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RE: Would you Wax your RV?
If your Coach has a clear coat, you don't need wax to protect the paint. That's old technology. Waxing a coach, with clear coat, is a make work and feel good job.
Jim E
I respectfully disagree. Clearcoat is paint without pigment. It still needs to be protected from the elements. UV rays, salt, grim, etc will wear on the clearcoat same as it will on paint. You can put a sealer on clearcoat but eventually the elements will wear the sealer away.
I also disagree..waxing IS beneficial....Here's my routine:
DAY ONE
1. Start by liberally spraying the engine and tranny with Simple Green. Let sit for 15 minutes.
2. Power wash engine, transmission, rear end and undercarriage. Use lowest setting.
3. Clean radiator with Dawn liquid, flush and rinse throughly.
DAY TWO
I use Mcguires Ultimate. Start with the roof and both caps. Doing the roof eliminates white and/or black streaks. :B
DAY THREE
Is the Driver's side.
DAY FOUR
Is the Passenger's side.
DAY FIVE
Then the interior with Old English. Next come the tires with 303 Aerospace. Lastly, I do the Alcoa rims with Alcoa PDQ.
Each stage is completed with a cold Margarita on the rocks.....:B:B.....Dennis
Like Parajays, I thought that having a clear coat completely protected the paint, and since the body was aluminum it wouldn't rust. I thought I had it made. However, within a few years oxidation had really taken it's toll on the blue part of the back of our RV. It was also beginning to play havoc on the rest of the RV.
I ended up spending 3 weeks, in sections, completely stripping off the old wax, using Mother's polish, then Mother's wax. This included doing the roof. Although nobody sees your roof, I personally think that the quality of the roof as far as missing paint, fading, etc, can be used to determine how well someone's taken overall care of the RV. I mean, if they're willing to take good care of a part of the RV that nobody even sees, then there's a reasonable chance that they've taken pretty good care of the rest. No guarantee by any means, but a good litmus test.
Anyway, after doing all of the stripping, polishing, and waxing, I swore I'd make sure to not depend on the clear coat alone. I wish you were right though, Parajays, it sure would save a lot of work.
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bluebarry1964b
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02/05/12 02:19pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Would you Wax your RV?
If your Coach has a clear coat, you don't need wax to protect the paint. That's old technology. Waxing a coach, with clear coat, is a make work and feel good job.
Jim E
I respectfully disagree. Clearcoat is paint without pigment. It still needs to be protected from the elements. UV rays, salt, grim, etc will wear on the clearcoat same as it will on paint. You can put a sealer on clearcoat but eventually the elements will wear the sealer away.
I also disagree..waxing IS beneficial....Here's my routine:
DAY ONE
1. Start by liberally spraying the engine and tranny with Simple Green. Let sit for 15 minutes.
2. Power wash engine, transmission, rear end and undercarriage. Use lowest setting.
3. Clean radiator with Dawn liquid, flush and rinse throughly.
DAY TWO
I use Mcguires Ultimate. Start with the roof and both caps. Doing the roof eliminates white and/or black streaks. :B
DAY THREE
Is the Driver's side.
DAY FOUR
Is the Passenger's side.
DAY FIVE
Then the interior with Old English. Next come the tires with 303 Aerospace. Lastly, I do the Alcoa rims with Alcoa PDQ.
Each stage is completed with a cold Margarita on the rocks.....:B:B.....Dennis
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Executive
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02/05/12 02:03pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Chassis air conditioning (ford)
Hi,
Recharging a air conditioner is a balance. If there is to much freon, the pressures go to high, and the compressor is not going to move as many cubic feet of freon, thus less cooling will suffer to some extent. Also a leak can cause low freon conditions, and with in-adaquate amount of freon in the system, less freon is pumped, and lack of cooling capacity.
I have a very accurate freon leak detector ($400) and work in your area for a large commercial air conditioning company. It would be possible to detect a leaking system, that would be covered under warranty without dis-assembly of the dash or anything. And I have the proper freon gauges to measure the high and low side pressures on a 134A freon system (another $150 tool with the low loss fittings).
