wolfe10

Don, Have you checked the transmission for diagnostic codes? Let us know if you don't have the Allison book that tells you how to do this and what the codes mean. This is easily done from the driver's seat with ignition on/engine off. And if you your engine RPM is too high, the Allison will NOT go into gear. Verify that engine idle speed is not higher than normal. Brett

Rodney, A good question faced by many as they learn their coaches. And a good starting point is to put together the owners manuals (hard copy or from the companies websites) of all the electrical equipment you have on board. And you might ask other Overland owners if anyone has the wiring diagrams for your coach. There are several books available in most RV stores on basic 12 VDC and 120 VAC systems. Because of the wide variation in equipment and ways they are wired, having wiring diagrams for your coach is a huge help. Brett

Vic, Not all diesels have a coolant filter. It is more common on larger engines. Coolant filters serve either one or two purposes: ALL of them do serve as a filter for the coolant. SOME of them also add SCA (Supplemental Coolant Additive). The amount of SCA is expressed in UNITS. They come in zero units SCA if you do not need to add SCA or if you are using an Extended Life Coolant (OAT-based coolant). They also come in 4 units through 16 units SCA from most coolant filter manufacturers. Before changing a coolant filter, you need to know if you have ELC (so zero units SCA is correct) or the concentration of SCA in your coolant. "Dip and Read" strips are available to tell you SCA concentration as well as freeze point and pH. Too much SCA is bad, as is too little-- that's why you test before adding. And SCA's are used up as the engine runs, so adding SCA is normal. Brett

Welcome to the FMCA Forum. How fast the batteries discharge is based on several factors: 1. Size of the battery bank (expressed in AMP-HRS). 2. Condition of the batteries. If regular wet cell, first thing here is to verify that they do not need water. 3. Load you put on the batteries-- again expressed in amp-hrs. If you have, say a 220 amp hr battery (or batteries totaling 220 amp hrs), if they are fully charged and in good condition, you could safely discharge them with 110 amp-hrs worth of load (you do not want to discharge them below 50% charge for longest battery life). If they are discharged under a heavy load (like an inverter) they can produce LESS amp-hrs than if the discharge is at a lower rate. At that point, they should be recharged. If running the generator to recharge them, it is most efficient to discharge to 50%, recharge to about 85%, discharge to 50%, etc. Once a week or so, they do need to be fully charged. The generator run time is based on how many amp-hrs need to be returned to the battery and the charge rate of your converter, charger or inverter/charger. Some, particularly inverter/chargers are programmable for a higher/lower charge rate The more information you can give us on what batteries and charging device you have, the better we can address your questions. Brett

Larry, Two things come to mind that change with grades: 1. Fluid levels change, so a fluid reservoir that has a level sensor (perhaps coolant level, jack reservoir, etc) will read different on an angle/grade. 2. It is not uncommon for engine operating temperature to rise on sustained grades. Are you sure that engine coolant temperature is not rising? Brett

NOTE ON EDIT 5/7/16: This list was almost 6 years old. Les Doll devoted countless hours to assembling and updating this list. Les has again given his permission to post the updated list. Please see the updated list in my post 5/7/16 below. Thanks, Les!

Bob, Before you resort to chemicals that could harm the valves or plastic, tanks and lines, use a hose with regular garden nozzle. Start from each gray water INLET (both sinks, shower, etc). Flush with plenty of city water pressure. If it is still trickling out, after the tank is empty, put a bucket/storage container under the drain where you attach the hose. Lining it with a garbage bag will keep the bucket/storage container clean. Shoot the water pressure up the outlet toward the valve. If it still doesn't come out as it should, I would remove the valve and make sure it is working properly. Cleanest way to do that is to use your leveling jacks (or boards if you don't have jacks) to lean the coach with the drain side lower. Let the tank drain completely. Use the jacks/boards to lean the coach the OTHER way, so nothing will try to drain out of the tanks when you remove the valve. Now remove the valve. I use pure silicone GREASE (not sealer) on the valve seals. Makes them easy to open and close for a whole season. The valves are not that expensive-- it one does not free up, replace it. I always carry a spare valve in my parts kit. Brett

Excellent-- that is the information we need. And yes, you can/should take more weight on tag, which will lighten the drive axle and slightly load the front axle (which is OK-- you have capacity on that front axle. THAT was the critical question! Hopefully someone else with a CC Magna (what year is it by the way?) can tell you how to adjust the tag. If not, perhaps HWH can enlighten you. And if you are going to another location where RVSEF will be weighing, if the adjustment is not too difficult, you might reweigh and perhaps, with Walter Cannon's permission, even put it on the scales and make the final adjustments. Worth contacting him-- he is good people (Walter and I along with Gary Bunzer were on the "Ask the Expert" panel at the Redmond FMCA): http://www.rvsafety.com/ Keep us posted on your progress. Brett

