Unpleasantly Surprised

[SidecarFlip]

While I don't own a diesel pusher (I have a TC), I was down at the shop last week (the shop is an authorized Freightliner chassis repair facility and heavy truck dealership, I was in the back service bay and one of the tech was working on a large diesel pusher. Looked fantastic on the outside with 3 slides, full body paint sat dish and all the 'stuff.

Underneath, it was a mess. The coach looked like it was stored in a field during the off season. Everything underneath was corroded. It was in the shop for a Cummins EGR valve replacement and the tech was into a solid 24 hours to replace the valve (normally on an accessable engine), a 30 minute job.

The tech had to pull the entire exhaust manifold and turbo off the engine because all the bolts were so corroded, he could not get anything loose, just to replace the EGR valve. he told me because it was so cramped underneath, it took 3 guys to wiggle the assembly out.

I took a look underneath and I was amazed at the corrosion. even the radiator support was rusted to the point where failure was just a bump away.

He said there was less than 20K miles on the coach. He had the ATA plumbing laying on the bench. I was amazed to see how corroded the tubes were, both outside and INSDDE and I thought to myself, all that rust is going through the ATA unit and into the motor... just amazing.

I guess it's 'for sale'. Not for me. I'd not even want to pay the repair bill for the EGE valve replacement at $130 bucks an hour plus parts 24 x $130 is a chunk of change... $3 grand plus for what should be a 250 dollar job.

Looked so nice on the outside but what a bomb on the underside.

Moral of the story is, heated inside storage, or at least inside storage on concrete is much better than parking a unit in a dirt lot somewhere. Moisture ruins any unit and it son't take long either.

[Jarlaxle]

hohenwald48 wrote:
The OP posted something he observed in a repair shop where he works. Everybody jumps down his throat. What's up with that?

The usual judgmentalism this place thrives on.

[FunTwoDrv]

MM, Air-to-air I believe...

Gary

[Mortimer_Brewst]

I wish people would read through the entire thread before posting or agreeing with inane comments.

[John_Joey]

DownTheAvenue wrote:
You are making quit an assumption that it had been improperly parked which caused the corrosion. With your descriptions, I bet it had been exposed to sea water or salt treated roads.

X2

Knowledge gained when you spend time on the road and not the forum.

[rockhillmanor]

Geeze no one is jumping down anyone's throat.

You all can't tell me that the same conversation would be said around a campfire with a group of friends about any/all subjects.

And I'll add that my Tahoe that WAS driven in the winters of Wisconsin and the under carriage usually was never washed off consistently. I just got it out of storage up north and brought down here to Florida.

No white stuff remains are visable from the salt just the damage. Second trip to the store it started leaking gas from a rear line. I pulled into a repair shop to see if they would fix it.

First thing the guy said as he looked at my 'Wisconsin' plates was: "nope I don't have time for that today, without even looking I KNOW those Wisconsin fuel lines are 'all' corroded under there and it's gonna take more than an hour to repair that cause it isn't going to be that just one section fix"!. :B

[slickest1]

My vote would be a coach that was flooded cleaned up and sold. Could have been in New Orleans or any other place that got flooded. It does not matter wwhat licence tag it has now.

[midnightsadie]

I have one sitting up the street from me, a class A in its day a $200k unit hasn,t moved in ten years ,sitting the in the grass by the driveway, yep a bucket of rust.

[rexlion]

hohenwald48 wrote:
The OP posted something he observed in a repair shop where he works. Everybody jumps down his throat. What's up with that?

Par for the course around this forum, from what I've observed over the years.

[Bruce_Brown]

Not sensitive at all, just trying to keep things in perspective.

[hohenwald48]

Bruce Brown wrote:

hohenwald48 wrote:
The OP posted something he observed in a repair shop where he works. Everybody jumps down his throat. What's up with that?

I believe it was the tone and assumption this was somehow a DP issue. The continued insistence this wasn't caused by road or sea salt didn't help either.

We too live in the rust belt. The brine they are using to treat the roads today causes far more corrosion than the old road salt we grew up with. The brine also doesn't leave any white residue, and clings darn near forever.

Last year I did a set of brake lines on a friend's car. In mid-August the lines were still slimy.

I would darn near promise you the issue described was caused by driving on a brine treated road. I see it all the time.

Too many assumptions in the OPs story.

I guess I didn't see any assumptions. Just observations. As to it being a DP I assume it was a DP so the OP said it was a DP. Are all DP owners so sensitive?

[Bruce_Brown]

hohenwald48 wrote:
The OP posted something he observed in a repair shop where he works. Everybody jumps down his throat. What's up with that?

I believe it was the tone and assumption this was somehow a DP issue. The continued insistence this wasn't caused by road or sea salt didn't help either.

We too live in the rust belt. The brine they are using to treat the roads today causes far more corrosion than the old road salt we grew up with. The brine also doesn't leave any white residue, and clings darn near forever.

Last year I did a set of brake lines on a friend's car. In mid-August the lines were still slimy.

I would darn near promise you the issue described was caused by driving on a brine treated road. I see it all the time.

Too many assumptions in the OPs story.

[Mr_Mark1]

Quick question, what is ATA plumbing? I googled it and a plumbing business came up.

MM.

[hohenwald48]

The OP posted something he observed in a repair shop where he works. Everybody jumps down his throat. What's up with that?

[SidecarFlip]

DownTheAvenue wrote:

SidecarFlip wrote:

DownTheAvenue wrote:
You are making quit an assumption that it had been improperly parked which caused the corrosion. With your descriptions, I bet it had been exposed to sea water or salt treated roads.

Sea salt, no, plated Ohio and bought local so no sea. Not sure where it was parked but there was no evidence (that I saw) of salt or CaCl corrosion because there was no white residue thats associated with road salt anywhere I looked. Don't believe the owner washed the underside off, least it didn't appear to be ever washed.

The problem with your reasoning:
1. Where purchased and the license plate have nothing to do where the RV may have been driven.
2. You allege that the extreme moisture of the earth was captured under the RV and caused the rust. If that were the cause, I ask you to explain why RV's in Houston, Texas, just for example, don't exhibit the same rust. Humidity levels in Houston reach 90% for extended periods of time.
3. The sodium chloride and other chemicals used in treating roads reacts with the metal causing the rust. I think there is a chemical process that would consume the residue you didn't see. If the residue remained on the metal, how would it ever cause rust? There has to be a reaction.

Candidly, I really don't care. I only posted what I observed on this unit and what the tech told me and showed me.

I do know if, I was contemplating purchasing one (which I'm not because a road wagon don't fit my lifestyle), I'd be looking underneath as well as inside and certainly doing a spectroscopic analysis of all the fluids.

The corrosion I observed and what the tech showed me (inside the ATA plumbing) had to be caused by moisture and sitting somewhere the moisture was allowed to condense on those surfaces.

First time I've ever seen internal corrosion like that. I see carbon buildup in intake runners from EGR but never rust.

Think if I did buy one, new one, I'd fluid film the chassis before it went anywhere.