While Ford would cover a bad compressor, the other parts such as evaporator and blower motor are things installed by Winnabego, and would be covered by that company under it's warranty. It might be that you are expecting to much from the dash air, and your van based system worked exceptionally well, yet this one is medium working level, or that the system is working normally, or there is a freon leak. All this can be determined by checking the freon pressures and temperatures of the air coming out of the dash vents.
So if air going in is around 70F, the air coming out should be in the 48 - 54F range with the engine idle around 1,200 RPM.
The amount of freon moving through the engine increases with higher RPM's, so idle is not going to give the same results as 2,000 RPM (almost double the freon flow). Sometimes a mechanic will overcharge a system by filling it until the pressure is high at idle, and when at road speed of 2,400 RPM, the high pressure side becomes over 175PSI, and the system can shut off on high pressure (if it has a high pressure switch) or high thermal temperature (some compressors have a high temp switch built into them).
And of course if the heater valve is stuck open about 10%, this can warm the air going into the drivers compartment. I put a secondary valve on my motorhome to stop flow in the summer, along with a water filter to help clean up the radiator water.
Fred.
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Golden_HVAC
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02/05/12 11:27am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Help please with 1992 Safari Ivory Diesel..
Oh, the temp sensor for the engine should be near the upper radiator hose just before the thermostat. On my engine it has two terminals, one for the gauge and one for the idiot light. I just cleaned all of the connections on my sensors to restore proper operation. You are right in that the old sensors are not real accurate, but new sensors will be just as far off, maybe in a different direction. What you look for is the normal operating range and then any deviation from that. It will normally be accurate enough with clean connections. Do clean and check every ground connection. I remove them and sand down to bare metal and then apply some Dow Corning DC-111 Grease in the exposed bolted connections and DC-4 on all of the plugs. This keeps the water away and preserves the electrical continuity.
OK.. you mean the 2 engine thermostats? I've been told that many of these old side-mounted radiators also have a thermostat in the hose itself, which regulates the fan speed.. I don't know that I have that.. but when you say temp sensor for the engine.. you mean the coolant temp in the engine, not the oil temp sensor, correct?
Good point on the new sensors possibly being just as off-- I actually have a pretty good familiarity at this point with Bertha's normal running temps..
She seems to stick at 230 deg oil, 200-225 water, and about 160-210 tranny.
The alarm works when the water temp exceeds 250.. so thats good--
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theburren
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01/29/12 04:41pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Help please with 1992 Safari Ivory Diesel..
Oh, the temp sensor for the engine should be near the upper radiator hose just before the thermostat. On my engine it has two terminals, one for the gauge and one for the idiot light. I just cleaned all of the connections on my sensors to restore proper operation. You are right in that the old sensors are not real accurate, but new sensors will be just as far off, maybe in a different direction. What you look for is the normal operating range and then any deviation from that. It will normally be accurate enough with clean connections. Do clean and check every ground connection. I remove them and sand down to bare metal and then apply some Dow Corning DC-111 Grease in the exposed bolted connections and DC-4 on all of the plugs. This keeps the water away and preserves the electrical continuity.
