bairman

A few months ago we took delivery of a 2011 Ford Fusion SEL V6 with automatic transmission. We left Phoenix on 6-25 for a 4,500mile trip with the Fusion 4 wheels down following the Ford manual directions of gear selector in neutral and key to accessory. We got around 175 miles when the transmission failed and the car needed to be towed to Flagstaff for repairs. We have been advised by the Ford dealer that a new transmission could take up to a week to get in. Here we sit with no car at a campground that is not close to town and not sure what we are going to do. We could return to Phoenix and wait four to five days for repair and use 50 to 60 gallons of fuel or just stay here and wait it out. Our biggest problem is if we should continue on with this car or just cancel the total trip. I guess the concern is that the service manager has heard of this happening a couple of times. I filed a complaint with Ford Customer Care, but they said it takes a couple of days to be assigned to a representative to discuss the issue. Still wish I had my Suzuki.

Sorry, just saw the post below regarding Canada and my question is answered. I guess I will leave it home. Traveling with Firearms

Does anybody know what the laws are in Canada for a U.S. citizen entering in a motor home with a handgun?

I would question the quality of a clear bra for a MH at that price. The 3M bra is an excellent product and should give many years of use. If a large or sharp stone hits it hard enough it can get a hole in it but a good installer can repair. These are not that easy to install, as I had one installed on a car a few years ago and it took a professional many hours to install. Also I believe that the 3M product comes with a guarantee if installed by one of their agents.

I installed my own 50 amp service last year and it was not that difficult. First let me tell you that I normally pull the main fuse just to change a light bulb, because I don't like electrical systems, because I don't understand them. I was very lucky that I found a retired master electrician at Home Depot and he walked me through the whole process. I already had a sub panel coming off my main and this also made it very easy. You can buy everything you need at Home Depot or Lowe's including the 50 amp box with lid. The most expensive part is the wire. My 50 amp box is about 40 feet from the sub panel so I dug a trench and used conduit vs direct burial due to cost and did the job in one day. Also check in that some cities require a permit to run new service.

Just wanted to let you know that I found a great RV service center in Phoenix called Kiss my RV who said they had worked on many units with this problem and could fix mine for around $200.00. They removed the refrigerator and checked the insulation, check the temperature setting and lowered a few degrees, clean and adjusted the LP burner and cleaned the exhaust vent for the LP gas. They installed a muffin fan at the top with a 100 F temp relay and a on/off switch and then tested the unit. On a 100 F day they got the refrigerator to 38 F in 8 hours, this normally took me 24 hrs before. Although I haven't had the opportunity to test on a long highway trip he assured me this will solve the problem. Also the total bill was $138.00

Thanks for the information. I Googled muffin fans and found a large selection of 2.5" and up @ 110 volt. The small ones seem to have a low cfm, but if I can use two with one pulling and one pushing maybe that would work. I am bring the MH this weekend so I will check space availability. Yes I have that splitter that is attached and used in my house, so I will just connect one of the leads and then figure out the rear set.

We recently purchased a Monaco Diplomat with the AV equipment located above the drivers seat in a small un-vented compartment. When we got the RV we had them install a Winegard Traveler Dish 1000 on the roof with the control box in the small cabinet above and left of the drivers seat. In the AV bay is a RCA home theater system and a Winegard switch box. I place our Dish HD PVR dual TV on top of the switch box to try and allow air to circulate around the units. My problem is that the Dish receiver overheats and shuts down. I have used a 12 volt clip on fan that I attach to the open door and plug into a 12 volt source on the dash and it does help to keep the unit cool but looks terrible with this big fan and cord hanging down. Rv service centers have recommended adding a ac duct from behind the drivers seat to adding fans to the compartment. I tried the latter option and bought two 4" AC fans but found there was no room to mount them. I did drill some 5/16" holes on the left side out of view to try and get the air to circulate , but doubt this will help much. Fry's Electronics sells 3" 12 volt computer fans and I may be able to find room for these. I am just not sure how to convert them from 12 volt to 110v AC. Do you think this will work? Now for an embarrassing question, we haven't used our MH in almost two years due to illness's and now I cant figure out how to hook up my receiver before we leave on our 2 month trip. I have two cables coming from the Dish Traveler and on the back of my receiver I have two dish in ports and one that says to use on tv channels between 31-68 I think. The RV is set up different than my house so I can't use that as they have splitters etc. I believe the two leads from the dish would go into the back of the HD PVR, but not sue how to get from there to the second TV (I can get the front TV working with no problem). Do I come from the back of my dish receiver with a short cable and go to the switch box for the rear TV. The switch box has a cable already plugged into it marked DSS, but I think that may come from the external connection in the rear bay.

