| |
Subject |
Author |
Date Posted |
Forum
|
 |
RE: " DIRT DAUBERS"
I covered the furnace, refer and water heater vents earlier this year with mud dauber screens. Next project is covering the AC's.
My dealer also suggested putting screen across the bottom opening of the propane compartment. Said the wasps were attracted to the propane.
Don't know about the wasps, but the local indigenous spiders sure love to web up in the propane compartment! :B
|
thomasmnile
|
05/23/12 07:18pm |
General RVing Issues
|
|
RE: Ford owns it's logo again!
Good news for Ford, they "pawned" their logo and other assets in 2006 to save their business, and they got them back now due to their great economc performance. Great news for North American jobs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/business/a-prized-logo-is-returned-to-ford.html?_r=1
OK, it's early and I couldn't resist. Did Ford buy back ownership of their Blue Oval from Cummings??? :B :B
|
thomasmnile
|
05/23/12 07:20am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: Major fuel leak 6.7L Ford Powerstroke
Wonder if during the course of service on the OP's truck if anything had to be dismantled/disconnected to access the NOX module and wasn't properly reinstalled?
After all, pretty tight fit under the hood.........:h
Anyway, good news, under warranty. Sure hope it's not a fuel system issue of the type that Ricatic experienced.
|
thomasmnile
|
05/17/12 07:28am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: New Truck Break in period
Your truck, your money, your choice. I would abide by the owner's manual instructions............
|
thomasmnile
|
05/16/12 03:03pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: laminate flooring
Wonder if a polyethylene vapor barrier was put down before plank installation? Laminate flooring is exquisitely sensitive to moisture, and an RV, especially when not in use,is hard to control humidity levels without AC or dehumidification. Then again, seems like placement of polyethlyene barrier over a wood product substrate in an RV might cause issues for the substrate......
I've read enough problems with laminate flooring in RV's I guess I'm glad I've got the old stapled down carpeting. YMMV.
|
thomasmnile
|
05/16/12 02:59pm |
Fifth-Wheels
|
|
RE: A/C Issues With Dodge Ram?
Since most of of the people responding in this thread seem to know a lot more than me about Dodge A/C's than I do, let me post this problem to this thread.
On our last long distance trip pulling our 5th wheel with my 2003 Dodge Cummins on numerous occasions while down south the A/C failed, almost all air stopped coming out of the vents no matter what position I had the vent controls in. It took awhile but I figured out if I turned the AC off for just a few minutes the cold air returned and it cooled down the truck as it should. Of course a half hour later or so I had to repeat that procedure. This only happened when air temps were over 90 degrees along with very high humidity levels.
When at a Dodge dealer later on in the trip for another issue, I mentioned the symptoms to the mechanic and he checked the Freon level and took some pressure readings but couldn't seem to find a problem.
Any ideas? or is this just another symptom of a weak/problematic Dodge A/C?
Thanks
Ron W.
Rjsurfer: PM Elitelq who has made several posts on this thread. He does automotive AC work and seems quite knowledgeable about Dodge AC issues. He might be able to give you some direction.
|
thomasmnile
|
05/15/12 08:02am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: A/C Issues With Dodge Ram?
Yes. You could get a piece of the insulating pipe wrap tube stuff at Home Depot or Lowe's. It is the black or grey stuff. I think the 1 inch cover size would fill the gap. I had a piece of 1 inch by 2 or little more rectangular foam I used. I think it was packing in a shipment I received but it worked fine.
There might be something in the weatherstrip foam area that would do the trick too.
Thanks, I'll give it a try.
|
thomasmnile
|
05/14/12 08:28pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: A/C Issues With Dodge Ram?
Dodges can have reduced high side pressure and better cooling at low speeds with a foam filler seal above condenser to make air be drawn through condenser and not bypass go through intercooler in that gap. I sealed the sides too but the one that did the most was that top being sealed. I would imagine it had some effect upwards on outlet temp of intercooler. The owner would never know the higher intake air temp to engine but they sure applauded the cooler a/c.
