I wonder if the transmission fluid was low and/or needed changing to begin with? I believe on these Ford's it's supposed to be drained and replaced every 30K miles. (There is a drain on the torque converter, so it's possible to do a fairly complete fluid change by gravitation alone.)

If you haven't already done so and don't know when it was last done, I would suggest changing the brake fluid and possibly the flexible brake lines as well. Brake fluid tends to absorb moisture from the air over time, and that moisture lowers its boiling point and can cause corrosion of brake system components. Boiling brake fluid means basically no braking ability...not good in the mountains.

[thefuzz4]

Thank you all for your replies and information.
When our mech pulled the tranny out they completely tore it apart to see what other damage was done. The converter had what they called the ring of fire on it due to the ring from where the metal heated up so fast that it changed the color. The center carrier had a nice groove worked into it about the size of a ball point pin. The steel bands had signs of metal to metal contact on them. The clutch plates were completely worn through as well.
So the whole thing got a complete rebuild.

When you're talking about floating out what do you mean?

While going up the first hill into the mountains on I-70 we dropped down to around 45 but I wasn't really pushing her though either. Pulling the same trailer with my Chevy Avalanche had about the same performance. Going over the pass she pulled along with really no struggles doing 35 which is where I was happy at due to the switch backs I didn't want to go any faster. Sure it downshifted into 3rd but I just didn't want to work it. I think that where it finally overheated at was when we got to the ATV staging area by Grand Lake CO which is a good 50 miles from the serious hill and about a good 10 miles of that is down hill and I just let her coast since I figured that would be a good way to let her breathe for a bit. The reason why we think that is the spot that she started to overheat was due to the fluid spot on the ground that I found the next day. Our camp site was still another 2 miles back in the woods from the staging area. On our way back home I checked the area of the top of the summit where we stopped at on our way over to see if I could find any signs of a spot there, and when we got back home I checked the fluid in the tranny and everything was still nice and red unlike the black that was pouring out of it.
Hopefully this will be a one time adventure (most of our first trips for the year usually have something happen lol) I'll report back in a few weeks with how she does with all new guts.

[rockhillmanor]

Misery loves company sometimes. Just Thought I'd share the same thing that happened to me, he isn't the lone ranger with his RV.

And to give him a heads up about how the emergency brake works and how it is an integral part of the trans fluid. I know I sure did not know that until a mechanic pointed it out to me....while the ole Queen Mary was on the lift getting in replaced. :C

[Sam_Spade]

thefuzz4 wrote:
Thank you all for your help with this and can't wait to get back on the road.

55 gallons is common. If the manufacturer is still in business, they might be able to come up with an owners manual.

Do you want comments on your other problem ?

Some users here get REALLY hot when answers come back that aren't for the SPECIFIC question they asked.

Edit:

Well I see that someone else "broke the ice" so.........
Any time the transmission (converter) is not locked, a good bit of heat will be generated in the transmission. In most transmissions, that happens any time it is not in the highest "cruising" gear.

Most are NOT designed to pull hard for long periods. You may need an aux. transmission cooler.....or a reduced load......or a bigger towing vehicle.

[rockhillmanor]

thefuzz4 wrote:
So we had our first trip with our new 96 Coachmen Leprechaun. The trip was an overall success despite the major mechanical problem that we had.

We're pulling with our camper, our car hauler with all of our ATVs on it and I knew going into the Colorado mountains that once we started to hit the hills, it would be slow travels going up, especially up and over Berthoud pass. So we got to our camp site for the weekend (which we did this from Jun2-5) which was way later than we anticipated due to leaving the house so late,

once we got there I smelled what I thought was brakes but upon inspection all the brakes were fine, what wasn't? The tranny was pouring all of her blood out onto the ground.

Thank goodness we had other people coming up on Friday and we were able to have them bring us some more ATF along with a bottle of Lucas Tranny additive (per camping world's service department recommendation) After adding the ATF and additive into the tranny we were able to move the camper around the site a little bit and ran it through its gears. We managed to get it back home on Sunday and took it into the shop on Monday. Well finally after a complete tranny rebuild she's back home and on the side of the house in her resting place. We have another trip planned to go back to the same area in a few weeks so I'm looking forward to putting that new tranny through its paces.
During the rebuild we had them put in the double billet torque converter which was on the higher end of the price range but we decided the extra 400 was worth it over a stock converter. The mech's told us that the converter is what failed and there is no telling how it happens it sometimes just does, and of course we have no way of knowing what the previous owners did to the tranny either.

So here is our question: does anyone have any idea what size the fuel tank is in this thing? They seller told me it was a 32gal but when I finally filled it up for our trip, she was at 1/2 tank (according to the guage) and took 31gal so either its got a 60gal tank or the guage/sending unit is bad. Thank you all for your help with this and can't wait to get back on the road.

1. I had the converter go out on a 97 with the V10. I asked to see the part when they pulled it out.

The malfunctioning part in the converter is PLASTIC! I was so ticked off that a manufacturing company would use plastic. 😞

Do you have the Ford Chassis? When overheated pulling a steep grade if the trans oil overheats there is an overflow and the trans fluid is designed to pour out. Doesn't necessarily mean the trans is lunched. Had this happen to me put oil back in and never traveled out west again. Tranny was just fine.

2. Regarding the brake smell. I HOPE your mechanic also checked the emergency brake. On these the emergency brake is built in and stops the draft shaft not like the old days where the EB grabbed a wheel. It also holds "a 1/3 of your trans oil".

If the emergency brake assembly starts leaking you can lunch the trans. Which came first? And did you mechanic thoroughly check your emergency brake assembly so it doesn't happen again?

I had the torque converter go out first and only replaced the converter the trans was fine. Then the next year had to replace the Emergency Brake Assembly.

3. HOW MUCH does your car hauler and all those ATV's weigh? IMHO JMHO I won't pull over 3,000 lbs. with a C. The V10 with the proper weight of a tow vehicle pulls steep grades with ease. If you are struggling and it's floating out your are way overweight for it.