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

Glad you had success and saved a little money in the end. Sounds like you also gained a little confidence for the next prodject. You are right about taking it easy if you are not sure, even good mechanics will get tripped up if they get in a hurry. This forum is full of people with lot's of experiance on lot's of topics. Thanks for asking the questions and showing pictures (I have not learned that one yet) it will help others alot. Gary

If you are just going to change the chamber itself you are right. To make it a little easier, before you cage the spring, put vise-grips on the shaft next to the braket on the front side by the adjuster and it will make it faster going back together. Looking at the picture you cannot take the dangerous clamp off, just make sure you get the bolt firmly seated when you cage the spring. If you are loosing air without the stepping on the brake pedal you may want to also look at the air lines around the chamber. You should be able to pick one of those up for under $80. It may also be cheaper to buy the whole assembly and use what you need.You also need to check the section bolted to the braket to make sure it is not bent or cracked. Gary

I think you are right, after all that thing went 40000 without much problem. It is just finding out which issue is fouling up the works. Gary

Did the second belt ride up on the A/C also or just the last belt? How about the first belt and what was the reason for changing the brushes? There is nothing you have done so far that would change the alignment of the belt with the exception of the tensioner and you have had it off and on and swapped enough times you would have caught it if it was not mounted properly As far as the width of grooves on the #2belt it makes me think that it may have been slipping probably on the crank pulley and has worn down the ribs. If there is rubber in the groove of those pulleys, It might cause the belt to jump and may force it of a pulley but it usually happens when the motor is running. Does the A/C compressor engage when the ignition key is on? If it does, will it still spin freely, maybe not freely but still turn smoothly? Sorry for all of the questions and not to many productive answers You will get it I promise. Gary

How bad was the old belt? Were the ribs gone. If there is rubber in the pulleys of the crank and the fan it almost has to have been slipping. Can you get s screwdriver around and check the end play on the crank? Can you pry on the crank pulley and see if it is loose? There should only be a few thousandths of end play not a whole grove worth.Does the waterpump belt look ok and the pulley aligned? Is it a v-belt or serpentine? The crank pulley should be both the main belt and the water pump, so in theory if the water pump belt should be tracking off also. Gary

I feel your pain. These are not built for ease of service. On mine I can see all of the pulleys if I open the bed and lay down on top of the motor, I can't do anything there but I can make sure my belt is in line when I change it, then I have to get my wife to pull me out by my feet. Gary

I have two different tools. One resembles a pipe wrench with smooth jaws so it will not damage the balancer and it grips the edge of the balancer. The other is a homeade one that uses a 1 1/4 inch flat strap metal about 3/16 thick with a 12 point socket welded on the end that is barely long enough to clear the balancer and uses the crank bolts. There may be a plug on the bell housing that will take the turning tool but that is really slow. Does the A/C pulley look in line with the others? Is the belt the right length? The tensioner pulley should be level with the mounting bolt if not a little lower when the belt is on.You could also carefully tug un the fan blade or maybe grab the fan on the alternator and if you can turn either one it is to loose. Gary

That is what I had originally thought that the dowel might not be aligned with the hole. When I looked at the bracket and it's position, it looks hard to get wrong. Gary

Do all of the pulleys spin smoothly without the belt? Gary

I went back and looked at some engines out of RV's and they all have the alt. bracket on the back side of the ear. It lookes as if the tension idler may be hard to install incorrectly as long as the tit is in the hole and sits flush on the bracket. My concern now might be the A/C comp. After everything is put together and it is lined up, and you turn the motor, are the A/C comp. and tensioner the only pulleys to run the belt back? How about the stationary pulley beetween the alternator and fan hub? How many rounds do you have to turn the motor to start the belt moving back? Gary