I understand what you're saying about a seal above the condenser. What kind of foam "filler" do you use, and is this something I could try?
|
thomasmnile
|
05/14/12 05:20pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: firestone air bags for uplander, how long do they last
I've had Ride Rite (Firestone) on my Ram 3500 for 4 years. The right side air spring has a slow leak that I have yet to locate. I suspect it's an air line fitting either at the fill valve or the elbow where the air line attaches to th spring. The "springs" themselves are pretty beefy. The fittings, nylon air line and the fill valves are probably the weak points of the system. There are other brands, AFAIK, they are constructed in similar fashion.
|
thomasmnile
|
05/14/12 01:39pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: A/C Issues With Dodge Ram?
I do automotive a/c repairs at my shop and I do see a lot of Dodge truck evaporator leaks on the 94-2002 and the 2003-2006. 2002-2006 have the poor doors in the HVAC case. I saw the first 2007- evaporator leak 6 weeks ago so I won't form opinions yet.....
The ECM program that operates the Viscotronic fans on Cummins is too late to turn on the fan as someone mentioned. Ford has used that fan system since 2003 also and their program kicks on fan at a lower pressure.
The Cummins program starts fan at a reasonable pressure but the fan comes on too slowly and high side often goes to 325 psi or more before the fans gets active enough to reduce the pressure. This may be the reason the compressors seems to fail more (on trucks w/o leaking evaps that lose oil and kill compressors) and also why the cooling performance in traffic is worse than GM and Ford.
If you have a slow leaker on the Dodge 2003-2006 2500/3500 you can pull the resistor for fan out of the bottom of the case and get a decent look at evaporator surface. Usually the leaking spot will have telltale oily dirt buildup. More commonly evaporator leaks get worse but some don't. Compressor front seals leaking are rare and I haven't had a hose leak in a long time.
Elitelq: Since you do this stuff for a living, I'm curious. Have you any experience with an AC system additive called Ice 32? My mechanic uses it, says it helps keep the compressor oil down in the compressor and can help maintain system seal integrity and lower the temp of the output air. I have used it in 3 vehicles and every time it has indeed lowered the temp of the AC output air by 15-20 degrees. Thought it was snake oil, but when I had it installed in the wife's 2000 Camry the tech showed me showed me the temp reading at the dash vent before adding it (system was intact, no low refrigerant condition) and after; the "after" temp at the dash vent was 18 degrees lower. Put the system on recirculate mode and you could hang beef in the car! :E
Since I had it added to my Ram, the AC has been cooling fine.
|
thomasmnile
|
05/14/12 10:04am |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: Humor...
Something about this breed of dog, they sleep alot!
http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/2989/vberthlyingdown.jpg
Never seen a wiener dog, eh? :B
|
thomasmnile
|
05/13/12 08:21pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: air compressor question
I carry a porter cable pancake air compressor in my basement. It is pretty noisy but it puts out 150 psi and it only weighs about 20 lbs. I was carrying a much heavier 60 lbs. unit that would top out at 120 psi. but we recently traded trailers and the new rig has 17.5" 'H' rated tires that require 125 psi.
I just replaced a Kobalt 1.5 gal/135 psi compressor with the Porter Cable pancake compressor. Have GY 614 tires on the trailer and it took FOREVER to put air in them if they were down more than 10 psi with the Kobalt compressor. The Porter Cable compressor is a lot faster and the compressor doesn't shut off because the thermal overload protection on the motor tripped out. Think the 6 gal tank helps.................
|
thomasmnile
|
05/13/12 08:12pm |
General RVing Issues
|
|
RE: Heartland Augusta
That sounds more like this forum than the Heartland Owner's forum...
That IS funny!! :B
|
thomasmnile
|
05/12/12 06:51pm |
Fifth-Wheels
|
|
RE: A/C Issues With Dodge Ram?