I followed your thread to the other areas and found some good information. We can't do a lot of walking due to some medical issues, but my wife does have an electric scooter that we use for site seeing, shopping etc. We like to see the scenery, take pictures and learn of the local history. Not sure if we will go all the way to Vancouver, but its a thought. Did you stay at any campgrounds in the Calgary/Lake Louise area? We will be in a 42' quad slide MH with toad.

We stayed in McCall Idaho for 5 days at a campground on the river and it was great. This area is nothing short of spectacular with rafting, hiking etc.

Can't say which is best out of Estes, but I-25 is no major problem for a 40'MH. I have traveled I-25 to Rapid City and Sturgis a couple of times and will be doing it again in mid July and have never had any problems. Anytime you travel along the base of the mountains you can expect to get some winds, but I have never experienced anything that made me pull over and wait it out. As far as steep grades I have not experienced anything out of the ordinary.

We will be in Glacier National Park in late July and we are thinking of going up into Canada for maybe a week to see some of the scenery. Is there anything in the southern part of Alberta above Montana that we could visit? We will be in a 42-foot motorhome with toad. We will be going from there to Reno and then Arizona.

It will be our first trip there in late July and early August and looking forward a great time. Plenty of camp grounds in the area.

Again thanks or your help. I contacted a local RV repair shop in Phoenix and he agreed with you that the fan need to be on the top and he has done many of these installations for around $200.00. He said this will include checking insulation and factory installed fans.

That was the original problem with the unit. The service center worked with Dometic to make sure the insulation on the top (there was none) was installed properly.

Thanks to everybody for the help. I would not have known about the liquid detergent and the low sudsing. One of these days I will need to start reading manuals.

Thanks for the comments. Dometic said the unit come with extra fans because of the problem of negative air pressure while traveling and explained how to test to see if they are working. I will check the gaskets to see if they are tight and making a good seal. So you think if I put fans on to put them at the top just below the vent to draw the air over the cooling fins? It always happens while we are driving and the unit is on LP gas. I will try running on electric and see what happens.

Anybody know of any good campgrounds in the Rapid City area? We plan on doing Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Deadwood, etc. We could stay in any of these areas but would like to stay in one spot for eight or nine days. We have a 41-foot, four-slideout pusher with toad on back. We would prefer something with a little width. We will also be going from there to Glacier NP.

Just had a new Splendide washer dryer combo installed last week for or 3-month summer trip. Any suggestions on using it? Can we use regular detergent like Tide or do we need to use the one the manufacturer sells?

We have Dometic 2 door side by side installed in a slide. When we first got the coach it would not get cold at all. We took in for service and they determine that the factory had not installed proper insulation so it was re done and seemed to work OK although it takes at least 24-36 hours in Phoenix summers to cool down. The problem we have since new is that when traveling the refrigerator side will go from 38 to 52 by the time we stop at the end of the day. I checked with Dometic and they said to check door seals and thing like that, which I said doesn't make sense since it works fine when not traveling. I did meet a fellow RV'er who had the same issue with his coach and said he had two fans installed in the lower air vent with a switch to turn them on when he starts to travel and said he has had no more problems. Has any body experienced this? What type of fans would you use and how would you install them or would you leave that to a tech?

Please see my attachment below. Didn't know I could add right to yours. Thanks.

Again thanks for the information. I tried to locate Apgar but didn't have any luck. Is this a state park? I have been looking at the Columbia Falls area for RV parks, but not sure if that is west or east side. I will check out West Glacier to see what they have. As we have never been to MT not sure what to do or see, but could easily stay for two weeks if enough to do (don't need to go everyday). MY wife has limited mobility with two hip and one knee replacements in the last two years, so hiking is not in the picture, just short walks. Somebody else had recommended Anaconda so I am starting to check that out today. Also need to check out routes from Rapid City SD to Glacier that wont be all Interstate, but can still handle a 40' with toad. Our plans are to be up in MT in late July to early August.

Thanks for the tips. I will look them up and try and make some reservations. Is this some place we could stay for a week and enjoy?

We will be traveling from Phx to the Black Hills via NM and Colorado and then want to go to Montana. We have been to Yellowstone so we thought we would go to Glacier National Park. Any suggestions on what to see and where to stay while there and on the way would be helpful. We will be traveling in a 40 ft pusher with slides.

Be careful when you go to South Dakota. The Sturgis motorcycle run is in the first week of August and you will not find a place to stay within 100 miles.