Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Class A Motorhomes: Breakdown Information

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Topic: Breakdown Information

Posted By: billsteinberger on 11/18/06 09:22am

Where to start..1st a broken injector line caused by the injector line bracket breaking. Fixed by replacing line and welding bracket. Next year, guess what, bracket weld failed and you guessed it, same injector line broke. Ever see what diesel fuel does to a toad's finish? Next, sudden overheating. This time replaced thermostat, problem solved. Same trip woke up at 2:00 AM, coach is shaking and sounds like someone running a single cylindar generator. Got up to check, It was our coach! Gnerator was trying to start..no I don't have auto gen..burned up starter motor on generator..smoke pouring from front of coach...control unit bad. Finished trip by disconnecting generator battery wires, so still had 12V in coach. When generator checked, also had a magnet that had disintegrated. Also an oil leak in front of engine and oil pan, both spotted when getting generator fixed.

Good news! Heritage extended warranty covered everything. Service manager at Charlibois Freightliner Service center said they were the most professional and easist warranty company he ever dealt with. Best investment I ever made!

W . P. Steinberger

Posted By: ConnieAndMike on 11/18/06 10:53am

Tag Axle Bearings are a service item and should be repacked and inspected according to MFG spec. Probably every 20K miles. Or when you have the front axle bearing serviced.

Not picking on Wantfulltime but a neglected service item probably should not be covered. I also suggest that the other side be serviced at your earliest convience.

If you buy a used MH and not sure about the bearings being sereviced, bite the bullet and have the service done, for your piece of mind

91 Holiday Rambler Imperial 37
F460 G-hog
Toad: 2up Toyota
Northern Illinois
Our Travels and Tips Blog

Posted By: Teebucket1313 on 11/19/06 03:45pm

We are new to the Motorhome life. I wasn't going to join Good Sam RV towing, but a little voice told me I should. It's the best $78.00 I ever paid. My daughter's husband is a fighter pilot in the Air Force stationed at Columbus Mississippi. We where heading there to help them move into their new home. We where going to take care of our two grandkids 2 and 3 so mom and dad could get things put away. We had a break down on Sunday morning. We have a 1996 Pace Arrow Vision. We had a pressure switch on the auto park fail. We were heading down the ramp when it slammed on the auto park brake, right now. We were down for almost two days before we where able to get it fixed. The best part about the break down is that we got to meet a lot of really nice people. The Good Sam Towing service was the best. The first thing is that Good Sam was concerned with was our safety. They wanted to make sure both the vehicle and we were in a safe place. They got a wrecker out there ASAP and gave us a choice of where we wanted to be towed. We had them tow us back to our campsite that we stayed the previous night in Hayti-Portageville, Mo. The people that run the KOA there where great. Even offered us the use of their car. WOW!!! Then on Monday I called Good Sam and they had Todd's Towing service tow us almost another 100 miles to a repair shop to fix our motorhome. The driver Allen was great and also gave us a local history lesson. When we arrived at Coad Chevy the service manager Jeff just bent over backwards to help get back on the road. Even through we lost two days of our vacation away from our grandkids, we met the best people. We still love our motorhome. [emoticon]

Dennis and Sheri Dickinson
1996 Pace Arrow Vision
Called Papa's bus.

Dennis & Sheri
2007 Travel Supreme
Good Sam Life Time Members
FMCA member F399328
2021 RAM 1500 4X4

Posted By: Skytraveler on 11/22/06 04:41pm

billsteinberger wrote:

Where to start..1st a broken injector line caused by the injector line bracket breaking. Fixed by replacing line and welding bracket. Next year, guess what, bracket weld failed and you guessed it, same injector line broke. Ever see what diesel fuel does to a toad's finish? Next, sudden overheating. This time replaced thermostat, problem solved. Same trip woke up at 2:00 AM, coach is shaking and sounds like someone running a single cylindar generator. Got up to check, It was our coach! Gnerator was trying to start..no I don't have auto gen..burned up starter motor on generator..smoke pouring from front of coach...control unit bad. Finished trip by disconnecting generator battery wires, so still had 12V in coach. When generator checked, also had a magnet that had disintegrated. Also an oil leak in front of engine and oil pan, both spotted when getting generator fixed.

Good news! Heritage extended warranty covered everything. Service manager at Charlibois Freightliner Service center said they were the most professional and easist warranty company he ever dealt with. Best investment I ever made!

