starmack2001

I have a 2004 Monaco (purchased in 2013) with a 400 ISL cummins, with 101,000 mile. Side radiator, side fan, so no obstruction between the motor and the rv rear engine cover. The engine or something has started leaking oil and it is blowing out the back and onto my tow vehicle. I took it to a diesel shop and they said that the pan gasket was leaking. So, they replaced it. Last trip was in July 2019, 2,000 mile round trip, it was still showing signs of oil from somewhere plus another substance that looks like dirt / ground up rubber/ road tar mixed in with the oil. still blowing out of the back of the rv. No idea what it is. Before the first oil leak showed up, I had no debris pattern on the back of the rv at all. Also, have another issue. Starter went out. Replaced the starter and now the engine battery runs down in 4-5 days. Didn't happen before the starter replacement, but, we also replaced a burned pc board that has the rear maintenance / start / run switches on it. It's located in the engine compartment in panel box along with some other engine control boards. We've had this rv for 6 years, 2nd owner and it's actually the first that we've ever had to spend any serious maintenance money on. It's our 2nd Monaco Dynasty. We've owned rvs since 1991.

We had a similar problem in our 2004 Monaco Dynasty with the 400ISL. It turned out that the radiator fan has a hydraulically operated variable speed motor on it. It was going bad. But, on top of that, the hydraulic system was driven by a similar variable speed motor. This was not the slide out hydraulics, it's a separate system from the slides. The slide pump is a small pump that is mounted with the tank under the door and behind the steps. That went bad a few years back and I bought a replacement pump from the manufacturer for $90. Monaco wanted $900 for the whole assembly, when all that I needed was the pump. Back to the radiator. The way that we discovered it was that the fan would not come on till it reached a higher rpm (in the shop) and then it would stop under a load after running for a while, causing the overheating. Problem: both pumps are Italian made, available only in Italy, and not handled by any American manufacture. Someone put me in touch with a Country Coach dealer, in Portland, Oregon, now retired, who knew all about these pumps because Country Coach uses them also. He ordered them for me from Italy and in a matter of a few weeks we were back on the road. They cost about $1900 each delivered to my door. OUCH!!! ON the other side of things, we just returned to Houston from Colorado Springs, and I noticed that going through Raton Pass that my temp gauge got up to 200 when it usually rests around 180. So, it could be this very hot weather that we're having. Good luck and hope this helps.

Sorry to be so long in replying. I did go to the household fridge replacement. We are twixt and between on selling or keeping the RV. The Monaco is just too nice and with the vip steering so easy to drive. We went with an over/under 2 door 17cf refrigerator w/icemaker that fit right into the opening. The compressor and controls at the bottom lined up perfectly with the outside fridge cover, so the heat generated goes straight out the vents. $510 at Home Depot. I only had to cut about 1/2" off of the top of the opening to make it fit. We took all off the baskets from the door and drawers in the Norcold and put them in the new fridge to keep things in place. We put canned drinks and bottles in them so they don't roll around. I purchased some sheet metal angle brackets to secure the unit to the floor and keep it from moving. It was skinnier than the Norcold so my wife now has a broom closet next to the fridge. We took the RV out for an oil change the other day and the unit ran all day on the inverter / batteries with no problem. Since we don't dry camp, but stay in campgrounds or run the generator in a parking lot overnight, I don't think that we'll have a problem with the batteries. My local mobile RV tech was here the other day to replace a gasket on the front a/c unit and looked at the fridge setup and said that I should be fine. So, we're now preparing to leave around the 1st week of April and head north by northwest. Pagosa Springs, then west and north. I need to pull the microwave convection that's located over the range top and haven't figured out yet how to get to the screws that hold it in place. The timer stops every 59 seconds for some reason. The convection/microwave works but the timer stops.

Brett, if I knew of a refrigerator that would be a good fit without having to make a bunch of modifications to the opening, I would consider a residential unit. There's a solar panel on the roof that looks like it's big enough to supply the energy that would be required to run the unit if we were dry docking. The inverter is a Xantrex 2000 watt and it'll carry the refrigerator. My wife has accidentally turned on the microwave/convection while heading down the road and it ran it OK. I think that a household unit would increase the value of the RV since we're thinking of selling it. Do you know of one that will fit without major changes? Personally, I don't like the 4 door fridge.

