rpasetto

It looks like your experience is very similar to mine. So the question is, are temps over 150F expected when climbing hills? My boost yesterday was about 31psi when I saw Manifold Temp going 150F+. Either we both have the same problem or it's not a problem at all, I'm puzzled. Questions to the group: 1. What's the expected temp rise on an ISM on a hill climb with 30+psi boost? 2. If 150F+ is not normal could it be a bad intake manifold temp sensor?

We took a short outing, the first after a few months. I noticed my ISM500 Intake Manifold temperature, rising to 140F, sometimes 150F on hills. The reading came off my VMSpc. Meanwhile the engine and trans temp ran the normal 180s to 190s. When I got back I did a cleaning of the CAC, Radiator area using a Dawn solution/Simple Green mix. Was expecting to see a lot of dirt come off but the drippings were clean. We're still in our first year with this coach; I do not recall this happening last summer. Nor do I recall such temps with our old Dynasty ISL. Recommendations will be appreciated. Update: Checked VMSpc for recent diagnostic events; none shown.

When I got my '05 Sig, decided to replace the 4 rad hoses. I don't know how close my ISM to rad connections are the same as yours but here's the Gates webpage which I went thru after taking measurements: https://www.gates.com/us/en/fluid-power/engine-hose/coolant-hose.html The result was a list of the 4 hoses. I was able to get these at Oreilly: The bad news is one of those 4 did not fit; the measurement error was mine. Now I had the old hoses off so I went to Oreilly and two NAPA stores with the old hose to find a match. I think the one I had wrong was the lower hose toward the front of the radiator. I think I have a corrected list somewhere; will post it if I find it. Hope this helps.

It could be that the outlet was wired incorrectly or the wire at/from the switch is incorrect, if you do have a switch that is. Reversal of the hot& neutral wires at the switch would have the same effect as reversing them at the outlet.

Dennis, I agree with you 100% on following traffic laws like speed limits, weight limitations etc. I was not referring to taking big vehicles on switchback roads clearly marked, but rather on CA roads where commonly commercial 45' buses and other vehicles drove, but 40+ MH's were technically restricted. I've heard of RVers getting summonses back in the day but it was on rare occasions. However if you re-read my original post on Tuesday 12:45 I referred to 2000's restrictions on 40'+ MH's and other private vehicles, while not restricting the commercial ones. (CA did this while collecting the sales taxes on these private vehicles, sold in some cases from dealer lots right on these roads.) In that post, I didn't bring up traffic laws such as weight limits on bridges or speed limits however may have later reacted to what others had said. Not trying to start an argument or lead the thread off topic but evidently I did. My original intent was to point out how CA was restricting use of 40+' MH's on certain roads, while collecting sales taxes from many buyers both in and out of state, while allowing 45' commercial buses on same roads. I don't know if they do the same as they did 20 years ago.

I'm not talking about the roads with hairpin turns, but CA highways, other than interstates, which were not approved at the time by CA for recreational vehicles >40 ft; recalling that there were many 42-45' MHs & buses on those same roads. That experience takes me back to the early 2000s. That was a time when Beaudry, Evert and other dealers were selling those 45'ers and CA was happily collecting tax and fees on the sales. I also recall a lot of activity on forums about it back then but don't know if there's anything online left. I didn't keep record of communications but do recall writing to various persons in CA govt. and getting non-answer boilerplate letters and emails back. It was enough to convince me not to get a bigger coach. I never questioned speed limits or weight limits, not sure why that is brought up in this context.

I'm not saying that the restrictions are "random" at all. However one may question whether they are reasonable or "government overreach". I won't get into that, however I have driven my 40' Dynasty on roads rated as 40' max and observed vehicles a lot longer running in front of me.

