"1991 Winnebago Warrior Toyota Chasis"
Had my first breakdown today. Was on the way to the Rennaissance festival , two blocks from my house my engine sputters a bit and camper rolls to a stop. In the middle of the street. NO warranty, no insurance and I cant afford towing. Ran back to the house, woke tennant with meter, came back, we pushed it back to the curb by hand "no fun" and after some study found out the secondary on the coil which should be putting out something like 10,000 was putting out 12. Not 12,000 just 12......
So after panicking a bit realising no wrecking yards for parts were open. finally tracked down the one chain NOT closed on Labor day, got a new coil and hit the road three hours late and eighty dollars poorer.
"I'm on social security, 80 bucks hurts"
But I am finding out what happens when you take a camper that has baked 13 years in Arizona up to damp rainy Minnesota. If there is any issue that can be afffected by moisture it will materialise reguardless of how well it was holding together in the dry, things leak, they mildew, and electrical connections go funny. After two weeks a corrosion pattern from a batery letting go started showing itself in the engine compartment, evnen though it must have happened at least 6 years ago. "Yay Humidity" So suffice to say its keeping me busy with nickle and dimeing.
nsvanvoast
Driveline (Engine, Transmission): Cummins 350, Freightliner Chassis
Miles:10500
Year:2003
Break Down Description
![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/cool.gif "cool")
hassis suspension would not air up when jacks are retracted and engine on.Effect: chassis too low to drive, can cause damage to drive shaft.
Cause: air dump valve would not reset
Outcome:under the MH (front axle area) is an override button that will reset the system and allow the air suspension to fill up. Freightliner and Fleetwood still trying to isolate the problem. It could be related to the jack system or the dump switch on my control panel.
Ours are pretty mundane but thought you might want them anyway. They both happened on our old unit (we have just moved to a newer DP).
RV particulars: 1985 Pace Arrow 32' gas
Driveline (Engine, Transmission): GM 454 V-8
Miles: 80,000
Year: 1985
1st Break Down (Jan '03) Description: Engine failed to start
Symptoms: Stopped for supper, would start afterward. Rapped the starter & off we went. Stopped for fuel, and dash went dark when I tried to start.
Effect: May hours, fuses & jumper wires later, figured out the starter was drawing mega-AMPs whenever I hit the key & the relay connected.
Cause: Starter was dead-shorted. Replaced with lifetime rebuild from the Advance Auto across town & installed it myself.
Outcome: Other than the wind & 18 degree weather, it only cost me $45 & 11 hours; all's well that ends well!
2nd Break Down ( May '03) Description: Sudden over-heating of the engine & wandering steering. Engine died & lights dimmed.
Symptoms: Sudden over-heating of the engine & wandering steering. When I stopped (as quickly as safely possible on an Interstate) the radiator was emptying itself for me.
Effect: No power, no cooling, no power steering or brakes.
Cause: It took me about 15 minutes to figure out it wasn't a blown hose or rad, so I pulled the 'dog-house' & instantly found the problem; a frayed belt. Simple enough, I had made sure I had spares for the two listed in the manual when we bought the rig. On closer inspection, I found that not one but both were broken & one was totally gone! One ran the power systems (A/C & power steering/power brake pump) & the other the fan pulley & the alternator.
Outcome: An hour later, after fitting the inner one, I came to the realization that 'something' had been modified since manufacturing and only one of the belts was going to fit. It would fit either path but I only had one belt. I chose the path that gave us cooling & voltage. By the time I was done, the engine had cooled; it had only lost about a gallon & I had more with us, of course. The steering was awful & braking was next to nothing; I had to downshift & use both arms on the wheel & both feet on the brake to stop! The only good thing was that it was well after midnight by now & no one was on the highway. We traveled the remaining 150 miles home in about 4 hours, barely stopped in our backyard, & parked it for about two weeks before I even wanted to LOOK at it again! Bought another belt & it was fine again.
Hope to never add to this post with the DP !!! :-)
--Scott
Any given day, I'm Boating, shoveling or RV'ing south! or riding, wheeling, GP'ing ">
'07 Coachmen Freelander C3100SO: OLLY - "Our Lyl' Land Yacht"
'05 Jeep Liberty
('03 SeaRay 280 Sundancer, '99 SeaDoo 18' Jetboat; '91 Jeep YJ; '03 HD V-Rod, '01 Boxster S)
We own a Bounder 33' 1998 Vortec, we have had nothing but trouble with this RV, I will point out all the problems that we have encountered and maybe others will be luckier to find out what could happen before buying a RV.
1) Our first incident was a bad tire, OK this could happen to
anyone, however when we went to put the spare on, which
came with the RV we found out it was the wrong one, the
was a 19.5 alright but it only had 8 holes and it should
have 10, when we called Fleetwood, they insisted that they
put in the right one, this was our first call, they informed
us that someone must have switched it " very unlikely", how-
ever they did not want to replace it, we tried to get another
rim but no one had one, these rims are hard to find, we called
back to Fleetwood and was told not to worry, because now they no
longer put in spare, the reason given was that people try to
change their own tire and will get hurt, but if we call their
special road service they will come and change the tire and
rim as they carry them with them at all times throughout the
USA and Canada, Lord behold we had another bad tire, but the
road service never heard of such service for Fleetwood, so we
had to find the right tire, which by the way is a "as we where
told by many tire shops, a custom tire, we did find one that had
this size in stock in Montreal, Canada and had it put on.
