Cruzer
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Posts posted by Cruzer
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We have similar coaches. The front axle is actually a 14,600 lb rated axle, however, with the 275/80R22.5 LRH Michelins you are limited to 14,320 lbs.According to Spartan, you should have one third of the weight on the tag axle and 2/3 on the drive axle so you proportioning valve is set properly. The real issue is that Tiffin put too much weight on the front axle. It took them a few years to figure out how to deal with that as the tag axle Bus was new in 2006.
Now your decision is how to deal with that. A number of owners had their tires upgraded to 295s, which increased the load capacity. Technically the tires were now better than the axle rating but later on the axles were rerated at 15,600 with only a wheel bearing and spindle change, which really wasn't necessary in an occasional vocation situation like a motorhome. One thing to consider is that the Allegro Bus on a Freightliner came with 8.25" wide rims while the Spartan came with the 7.5" wide rims, which are perfect for the 275 tires but too narrow for the 295s. So if you get larger tires you'll need to replace the two front wheel rims as well.
Some owners have played games with the rear proportioning valve. That's a band-aid fix that does serve to lessen the load on the tag axle and shift more to the driver axle. The tag axles is designed to carry lots of weight, which is good, but the downside is that it acts as a lever, pivoting that weight on the rear axle and shifting it to the front (steer) axle. That's why all of the tag axle Tiffins had front weight issues while the 40' single rear axle coaches tended to have overweight issues on the rear axle with light front end weights. If you reduce the tag axle bag pressure by shifting the proportioning valve you will reduce the front axle weight but there's only so much you can go without changing the overall geometry and stability that the chassis was designed for.
It's a tough spot to be in. Our 42QRP "just" makes it on the front axle. Many of the later coaches got worse as they added more Corian, ceramic tile, and other heavy "stuff" to the coaches. That's why Entegra now has a 16K front axle and 315 tires.
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First of all, your house battery bank and chassis battery bank are two separate items. You don't have to go all AGM or all flooded. I have a mix of AGM house batteries and flooded chassis batteries in our coach and am a big fan of AGMs. Your inverter-charger will be set for ther house batteries, which is what take the charge. Your chassis batteries aren't handled by the inverter-charger unless you have a Trick-L-Start or BatteryMinder installed. Either way, those small charges won't negatively impact your flooded chassis batteries if you have AGM house batteries.
AGM batteries have a number of benefits over flooded. The downside is that they cost more so it's always a decision as to whether yopur particular usage justifies the extra expense. In the case of engine starting batteries, that's pretty hard to justify. But in the house section, that's another story.
As previously mentioned, AGMs charge faster due to less internal resistance. That can be a benefit in certain situations. They don't outgas like flooded batteries do so the terminals and connections don't get the corrosion that you get from the sulfuric acid vapors present in flooded batteries nor do they have the venting requirements of flooded batteries because their hydrogen output is minuscule at best. That gives you a wider choice of where to locate them.
Batteries also have a recommendation to never discharge below 50% or else it takes a toll on their longevity. In reality, it's not the 50% that's the cutoff point. It's the voltage drop at 11.8 volts. On a flooded battery this happens to come in around the 50% mark, which is why that figure is often mentioned. But an AGM has a flatter curve when comparing its discharge on a voltage versus amp-hrs used graph. An AGM battery will run a bit longer, allowing you to use as much as 30% more amp-hrs from the batteries until you get to that 11.8 volts. That really gives you 30% more amp-hrs, which is like getting a free battery on a four battery system.
As to longevity, that will vary according to quality. I suggest getting good batteries, rather than price if you want to go with AGMs. The Lifeline batteries are the best. They will give you the 220 AH that your flooded batteries have (keep in mind that you can only use about 110 AH from your flooded but more like 140 on the AGMs) and are designed to last longer than flooded batteries, although that always depends on the way they are treated.
Your Magnum inverter recognizes the difference between Lifeline and the other brands and will have settings available that let you choose the Lifeline AGM batteries or other AGM batteries as well as flooded batteries. I believe the choices are AGM-1, AGM-2 and Flooded. I don't recall which AGM is for the Concord Lifelines but your Magnum manual will show you.
