richard5933

If your Garmin has a traffic receiver, which it sounds like it does, then yes - it will attempt to re-route around traffic and/or roads closed due to traffic. That is, if the traffic receiver is getting a good traffic signal. These traffic signals are transmitted totally separately from the satellite GPS signal, and reception is not always good. If your Garmin is giving you traffic notifications, then you can assume it would re-route around the traffic. All that said, there are settings where you can tell the Garmin whether or not you want it to avoid traffic. I have mine set to avoid traffic, and at times if the Garmin senses a problem ahead it will re-route mid trip. Usually it offers a couple of alternatives if this happens at the beginning of the route. If it happens mid-trip, a warning will pop up and tell me that there is another route that will save xx number of minutes. I'd then have to positively select the new route. Now, if along the route the Garmin determines that the road ahead is closed, it will re-route in real time and will not ask. It does this using the best information available to it, which is not always current. For example, there is a stretch of road around here that is closed at night sometimes for construction, usually from something like 10pm - 5am. However, when I leave for my morning commute at about 5:30am, sometimes it still thinks the road is closed and will try and route me around it. I wasn't paying attention the first time it did this, and I ended up being diverted to a parallel surface road and spent about 30 minutes extra getting into town that day. The GPS units are good. They won't knowingly lead you astray. But they do need to have an intelligent mind double check them at times, which is why I will confirm traffic conditions before leaving if possible. I've yet to encounter the Garmin leading me down a road with a height/weight restriction where I shouldn't be, but I do keep my eyes open to signs and such just to be sure. I'm not going to put my life in the hands of a little electronic box alone.

Unfortunately, sometimes there are not lots of good options other than find the route with the least traffic and carry on. There is no easy way to get around Chicago if one wants to go from SE Wisconsin to points east. It's either go through Chicagoland or across the lake. The other option is to add a few hours to the trip and detour west, but that can add up to quite a bit and really lengthen the trip. That's why at times it's important to have an accurate traffic picture. I also enjoy the scenic route, but sometimes it's the priority is to get where you are going and not an extra two to three hours sitting in traffic. We are not retired yet, so we have to fit our travels into the given vacation times. That means that half a day can be important in being able to enjoy our destination or not.

Not sure my point was clear about the Garmin routing... The original question was about the most direct routing and how to help with that. My point was that the Garmin includes traffic in its calculations. When the route appears as not being direct, it might be because it's routing you around traffic. However, it relies on receiving a separate signal through a traffic receiver to get the real-time traffic updates. The traffic receiver is the small rectangular box which is incorporated partway down the power cord to the head unit. You've got to use the window/dash mount to have this work - if you're using a standard USB cable to power the unit you won't get a traffic signal and traffic won't be used in setting the route. What I was posting about is sometimes the Garmin will route you through an area that you know to be heavily trafficked. One example is when it sets a route for me through downtown Chicago on I-94. I know that there will be traffic, always is. However, sometimes when I'm at home and set the route the Garmin's traffic receiver isn't getting a good traffic signal. So, it sets the route without the traffic signal, therefore sending me into horrible traffic. That's why I suggested confirming traffic conditions for situations like this by using Google Maps and/or Waze. Other than the traffic situation, I'd agree that Garmin will route you as requested and will include your height/weight restrictions.

I've also found that the traffic receiver on the Garmin depends on reception for accuracy. If it presents a route that seems like it would put you through a congested area, plug the route into Google Maps or Waze and see what the real-time traffic situation is. If there are portions of the Garmin route that have traffic you want to avoid, it's possible to have Garmin detour around them. By having Garmin do the detour, it will consider your height/weight as it re-routes.

Not sure why a company wouldn't sell you a seat with a 3-point harness built in. Whether it's a seat with a 2-point or a seat with a 3-point, they both will bolt to the floor & chassis the same way. The difference between the two is that the seat with the integral 3-point harness has an frame built to withstand the forces being applied forward at the top of the seat back. The seat with the 3-point should have an interior frame that connects all the parts from top to the bottom mounting plate securely, and assuming that the floor and substructure in your motor home is solid and secure all should be good. There are a number of places that sell aftermarket seats like the Flexsteel. Perhaps a phone call to some place like Brad & Hall in Elkhart would be helpful. They do installs there, so they should certainly be able to give you a definitive answer about this project.

