scottjo02

Hi Bob. I have a very similar story and coach and was close to Bill in the old days also. Would you tell me the selling price, by private message if you wish. Scott

Over the 140,000 miles in my 02 Knight, 300 hp ISB, I have replaced the lift pump three times. When I learned that low pressure from the lift pump can damage the injection pump ($$$$$$$), I installed a 5 psi warning light on the lift pump output. It tells me when the lift pump is getting weak. I carry a spare lift pump and can change it out on the road. The pump is much less expensive when you can buy it at your leisure at home, rather than getting it from Cummins on the road. Scott 02 Knight

We all have our favorites but after 31 years with coach batteries, this is what I like best. It is a one gallon HDX sprayer from Home Depot or Amazon. You put in the distilled water, pump it up a little and you can add just the right amount water without spilling a drop. I like to keep the top of the batteries clean and dry. The handle and hose allow you to reach even the very back cells. Note that I have cut off the spray tip of the nozzle and bent it a little so it fills just perfectly.

Bob Now that sounds like one heck of a rally. Lets see, 24 hours per day minus 6 hours rest is 18 hours divided into 1000 miles is 55 mph average? I can not imagine completing it. Thanks for letting us read about it. Scott

Hi Jim We shut it off at night so it just had about 70 hours. From my "calibrated" fuel gauge it used about 35 gallons. So about 1/2 gph. It really was just above an idle most of the time. Scott

Here in Tulsa we just finished a week of widespread city power outage. A strong storm with clocked winds of 100mph downed many trees and 700 power poles. Along with out of state workers, the 3000 line workers have restored most of the 200,000 outages in the city. I feel so fortunate to have such a dependable, quiet, powerful generator with a full tank of diesel fuel in the coach. It allowed my wife and I to keep food cold and frozen, use lights, use fans and a small room air conditioner that I keep for just this purpose. I watched several neighbors go out and buy portable generators and then give up due to the noise and hassle of refueling with gasoline. My Onan has has just over 1000 hours and I keep it serviced on schedule just for this purpose and of course while traveling in the coach . I know many of you in hurricane areas have bigger stories to tell but here in our state this one is big. I also know all the discussions of hooking up a generator to house power but I do it very carefully and will continue when necessary. Thanks again Cummins and Onan. Scott

In my previous mechanical engineering life, I did wind load calculations on oil derricks. I did a calculation on this rig based on side wind as an overturning moment and 43k lb. dead weight along centerline of the coach to the opposite dual wheel centerline as he resisting moment. I came out with 131 mph wind when the two moments were equal. However the variable is the formula used to get wind load per square foot. Google says to use 0.00256 times the velocity squared which is what I used this time. In my old days I think we used 0.004 times velocity squared which would give 105 mph wind. Who knows. It was a great wind and a very unusual event. Comments welcome.

jacwjames Thanks. There is a lot of good information there. Glad you saved it from the old site. I saved some, but not everything that applied to my situation. And my needs are different today. I will certainly explore a second charger since my charging time with a 75 amp inverter charge is slow when dry camping. Scott

Ivylog Do you use this additional 100 amp charger at the same time as the regular inverter charger? Also how did you wire it up to the batteries? thanks, Scott

On my 2002, 36ft Knight with 5.9 L (ISB) a standard drain, refill of the complete system takes 10 gallons total.

I have the same setup in my 02 Knight. JC compressor (120v) and run it off of the top outlet that was from the inverter. My top outlet was INTERMITTENT. It drove me crazy till I found out that wiggling the plug would cause drop out. I put in new residential outlet. Scott

The discussion about lube of the coach reminded me of a tool that is a necessity for me. The issue is lube of the u-joints. The Zerks are in a very narrow space in the joints and a regular grease gun nipple it too large to get in the space. I found the "Alemite B6239 Hydraulic Push-Type Adapter" that solves the problem for me. It has a very small diameter neck that will go in the narrow opening in the joints. The opposite end of the adapter has a regular Zerk fitting that snaps on your grease gun. The trade off is that it does not snap on the u-joint Zerk. You must hold pressure against the Zerk to get the grease in but it allows lube of these very important locations. Note that it may be necessary to rotate the driveshaft some to get the greatest space to lubricate. Although Amazon shows the adapter not available it is available at other sources. Just do a search. On the issue of age, lets just say I'm over 80 and am fortunate to have good health and I love working on my coach.

