jleamont

Wesgiv, we are in the same situation as you, mid 40's we have two kids in high school. When we travel we always stop either at a Cracker Barrel (1st choice) highway rest stop (2nd choice) or Walmart. I can't recall how many times we have done that, never a problem, we never put the slides out and do not have jacks. However I will level with the air leveling. Toad stays connected. Often we will run the generator and AC or at a minimum the roof top fans to drown out exterior noise. Almost always when we wake up there are several other RVs around us. We use to stop at a campground but it became to much of a hassle with the larger coach.

I have three tractor trailers that park off site where the lift gates are always washing the grease out between PM's. We have to grease these every other month or they will bind up, which may not sound like a big deal but when you have to pay a road service to run out and grease the fleet every other month it adds up. I am going to take a road trip up grease them myself and see how long they go before the driver complains his gate is binding again. Once winter settles in will be a real test, I am going to lube by coach with the tube they gave me and see if my brakes bind, (I can hear them struggle to release midway through the season with the mobile one synthetic grease I use now) We are also running their products on a fleet of old Mack's here beginning next week. I am still drafting up the details on those to provide to our fleet techs. Time will tell..

wesgiv, What campground are you staying at in Pigeon Forge, just curious? Sorry can't help with your question, we've been on that route a few times and I don't remember where we stopped at. Wal-Mart's, and Cracker Barrels are the favorites for us, DW usually finds them on her phone.

Kay, that sounds like a lot of work! I have a free sample of this stuff and that is what I was using to lube this up. http://www.pro1energy.com/products/rig-maintenance/xpl-101-penetrating-lubricant/ The demonstration they did here was impressive, I was skeptical but it either worked as they claim or I got lucky. I will say the manifold has no rust on it anymore, when I looked in last night I was shocked.

I really hope I don't jinx myself but tonight I reached in from the back with a ratchet, 13mm socket and with an extension and loosened the upper and lower bolts on the first three cylinders, little effort and they came loose. One was already loose

Ajshepherd, look up Scangage D on the web. It will scan for codes and if you choose you can use it to monitor sensors while driving. I mounted mine above my camera monitor and it's on whenever the ignition is. I use it as a digital gauge to verify the dash gaues are accurate. The cost less than $200 (the cost of the dealer hooking up their computer one time).

Jeff, any issues since?

Cptsmith1, Welcome to the FMCA forum! Google that engine and read as much as you can about it before you make a decision. If it were me I would look at a different product. You could probably find fault with most engines, or anything for that matter on the web if you dig hard enough as there is no "perfect" engine out there but some are better than others. I just rebuilt a 2013 for a customer that rolled a piston in a cylinder (not in an RV but the same engine). If I were hunting for a coach in that size I would look at a Ford platform with a V10, I have seen utilities run them over 300,000 miles and they idled most of the day (not clocking mileage) with little to no problems. If you are seeking a larger Diesel Pusher coach look at an inline 6 cylinder CAT or Cummins. Certain years of these and certain engines had some problems also. Just do your homework. Example; http://oilfieldxtra.com/oilfieldnews/forum/navistar-vt365-s-maxxforce-7-headaches Good luck shopping, while it may seem frustrating it can also be fun and exciting.

Rich, I understand what you mean now. did you watch the video above? I have to verify the torque specs he posted on it. I just hope my turbo doesn't look like his did.

Blake, that would be great until a bolt breaks, then the video will go "R" rated quick .

Rich, good point I will have to look and see, were your sleeves tight against the casting? I was very happy to see the changes, it made me feel better about installing an OEM manifold. Hopefully the broken mounting bolts are at a minimum, that will make my day much easier. I soaked it down last night with penetrating oil and I plan on doing it each day until Saturday. 8AM Saturday I will begin the teardown, well I know the turbo will come off easily, just had that off for the exhaust temp probe installation a few weeks back, I never seized those at that time. The redesign will not allow for a temp probe, no flat surface and the probe will only get temps from either the first three or the last three cylinders, not both. I'm going to sleep on it and relocate that. I also checked my manifold with a straight edge like in the video, mine was flat I couldn't get a 0.40 feeler gauge under it. I was worried about that, I do not have any way to correct that.

Never had one seize on me (have replaced many that were seized), mine was leaking a week after we bought the coach. I replaced it (they provided the parts). I only use my dash A/C when starting the trip until the roof tops take over and I shut the dash off.

Congratulation's! Take pictures and put them in the members gallery.

This is interesting, the OEM manifold has a complete redesign. The photo below is taken on the same angle as the one above, note the differences.

Id better not park next to either of you. We are heavily stocked with spices, BBQ rubs and a wood smoker on board. No going hungry around my coach .

Brett, Nice job!! Just had this very conversation with my wife last weekend. When our paths cross please keep those to yourself . geese Ill have no free time....

Yea at this rate its going to be a full restoration

Well, I mentioned it before and now I am going to tackle this job this weekend. Standing out back of our coach at a CG showing the engine to ObedB and Rsbilledwards. I happed to look down the side of the engine near the exhaust manifold and I noticed a mark, so I stick my phone in there and snap a few pictures, picture is below. I spent an hour or so yesterday looking to see what options I have in the aftermarket industry, a phone call to Cummins to find out if the ISL shared this manifold with any other engine, turns out it does, certain year ISC and ISL have the same manifolds. Unfortunately my manifold isn't made aftermarket. So I called my Cummins rep to poke at him for a few minutes, he explained that the manifold has been redesigned four times since my build, he has no idea as to why but that made me feel a little better. I did locate this company which looks impressive, but expensive. http://www.pdidiesel.com/exhaust-manifolds I would have spent the extra money if it would have fit. When I called PDI Diesel I was told I was the third phone call for an ISL RV manifold in the last week . The ISC manifold they have is for a truck, which apparently sits the turbocharger in a different position. Everything on my engine including access is for the most part out in the open, just not looking forward to drilling out broken bolts, hopefully none occur. All of the parts ordered; Manifold both pieces (YUP its a two piece manifold), all new hardware, gaskets, turbo oil feed line and fittings, new turbo drain tube, O-rings gaskets etc. Parts total cost $580.00, not over expensive but not cheap either. Also found this Youtube video of an ISL manifold replacement project.

Wayne, when you get to someplace with a less bio mixture fill it up and drive. My guess at the most you will notice is a slight lack of power until your Cetane rating comes back up unless you run a fuel additive then you might not notice much. If you carry extra filters great, you just might need them. Enjoy the road!

Drew, glad to hear, happy trails

Blake take the trays out before welding, you don't want to cook any computers

Carl, my last jeep I put LED tail lights on the back, gonna change this one also, very bright after the change over. Not expensive either, bought the lights from Quadratec. Just bolt on and plug in.

When I worked for a public utility we ran B20, (so the VP could go on TV and tell the public how they were Green) the only issues were replacing fuel filters every other week and frequent regenerations, and I mean frequent, i.e pull over two times in 8 hours for a parked regen, clogged EGR systems. Now the bio they bought wasn't certified it was #2 diesel with used filtered cooking oil poured on top in the tank trailer driven from Philadelphia to the suburbs and dropped into our tanks. The road trip was supposed to mix it . Worked ok in the summer in the winter the shops were really busy then we changed the fuel filters every other day, usually on the side of the road. In the end not real green. we run b40 home heating oil at home, it's certified and blended properly, no issues after the heating oil co got our boiler dialed in, actually burns hotter. I believe we need to develop an alternative fuel but it has to be cost effective and work properly, so far there's nothing out there...in my opinion.

If he was closer I'd give him the one in the shed. Probably needs seals anyway been sitting out there on a shelf for 12 years