I'm guess that it has more to do with the possibility of an open flame existing in an RV or motor home with the LP turned on. The CNG powered vehicles are not supposed to have an open flame, and they come from the factory with appropriate safety measures in place. Since there is no way for them to know what's connected and being used in an RV (like a pilot or furnace flame, or maybe even a cooktop) best to just turn them all off.

If you have a 12v circuit for the furnace, it should run just fine without running the generator. Not sure if you can run the water heater without the generator. Of course, if you have an AquaHot or similar system then you should be able to get both heat and hot water on 12v.

Also, if it's the first time to run the furnace for the season, use a flashlight to check for nests in the exhaust opening before firing it up. Never know what you're gonna find...

If batteries tested good and they still lose charge, then something has to be drawing from them. There is a phantom load somewhere, and the first place I'd look is to see if the Inverter/Charger is being properly turned off when not either in use or plugged and charging. If that's not it, then something else is drawing power. The batteries may be good today, but park somewhere for a few days and run them down to nothing a few times and they'll be needing replacement again.

Does the inverter go into sleep mode when there is no 120v load on it?

That's a great solution. Thanks for letting us know how it turned out. I'm glad that you were able to keep the control point inside so you don't have to crawl around in the hood to turn the heat on/off. This is a common solution used on lots of step vans and other medium trucks - wonderful that it worked for you as well.

Sounds like you're heading in the right direction. I'd suggest you keep monitoring and see how long it takes for the voltage to drop to 13.2 (or there about).

If it's front loading, then most any detergent with the HE symbol on the front should be fine. The HE symbol is for 'high efficiency' and will clean your clothes but produces far fewer (if any) suds. Doesn't look like it's doing anything if you are used to seeing lots of suds, but it is. Like Ross & Melanie said, you'll use far less in a front loader than you're used to if you're coming from a top loader.

We driven it a few times between Chicago and St. Louis. There are sections with some of the original road-side attractions, cafes, etc. Other sections have been taken over by the Interstate, and other sections are no longer in good enough condition to actually drive on. Check out sites like this to see if you can find a section you want to travel: https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/route66/maps66.html Depending on which part of Route 66 you want to visit, there are some that are still well maintained and great for travel. Best to do a little research though.

The only thing that I see which may or may not be of concern is the voltage at the house batteries while you're plugged in (shore or generator). That looks like it is charging at the bulk level (or whatever your charger calls the higher charge level), which is fine for a while but not where I'd want the voltage to long term. My charger runs at 14.4v until the batteries are fully charged, then it drops a little for a short while and then finally settles in at 13.2v for a float charge. It stays at the 13.2v float charge all the time if nothing is drawing from the batteries, and once a day it goes to 14.6v for about 15 minutes to keep the batteries from having problems. Dropping to somewhere around 13.2v is important, because continuing to charge at a higher voltage causes more out-gassing and more water evaporation. My suggestion would be to continue taking voltage readings for a few days after the batteries are fully charged and see what happens. If you just replaced the inverter/charger, I'm sure that there are settings which would allow you to set up the charging pattern that is best for your particular battery situation. If you are unsure of the proper charging voltages for your batteries, go to the manufacturer's website and find the data sheet. They should list the various charge voltages they recommend.