Can you justify the upcharge for AGMs? That depends. I have eight of them in our coach and generally don't boondock but when I do they give me plenty of power to run the residential fridge and other stuff, especially on a cold night when the Aquahot's diesel burner is running non-stop. I don't have any corrosion issues on my cables either. But eight of them do make a dent on the checkbook. My brother-in-law had two 6 volt batteries in their coach and they needed replacement. He considered AGMs but they are plugged into campsite power 99% of the time (fulltimers) and he didn't have that bad of a corrosion issue. Corrosion comes from outgassing, which comes when the battery is charged with excessive voltage, most notably on the float cycle. If your inverter-charger is doing its job you shouldn't have issues with having to add water all the time or cleaning terminals. So in his case we opted to just buy a pair of flooded batteries.
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I've upgraded three times. Can't make up my mind, I guess.
Originally I had the Winegard batwing. I rarely used off-air TV so it wasn't a big deal.
Eventually I replaced it with a Winegard RS2000. The RS2000 is an omnidirectional antenna so I never have to aim it. It's just a saucer shaped disk that sits on the rear deck of my motorhome and I never have to wonder whether it's up or down because it just sits there. It worked well for my needs because I rarely use it and it's foolproof. However, when in fringe areas it doesn't have the power that the batwing did.
So I went back to the front of the coach and installed the King Jack, based upon favorable comments from others. The King Jack does need to be aimed but you don't have to raise or lower it so it's a no-brainer for transit and can't get damaged because you forgot to put it down.
I found that the King Jack got about the same reception as my former batwing. However, I've never tries the batwing with the Wingman addition to it so my "guess" is that the wingman setup would have more range in fringe areas. But then I have to deal with the up and down aspect and I rarely need off-air in fringe areas that bad so it works for me.
If you rely on off-air and aren't always close to major stations, the Sensar with Wingman would probably be your best choice.
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My favorite was the system that I saw during my road test for FMC Magazine of the Newmar Mountain Aire. They had a sliding mechanism that locked both of the upper doors with the slide-out freezer bin on the bottom. Simple to use, very effective and foolproof. Don't know if the latch was proprietary or if Newmar bought them from a vendor though.
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We did it all the time in our past motorhomes, which had LP furnaces. This is Wisconsin, where winter is long, and without heat we would be popsickles.
In our current MH we have AquaHot, so it's diesel powered but that runs too. I don't see the safety aspect of switching off the propane when driving. It would take a pretty wild sequence of events that would cause an issue during a crash. It's safer to be warm and comfortable when driving than shivering and trying to deal with frosty windows.
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The EMS 800 requires a 12 volt DC hot lead and a good ground to power the control board. If the ground is intermittent or your hot feed is iffy the EMS will shut down and the AC relays will stay in the open position, rendering those circuits dead. The only way to close those relays so that AC power can flow through is by applying 12 volts to the board.
Load shedding problems generally are a board issue but in your case I would first check the DC supply and ground for any loose connections. Also, there is a small fuse on the board that may be in intermittent mode. It could even be in a dirty socket so pulling it out and reseating it may do the trick.
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Actually, you can synchronize two generators. I learned that when I took the factory certified service tech school at Kohler's generator plant. They need to be fed through a load matching transformer and each one will lock onto the waveform in the transformer so that they sync up. You wind up with two input windings and one common output winding. It's a load matching transforner, not a step up or step down. The problem is that these aren't on your average electrical supply house shelf and they will be pricey. They do it all the time in large applications but it's pricey for 60KW and under.
Frankly, I don't care for the split neutrals either. If it was me I'd just get a 120/240 split phase generator rather than a straight phase 120-only unit to run things.
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We always keep it full. One time when our coach died and needed to be towed we had to follow in the Jeep. It was a long tow in the middle of nowhere and without a full tank of fuel we would have been in trouble.
As to the fuel pump thing - it's true. Today's fuel pumps are electric submersibles that sit down in the bottom of the tank. They get hot and the fuel that surrounds them actually acts as a coolant for them. Now, they won't burn out the minute you go low on fuel but the heat doesn't do them any favors, either so it's more of an accumulative thing. People who constantly run their vehicle "on a challenge" with low fuel levels will have a greater incidence of fuel pump replacements than those who keep a fair amount of fuel in their tank on a regular basis. All pumps are different. Some are short and fat while some are tall and slender. A good average is that once you go below 1/4 tank the top of the pump will start to get exposed and you lose some cooling action.