Balancing the weight per axle on a tag axle coach is a little more complex than it might first appear. Some tags are adjustable (i.e. have a separate control for their air bags). Others use a proportioning valve to air the tag and drive axle as a "unit". If it has a separate adjustment, clearly it is easier to adjust. Also, adding weight to the tag/removing weight from the drive axle shifts weight TO the front axle. So you will need to verify that your front axle is enough underloaded to allow more weight to be added to it. So, please post each axle's actual weights (individual wheel positions even better) as well as each axle's GAWR. Then we can see what might be done. Brett

You are doing properly to somewhat limit the amps of 120 VAC that are used to charge the batteries. Slow charge IS easier on the batteries, particularly if deeply discharged. But remember, even 7.5 amps of 120 VAC will charge the batteries at close to 60 amps in bulk stage-- more than enough for the inverter/charger to go through all three stages (bulk, absorption and float). After charging them another 24 hours, turn off the inverter/charger or just unplug from shore power. Use a battery hydrometer (around $5 at any auto parts house) to check each cell. It is quite likely that they have regained full charge, even if your monitor system doesn't indicate that they are fully charged. If the Specific Gravity readings from the hydrometer indicate that not all cells are fully charged, grab your Xantrex manual and program in an equalization. If the cells SG says they are fully charged, reset your monitor system. Brett

Larry, I suspect this is NOT related to your current question, but the true source of chassis noises have a way of being hard to pin down. Please do verify that you have had your rear trailing arms replaced-- if one is cracked, it could sure lead to some noise. See this FMCA Forum thread:http://community.fmca.com/index.php?showtopic=569 Brett

Hopefully, someone else with the FL-70 chassis will respond, but as you know the population of RV's on that chassis are fairly limited. When I called Freightliner, they said they do not have a technical support group for the truck chassis as they do for the RV chassis in Gaffney. Their suggestion was to take it to a Freightliner dealer who could both look at the problem and also research any applicable factory bulletins that address the issue. About the only suggestion I have is to carefully trace all the fill and vent lines and make sure none are kinked or blocked. The good news is that as many FL-70's as are on the road, this kind of issue is unlikely to be accepted by commercial vehicle operators, so either there is a "fix" or you have a unique issue such as blocked or kinked line. Brett

If this is a ducted system, make sure the inlet/ouitlet are properly separated. If not, the cold air is recirculated through the A/C and leads to premature freeze-up. Some A/C units have a freeze up sensor, others do not. Also make sure air volume out the ducts/vents is strong. If not, it may be that a duct is not properly connected. And when this occurs, if you put the A/C to fan only, does that speed up the recovery time until you can turn it back to cool and get acceptable cooling. If so, another sign that it is freezing up. If no problem with above, next thing to do is clean the EVAPORATOR. The air filters on these units are not nearly as effective as those on house systems. The water on the evaporator attracts and holds dirt (and allows mold to grow). So, particularly in humid areas where the evaporator stays wet much of the time, cleaning the evaporator is almost a routing maintenance item. This is done from the roof and can vary from reasonably easy to "lots of small screws to remove" depending on brand and model. Brett

Please clarify. When you say you set the Heart 2500 inverter/charger to 20 amps are you talking about limiting the amps of 120VAC used to charge the batteries to 20 amps of 120 VAC? Or are you charging the batteries at 20 amps of 12 VDC? Please explain what you mean by "so I set the unit to charge, at 20 amps. with a lower charge of 7.5 amps". How many 8D batteries do you have? What is the present voltage reading on the house battery bank? What is the present charge rate (amps of 12 VDC)? Brett

Welcome to the FMCA Forum. Hopefully someone else with the same model will see this and be able to respond. Other alternatives: Do you have a wiring diagram or fuse diagram for your coach? Can you locate the 12 VDC house fuses? Many manufacturers labeled them which fuse goes to what. If not, you could pull the fuses one at a time until you identify the one supplying that circuit. If this is not an emergency, give Monaco a call on Tuesday. And if it is an emergency, turning off the main house battery disconnect should cut power to all but a few circuits. Brett

With many towed braking systems, there are TWO forces that determine how much the toad brakes are applied. Force on pedal-- just the same as when you are driving-- different amount of force, different amount of braking. Vacuum applied to brake vacuum booster-- the more the vacuum the more the braking force applied. With the towed vehicle's engine off, push on the brake pedal several times to delete the vacuum in the brake booster. Now it takes a LOT more pressure on the brake pedal to produce the same amount of braking as when the brake booster is "charged" with vacuum. The converse is also true-- the more the vacuum applied by the towed braking system to the brake booster, the MORE the braking force applied. A vacuum gauge "T"ed into the line to the brake booster or line to towed brake system's vacuum generator will tell you very quickly how much vacuum is applied by the vehicle's engine when you drive the toad VS how much is applied by the towed braking system when it is activated while towing. Let us know if you do this vacuum check. Brett Wolfe