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sundancer268
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01/29/12 08:28am |
Class A Motorhomes
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TRADED THE 5EVR FOR DP
JUST PICKED UP A 1998 HR ENDEAVOR WDS 37 DP WITH DIESEL GENERATOR. I WAS HOLDING FOR A RAISED RAIL SIDE RADIATOR BUT THIS WAS JUST TO GOOD OF A DEAL TO PASS UP TALKED TO THE PREVIOUS OWNER HE WAS A LARGE ENGINE MECHANIC SO HE KEEP UP ON THE PM. I HAVE THE 5.9 IN MY PU SO I'M FAMILIAR WITH IT AND HAVE A CDL SO AIR BRAKES ETC ARE NO BIG DEAL. ONE OF MY FRIENDS IS A MECHANIC FOR NE CUMMINS SO THAT IS COVERED.THE DIESEL GENNY HAS 163 HOURS ON IT VERY CLEAN UNDERNEATH. I WAS LOOKING FOR ALL THE NUANCE'S FOR THIS YEAR RIG IF ANY HAS ANY ADVICE I'M LISTENING THIS SPRING ILL CHANGE THE 3060 TO SYNTHETIC AND FLUSH THE RADIATOR.IT ALSO HAS THE MOTOR AID FOR BEDROOM HEAT AND HOT WATER. THE TIRES HAVE ABOUT 2 YEARS LEFT BUT I WILL BE DOING SOME RESEARCH FOR HEAVER REPLACEMENTS. THANKS BILL IN SNOWY NY
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bucket1
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01/22/12 06:09pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Spendide 2000s
Has anyone had a problem w/the 2000s w/d combo not draining ? My tub is full of H2O, and I went thru the trouble shooting guide, to no avail. Any help appreciated. Also, if the tub is full of H2O, can you remove the pump clean-out chamber w/o all of the H2O in the tub draining onto the floor ? Thanx in advance, Robbie
I guess your talking plain ole water.You will have to hand drain the machine once you remove the pump filter for sure.Real messy if u have carpet.use a shop vac see below:
Here,s a procedure I found regarding replacing the pump and or cleaning the actual pump;
more than likely you have something jamming your pump im going to give you the procedure for replacing the motor coupling but stop at the pump take the hoses off of it and see if its jammed .First unplug the washer and turn off the water. If you have a shop vac take the drain hose out of the drain, and through the drain hose vacuum the water out of your washer. If you don't have a shop vac go to the auto parts store and buy a pair of radiator hose clamps. Then facing the washer locates the two screws. They will either be in the front or rear of the control panel or back them out far as you can. Once you have done that pull the control panel slightly forward, and tilt it back on the hinges. Now unplug the lid switch wire but don't forget to plug it back when you’re done. Next locate at the rear of the washer body the two gold clips then push forward, and take careful note of how they fit. Then pop them out with a screw driver tilt the washer body forward at 45 degree angel and walk forward with the body, and set it down. Now you will see the white pump and motor assembly. You should see two clips holding the pump to the motor pop them off, and pull the pump off the motor shaft. Now if you fell the need to remove the pump use the radiator hose clamp. Take them and clamp the hose coming from the tub but it’s not necessary for the repair. Next disconnect the wiring harness from the motor (note the position of the harness for reassembly). Remove the two 5/16 inch screws from the motor clamps and pop the clamps off. Once that is complete, remove the motor put the new coupling on the motor and transmission shaft. I use a socket and a hammer
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rvrepairnut
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01/22/12 10:35am |
Class A Motorhomes
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rear radiator AND cac
The cac and rear radiator were cleaned today. Lots of oil and dirt and who knows what.
That despite the draft tube being redone with a Cat crankcase filter seperator and recirculating hose two years ago. Should have done it then but the cac and radiator looked clean. It was all between the two units. Coach got a little warm near Flagstaff last year. Maybe this will fix that. Should have more power as the cac can now cool the charge better.
They sprayed cleaner on everything and through the cac and radiator with the engine running and fan drawing it through and then rinsed a lot. The cleaner is one they buy commercially. Must be similar to dawn. Lots of oil/dirt on the pavement from the cleaning.
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down home
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01/20/12 06:30pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: OIL CHANGE
racer99
Yes drop trany pan and change filter, refill with 3 qts. new oil, disconnect line to radiator, slip a short length hose over the disconnected cooling line, placing this hose into a 1 qt. container. Have a helper start the motor, at idle it will take about 15 seconds to fill the quart container. Using a loud voice direct your helper to turn the motor off. Discard the black oil, refill trany with that same amount of new oil. Repeat this ops. 7 or 8 times. Until clean fresh oil is expelled from the cooling line. If oil is pumped out of radiator rather than cooling line reverse the placement of drain hose . As for having a power flush, I would not do that to a 20 year old trany save that for a 50 year old politician. Also if you should spill some used oil onto your lawn and the grass turns brown, the oil, indeed needed to be changed.