On our last trip May 2004 we hit a pot hole on the highway and
blew a tire and bended our rim, after twenty phone calls with
Fleetwood, the only thing they could do for us was to ship us
a rim from California overnight for approx. $400.00 and we
would have to stay three days for it, this was not an option
we drove 1,500 miles with this broken rim and flat tire
(lucky it was the one on the rear outer side and the inside
tire was alright, we could not find a 19.5 rim, finally after
many calls on my cell phone and tire shops we got the
that had this rim in stock, a little truck shop, $65.00 each
needless to say I bought two, they guided me to some one that
happened to have the right tire for that rim, and we now had
a spare and went back on the road, on our way back the inside
new Michelin was a diffective tire and blew, again drove from
one tire shop to another to find this tire, Michelin gave us
credit and had to pay for what we used. Now we are back "ON
THE ROAD AGAIN" unfortunatly the two tires are worn on the
inside due to bad alignment or something, but could not find
the right size so we had to drive all the way from St. Louis
Missouri back to California with bad front tires. Now this
is only our tire story.
2) On our first trip we went to Prince Edward Island, Canada, we
wanted to retract our level jacks and they did not want to go
up, all the oil leaked out of the rear jacks, we again phoned
Fleetwood, they intructed us that it was the responsability
of Versa/tek Company who supplied the Power Gear, we phone
them but they could not do anything for us, only to give us
the wrong information on how to push them up. Whe we
arrived home we went to our RV shop and had them replaced,
but it took over a year to receive them, and when they where
delivered they where the wrong ones.
Again on our last trip we arrived very stressed at the RV Park
Riverside Casino in Laughlin, Nevada. We set everything up so
we could stay a few days to get over our other ordeals see (3)
I was packing up, and finally time to retract my level jacks,
and you guessed it, the rear drivers side did not go up, the
reason was that the heavy duty spring just snapped (broke) like
pot metal, I called quite a few rv repair places but no one again
had that particular spring, as it is an odd ball, we got the
jack up and tied it, this is still under warranty as they where
the new ones replaced before we went on our trip, as off today
we have to bring it in to the shop to have it repaired.
3) Then on our second trip back home, my transmission blew, lucky we
found a transmission expert in Montreal, Canada that rebuild it
and it was under warranty, Fleetwood paid for it, which cost us
three days, then when asked to check the breaks, we where in-
structed that the breaks have crumbled and will have to be re-
placed, which we did but paid out of our own pocket.
4) On our Third trip, we stopped in Myrtle Beach, Florida, while I
turned to park my engine went dead, could not start it again,
I called Fleetwood to see what they could do to help (ha, ha)
Called the Automobile Association, when they came they found
that my front new battery and reserve two new batteries where
melted with a short and they could not do anything, they gave me
a number to call, but he only could come in the morning, when he
arrived he know immediatly what happened, he said that he had
quite a few of these repairs on the bounder. It was the cable
that is grounded underneath the chassis that was installed in-
correctly and rubbed agains the steering rod, which wore out the
cable cover and shorted, this melted all three bateries and he
said ou whole coach could have been on fire, that we where lucky,
he replaced the cable and showed me the correct installation, he
was the best mechanic of Camping World for15 years until he went
on his own, while he was under the coach he also noticed that my
suspension was loose and found out that my A Frame broke, also
the two other spare batteries where again odd balls and will have
to go to a rv place to replace them (they where also brand new)
lucky for us there was a Camping World nearby, it also happened
that we are members, they took us immediatly, the mechanic that
helped us and that used to work there, instructed us to tell the
technician at Camping World to weld the A Frame, which they did.
5) Now we are back on the way to our destination, however the oil
gage did not work and the motor started to slow down, thinking
that this time our engine is gone, we where just at a gaz station
I checked the oil and it was low on oil, so I put oil in and we
where back on the road, arriving without further incident (ouf!)
Not to mention that the engine does not take hills, mountains even if
they are not steep, we start at 60/65 m.p.h. and ended up doing below
20 m.p.h. by the time we arrive at the top, this is not loaded and not towing a vehicle, it does worst with towing.
This RV was a stress box, a anxiety package, it made a nervous wreck out of us when we arrived we where almost brain dead.
We hope that our experience will help other to avoid it to happen to them.
We must say also that the Bounder is not all bad, it has one of the best floor plans that we have seen, it is easy on the road to drive
we like the shape and all the comforts of home if not more, except it should be parked instead of driven or use it for very short trips flat driving and down hill.
Yours sincerely
RDG
Driveline (Engine, Transmission):300 Cat 7.2l MD3060
Miles: 23800
Year: 2002
Symptoms: Battery warning light appeared in the instrument cluster
Effect: The chassis batteries eventually went dead causing loss of all gauges and the ability to shift the transmission.
Cause: Exciter wire on the alternator broke
Outcome: The solution was to replace the alternator. Until this could take place I was able to continue travelling by running the onboard generator which kept the chassis batteries charged. To get started initially I used the "boost" switch to bring the house batteries online with the chassis batteries.
2002 Triple E Signature A3607GW
300HP Cat, Allison MH3000
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
For the rest--AAAAAARRRGHHH. (an expression of solicitude).
93 30H Flair
P32 454
02 Saturn