Jerry, By far the most common cause of heating under high load conditions in rear radiator coaches is blockage of the air flow through the CAC (Charge Air Cooler) and radiator. To check on this, access the top of the engine from the bedroom or closet. Shine a strong flashlight inside the fan shroud/between the fan blades. The fan blades sling the dirt toward the perimeter. Look carefully at the perimeter, particularly lower part of the perimeter to verify that it is as clean as the center. If not, clean with garden hose nozzle if just dirt. If any oily deposit, that plus Dawn detergent. Brett

Mike, Yes, this went out 9/2: TO: Members of the Governing Board, Commercial Council The Family Motor Coaching Board of Directors met via telephone conference on Thursday, August 26, and took under consideration continuing plans for the winter convention scheduled for Fairplex, in Pomona, California, in April 2012. Discussion included the lack of attendance at our three previous International Conventions; the uncertainty of the RV industry; the current economic climate; and the availability of the venue in a time frame conducive to member attendance. They also took into consideration the actions of the Governing Board in Bowling Green and Saint Paul requesting the Executive Board look into producing one convention per year during this economic downturn. It was determined that the 2012 Winter International Convention in Pomona, California, be suspended. The Board determined that resources should be focused on making the summer 2012 convention a grand event. Schrenkel_Charlie Charlie Schrenkel National President

Curley, Yes, check house battery voltage. The refrigerator PC board, igniter and gas valve all operate on 12 VDC. A digital voltmeter is best-- and they start at under $20 at Radio Shack, Sears, etc. Check at battery-- if above 12.2 VDC, check again at the back of the refrigerator (outside access door for the refrigerator). If you have shore power available, plug in-- if only a regular house outlet (15 amp 120 VAC) be sure all 120 VAC appliances are off except the charger or inverter/charger. If no shore power available, start the generator. Either shore power of generator will power the charger or inverter/charger to charge the batteries. Brett

Roy, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. Actually, many coaches DO have guards immediately behind the rear wheels-- ours does, in addition to the one full width one mounted at the very back. Those forward mounted ones help protect cooling system and engine room components from rock and debris damage. I suspect most of the reason for the wide guard's rear mounting position is aesthetics-- the coach looks better when viewed from the rear than just looking at the "machinery". Brett

Dave, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. Yes, we also watch some "over the air" TV-- particularly for local weather and news. When our old Datron Satellite dish went out, we replaced it with this one http://www.kingcontrols.com/king_dome/9704.asp. It has a built-in nicely boosted off air antenna in the same dome. Brings in off air stations far better than our old Wingard bat-wing which I have since removed. Brett

Bill, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. Shower drains connect to the gray tank, which ALWAYS smells. So, what you need to verify is that the device(s) to keep odors in the tank separate from the interior are working properly. Just as in a stick home, the P trap (when and only when full of water) keeps the tank odors from migrating up and into the house/coach. So, first thing I would check is that your does have a P trap and that there IS water in it. Note, there are some new devices that replace conventional P traps-- if you don't see a P trap, let us know what you have in lieu of the P. You may also have a check valve type vent (used more for sinks than for showers. It may need to be cleaned or replaced. You will find a pipe with the valve on the top of it-- again, more likely under a sink. Does this happen more when driving or stopped? You could also have a problem with your roof-top vent(s). Start with the easy in-coach checks. Brett

From Evans-Tempcon: http://www.evanstempcon.com/tsg_guidelines.php Air Temperature (F) Entering A/C Unit Inlet - Outlet Air Temperature Differential** FRESH OR RECIRCULATED----LOW HUMIDITY---------- HIGH HUMIDITY 50------------------------------------------------5-10-----------5-10 60------------------------------------------------10-20----------0-15 70------------------------------------------------20-25----------5-20 80------------------------------------------------25-30---------20-25 90------------------------------------------------25-35---------20-30 100-----------------------------------------------30-35---------25-30 110-----------------------------------------------35-40---------30-35 ** The outlet louver closest to the A/C unit usually discharges the coldest air. The warmest inlet air temperature (fresh or recirculated) should also be used for the Differential calculation.

This is a not uncommon problem with some of the Monaco cooling systems. I would first call the new Monaco/Navistar and ask for their latest recommendation. I know of at least one after-market company familiar with this problem and its solution-- might check with them as well: http://www.rv-chassis.com/radiators.html A separate cooler for the transmission is a reasonable option. The big thing right now is to get ALL the coolant out of the transmission and its lines and all the ATF out of the engine cooling system. Brett

Manual or automatic? Brett