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Fastest Freddie
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01/09/12 08:21pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: 98 Beaver Patriot 40' Yorktown Diesel
For $40K it's a lot of DP Yes, I used to own one and it was very trouble free. Was never really happy with the stopping power of the disk brakes but the exhaust brake worked very well. The parking brake is on the drive shaft so it lets the MH move some even though it's parked. Do not take too much weight off the rear axle when leveling on a steep hill. The Hurricane hydronic heating was good, but a little temperamental. Would stop working because of air in the system (could never find the leak) but easy enough to bleed the air out. One valve has to be open and the other closed and you reverse the valves for the other season. On a long pull out West it wanted to overheat and this was with the slobber tube and a clean radiator so you have to keep the RPMs up. Handled good and easy to put in long days behind the wheel. Had to turn the exhaust brake off in order to use the cruise... pretty sure there is a cheap mod that solves that problem. Beaver's have the nicest wood work of any DP in their price range.
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Ivylog
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01/01/12 05:26pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Diesel radiator cleaning
Maybe we could use RedMaxPro ....:h......:B:B:B:B:B......Dennis
I haven't used it .. YET...but I will next time I clean the radiator.....D
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Executive
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12/31/11 07:37pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Cat Mechanic says to buy Cummins (!)
I have had both the c7 and now a Cummins 400. Love them both. The biggest problem with the C7 was it seemed to require more maintenance such as valve lash. Keeping the radiator/CAC clean to avoid overheating required cleaning it at least once a year (a dirty but inexpensive job). Mine required the rerouting of the slobber tube to avoid plugging the radiator with oil residue. I installed a priming pump to make changing the fuel filters easier but it was not really a necessity. I would not be afraid to purchase another C7.
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bdpreece
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12/28/11 05:01pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Cleaning Radiator
Gene,
Whether your technique is a good one or not really depends on your chassis layout. If you have a sandwiched cooling system which I suspect you do (CAC in front of the radiator), cleaning from the back of the radiator really won't get the deposited dirt off the front of the CAC.
But, let me ask you to verify this-- access the front of the CAC from the bedroom/closet and shine a strong flashlight inside the fan shroud/between fan blades. Verify that the perimeter, particularly bottom perimeter is as clean as the center (the fan blades sling the dirt to the perimeter).
And, while I would not recommend using a pressure washer, indeed, someone skilled with using one can do a good job of cleaning the radiator from the back. BUT, in the very confined space in front of the CAC/inside the fan shroud/around the fan blades, I suspect even an expert with a pressure washer would risk bending the fins, as access and control is really limited.
Again, we really don't know what set up the OP has, so we are all speculating.
Another issue is what chemical/degreaser to use. If the CAC and/or radiator are aluminum, Simple Green makes a cleaner that IS aluminum friendly-- initially made for cleaning airplanes.
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wolfe10
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12/27/11 08:36pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Cleaning Radiator
I have the same setup on my MH. I use a power car wash and carefully spray directly (squarely) into the radiator from the rear. Thats opposite of the direction of flow of the air. I use Awsome to act as the degreaser. By moving the wand slowly about 3 or 4 inches from the radiator it pushes the dirt forward and out. I have 70,000 miles and never overheat. I do this about once or twice a year as a PM.
Now. After admitting my guilt on what the following posts will certainly condemn me for, I know that the vast majority will say to clean from the engine side, my theory is thats the side that the dirt is trying to enter. The vast majority will condemn me for using a pressure wash saying that I'll bend/collaps the fins, in 7 years of doing this, I have never, NEVER had a fin bend, they look like new.
So let the flames begin.
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hershey
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12/27/11 07:15pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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Cleaning Radiator
Need to clean the radiator fins on my Motor Home. Engine is a Cummings 260. Any suggestions on the brand of soap. Is it better to clean from the engine side, or clean from the outside.