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Most class A motorhomes up through 40' use a single rear axle. Generally, anything over 40' gets a tag axle, although there are always exceptions. A rear axle has weight limitations. Federal Bridge Law limits any single axle to 20,000 lbs. The rear axle weight of a fully loaded 40' coach gets very close, sometimes over, that amount. So, a larger, longer coach needs an additional axle to help carry the weight. Tag axles are generally rated at 10,000 lbs capacity so now the rear of the coach can safely carry 30,000 lbs and there are no more rear axle weight issues.
Tag axles also help reduce the rear overhang of the coach. Shorter coaches can get pushed around by 18 wheeler bow wakes or strong winds because that area acts as a sail that causes the coach to pivot laterally at the rear axle, making steering corrections necessary. A tag axle greatly reduces that and you'll find that it's much more enjoyable to drive a coach with a tag axle. The downside is that the coach is longer and costs more but I've found that maneuverability really isn't a drawback and we can put our 42' tag axle coach most anywhere our 40' single axle coach went. Plus, it's a much more solid handling ride.
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I had two 110 watt panels on my last coach and now have four 125 watt panels on this coach. Each system had maybe 3/4" between the panel and the roof. However, the panel itself is recessed within the frame to allow for the electrical connection box so in reality the actual panel is probably 2" up from the roof while only the frame is 3/4". I've never had any issues with heat and find that most heat is reflected and on the top surface of the panel, not the bottom.
I used fixed aluminum angle iron mounts designed for the panels. I used 3/16" stainless steel rivets to mount them to the roof rather than screws. I just don't have much faith in screws not pulling out and tearing the threads whereas the rivets knob up on the backside of the roof and hold very well. Be sure to apply self-leveling sealant beneath the mounting pads as well as all over the top of them to prevent any leaks.
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It's sounds like your system is working fine but you just can't read any amps when on 50 amp shore power. If so, that's normal. Your Meridian uses an Intellitec EMS to shed loads when on 30 amp shore power. It samples the incoming voltage between L1 and L2. If it is zero it knows that you are not on 50 amps because a 50 amp split phase system would show 240 volts between L1 and L2. Next it tests for 12 volts at the generator run terminal. If it sees 12 volts it knows you are running on generator power so it displays the amperage but does no load shedding. If it does not see any 12 volts on the generator's B+ feed then it assumes you are on a 30 amp shore power feed and performs it's load shedding routines to keep the total draw beneath 30 amps. There is a current loop transformer on the neutral line that measures the amperage so that it can properly manage the load level. It will also display this current info on the LED display.
If the EMS sees 240 volts between L1 and L2 it knows you are on 50 amp shore power so it does not perform any load shedding. However, it also cannot display any amperage because the current transformer is on the neutral wire. On a split phase system the neutral wire only carries the current differnce between L1 and Neutral and L2 and Neutral so it can't read what is really being used. Therefore the ammeter is blanked out during 50 amp operationb, although the small LED that indicates 50 amp power will be illuminated. In order to properly measure current draw on a 50 amp split phase feed there would have to be two transformers - one on L1 and one on L2. Prceision Circuits, Inc makes such a system and I recently replaced my Intellitec system with the PCI system. The PCI system even has the ability to interface with a Magnum inverter to add it's output in prior to making any load shedding decision. It's technology is much newer than the aged Intellitec system.
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If you want the best, SmarTire is the way to go. I've had three systems so far between my previous coaches - TireSentry, Pressure Pro, and SmarTire. When it came time to set up the present coach SmarTire was my hands-down choice. However, it's also the most expensive. If you are trying to meter out tires that are already 8 years old you probably won't want to spring for the SmarTire system. The benefit is that it uses internal sensors that send both pressure and temperature information. It then calculates the proper pressure according to the current temperature. These temperature compensation algorithms track pressure differentials exactly. For details on this system check out my website tutorial at http://www.rvcruzer.com/smartire.php. I bought mine at Dickman Tires and highly recommend them.
If your needs are more price sensitive I'd recommend TireSentry. That would be my choice in an external sensor system. You do have to remove the sensors to add air but they are no harder to remove than a valve stem cap and do not require recalibration. I've had good success with both systems.