Since you guys are talking about the Norcold 1200LRIM, I have an odd one and could use some help. Just returned to Houston from a 6 week trip to Nova Scotia. The rear air started freezing up on the road. Went completely out when we got home. One week later the front a/c went out. While on the roof replacing the a/c unit, I smelled ammonia coming from the refrigerator vent and removed the outside cover and smelled it strongly. So, after replacing the 2 a/c units, I'm also replacing the refrigerator. Seems kind of odd that they all went out within a few weeks of each other. We were having problems with the fridge not cooling while driving, it worked fine while parked. We put a fan in it that helped some and a fan outside. This is on a 40ft 2004 Monaco Dynasty. The a/c's didn't surprise me, they are 11 years old, more than their "useful" life, according to everything that I've read and my a/c repairman. I'm looking for a replacement for the fridge and I'm not going back with a Norcold backside unit. I'm using an aftermarket brand. I'm planning on doing the work myself. I'm a machinist, own a machine shop (CNCs) and have always done my own repairs in the shop, house, cars etc., unless it's beyond what I know my capabilities are, then I pay. Paying is becoming more frequent because of the computers in everything. Our toilet in the RV has a pc board in it. I'm looking at the RVcool brand unit. http://www.rvrefrigerator.net/norcold_1200_replacement_cooling_unit.htm Does anyone know anything good or bad about this unit? We're actually talking about selling the RV and downsizing to a smaller class c due to our changing life style. We started with a class c in 1990. Ken

The short answer is that greatlakediver is correct, the procedure should be in your owners manual, ours was. But, if you don't have a manual, this is what we had to do. The hydraulic pump failed and had to be replaced. The story is on this forum under hydraulic slide out repair. To bring the slides in manually, we had to release the pressure on the slide pressure lines at the pump. The pump unit was conveniently mounted behind the entry step for the rv. To release the pressure we had to turn counterclockwise the small screw in the center of each solenoid on the pump. That was 8 solenoids total, 1 extend and 1 retract solenoid for each of the 4 slides that were controlled by the pump. The other option is to remove the hydraulic lines from the manifold that the solenoids are connected to, but you run the risk of an oil spill (minor, not much oil, use a can to catch the oil) if you do that. It still took 5 people to push the slides in and on the drop down floor level slide in the living room, we had to connect a strap winch to help in the initial lift up over the "bump" of the drop into the floor where it is level with the floor. Watch your slide go in or out and you'll see what I'm talking about if it's a floor level slide. I would assume that you would need to do the same for the hydraulic jacks. Our last rv had hydraulic jacks, this one does not, so no clue there.

Thanksgiving we were in Baton Rouge for a brief vacation. When we got ready to leave, my slideout pump, HWH brand assembly, stopped working after bringing in one slide. We finally called a mobile mechanic, Leo Johnson, (225) 772-4305, that was recommended by the RV park. Great guy, friendly and informative. This was a Sunday afternoon. He couldn't get any info till Monday, so we stayed another night. Next day, he told us that the replacement assembly was $700 plus shipping and would not be available for a week with expedited shipping. He helped us manually push in the slides and we went home. The pump assembly is located directly behind the door step and is easy to access. At home, I removed the assembly and looked for the pump manufacturer and found it on the internet. Love google. The pump (see pix) was only $97 and could be shipped in 2 days. I had to purchase it through a local distributor since the factory only sold to distributors. I disassembled the pump tank and motor and pulled the pump out. For those of you who are my age, (64+), the drive motor looked like an old starter from a Ford or Chevy, held on by 2 bolts. I removed the motor from the assembly during re-install to remove weight from the assembly. The motor by itself seemed to weight as much as the rest of the assembly. It was not a difficult job. All of the electrical was plug in, so I numbered the wires and took pics with my phone of their locations. Did the same with the hydraulic lines. It took about 3 hours to reassemble the pump, tank, motor AND install it in the RV. It works great and I saved $600 plus labor by doing it myself. Leo did tell me one thing that was interesting. He said that this is only the 2nd pump that he has seen go bad in 25 years of working on RV's. So, HWH builds a good unit, if that's the case. Had a similar experience with an Avion 5th wheel and a broken door handle back around 2003. I couldn't get the part from Fleetwood, so I went to the internet. Bought it direct from the manufacturer. I love google for repairs.

Our 2004 Monaco Dynasty that we picked up in Florida last April 2013. Fifth RV since 1990 and second Dynasty. RVs owned in order were a class c, class a, firth wheel, diesel pusher and our current diesel pusher. It's been a fun run. Sold last Dynasty (1995 model, had it for 5 years) 2 years ago and looked for almost a year before we found this 2004 one. Love it. Forty ft, 4 slides, 400 hp Cummins, and more amenities than I thought we'd ever find on a used one for a decent price. Salesman in Florida went out of his way to find us what we wanted. Took him 2 1/2 months of calls and emails before he showed us what we wanted. It's a shame he no longer sells RV's. Last honest salesman (seemed to be) I think that I have met. Was going to medical school of some sort.