You could be correct, but the gauge has been at that point over the summer during normal operation - hovering between 170 and 175 - for hours without a problem. Never saw the gauge go over that this time. But, the temp gauge might not have been reading actual temp. It's sticking into the water to read temp, and if there was an air pocket or other weirdness from a stuck thermostat it might have been getting a false reading. The temp gauge uses a separate sending unit from the one in the shut-down circuit, so it's possible for one to read normal and the other to read overheat. When I saw the gauge suddenly climb and then go back down, I'm guessing that's when the thermostat finally opened. I hope no damage was done, but no real way to tell just yet. Once things got going again the engine appeared to run okay, and there is no noticeable water in the oil or oil in the water. Fortunately, if overheat was the problem, the shut down system does work. Hopefully not five months till I can investigate - last year I was able to get a little work done during the winter with a few days here and there with temps above 40 degrees, and by early March we start having enough sun during the day to warm things just a tad and get a at least a couple of days a week where I can work outside on the coach.

Yes - definitely is something in the 'crank reset' circuit and not fuel related. Right now I'm trying to narrow down what caused the 'crank reset' button (breaker??) to pop out and shut down the engine. From reading the other thread I posted just before, it seems like there are only three things that play into the 'crank reset circuit' - low oil pressure, high temp, and coil/crank clearing. I don't yet know what the coil/crank clearing is, but the other two showed okay on the gauges so if they tripped the system then I've got a faulty switch somewhere. I'll do some circuit tracing once the outside temps get above 40-ish again.

Of course, this thread that I just finally found may have the answers I'm looking for. https://www.smokstak.com/forum/showthread.php?t=175356&page=2 I've started reading through it and it sounds like someone had similar issues and a post in the thread walks through the operation of the crank reset circuit. I'm open to other suggestions as well. Strange thing is that it worked for a year since we had the bus, suddenly failed yesterday, and now is apparently working again. Perhaps some moisture got into a switch/relay and froze up the works?

Rich - Not sure if I can answer all this, but here's what I know... The bus has a 24v system for the engine and chassis systems. That is not connected to the generator at all. The house systems are 12v, and they are not connected to the generator at all. The generator has its own start battery which is brand new. Engine is definitely before any electronics at all. The governor is strictly mechanical. When the engine runs it runs well. There is a battery charging circuit in the Kohler control box, but we don't use it. When the generator is not being run I've got a Xantrex Echo Charger to keep the generator start battery topped off. After starting the generator, I bridge the generator battery to the house battery bank so that it can be charged from the 70-amp 12v charger that also charges the house batteries. There is no alternator on the generator. I could use the on-board charging circuit, but for two reasons I don't. The on-board charging circuit is not a smart charger and can over-charge the start battery, and the on-board charging circuit is really weak. When I was running things yesterday, the generator head and its systems appeared to work as they should. I had a steady 119 volts with about a half load on the system. The dual 30-amp output breakers on the generator control box did not trip and seemed to not be involved in this at all. The only thing that tripped was the red "cranking reset" button on the front of the control box. Since it's not shown in the wiring diagram that's in the book from Custom Coach (yup - I've got the original manual and wiring diagrams from CC) so I will have to trace the circuit manually. However, it's really really cold right now (teens) and I just don't have the gumption to be out there doing this now. Since we are not going to use the coach till early spring, I'm in the research stage right now so I can be armed and ready once the temps start to rise again. I did check the belt today on the water pump. It's in good condition and properly tightened. It does spin with the engine so I assume the water pump is spinning. Of course, it's a new water pump so there is always the possibility it failed, but that's unlikely (especially since things did start working yesterday after the initial problems). My first step will be to change the thermostat. Right now I've sent a note to a supplier in the UK trying to get information on the proper thermostat for this engine in this application. Probably a standard 180-degree stat, but I wanted to be sure. Next I will have to trace the circuit to see what could possibly trigger the "cranking reset" to trip. Probably going to find it connected to the oil pressure and high-temp switches, so I'll have to confirm that they are functioning properly. We're not in any type of crisis mode here, but I do want to figure out what caused the problem so that when we hit the road in the spring I don't suddenly find that we don't have a functional generator.

Good thought. Do you know if the "cranking reset" is connected with just the engine protection circuits (high temp & low oil) or if it's also connected with the generator output? When it trips, the engine shuts off immediately since it controls the fuel solenoid. The output circuit breakers never tripped at all. Next time I'll let it warm up a bit more and see what happens.

