Ex-rental breakdown and warranty fiasco
Before purchasing an ex-rental RV, I read these forums to find out as much as I could, got bad reviews for one company but great reviews on another, and many success stories. Most of the warnings I h...
Forum Discussion
dbwiddis wrote:
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- Repair shop diagnosis has shown that the emergency brake booster (immediately behind the transmission, attached to the drive train) "disintegrated" and there is other damage to the transmission output shaft and other components in the drive train. Repair estimates are $3200.
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The parking brake on an E450 on on the back of the transmission. It, more or less, is a drive shaft clamp. I priced replacing it in 2012. I was quoted $1,295 USD + installation (of about $150.00). From what I can tell shops would rather replace the E450's parking brake than try to rebuild it. From the sound of it, yours may be beyond being rebuilt.
This is a bit of an Achilles' heel with the E450. Because the parking brake is mated to the back of the transmission, if the seal between the parking brake and the transmission fails the transmission can lose fluid and suffer damage.
The parking brake has its own fluid reservoir that holds about 4 ounces of transmission fluid. It should at least be checked during maintenance intervals and is not well documented.