Regardless of your choice, I do recommend getting some sort of system. They won't protect against a severe instantaneous blowout but that's more due to running tires that are beyond their service life. Most tires fail from overheating after they have run with lower air pressure. If you pick up a nail you may never feel it but the tire will heat up and the sidewall will eventually blow if it gets hot enough for long enough. A TPMS system will tell you in advance and give you time to pull over and deal with it before it becomes catastrophic.
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Xantrex isn't the same company that it once was. The RS2000 and RS3000 inverters (I've had both) make nice true sine wave power and interface through a nice menu driven System Control Panel. However, they aren't as trouble free as the earlier Prosine (true sine wave) or Freedom (mod sine wave) inverters. Fans are particularly known to seize up. These units are made in China and are not field serviceable. They recently replaced it with a less expensive version, the Freedom SW3000 inverter. This too is a true sine wave and is less expensive. Again, it's made in China.
On the other hand, Magnum inverters are made in America and have an excellent reputation. Their pricing is fair and they are field serviceable so you can get parts for them. Many of the higher end coaches are going to the Magnum inverters rather than Xantrex. When my RS3000 goes I will definitely replace it with a Magnum MS2812.
One other neat trick pertains to energy management systems. An EMS typically sheds loads when on a 30 amp shore power feed to keep the total draw under 30 amps so that you aren't tripping the pedestal breaker all the time. About 90% of these systems are made by Intellitec. Precision Circuits also makes an EMS. But it's a better system with greater technology. One cool feature is that it can communicate with a Magnum inverter. That way the inverter can temporarily kick in to minimize having to shed circuits right away. For instance, with the Intellitec EMS if you are running your air conditioners and someone turns on the microwave for a few minutes the EMS will drop out the air conditioners until the microwave has finished. It'll then wait a few minutes and re-energize those circuits. That's typical load shedding. With the PCI EMS and a Magnum inverter the EMS will switch on the inverter to power the microwave rather than shed loads. If the loads are more extreme and the inverter can't make up the difference then the loads will shed as a second stage. If the EMS detects that the inverter has been running too long and the battery voltage is getting too low it will kick it out and shed more loads instead. Actually Magnum also makes an AGS module to start the generator if needed and can interface that as well. I recently removed my Intellitec breaker panel and EMS system and replaced it with the PCI system. I still have the RS3000 but when it goes I'll replace it with a Magnum and then I'll get that extra inverter boost functionality.
Magnum does make smaller inverters in both true sine and modified sine. The inverter/chargers feature 3 stage battery charging so you should have good voltage control in float mode to prevent battery boil-over and out-gassing. The inverter/charger will have an automatic transfer switch built in so that you can pass shore power through when inversion is not needed. Whenever shore power goes away the inverter will create (invert, actually) AC power from the DC battery power. Ideally you would locate whatever circuits you want to run on the inverter to a small sub-panel. Then feed the inverter's inputs from the main panel and send the inverter's outputs to feed the sub-panel. That way you won't overload the inverter with excessive current demands from air conditioners, water heaters, etc.
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If it was me I'd head up the the Black Hills first of all. I would see Mount Rushmore but also Custer State Park, which is worthy of National Park status. AFter that I'd head up to the Little Bighorn and over on I-90 to either Laurel or Bozeman. Laurel gets you to Red Lodge so that you can take the Beartooth Highway - a very scenic drive but a real climb. If that's not what you want, then head south at Bozeman through scenic Gallatin Canyon and stay in West Yellowstone. After 5-6 days in Yellowstone (yes, it's that big) I'd head south to Jackson and see the Grand Tetons. Leaving the Tetons I'd head west to Thermopolis, then US-16 to Buffalo and spend a few days in the Bighorns. for more details on this stuff check out my website. I have photos of the Beartooths, Yellowstone, and Tetons. I also have a driving guide for RVs in the Yellowstone area. It's at http://www.rvcruzer.com/ystonervroutes.php.
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I believe that the Discovery is on a Freightliner chassis. Our '04 Allegro Bus was on a Freightliner chassis and we had issues with our parking/marker lights as controlled through the SmartWheel. The lights being simply controlled through a headlamps switch was not the case. It was a series of staged components. The headlamp switch connected to the SmartWheel's controller module. The Smartwheel's headlamps output then fed a plug-in relay in the fuse block that was located on the floor of the center console (on Tiffin's anyway).