Thanks Ken
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kvh4636
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12/27/11 03:58pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: '02 Holiday Rambler Ambassador
We had a 2001 Ambassador 38PBT for 8 years and over 80K miles. It had the Neway suspension, did not have the trailing arm issues. The original radiator was brass and did spring a leak in 2004 or so and was replaced by Service contract with a very nice Aluminum radiator that held up fine. Another issue was keeping the radiator clean from road debris and oil and dirt, this needed to be done each year. The motorhome itself held up well, with some of the same issues everyone faces, little things go wrong now and then. It was not the best riding vehicle as mentioned earlier, but the 2002 has a ride enhancement kit available that can be done at the same time the trailing arms are replaced. It softens the stiff ride somewhat. You can find other information by searching on here, IRV2.com and FMCA.com for trailing arms and ride enhancement kit and there is also a new fan out that cuts the fan draw on the horsepower of the ISC engine. On our 2001 we put Koni Shocks in the front and adjusted the tires down to the correct weight for air pressure and that helped the ride some. It had the Cummins 315hp and we averaged 8.9mpg over the time we had it. For us, it was a good motorhome, we fulltimed in it the whole time we had it and it did not show the use or wear. Hope this may help, any other questions, PM me if you want for more info. Ours had the diesel gen and a 5000lb tow bar capicity. Happy Trails Bert
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johnsonbert
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12/20/11 08:43am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: What is Monaco thinking??
I've seen the Tour, up real close...and while it is a nice rig..my wife will not give up the front kitchen...and if I were ever laying out big bucks again...side radiator an absolute must(definitely a rear radiator there...seen it)..the full wall slide...well, the jury is out on that but I've been in campsites where if I had a full wall slide that it would hit the hookup post so I position the coach right and I'm in...with this setup, you just might not get the coach in right to get the full site space you paid for...(with my crew, we need the space..)...
Next coach..
Side rad
Tag
Res Refrig..
Spartan Chassis..
side effect...EMPTY WALLET..
Agree, the full wall slide would have hinder'd us getting in a few spots. But the big drawback to me is how do you clean under the awning (in the middle)?
While in Malibu, CA, last year at the RV park overlooking the beautiful pacific, we had 60 mph gusts during the night. It popped my drivers side living room slide topper off. It just rolled over on the roof. I thought I had lost it when I looked out and didn't see anything there. Thank goodness all it needed was to be reinstalled with two new screws.
Once I found it on the roof, I coiled it back up and put it inside which was rather difficult at 14' long. There would be no way to save that full wall slide topper (and the weight of it).
I know some people love the front kitchen but I prefer the back as I like to use the pilot and co-pilot chairs as part of the living room. But, that's why Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors. :)
And by the way, I have had excellent customer service support from the NEW Monaco. The phone tech helped me diagnose a problem which happened to be my Red Hat electric valve. So, I certainly give them credit for that part of their division.
MM.
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Mr.Mark
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12/19/11 10:12am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Let Me Know if You Have Allison Transmission Fluid Questions
Thanks for your advice and help here on the forum, hzjcm8.
I had my Allison 4 speed back flushed and filled with Transyd at 136,000 miles back in '07 at a bus repair shop that was just getting into RV's. They used a big fancy machine and told me they flushed it until the fluid was the right color, 3-4 times if I remember. At that time they told me there was no need to replace the tranni filters as the back flush would clean them like new.
Is that true?
At 142K miles, I developed a hydraulic leak in the boondocks of Canada. I had a couple quarts of Transyd that I used up along with a couple pints of ATF stop leak I bought as I limped several hundred miles to Prince George. Also added regular ATF as needed along the way (small stores don't usually carry transyd).
Had a leaking hose replaced and the tranni topped off with more transyd. The mechanic told me it was OK to mix the standard ATF, Stop Leak, and the Transyd but I would like to hear that from you.
Should I have it re-flushed, or is it OK with those other fluids in there?
Thanks!
Just a question. Was this a 'hydraulic' leak or a transmission leak. In most cases, there's a difference.
