dickandlois

Ah yes, Dave is a little like Merlin ! When you turn him loose on a Diesel engine. He hooks up his equipment, mixes up one of his potions and the engine does not stand a chance. May he and his wife have many more miles on the road together !! Thanks Dave and give Pat a hug from us. Rich and Lois

jengle, Welcome to the FMCA Forum ! I have not installed a wireless key entry in a coach not equipped with one. But! You will need to find a way to run some wires for power and ground through the door frame. Installing wires where they flex or bend every time will brake them in relatively short order. RV doors do not have the space between the door and the door frame like cars, that adds an area for the wires to move around more freely. Look and find some brass contacts to mount in the door frame and the door, so they make contact. Spring loaded ones on one side of the setup would be a good idea. The standard configuration is stationary ones in the door frame and spring loaded contacts on the door. The lock set should still use a key setup, not good to come back to the coach and have a dead battery or fob. An have all the windows locked. When coaches are buttoned up they can be very difficult to get into !!!! Rich.

Brad, Good information already posted. I have had a thermostat fail(the spring retaining metal hoop failed at the top) this allowed the valve to twist sideways. Almost a total blockage of coolant flow. The thing failed suddenly, no indication of a cooling problem before hand. Hope it is a simple and easy fix. Rich.

expdek570, Welcome to the FMCA Forum! From your information, it sounds like there might have been some air in the system and it was replaced by the coolant in the overflow tank. When you filled the system to near the top, you might experience an over flow the next time you get the engine hot. I always fill my reservoir to just a little above the cold line and when the engine is hot the tank level is between 1/2 and 3/4 full. Keep an eye on the level for the next trip or two thought, just to make sure things are working properly. Rich.

adrainey, When you turn on the hot water and you get good flow, then the water heater is filled to the proper level. Manually open the pressure relief valve to test that it does open and then seals again when released. Then turn on the water heater to check that it starts, heats the water and then turns off when water is hot. Should it cycle around 3 times and not start or stay lite, then one needs to do some trouble shooting. Rich.

rvrail, Welcome to the FMCA Forum! Take a look at this thread. Covers windows, but I included some information and links regarding window parts that might help. http://community.fmca.com/topic/289-fogged-double-pane-windows/?hl=%2Bfogged+%2Bwindow+%2Brepair#entry20868 Might try Fleetwood service in Decatur - got to find the phone number. LOL. Did not put my list back in its place. Rich.

adrainey,

adrainey, Welcome to the FMCA Forum!

ObedB, Sounds like a plugged drain hole(s)in the AC base plate. This is a totally different problem then a rain leak because of an AC to roof seal failure. Water collects (condenses) on the low side pressure line and drips off into the pan/base. It then should run off, if the drains are plugged the water level will then enter the opening for the unit cold air output. Need to turn off the AC power breaker,remove the cover, inspect the base. The drains are often in the same area as the output and input copper plumbing, only higher. You might need to remove the cover for the evaporator and the opening for the cold air duct to get a good idea on where the drain restriction is - or the point in the base that might have some rust damage. Rich.

Tom, Measure the distance of the front and rear of the roller from the coach wall. When extended. If one end is farther from the wall, the fabric will not roll up evenly. Might need to completely unroll the fabric and get it nice and square in relation to the roller! Good time to check the extended distance from the top of the coach to the roller are equal; at both ends. Also,you might check the ends of each arm to make sure there are no issues with the bearing mounts at the ends of the support arms. Twisted, cracked or damaged in some way. Rich. NOTE, if you do not have a long ruler, a piece of string with a mark on it from one end - compared to the other will get you a close measurement comparison.

My pet peeve is the use of copper clad steel wire in equipment that is exposed to vibration or areas where it is constantly being flexed. Been chasing broken wires that would last a long time if made out of 100% cooper. Bottom line looks good to the bean counters, but the buyer pays a price down the line. There are a number of recalls in the pipeline just because of poor wire selection. Rich.

RAS,Thanks for sharing the information and file with the group! From looking at the drawing and the way you up dated the PDF file, it looks like this is one of your skill sets ! LOL Rich.

HRJimmy, Welcome to the FMCA Forum! You posted- Should I replace it or bring the unit it somewhere. Are you referring to the coach or the TV? Sounds like there is a loose connection at the plug. They use outlets that you just push the wires into to make connections in most cases. They are not the most reliable outlet. Rich.

dawson11, Welcome to the Forum! You are reading what will look like ground, but the reading you get (light turning on) is going through a bulb filament. Use a multimeter set on ohms - with the lights powered off. You can then see the slight resistance difference between the true ground point and the circuits. You need a direct ground point from the plug designated as the ground. This pin is connected directly to the chassis ground. Rich.

Doug, Welcome to the FMCA Forum ! Have you looked at this thread on the Forum ? http://community.fmca.com/topic/8327-matching-hard-to-find-tires/ Covers some of the issues when trying to match tires and a little information on how best to match and mix tires depending on there location. Like Key said, Tireman is our tire go to man and he will add his knowledge to the mix. Rich.