I have an '05 3500 bought used, that has twice needed about a pound of refrigerant added to it. The shop that services it has leak checked it each time and has never found a leak. Where the refrigerant goes, I have no idea; it has been fine since the last refrigerant was added two years ago. I do know the first sign of it being low on refrigerant is it starts blowing warm air out the passenger side vents, but the driver side air remains cold. I do know the blend doors in the plenum behind the dash can be a problem. They are driven by 12v motors and are connected to the motors by plastic shafts which can break. I replaced one defective one on my truck that was broken and resulted in lukewarm air at the dash vents when the AC was operating.
|
thomasmnile
|
05/12/12 05:06pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: We are looking at a couple of Tahoe Hybrids next week...
Only info I found was on the 2012 hybrid, which has a towing capacity of 6200 lbs. in the rear wheel drive version, less than the conventional model. Strictly a guess, but would suspect if you're looking at a used model, the tow capacity may be in the same range. I'm no mechanic, but I think the hybrid powertrain setup is the limiting factor for towing capacity. The conventional version of the Tahoe is rated for 8500 lbs. Could not find any data for the 4WD models.
|
thomasmnile
|
05/11/12 02:04pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
 |
RE: What I've learned on RV.net
Never viewed any of what I read here as expert. Just folks relating individual experiences. Some of what I've read on this forum is useful info, some not so much, and some just plain amusing........
|
thomasmnile
|
05/11/12 01:39pm |
Tow Vehicles
|
|
RE: Heartland Augusta
Maybe some of his frustration is having to chase down the manufacturers of different product/components in his coach to fix problems. With autos/trucks, other than the tires and maybe the battery, you talk to the brand's dealer, not a component vendor. With RV's, one company put it all together, but if you have an issue with the roof membrane, an appliance, the frame, tires, etc. you're told to contact the vendor. Not saying it's right or wrong, just the way it is. However, if a customer is not getting a satisfactory response from a vendor on a defective component, I absolutely believe the RV manufacturer should intercede on the customer's behalf, and I have read postings here where Heartland has done just that. They have leverage over the vendor the customer doesn't.
|
thomasmnile
|
05/11/12 01:00pm |
Fifth-Wheels
|
|
RE: 6 new LT tires for our rig.
Were are Cooper's made?
According to their website, their North American manufacturing facilities are in the US and Mexico.
|
thomasmnile
|
05/08/12 02:43pm |
Fifth-Wheels
|
|
RE: MorRyde rubber shear spring condition
Yeah, exactly what I thought! Talked to Mor Ryde today and they are going to send me a replacement for the one that I have pix of. The other one is OK - just a slight "cut" in it that is well within the margins for wear. I still think that is odd for such a new coach with such few miles. Anyway, Andrew at MorRyde said it is called bonded seperatoin (ya think?) and it is very rare. He is enclosing a return label for the defective spring. phillip
Phillip, glad to see you received a satisfactory resolution to your problem. I'm thinkin' MorRyde is very interested in seeing your defective spring to study what may have been wrong.
|
thomasmnile
|
05/07/12 05:35pm |
Fifth-Wheels
|
|
RE: MorRyde rubber shear spring condition
Yeah, I'm not feeling like this is normal at all! The rig is not even 2 years old and has less than 3500 miles on it. I'm not real thrilled with having to do this again as I just got it all put back together yesterday from the wet bolt kit install. Is it unsafe to tow like this? At what point should it not be towed before replacement? Phillip
I would call Gary Wheeler @ MorRyde, get his e-mail address and send him the photos. He could best tell you how to proceed. I'm not certain, but badly torn/delaminated shear block might be iffy to tow on. Gary is extremely helpful and customer oriented. I met him at the Tampa show a couple years ago, but darn it, I can't find his business card or I would have posted his contact info for you.
|
thomasmnile
|
05/06/12 10:01am |
Fifth-Wheels
|