It was determined that the SmartWheel controller module failed so FL replaced it under warranty. In order to complete my trip I pulled the relay that fed the marker and tail lights and installed a jumper wire (it was a night driving trip) so that they would stay on and removed it during the day so that they would stay off. So, it could just be a faulty relay, rather than the switch. There are a number of identical relays in that fuse block. For testing purposes you can just swap a few around to see if the problem goes away (well, actually it'll migrate to some other circuit, like the fog lights
). If it does, then all you have to do is replace that relay. If not, then I'd look at the lighting switch.One other possibility. If you have a SmartWheel it could be the controller. If you don't have a SmartWheel you may have an ICC switch. The ICC switch is used to flash your clearance lights as a thank you when overtaking. It's possible that this switch could be shorting out within itself.
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I installed a KVH L3 in-motion dome on my 2003 Suncruiser. It was indeed a 12 volt power supply, unlike my present KingDome which uses a 120 VAC to 12 VDC adaptor. So, the inverter shouldn't affect the operation of the dome. However, it may (and probably does) affect the operation of your satellite receiver, especially if it's a DVR which has a hard drive in it. I had no problems with my KVH L3 or my DVR however I ran it via a Xantrex Prosine 2500 inverter, which was true sine wave. I also had no issues with my alarm clock but then it was a 12 VDC model.
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That's a common issue. There probably is a P trap on that drain line but it's small and the top of the stand pipe is open to atmosphere so if the water that forms the seal in the trap isn't there, you will get that odor. If the coach stands for a while without running the washer-drier it can evaporate. Many times the water can get sucked out of the trap when dumping the gray tank. That depends on the vent for the gray tank. If the gray tank vent can't keep up with the masive outflow of water when draining the tank a vacuum will form in the tank and it will suck the water out of the trap. It all depends on your vent design and how much water you are dumping at one time. What we do to correct it is to run the washer on a fill cycle for about 15-30 seconds, then cancel the cycle, begin a spin cycle to drain the water, and then cancel it after another 30 seconds. That will refill the trap with fresh water. Ideally, a closed system that used a vacuum break valve would be a better design than an open stand pipe.
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I guess that we must be looking at different inverters then. I had a Freedom 458 MSW inverter on my 2004 Allegro Bus. It always read high when I tested the outlets with both the "Good Governor" RV style plug in voltmeter as well as your basic multimeter. In addition, the microwave growled when it was operated. I replaced it with a Xantrex RS2000 true sine wave inverter and the voltage read where it should and the microwave ran nice and smoothly as if on shore power.
Now these newer "true sine wave" inverters do not have rotating magnets in them but they do utilize the stair stepping protocol that you mentioned to achieve a "near" true wine wave. At least it's close enough that any equipment running on it won't have any issues. The inverters with this technology are not labelled as modified sine wave however, they are advertised as true sine wave. The Freedom 458 is pretty ancient and certainly doesn't fall into that category.
Step forward to our 2007 Allegro Bus. It came with a Xantrex RV3012 3,000 watt modified sine wave inverter, which is much newer technology than the old Freedom 458 that Xantrex inherited when they bought out Heart Interface. While driving the new coach home from the dealership the water and ice dispenser in the door of the residential fridge began to get hot and smell. It had fried the electronics in the in-door control panel and got so hot that some of the plastic melted. This happened to most all of the coaches that Tiffin used the residential fridge in so they quickly changed over to true sine wave inverters. The RV3012 also gave high voltage readings and growling microwaves. Once my RS3000 was installed everything returned to normal.
I've seen similar instances from other RVers with modified sine wave inverters regarding a number of electrical component failures related to MSW so it's not just mine.
Sorry, but I have to disagree with you on your statement that this is a thing of the past.
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Actually, there may be nothing wroing with your inverter. 150 volts sounds about right for that unit. The Freedom 458 is a modified sine wave inverter. Modified sine waves are not true sine waves, they are squared off. Voltage is actually measured at RMS levels on a true sine wave, which will peak at 170 volts but only for an instant and then return to baseline. The RMS voltage will read 120, which is what you want. But a modified sine wave is square. It shoots straight up to 150 volts, stays there for a while, and then falls to the baseline. For a better explanation on this check out the article in the RV Tech Library at http://www.rvtechlibrary.com/electrical/sinewave.htm for more details.