Perhaps a decade or 2 ago, CA was actively restricting MH's and other private vehicles over 40 ft from certain of their roads. I was never challenged but heard that some out-of-staters had been caught back then. As far as I know, CA never rescinded their law; don't recall seeing it go to court. Perhaps they just stopped strictly enforcing it ... haven't seen any posts about it on RV forums for a while. It's apparently still on the books: https://dot.ca.gov/programs/traffic-operations/45-buses-motorhomes/bus-map Funny, but back in the early to mid 2000's there were big dealers in CA, such as Evert and Beaudry, selling big rigs: Monaco, Country Coach and Bus 45'ers ... CA never refused to collect the sales tax on those sales.

We have family in CA, we used to take the coach out, visit one son's family in San Diego area, then head up the coast to see our other son in Santa Cruz area. Getting into an RV park anywhere on the CA coast became more and more of a challenge as the years went by. We stopped doing the coach trips a few years back and drove by car, stayed in B&B and hotels. Last time was two years ago. Now we try to convince them to come east, visit their sisters family in New England. It happens some times. We miss the grandkids; glad we can talk to them on Face-time.

Yep. Not sure what's up with Sam's, checked the Sam's Clubs from San Antonio to Austin areas and none had the GC2 AGMs in stock. Called a few and requested they order the GC2 AGM and got tired of hearing "... let me check .... no, we cannot order them". Got GC2 AGMs at O'Reilly's... also got a pair of Group 31 SLA for chassis; 1000CCA.

Wow! Our first coach was a 1984 Executive with the 454 on the P30 chassis. It was 10+ years old and had more miles when we bought it than yours does. Your Monaco looks a lot nicer than our old Exec did. I remember a little... the built-in blender brought back memories, though. It had a Banks kit with KNN air filter. I don't know how close Monacos and Executives were back then; think it was before Monaco bought Executive Industries. So I'll focus on the P30 chassis. Anyway the coach was heavy for the GVW rating of the P30 chassis... perhaps that was not unusual back then. Weight would be one thing worth checking. Another thing was handling. the airbags inside the P30's front springs were blown so I had to replace them; also put auxilliary airbags on the sagging rear springs, leaf springs if I recall. One other recollection is changing the brake pads, something you may be facing too. Looks like a good deal. Good luck and safe travels.

Checked the local Sams Club a few days back. The only AGM Group 31's they had were rated at 800CCA or less. They had an SLA Gp 31 rated at 900CCA. I want to meet or exceed the 950CCA of the original engine batteries for my coach. Not sure what's happening with Sams. A few fellow RVers had told me to check out their AGM GC2 batteries for the house side; presumably they were going in the $150 to 200 range a while back. Checked local Sams and many in the area and all they had were flooded GC2's; thye could not even order the AGM's. Checking out O'Reilly next.

After I bought the coach a year ago, I changed hoses and belts, engine oil, filters and coolant plus the usual fix-up stuff. Tires are 2018 Michelins so they stayed. However, have no idea of the age of the batteries, either chassis or house. Coach has always turned over Ok but I have no basis for comparison. I don't know how long those batteries have before they just give up the ghost. A few days back I disconnected these batteries after they'd been charging at 'float' and tested them with a battery tester. Admittedly it's a cheap one, from Harbor Freight, rated at up to 500a. The test procedure calls for connecting the battery, then turning the control knob up to the current draw of half the Cold Cranking amp rating, so 500a. Ammeter never got beyond 400a and the voltage was just in the "green- range" (~10.5v) at the end of the 15 second test. Plan is to bring the batteries to Oreilly next week and have them put them on their tester.

The common problem a few years back had to do with ice developing because a resistance wire was not in the correct place. I recall the fix was to remove a back panel and install some sort of clip to keep the heat where it needed to be. It was a quick fix IIRC.

My mistake, I looked at the picture and saw that you have the triple slide with 2 in the rear, which was the '06 standard. missed that you said it was an '07 special order. I missed the awning up top in the picture too. I should have known... guess I'm getting old. I think the Denali in '07 was 'standard' as a quad slide. But back in the day almost any variation was possible on a special order, including building quad slide coaches as triple or doubles. I remember the order "desk" in the Monaco tent at the MI rallies so customers could pick and choose...