Not saying that you are an employee of Heritage but members should also condition their opions with a quick google on company click here
Sounds like you might just be an exception rather than typical with this company.

Posted By: RAMBLERS202 on 11/23/06 06:36pm

Motorhome - HR Endeavor
330 Cummins, MH3000 Allison
Year - 2002
67,000 miles

We full time, therefore frequently on the move. I take my maintenance seriously and also perform frequent inspections, looking for abnormalities. I have never experienced a breakdown on the road.
I also do most of the maintenance and repairs.

Posted By: jmcgilvary on 11/26/06 10:04am

On return trip from buying my 40' 1992 Bunder, Ford 7.5l, EFI engine.
Southbound I-75 to Fla. Turnpike from Dothan, Al to Miami, Fl.
Ran great, bought gas in Orlando, after the first half of my 600 mile trip.
We stopped to pay a toll in Delray Beach, 60 miles from home.
Bus stalled, and would not start for a while.
Finally managed to get it started, and could only accelerate VERY, VERY slowly.
We are still trying to find service fror it here in Miami to help diagnose the problem.
Have had 2 mechanics look at it. One says fuel pump, one said exhaust back pressure, now say timing chain (after removing all exhaust componets.

Posted By: outsider1924 on 12/08/06 10:53am

My first RV experience was last night on the way home from the dealership. I purchased a 1992 Allegro Bay Diesel Pusher with a 230hp Cummins and 4spd Allison. About 15 miles southbound on I-35 the bus lost almost all power and the RPM's dropped from about 2200 to 1400. This limited top speed to right under 40mph. I took the first exit to see what was going on and when I let off the accelerator the bus stalled. I managed to steer it to the side of the road and stop without the engine running, and it started right back up. You could feel the turbo spool up until about 1800rpm's and then it would start dropping back down. Also I noticed that the longer we drove, the more the engine coolant temp. decreased. We would pull over, let it warm back up and take off again. Called the dealer and they told me to bring it back.... but I wonder what is wrong with it. Any ideas ?

1992 M34 Tiffin Allegro Bay Pusher '34
41,000 Miles
190HP Cummins, 4spd Allison
6X10 Pace Journey Enclosed Trailer

Posted By: Jackjagt on 12/08/06 03:02pm

outsider1924 wrote:

My first RV experience was last night on the way home from the dealership. I purchased a 1992 Allegro Bay Diesel Pusher with a 230hp Cummins and 4spd Allison. About 15 miles southbound on I-35 the bus lost almost all power and the RPM's dropped from about 2200 to 1400. Any ideas ?

Maybe your air cleaner collapsed and restricted engine breathing.....

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Posted By: victorydave1 on 12/10/06 06:36am

Been 32 years since I owned a MH and it was a Dodge Xplorer with the floor cut out, you know the one made in Brown City MI. Dodge had a resistor that would pop, you couldn't see it (it was out of sight above the openning of the van hood)Took 2 minutes to change, it killed the motor. After that I started carring a spare resistor + a full set of belts, a jumper battery, fuel filter, Hose repair kit (tape works here too), 1 gal coolant, trans fluid, engine oil (2 qts each) and a few tools. Not much room in that MH but used most of above at one time or another.
When I buy my class A I will ask a service tech what have you seen in common break downs with this unit? If it's under a grand total and I think I can change it, I will carry it! Might even buy parts that I can't change out myself if dealers don't normally carry it .(I'll ask a few dealers in my travels if they have that part in stock) ..... Yeah I know it's not nice to ask a Mechcanic to install my parts but if they don't have it in stock and I do they shouldn't refuse. I will buy/carry a spare tire and think everyone should!
That's my think'n anyhoot ! victorydaveAnyone that owns a diesel MH that doesn't carry a spare full filter(s) and the tool to remove it is asking for it in I.M.H.O.

* This post was edited 12/10/06 06:54am by victorydave1 *

Posted By: outsider1924 on 12/10/06 12:55pm

I drove it back up to the dealer yesterday morning. It is about a 50 mile drive. I let the engine warm up for about 30 minutes before I left. Everything was great for about the first 15 miles of the trip. Lots of power, no stalling. Even got up to 67mph at one point!!! Then it began to trail off, first you are lucky to get it to 55mph, then to 50mph and by the time I got to the dealer it was topping out at just under 45mph @ about 1600rpm's. It stalled twice on the way there. It stalls whenever you let off the accelerator.

Before I left, I checked to make sure none of the intake hoses were collapsed or anything obvious........

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