wolfe10

Yup, more than one valve being discussed in this thread. That is why I pointed it out.

Likely talking about two different valves here. The check/anti-siphon valve where you connect the shore water hose CAN leak. But, it will leak into the wet bay, not into the potable water tank. The other valve is the selector valve (lots of different locations in different coaches) that allows you to fill or cut off water to the potable water tank. If it fails to close completely, it CAN allow shore water to fill the potable tank and/or allow pump pressure to "recirculate".

Would be hard to imagine an RV park where you couldn't find someone to come over with a voltmeter for 10 minutes. You said "86 volts on one leg". 30 amp only has ONE leg. So, if you ran much on that kind of voltage, you most certainly could have done damage.

What troubleshooting have you done? If the ATS is hard to get to, start at the shore power cord and check for power with a voltmeter (if you don't have one, you can find them at any auto parts house or box store for under $20). Same for the main 120 VAC breaker panel. If you have power where the shore power cord comes into the coach and those connections look good, but not at the main breaker panel, that pretty much leaves the ATS as the likely suspect. Yes, a loose wire or connection would give the same symptoms. Again, all this ASSUMES YOU ARE SAFE WORKING AROUND 120 VAC.

If two pumps show the same symptoms, probability is that there is another cause. And, yes, the selector valve/tank fill valve may not be shutting off completely and/or could have chunk of mineral caught in it. You loose nothing by repeatedly opening and closing the valve to see if it can re-seal.

Richard, Many smart chargers and inverter chargers have just such a safeguard-- they are programmed to NOT charge if battery voltage is low enough that it could indicate a dead battery or dead cell in a battery. That is done purposefully to prevent fires! This from the Xantrex manual: Starter battery is not charging (would also apply to your generator battery, as it is the "start battery" in this description). Check the difference in voltage between the house battery and the starter battery. If the difference is greater than 2 volts, the Digital echo-charge will reduce the charge current. If the difference is greater than 10 volts, the Digital echo-charge will shut off and the green LED will blink . 2. Check the connections to house battery bank and starter battery. Check the fuses. Check the ground connection. You can also check the LED light codes on the Echo charger to see if it indicates a problem.

I would start be contacting the large propane suppliers there in Rawlins. They can certainly tell you who works on propane tanks. What is wrong/needs working on? That will also enter into who could do the work.

Open the lid to the ATS (if you are not safe working around 240 VAC HIRE IT OUT TO SOMEONE WHO IS). Check voltage IN and OUT of the ATS. That will tell you whether the problem is there, between CG and the ATS or ATS through main 120 VAC breaker box to the inverter/charger. BTW, if this is a MSW inverter, most voltmeters will read artificially low, as they are designed to work on pure sine wave.

I would ONLY recommend that if you use a diode with zero voltage drop (hard to find and expensive). You will already have some voltage drop over the wire length and multiple connections. If concerned about the toad battery trying to support the coach battery when engine not running, I would strongly recommend using a RELAY. Use an "ignition hot" source to close the relay. That way the only time the batteries are connected is with the coach ignition on/engine running.

Good question. Big difference is that the over-pressure valve is virtually permanent--- may have to be replaced ONCE in the life of the water heater, where the drain plug is removed at least once a year. So thread integrity is much more critical for the drain plug.

Good answer. And flush the minerals out at the same time!

NO. With an aluminum tank which the Atwood water heater has, I would spend the big bucks (under $2) and buy an Atwood plug. Metal plugs will have galvanic corrosion.

I reached out to a friend in the RV suspension business. He did not know of any "bushings only", but suggested you contact: Supersteer maybe John could help him.

I don't know of any tie rod ends that are fit such that there is a through bolt. But, it is possible that a suspension shop could find bushings to fit.

The track bar (aka Panhard rod) locates the axle to chassis in a side to side dimension. It allows for full up/down movement but restricts side to side movement between the two. Said another way, an air bag without it would allow the coach to shift left/right vs the axlewith every bump and turn.

Only real issue is "have the water tank threads been damaged. If an Atwood nylon drain plug (i.e. under $2 each) seal the drain, you are OK. If it does not seal, next step would be to buy and use a tap to clean the threads. If that doesn't work, then, yes you may have to replace the tank. But, I would suspect the likelihood of needing to do this at under 5%.

With proper safety stands in place, you can use a voltmeter to check: Have someone turn the key (as if to start) while you monitor voltage to that terminal on the starter. That will tell you if the proper 12 VDC positive is reaching it. You can do the same thing from the ignition switch end-- see if the switch is sending the proper 12 VDC signal when the key is turned to the start position.

Yup, an engine compression brake is entirely different than an exhaust brake. And, most engine compression brakes do come with a low/3 cylinders doing it and high/all 6 cylinders doing it. They are also known as Jake brakes. Exhaust brakes are found on smaller diesels. Engine compression brakes are found on larger diesels-- starting with the Cummins ISL 8.9 liter which was offered either with exhaust or engine compression brake..

Correct. The Allison will be programmed with the "pre-select" gear TOWARD WHICH the transmission shifts. 2nd and 4th are popular choices, but an Allison dealer can program it to whatever you want. As desertdeals69 said, that does NOT mean that is the gear you are in-- any more than it showing "6" when at a stop light means you are in 6th. You have to slow down enough that it will not overspeed the engine for it to drop to the next lower gear.

neoflyer, We are here to help. Let us know your questions as you narrow down your choices and we can help.

Use the "down arrow" along with the pac brake to maintain your speed. If you are speeding up, use the brakes firmly enough to allow you to down arrow to the next lower gear. Your equilibrium speed will be faster than a loaded 18 wheeler, slower than an empty one-- straight physics.

Look at total weight of HD and the lift. Since it will be way behind the rear axle, it will put approximately 1.4 times that weight on the rear axle (and remove the .4 from the front axle). So, before going further, weight the axles and compare with your GAWR.

If the intake manifold heater is not functioning, starting in cooler temperatures will be slower (i.e. engine will turn over longer before firing). But, pretty easy to check it: Disconnect wires to the heater and check across the terminals with an ohm meter. Then reconnect and have someone start the engine when it is cold. Use your voltmeter to verify that you are getting 12 VDC to the heater grid.

Contact the IT department at FMCA on Monday.

Yes, if the batteries are 12 VDC: Positive of battery #1 to positive of battery #2. And positive cable to starter, etc from positive of battery #1. Negative of battery #2 to negative of battery #2. And chassis ground cable to negative of battery #2. And, agree with Herman-- I would sure clean up that mess of wires. Appropriately sized (for large-gauge wires) terminal strips are not that expensive. Would also make battery replacement and servicing a LOT easier in the future (and a lot less likely to put a wire on the wrong terminal). Another advantage is that the wires that you move away from the batteries will be a lot less likely to corrode. Lots of choices to clean that up: https://www.westmarine.com/search?Ntt=terminal+block