The water pump/belt issue which was mentioned had not occurred to me at all. That gives me something new to investigate. The bigger issue I'd also like to understand more is how the "cranking reset" button and the related circuit works. I can't find it on the manuals I have. Hoping someone has some experience with this.

It was the proper diesel rated coolant. No conversion to OAT.

Coolant was replaced with the same as is in the 8V71 in the spring. Don't see any reason it would go bad between then and now. I did check level in the fall when winterizing. The radiator cap looked good at the fall check. Not sure it's the problem here, as it was still cold yesterday during the problems. The lower hose was warm, but the upper tank (which is separate from the radiator on our installation) and upper hose were still cold. This was why I suspect a sticking or malfunctioning thermostat. Seems like the tank would still be warm, even with a faulty cap, if the coolant were flowing through the upper tank. I will have to check for an air pocket today now that the Perkins is cooled down.

Water pump was replaced last spring, as was the antifreeze. I know that the freeze point is good. I'll have to check that the shop got the belt on correctly and that it's in good shape. For some reason hadn't even though about checking the water pump situation. Thermostat is separate from water pump, so it wasn't done, I'll have to r/r once it's warm enough to work outside again. Yes & yes. Draws from the same tank as the main engine, and there is good fuel with antigel in it.

It was time for the monthly generator run so I went out to the coach and got the old Kohler up and running. Took a few tries but it did start and come to life. I probably didn't hold the preheat button long enough to start the first time. The old Perkins is a bit tired, but the oil pressure came up in a very short time and the engine evened out at a smooth idle. Not bad considering it's in the 20s today and the Perkins has no block heater. I turned on the electric heaters in the coach to put on a load, about 5,000 watts total, and things seemed okay. However, after about 10 minutes the engine just shut off for no apparent reason. Oil pressure seemed okay, and temp was still climbing and was just above 140F. I tried to restart but the engine just turned with not even the slightest hint of starting. I went to the generator bay to try it there so I could listen to what happened. When I turned the switch to 'run', the usual loud click of the fuel solenoid was absent. Then I noticed that the "cranking reset" red button had tripped and was sticking out. I was able to push it back in till it clicked. After that the engine started but only ran for about 30 seconds before shutting down again. I repeated this a couple of more times with the same result. There was no sign of catastrophic failure - no oil leaking, no antifreeze leaking, and all fluids looked okay. After about 15 minutes of letting things rest, I tried again. The engine started and ran fine. It stayed running this time. I let it run for a few minutes from the generator bay, and then shut down to check again for obvious problems. Things seemed okay so I tried again from the main panel inside. Again the engine started and ran fine. Oil pressure was steady about about 45 psi. Temp was slowing rising then suddenly climbed to 170. It was starting to go higher, and just as I was reaching for the shut-down switch it dropped back to a little over 140 and started to climb slowly again. I ran it for about half an hour total while I watched the gauges. Enough to check off the 'run generator' item off my monthly checklist. Now I have to add 'diagnose generator' to the list. Here's my thoughts: Seems like something triggered an automatic shut down. I'm not totally sure how the shut down circuit works in the Kohler control box, but the fact that the 'cranking reset' button popped out points me towards this. Add to that the fact that upon initial reset it ran for about 20 seconds and shut down again, and I'm pretty sure that some type of auto shut down circuit is in play here. The temperature gauge climbing suddenly to just over 170 and the dropping back to 140 leads me to think that I've got a sticking thermostat. Possibly this caused the shut down, but I'm not sure. I didn't see the gauge at the moment of shut down. When I checked the engine after the initial shut down, the lower radiator hose was warm but the tank and upper hose was cold. This adds to my theory that a sticking thermostat was in play here. I've checked the manuals I have for the generator that I downloaded from the Wanderlodge site, but none of them mention the red 'cranking reset' button, so I really have no idea where that plays in the system or if it's in the auto-shutdown circuit. I would love to hear what others think could be at play here. Maybe someone has more familiarity with the auto shut down on the old Kohlers that can add some wisdom here.