garyreed

How is the oil level? low, overfull or correct? was the trans warm. If low, air will also appear milky. If overfull, could be antifreeze. Does the color resemble the color of the antifreeze? Gary

Speck, I agree with Wolfe 10. As the owner of the same year and low mileage Tiffin, if the unit has been well serviced and maintained I would put that money in my pocket and wait for a rainy day. Besides normal services oil change ect., I have only had to replace exhaust gaskets at around 75000 At a cost of around $300 for parts and a quote of $350 labor, ended up doing it myself. I do not have much experience with extended warranties, but I have heard some horror stories. I had a friend who in order to purchase the coverage, had to do some extensive repairs on issues they found at the inspection. Then a year or two in had to fight like crazy on a claim that they ended paying only 40-50% of the repair after the deductible and none of the towing. Gary

Jim, The $35 for the chamber is probably worth the piece of mind although I still prefer the actual measurement over plastic parts. The big thing to remember when installing the new one is to cut the rod length exact otherwise the adjuster may not adjust properly. Gary

Jim, Is that alert that you are referencing the round plastic disk, or something similar, that goes on the shaft that connects to the adjuster? If so that is just for a quick reference and the safe bet is always a measurement. The info that good drivers do not use their brakes enough so that the automatic adjusters don't adjust, is somewhat inaccurate. The simple answer is, during normal use, the travel of the adjuster will increase as the brake shoes wear. Automatic adjusters will click up a notch after that distance is met. Years are were the problem comes in, as with a lot RV's and RV issues. If not properly lubed on a timely basis the grease gets stiff or moisture gets in and that will cause premature failure of the adjuster. Hope this helps Gary

I assume they are only pressurizing the coolant. A leak might show op better if it was hot but some may also only show when cold. If the cooling system and the crankcase were not cleaned properly there could be some residue left. Can you tell how much is getting in? Generally a lot of oil in the radiator will push it out the overflow. It does not say in your first post if the oil was changed at the time of the cooler. Gary

Pat, Sorry to hear about the issues with the ecm. Unless there was a total melt down of the original ecm, the cat dealer should have had it reprogramed with the old info before they sent it back to the shop. They must have reprogramed some of it because I thought they came new with no info. With the motor serial no. and the ecm serial no. any cat shop should have been able to put it back to original specs within a short amount of time. I am not sure why FL charged so much and it is still not right. Over the years we have had to replace many ecm's on cats and Detroit's and have never had that issue. On some that had the ecms altered later for hp and speed may have had to be reflashed but that was a 10 - 15 minute job. Again, sorry to hear about the issues. Gary

Wood How long have you had the coach? Is this a new problem or one that is getting worse even with the cleaning and replacing of parts? Brett is right, this has nothing to do with the weight or hp and that the usual suspects are the fins and the fan. I am with Brett, 167-170 sounds a little cool. Is that the rating on the t-stats? What was the order of the cleaning and changing of the parts? Has there been any noticeable change after each repair assuming they were not completed at the same time? If everything else is good, I may lean towards the radiator needing to be cleaned internally or replaced. As far as the loss of coolant, it may be going past the cap at high temp but that should fill the overflow tank. When you pull over to let it cool down, is that tank full or empty? On mine if I fill the tank to the cold level, when it is cold, I will continually add coolant, but if I just keep a couple of inches of coolant in the tank I will never have to add any. Good luck and keep us informed. Gary

PETER, Give that number to the shop that handled the driveline, they may have a source for those parts. Gary

Br Peterk Any good driveline shop should be able to accommodate you even if that bearing is obsolete, which is not likely. They can update with a newer or more popular style if it is. Gary

No problem. take your time and enjoy the view. Gary

Where was the hose's location? If it was near the exhaust there may be a shield out of place or gone. May have had more to do with climbing the hills and not so much with the exhaust brake. Gary

Brett is right on this, You may be able to find what you want to know at the Federal Highway Safety Administration. There are lot's of studies out there documenting all manor of scenarios involving weights, axels, tires, brakes, road conditions and speed. I have not seen any specifying motorhomes separately, but really they are just trucks, light, medium, and heavy duty. The real question is, the toad. Does a #35,000 load stop the same as a #30,000 load towing a #5000 toad (no brakes)? Common sense tells us that although the toad will not brake as well, without all of the power systems in place as it would under normal driving conditions, those two extra axels braking will shorten the stopping range. It is also important to know that most states have requirements that any tire that touches the ground must have brakes. There may be some minimums on weight and some units may be grandfathered in and not have to comply. For me the liability alone is worth it's weight in gold and not to wonder what states require.

Yes Brett, you are right. In a perfect scenario it would be OK. I was going off the age of their coach and the previous use that the heater may have had. I am by no means an electrician, but experience over the years has taught me that as those things get older, whether by reason of calicfied build up, sludge, cord ect. they may draw more electricity than when new. As far as the two hours, yes it would bring the temp up to where it may start easily. If it were plugged in overnight, the temp would be closer to operating temp and everything (radiator, fan hub, alternator, steering pump, transmission ect.) would be warm. I know it would cost a little more to run all night but for me I would rather do that than crawl in there at -11degrees in the morning. I have to lift the bed to plug mine in. As far as the cost, it used to be around $1-$2 to be plugged in overnight, probably a little more now. Gary

As Bill mentioned above, you could plug it in for a couple of days before hand. Unless you warm the engine before you plug it in, it may draw to much juice and kick a breaker even with the charger on low. If you can, plug it in a day or two before you want to leave in case it does kick the breaker you will have more time to find the problem. Just as important as fuel, make sure you purge the air tanks while it is warm so it will have less of a chance to freeze when you take off. Also on that note, in cold weather I have recomended to my customers before they leave, to cycle the air system a couple of times and let the air drier pop off a few times. In the case it is frozen you will know before you leave and not 50 miles down the road when you are parked on the side. Always keep some airline antifreeze or alcohol on hand, it also helps in the summer time. Gary

I use and have used K&N in quite a few vehicles, atvs and tractors. I keep a good eye on them and keep them oiled, when the gauge shows above normal range or they look really dirty, I replace them. With the exception of the atv's, I will not wash or clean them, It is not worth damaging it with a hole you my not catch. Gary