Plan is to do the same as you did for the house batts, replacing wetcell with AGM. Currently there's 8 wet cell GC's; looking to get 8 AGM GC to replace. I've been told that Sam's Club has the best prices on these but somehow not all Sam's carries them. Meanwhile I am not sure about choices for the Chassis batteries. You probably have the same tray arrangement in your 05 Sig. What do you have for Chassis Batts?

I currently have two Chassis batteries: 12v, connected in parallel, 1100CCA AGM; the label says "X2power" brand. I have been thinking of replacing them; do not know their age. The size is Group 31. (Monaco WD book specs a pair of 950CCA Interstates as standard. WD book specifies an option of "4 12v AGM 1400T", which I think are Lifelines.) Has anyone replaced their pair of chassis batteries with three, or four 12v in parallel? Tray size measures 20 1/16" wide by 13 3/4" deep.

@Scotty and Paul, Dynasty and Signature coaches had names and not number designations from the early 2000s if not before. Then in mid decade, when various models had 2, 3 or 4 slides on the books, a roman numeral was added to designate the number of slides. In '04, for example, Dynastys had a Bishop II, II or IV depending on # of slides; likewise for Platinum and Diamond models, but there was only a Countess III. Executives kept letter designations through '05; then went to names in '06. In '05 or '06, they added "R" and "F" designations, as the Ranier IIIR and Ranier IIIF had the curbside slides in rear or front respectively. Paul's '06 Denali only came in the IIIR variation, at least, on the books. I do recall seeing many of these back in the day, in the 2000's when M.I. rallies had a few dozen show coaches. Did I memorize all this? Heck no! I looked up some Monaco brochurePDF's on my computer. 🙂 ... just wasting some time before I go outside to putter on the coach. Always something to do; thanks to you guys for helping me figure out how to do it.

In our previous coach, an 03 Dynasty, the Notcold 1200, gave it up back in the summer of 2013. Replaced it with the Samsung RF197 and it's still working fine as far as I know. The install wasn't too bad, since there was no furnace underneath. The old notcold came out in pieces; getting the new RF197 in was the trickiest part. I learned from the experience that French-door reefers are more convenient than the Side-by-sides.

@Walter, Thanks for the info. Let us know if you do this. That would mean getting only one micro-air; less of a bite on the wallet.

You said 'three'. Do you have a separate therm. for each AC/HeatPump? The way I recall the longer Monacos with 3AC/HP units, there's one Dometic CCC for the mid and rear units, another for the front one. Did you make that change... because the MicroAirs require it or for another reason? If so, what was rewired?

Thank you, Jim.

When there are two AC's with each controlled by separate thermostats, or three AC's with the front one on a separate thermostat, it's possible to install the newer AC/HP and the CCC2 thermostat and keep the older one or two units on the older CCC. Of course with coaches with two AC's on the same thermostat both must have boards compatible with either the CCC or the CCC2. For those who are not in a position to replace both Penguins but need to replace one: I recall hearing there is an upgrade board for the older penguins to enable it to work with a CCC2. It would be useful to know the availability, and part number, of this board.

I'm still using a rather ancient version of DeLorme StreetAtlas which shares the laptop screen with VmsPC. Our backup has been Waze with Google-Maps on the other phone. Plan to become more familiar with the Nav system on the radio but that' probably based on ancient map data like the DeLorme.

I've been doing the same, using first WD40 to remove any moisture, then a light oil spray. Recently I was advised to pour oil down the top. Did this on out former Dynasty too, but never even thought of removing the covers. It's on my to-do-list to clean and more thoroughly lube. Not sure yet whether mine is the "no-rivet" style or the one with rivets, but will check when I get to go out and look at coach. Hoping someone can provide info on best way for both styles