Carl, Make an appointment for the work you need to get done. We took a chance on getting some work done on the coach on our way to Madison. When I signed in I got number 3 for the day. That kind of placed me at #7 for the day. At the end of 3 days where where still #7 They take warranty work first. Coach safety issues second. People with reservations third. An so it goes, Coaches come and go; but moving up the weighting line goes slow. They do try to get you in the same week, but it tends to go longer. Rich.

Malcolm, The marker lights share the same fuse. The only item that comes to mind is the loose of the ground connection or power connection. You might call the coach builder and ask where you might find the connection point in the wiring harness. If you are comfortable checking the socket of the marker lights, have a meter and a length of wire to extend the ground lead. You could open up one of the lights and see if one of the socket connections is reading a ground. should you read a ground, then one could use the positive probe to insert power at the other socket connection. This is not real challenging. Because of the low power required to light LED's. You can us a 9 volt battery, 2 clip leads and the meter probes / paper clip to apply power to the socket(with the lights turned off at the switch)to see if the other ones light. If they light then it is a common wiring point to all the marker lights in question. Rich.

Carl, Interesting you got a warning on the low side. My first thought was a connection issue, but after further though, I'm leaning towards a sensor. No Code because the indication of an issue is below the set code level in the ECM. There might be a soft code in the ECM that would show up if you have the system tested at Cummings. Safe Travels Rich. Just a thought-Not knowing if the sensor is mounted internally or externally. There is an outside possibility that the sensor is not making good contact with the radiator and as things heat up it is making intermittent contact with the tank an that is causing an intermittent reading?

ripnfix, Thanks for the up date! Glad you got the lights working! Sometimes those loose connections will lead you around by the nose. This is how your system works from the information you supplied: With 2 relays - the ICC switch will power both relays, when you depress the momentary switch with just the marker lights on they will flash. When the marker lights and headlights are on they both will flash because the switch will interrupt both circuit relays. NOW a question, Did the headlights work when the wire was loose at the switch? If they worked, that wound indicate that marker lights relays closed contacts power the headlight relay coil. Think I.m looking at it correctly. If you would be willing to share the drawings with me I could verify if my thinking is correct. Rich.

dmastroluca, Everything sounds right. What size generator do you have? 7.5 KW or bigger? The fact that you have 50 amps when on shore power, indicates that you have 2 Hots - L1 and L2 When the transfer switch changes to the generator you should also have 2 Hots. Thinking one should check the wiring between the ATS and the "J" box interface between the generator and the wiring running back to the ATS. Check the generator circuit breaker(s). Turn off and back on and see if it needed to be reset or possibly replaced!! Loose connection, Wire wrong? or loose connection in the "J" Box or they just forgot to run one wire? This is unlikely considering the age of the coach, this should have been picked up at some point in the past; but stranger things have happened. Rich.

cessnadrvr2000, Good information in your reply! When you have the 30 amp service installed, get a price on a 50 amp circuit also. Brett, mentioned the difference in the RV 30 amp circuit and what most electricians consider a 220 volt style circuit plug. AS mentioned it is wired with one hot, one neutral and one ground. NO 2 hot wires, that will do in much of the coach equipment and wiring!!! Should you decide on the 50 amp circuit, please ask how that circuit is wired for the coach! How I attach your post to the reply - In the bottom right corner of the post one makes is a box labeled Quote. Click on it and open your reply. The information will be attached to your response. By the way, you are doing just fine regarding your questions and responses!!!! Rich.

Thanks for the reply! The current reading is correct, now take a look at the line voltage. I have a feeling it is in the area of 112 volts and just on the line where the EMS is sensing a total power requirement just a little over what is being supplied. Question - When you use the 15 amp outlet are you using an adapter between the outlet and the 50 amp cable; or a extension cord? The cord needs to be 12 Gage wire-better if it is 10 Gage. The voltage drop in the cord can put you below the required current / voltage combination. You could try to start the AC unit after dark when the line voltage would be higher and see it it starts. Also, try connecting to a 20 amp outlet. Rich

Ray, The portable houses with there built in power plants do come in handy when mother nature gets angry!! The auto run setup on the system is not intuitive. So you know it will run once a month, even if you needed it the day before. So you need to delay the run - unless you have installed a software system and programmed it to take control,when the system has cycled out side a predetermined window. The large backup systems at the sights we had backup, still ran there monthly requirement. The maintenance staff would keep a Hr. log on all our systems and when the systems needed some TLC it was completed. Rich.

cessnadrvr2000, Are you getting the message on your EMS(energy management system)display? And if so who's system is installed in your coach? I will take a guess that the system is looking at you load and what is turned on compared to your priority setting order setup on the EMS. Could be the system is deciding if the generator needs to be started, if you have a auto start setup for the generator so the load demand needs the larger current the generator could supply beyond the limited shore power current. Rich.

Dan, The clicking sound is from the engine fuel pump priming system. The delay is caused by the preheat sequence for the Glow plugs. Once the engines are warm they will start quickly. Should you run the unit out of fuel (happens often when driving with the generator running if fuel level is low) Holding the switch in the stop position for 30 sec. or more will prime the system. This is handy when one replaces the fuel filter or fuel pump. Gets the air out of the system and then the only delay is generally caused by the preheat cycle mentioned above. Rich.