Mod sine voltage cannot be measured by a typical voltmeter. It'll read high every time. You need a specialized voltmeter that is capable of reading the modified sine wave. Chances are your 150 volts will become 120 volts once you use the proper meter. However, in the event something is wrong I would have it checkd out just to be sure there is no problem.
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One of the problems with the ShurFlo 5.7 is that it consumes a fair amount of power. I've had one go out on my '04 Bus after a year but other than that I've had good luck with them over a 6 year period. Leaving it on really isn't a problem because it doesn't run unless there's a demand for water. The biggest issue with these larger pumps is the current draw and supply lines.
Your water pump is powered by a water pump controller, most likely an Intellitec 10 amp controller - http://www.intellitec.com/PDF/5300145.000.pdf. This controller takes battery power and routes it to the water pump whenever the switches are engaged. Thecontroller alows multiple switch to control the water pump from various locations in the RV. It also provides feedback power to the red indicator lamps by those switches that let you know the water pump is on.
But the 5.7 pump draws more power than the average pump and the controller, as well as the wiring gauges running to it, are not sized for this much amperage. Whenever the wires are not capable of handling a given current flow the voltage will drop and the amperage will increase. This creates excessive heat in the water pump. Feel your water pump after it's been running a while and you'll see what I mean. The 5.7 gets very hot.
A great workaround for this is to install a relay. Remove the wire from your water pump and use it to trigger the relay. Then run a larger #12 wire from a good hot source and feed the relay with that power. Then run a #12 wire between the relay and water pump and be sure to connect to a good ground with the same gauge wire. That will prevent overheating from inadequate wire sizing and your pumps will last longer.
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It's not all that hard. You do have to crawl around a bit to get to it though. Most of the current crop of air filters are sealed canister units. You simply loosen up the two worm drive hose clamps, release the retaining clamps, and drop the old filter out. I find that the spring loaded retaining clamps can be stiff to move so when they finally snap over center they can nail your finger so gloves is a good idea. Once the hose clamps are loose, stick a screwdriver in the hose to unstick it from the metal tubing. Then drop the unit out.
To reinstall it helps to spray a bit of silicone inside the hoses and they'll slip over the tubing much easier. Once you have it installed it's a good idea to reset the filter restriction indicator and run the engine. Be sure to rev it up to full RPM for a while to maximize airflow through the filter. Then shut it down and go back to check the vacuum reading on the air filter restriction indicator. Air filters are designed to be replaced when the restriction in them exceeds 15" of vacuum. But, every system will have a given restriction with a new filter installed. This will vary from coach to coach. You need to add 15" to that baseline. In my case my baseline is 6" of vacuum with a new filter. So, when my indicator reaches 21" (15 + 6 = 21) it's time to change the filter. Most manufactureres also recommend changing the filter every two years regardless of it's condition. That's because the paper filter element gets weal after a while. Running humid air through the filter hastens thiis while dry air lengthens the life of the filter so manufacturers just average it out at a 2 year recommendation. If the paper element fails you'll suck dirt into the engine that will get very expensive so being cheap at this time is not a good idea.
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That's not limited to your Mandalay. It's been seen in Winnebagos and Allegro Buses as well. The common denominators are Freightliner chassis - 400 ISL - Side Radiator.
I had a 2004 Allegro Bus that had similar issues. The root problem is that Freightliner uses a 1,050 sq in radiator in those years. The cooling package was not vertically stacked but instead was nested so that the charge air cooler and oil cooler all passed hot air over the radiator. That, coupled with the marginal size of the radiator made for some hot water temps in extreme situations.
Freightliner had a number of service campaigns that were performed to my '04 Bus but they all were dealing with baffling the airflow, reflective heat tape on the air intake hose, and chanbging the Dexron hydraulic fluid over to 15W-40 engine oil to keep the hydraulic radiator fan motor spinning better. But, none of those made an appreciable difference because they didn't deal with the root problem - which was an under-engineered cooling package. In fact, they had a another recall to replace the hydraulic oil coolers because they would burst under the pressure of the heavier motor oil that they were never designed to handle.