Some of the truck refrigeration service companies will work on DP dash air systems. We have one it Tulsa that does. https://www.wbservice.com/ Scott 02 Knight

The suggestions by others for an external filter is a good idea but I chose to replace the rigid OEM filter line with a flex line leaving the OEM filter in place. It makes the connections much easier to make up. I also always use flare nut wrenches which work much better than open ends. Scott

Going back to the original question "Where would I install a plug on the RV to back feed the house panel?" Here is what I did on a 7.5 KW Onan in my "02 Knight. Scott

We2dynasty I also have a 120 volt Amish unit. I choose that one because JC said it would give the coldest fridg temperatures. I also added two batteries for a total of six, just to be sure for overnight running. Even if you were to use a 12 volt Amish unit it still takes X number of amp hours from the batteries to run the fridge. The only savings would be the efficiency loss from using the inverter. Not sure about your comment about having to charge the batteries after a drive down the road. My house batteries are charged by the Cummins alternator when driving. Scott 02Knight

Kenneth (klcdenver) I would like to purchase the main electrical circuit board (the black box shown in my photo just above the fire extenguisher head). I am in Tulsa, OK. let me know what to do if you wish to sell it. Thanks Scott Jordan

If you do end up selling the old Norcold for parts, I would be interested in purching the electronic control board. Scott

Rick Thaks for the drawings. I see now that the largen generators are different from mine. Scott

Mine is 7.5 kw but probably has the same issue. I hated that steel line. Very difficult to start the threads. I put a flex line in place of the steel one. Bought a flex line which was a little long and made a loop up and then back down. One end fitting on the new line was good to go into the end opposite the filter. On the filter end I cut the flex line and put a 90 degree barb fitting into the flex line with a hose clamp. The only remaining issue is that all the fittings must be tightened very, very tight to stop leakage. Best to use flare wrenches and almost need to use a cheater on them. I have inspected the flares and they are either new (such as on the new filter) or there is no damage on them. Anyone else have this tightening issue? Scott 02 Knight

Hi David Since you mentioned calipers, I imagine you have air over hydraulic Bosch disc brakes the same as I do on my 02 Knight. If this is not the case, ignore all of this message. Here is a link to the Bosch Pin Slide Disc Brake service manual. It is 60 pages and very good. Lubrication is covered on page 43. http://www.weindex.info/pdf/Brake/2.pdf Further information, you may be aware that the above brake system had a NHTSA recall #02V278000. The recall was a result of severe brake overheating probably caused by moisture in the brake fluid that caused the phenolic brake pistons to expand and not retract properly. I had two or three of these overheating events and had complete brakes replaced on the offending axle each time. In order to monitor the situation I installed a themocouple temperature monitoring system on each backing plate. It alerts me it the brakes are begining to overheat which usually occurs at lower speeds whent the exhaust brake is not effective. The other and most important thing I do now is flush the brake fluid system every two years. It is relativly easy and only needs about two or three cans of dot 4 synthetic brake fluid. I use the Harbor Freight brake bleeder #92924 with my shop air. Scott

My 02 Knight has the 300 hp ISB engine and the lift pump may be different from yours. The photo shows my lift pump from the bottom view. Following a failure of my main fuel injection pump at 100K miles, I realized how important sufficient lift pump pressure is. So I installed a simple red led warning lignt on the dash. It is accuated by a pressure switch on a fitting on top of the second fuel filter inlet, shown if the second photo. With this system the red light is off as long as the lift pump pressure is above 5 psi. Since that install, it has warned me of lift pump failure at 113k miles and 136k miles so I am now on my third lift pump. If I buy the pump at best price on the internet and install it myself it is not a big problem. Scott Jordan

Hi Steve A few more comments that may help. Again, my coach is '02, 36' Knight. We can now agree that you do not have air over hydraulic brakes, but if the parking brake is air activated, and you have air suspension, there is an air system of some kind. You will hear the release of air pressure when the parking brake is applied. It is called a spring bake because a heavy spring applies the brake to the shoes in large drum on the drive line between the transmission and the driveshaft (at least it does on my coach). When you release the brake, the air pressure applies force to the parking brake air diaphragm which holds the brake released against the spring. It is a fail safe system so if you loose air pressure, the parking brake will be applied. Also, I expect you would have an air compressor on the engine and air tank(s) to hold air for the parking brake and the air suspension. The three photos attached show my orange air dryer/filter cartridge under the coach in front of the differential, and the parking brake air diaphragm with the rusty brake drum on the drive line, and finally the two air tanks marked front and rear located under the coach in front, behind the generator, . Back to your first question, do you have an air dryer cartridge? Don't know, but I would be surprised if Monaco would skip it with your other air items that are installed. Scott

You must have an air system if the parking brake makes an air sound. To check for air over hydraulic brakes, open the large front cap cover over the generator. Inside there you can see the hydraulic master cylinders. If each of them has an air diaphragm attached, it is air over hydraulic brakes. Also you will hear the air sound when you apply and release the brake peddle. As I mentioned previously, my air dryer is under the coach. You must crawl under the coach and look in front of the differential to see it.

My 2002 Knight should be like the Ambassador. The dryer is under the coach, almost in the center, in front of the differential. You may need a good strap wrench with an extension pipe to remove it. Scott