Pulled the trigger - New owner if an '89 Monaco Crown Royale

[Yahooligan]

Well, we did it. We went with the '89 Monaco Crown Royale 36' we looked at today. Fair price for the condition, though not perfect it's a solid start that just needs some TLC (Nothing major, just little projects). The 6CTA8.3 Cummins fired right up and while not a rocket ship, it had no problem running 65-70 on the freeway. Very little smoke from the exhaust, looked like a typical, healthy Cummins. No leaks from the engine, 4-speed Allison shifted firmly but not harshly and no banging. No air leaks, brakes are great, airbags don't leak but I'm going to replace them as the outer rubber where it's being flexed continuously has deteriorated and flaked off, the cords are faintly showing so those along with new tires and fresh fluids are the first order of business. The interior is in very good shape for its age, just needs a good clean and could use new carpet in the rear bedroom area.

Anyway, we're excited. It may not be as pretty as some others out there on the market, but that's ok. It has character. 😄

[calvin5445]

I have owned a 89 crown pretty happy with royale for 8 years and have been pretty happy with it. Have done many things to the coach, pretty familier with it. If you go to the Monaco owners site, another genetleman has a 36. If you need any help please contact me and i will try to steer you in the direction. Do you have any of wiring schematics? would like to have an orginal set.
Calvin 89 Monaco

[calvin5445]

Any chance you still have the coach and the manilla envelope with the all the information? I would like to have copies of the information. I have a 89 crown and dying to have the schematics.
Calvin5445@aol.com

[lennyjudym]

air bags not cheap but when you put them on.it is like putting on new shocks and tires. the ride will improve and make your ride much smother
lenny

[Yahooligan]

So, the lovely front airbags. What say ye? I think I should replace them, or at the very least carry spares. 😉

[Yahooligan]

Figured out the compressor is for the PacBrake, so I need to check the line I guess. I'm assuming it shouldn't be running constantly and probably has a leak somewhere.

[Yahooligan]

Hmmm, nope. Wasn't it. I can't seem to find any separate clearance light switch...except for maybe the switch that springs back to off? I'm assuming that is a switch to flash the clearance lights as a courtesy after passing a truck...which also doesn't seem to do anything.

[Yahooligan]

It seems that I have every wiring diagram/schematic for this coach. The original owner ordered them from Monaco and they're in a thick manila envelope. 😄 There are also some 8.5x11 diagrams, appear to be hand-written, and just browsing through them I may have already solved my clearance light problems. We'll see. Apparently there is a switch for the clearance lights. 😄 Going to run out and test right now.

[calvin5445]

I own an 89 Crown Royale 40ft and have been pretty happy with it. We have changed the furniture, re-colered the pink dash. All in all a great coach, they where truly hand built in those days. Do you have any of the build sheets and electrical schematics for the coach? Once you take care of the small things, I think you will find that you will really like the coach. If you have any questions I can help with let me know
Calvin 89 monaco
calvin5445@aol.com
206-605-7444

[Yahooligan]

Alright, got it home! Had a minor incident on the drive home (Turbo pipe coupler blew off up a hill, got it back on and tight, made it home no problem. Replacing the couplers is now on the to-do list).

So far the only questionable appliances are the roof A/C units and the stand-alone ice maker. I spent a while playing with everything, exploring under/behind things, etc. I'm amazed that everything works, honestly I was expecting to have to replace random things but both furnaces fire right up, the water heater fires right up, etc.

I'm also pretty impressed with the overall build and design of the coach, I can access everything with relative ease for inspection/repair/replacement, including the plumbing. Seems to be a very well planned-out coach, well built and designed to be serviceable.

One thing I haven't been able to figure out yet, there's an electric air compressor mounted on the frame just behind the rear axle. This compressor is on the entire time that the ignition is on whether or not the engine is running. Should it be running all the time? I wouldn't think so, but I haven't looked into it much.

Things that don't work/need to be fixed...

The clearance lights don't come on with the headlights. Previous owner says they work intermittently, so need to trace that down.

Need new coolant and oil pressure gauges in the dash. The rear gauges work fine, the coolant gauge is jumpy at random. The oil pressure gauge seems to be off by about 10psi compared to the rear. At idle and up to temp the front reads 7-10psi, the rear is solid at 20psi.

Need to replace all of the storage door locks and some of the lift arms

There's a relay that clicks under the dash every 10-15 seconds, every time it clicks the volt gauge dips slightly. Only happens with the engine running, no switches on the dash are on and everything seems to be working fine so I have no idea what it could be for.

The exhaust cross-over flex hose (Goes under the oil pan) has cracked at a couple of the seams and is blowing exhaust. Easy fix, just need to measure to get the right replacement.

Got the new tires on (Toyo M122) and it rides nice, they used bead balancing and I have no vibes. Score!

Seems to be happiest running about 60-65mph, drops down to 50-55 on some of our steeper local freeway grades. Boost peaks about 25psi under load at those speeds.

[Les_Balty]

Sounds great! Continuing wishes for safe travels.

[mike_brez]

That is a beauty. Good luck with it.

[Yahooligan]

Well, I got it halfway home today. 🙂 It's getting new tires, then it'll be home.

Mechanically I think it may need less than I was planning on. I was going to replace all fluids, filters, belts, etc but I may only need to do filters and oil. I need to test the coolant, but visually it looks brand new.

After driving it 45 minutes on the freeway and up some hills the oil pressure is consistently 40psi @ 55mph and goes up to 43psi or so at 60-65. This seems to be healthy and well within spec (30psi min @ rated power, and I was below rated power/rpm). Idle was 20psi @ 700rpm, again within spec which says 10psi min. I was thinking these numbers were low at first, but searching around these seem pretty typical for the C8.3, and idle pressure is actually higher than some newer/lower mileage 8.3s which some people have said they see 10-14psi at idle, hot.

Coolant temp ran 180F for the entire drive, trans temp showed just above 90F on the gauge. Sounds like some people usually see around 100F with these Allisons?

Air pressure was steady at, I think, 110psi. Very little fluctuation, would only drop down a little if I moved the throttle a bit or applied the brakes, of course. It has an air throttle. Kind of sensitive.

The brakes work great, no pulling and they're really sensitive at low speed, no problems slowing the coach coming off the freeway. The ride is very comfortable, especially considering our lovely concrete freeways down here. I kept it at 55mph most of the time as I didn't want to push my luck with the old tires. It really seemed happiest running 60-65mph.

The 2-speed rear works like a charm. Freeway onramps aren't too bad if I start out in low and then shift to high as I approach freeway speed.

No obvious signs of fluid leaks, nothing dripping onto the ground.

So far I'm stoked. 🙂

[Dale_Traveling]

Congratulations on the coach. One can't help but to marvel the lines of the older high end DPs. The current productions are all starting to look the same.

Get the mechanical maintenance up to date then start on the house. Driveway camping gets old after a few nights.

[AllegroD]

Very nice. Now let the real spending begin . . . on those changes ya just gotta have.