Hmm. I'm not a mechanic but it was tranni fluid leaking from a hose near the back & under the engine (but not FROM the engine). Three or four feet from the tranni. I think the hose was attached to the rad cooler. I let the mechanic take care of it and he had a devil of a time getting the bad hose out of there because of frozen connections. The only fluid I was loosing on the trip was tranni fluid...which I kept topping off.
It was at the beginning a slow drip I could see under the rear of the RV, just a small 2-3" diameter puddle after each time we stopped (every 4 hours or so).
Sorry. The reason I was asking is that my rig has 3 different hydraulic systems besides the transmission, two of them back in the engine area.
I have the hydraulic system for the power steering and ISC 350's radiator fan. It uses AW32 clear hydraulic fluid.
I also have the hydraulic resevoir for the PowerGear levelers. It uses ATF.
And up in front I have the resevoir for the hydraulic system that extends and retracts the Onan Generator.
Had a friend that saw leaking hydraulic fluid and was almost sold a tranny rebuild before he figured out it was his levelers.
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ChaosAgent
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12/08/11 07:36pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Marvel Mystery Oil
I have never tried it being addicted to Sea Foam which I buy by the gallons.
sssooo thinner oil lubicates better in gas engines with a bit less friction.
Other than the radiator if I find a filler cap I think it needs Sea Foam. :B
We picked up an old 1980 Ford F100 with the 300/4.9 straight six in it. The last two evening we have been working to stop the valve cover and push rod cover resealed and after driving it 20 miles to take the kids skating (their reward for getting greasy) it seems like we got the pouring stopped. :)
I was at night when we started yesterday but now wish I had pictures. I had never seen that much junk inside of an engine. The last 10 years the owner averaged putting about a 1000 miles a year on it and lived in town part of the time.
With a lot of scraping, gas, laquer thinner, carb cleaner and a few other things we got it very clean. The in-line engines are great because you can clean under the valve covers without dumping the crud into the crank case.
After we got it warmed up we removed and replaced the filter and added 8 oz of Sea Foam. About 300 miles ago we did the first oil change and used 15W-40 Rotella to help start cleaning the engine out on the inside. I am thankful it was a leaker because I expect using the diesel oil was going to free up too much junk too fast. We will keep changing filters to keep taking the black out of the oil for a while.
We find our engines stay clean on the inside but if they are not clean when we get them it can take a while. The high end Fram is only about $6 and a snap to change from the top side on the F100. The F700 is not bad but you have to go under the front bumper. The worse part it it hangs down so the drain down is messy at best.
Internally from time to time it will make a sound like a loose belt under load (yes even with all belts removed :) ) and I am clueless as to the cause unless it cold be a lifter. There is no loss of power or knocking sounds and it will just show up for a while from time to time.
After about 400 miles and some at 70+ MPH it still runs fine. Until I tighten the belts on Friday I though it was belt, alternator or PS issues. Of course any time you get inside one then hear a noise it is stressfu. :)
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Gale Hawkins
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12/03/11 09:24pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: DP Side Radiator Maintenance AND Cleaning
You didn't say what kind of chassis you are talking about, but I recently changed the radiator in my Spartan chassis motorhome. To say the least, it was a challenge. The radiator had begun to leak so needed changed. I talked to Spartan who quoted me $3500.00 for the job, with the new radiator at $1900.00. I decided to do the work myself and found a new radiator on-line for $900 including shipping. The radiator is actually mounted behind the charge air cooler, or intercooler. The CAC is as large as, and heavier than the radiator. On my Spartan, there are also two more "radiators" located in front of the CAC which cool hydraulic fluid. When I took the whole assembly apart for replacement, I found dead, rotten leaves packed between the CAC and the radiator. It would be impossible to see, or remove this mess without taking the whole thing apart. Nor is it possible to properly clean between the CAC and the radiator because of the way the radiator is mounted.
While I do consider this to be a disadvantage for side mount, I still like the arrangement because of access to the engine.
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larry cad
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12/03/11 07:22pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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