I travel frequently out west and did plenty of long mountain grades. It was typical of the temp gauge going to 220 degrees and my MMDC's LCD display would flash the high temperature warning and sound the alarm. But, 220 degrees isn't the danger point. It's a warning that you are getting there soon though. What I then did was manually downshift the Allison to keep the revs up. I didn't need to downshift to climb those grades because the 400 ISL has lots of torque and will lug up most anything. But, in order to keep the water pump spinning as fast as possible I had to downshift, which made me lose a few MPH, just to keep the water flowing from the engine to the radiator. By doing that I was able to keep the temps from climbing. If I left it in automatic mode it would continue on to 235 degrees, at which time the engine would derate and lose power. It got to the point that I could recognize those grades ahead of time and do a manual shift ahead of time and I'd never quite get to the 220 degree alarm point.
Just to put the radiator size in perspective - the Freightliner's in-line 1,050 sq in radiator compares to the Spartan vertically stacked radiator with 1,326 sq in. That's what I now have in my '07 Allegro Bus and it never ever overheats. With the new 2007 spec (ULSD) engines, Freightliner has now gone to a 1,200 sq in radiator. Freightliner's cooling woes seemed to appear with the first emissions steps in 2003 so chassis in the 2003 to 2007 model years can have these issues.
Another important factor is to keep the cooling system in top shape. Normally there's more tolerance but in this situation you do need to make sure that your cooling system is flushed regularly (I'd do it every 3 years) and your SCA levels are all proper. Also makje sure that the radiator fins are immaculate. If there is any oily buildup on them, dirt will stick to the cooling fins and partially plug up your radiator's airflow. This is more common on rear radiator coaches but it's still something to look at on these side radiator coaches as well.
Ideally you'd replace the coolant with an OAT coolant such as Final Charge or Fleetguard's ES Compleat OAT (formerlt Optimax). For details on that check out www.rvcruzer.com/coolant.htm.
Overheating ISL400
in Engines
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We had an ISL400 on our 2004 Bus and now the same engine in our 2007 Bus. The difference was the chassis. Maybe something similar would apply to your situation. After all, it sounds like you have all of your components in good shape. The radiator was replaced, the fan blows your hat off, and the engine (therefore the water pump) is quite new. Plus, your last engine ran hot too.
Our '04 Bus was on a Freightliner chassis. Tiffin, as well as others, had issues during that era once the hotter burning EPA-2004 spec engines came out. Freightliner used a 1,050 sq in radiator. Then they stacked the charge air cooler right behind it as well as the hydraulic oil cooler. This meant that the radiator never got cool air, only preheated air. When climbing mountain grades out west the engine would overheat regularly. The 400ISL had plenty of torque but I was relegated to manually downshifting prior to starting those grades so that the engine's water pump would spin faster and the intake airflow was also increased. This helped prevent the temperature from climbing too far. Freightliner had a series of recalls that I went through but they were all shots in the dark that didn't correct the root of the problem, which was the too-small cooling system. The system wasn't redesigned until the new EPA-2007 emissions came out with the diesel Particulate Filters.
Their recalls revolved around wrapping reflective tape around the air intake hose, adding a bunch of dampers to redirect the radiator airflow, replacing the Dexron hydraulic oil with 15W-40 engine oil to keep the hydraulic fan speed higher, and eventually a new oil cooler because the heavier 15W-40 oil ruptured the existing coolers, which were never designed for the thicker oil. All I could do was anticipate and downshift.
Our '07 Bus is the same engine but on a Spartan chassis and a heavier tag axle coach. Spartan's cooling system uses a 1,326 sq in radiator, a charge air cooler that is stacked vertically above the radiator and an oil cooler also stacked so that everything gets a shot of clean air. This coach never breaks a sweat in any circumstance and I've climbed some steep stuff at high altitudes, drive in 106 degree heat, etc.
My point is that your cooling system may not be large enough. I don't know how your system is designed (size of radiator, stacked versus inline, etc) but it's possible you may have some design issues that can't be easily corrected. If not, I would look at airflow because you seem to have everything else taken care of. Not having radiator shroud that is effectively matched to the fan makes a huge difference on being able to get the air flow through the radiator. Also, making a way for the hot air to exit the engine compartment is also critical. You may need to add some vents or screens. If you think that may be the case, remove one or both of your engine bay doors and go for a test drive. If it no longer gets hot, your air outflow might be the problem.
Otherwise - downshift often - LOL.