Mike H

18 minutes ago, jacwjames said:

When my transmission went into limp mode I was low on oil.  Not able to check the oil level with the shift pad I used the dipstick accessed by opening the bedroom hatch cover. 

Don't trust that dipstick as that was added by Monaco, NOT Allison.  Once you get your oil level correct you might want to put a scratch across it to sort of calibrate it against your shift pad

Dr4Film I suspect has the correct answer.  Your transmission has gone into 'LIMP' mode.  I had that happen to me.  Allison has mobile techs that can come to you and repair it.

9 hours ago, Benjamin said:

Most cylinders have a rod on only one side, so the base has a larger volume than the rod side.  If you remove the piston entirely, the cylinder will still function as a one way cylinder (spring return) with the displacement of the rod.  So the volume is not the same, which is why you fill with the cylinders retracted to avoid overfilling in this case. 

If you're referring to the hydraulic cylinders that operate the slides they do not have springs in them.  They are fully hydraulic operated for extend and retract.  As for the leveling jacks they have external springs to assist in retracting the jack cylinders and keeping them retracted

33 minutes ago, Tom Cherry said:

WHILST on the subject....many, as Mike did not, know that SUCH exists.  This morning I commented on an issue or maybe yesterday.  It is IMPORTANT that you do NOT stop immediately when you extend or stop a slide.  You LET THE SWITCH STAY IN...for maybe a few seconds...or until you hear the DEFINITIVE pitch or Noise Change from the MOTOR.  Folks will sometimes STOP for fear of Tearing OUT the WALL and the SLIDE falling.  That cylinder keeps them moving and balanced.  NOW, from a personal experience...if you have a VOLTAGE drop on the motor and a high resistance connection...that will be RATCHETY...but ordinarily the slide will sort of "Crab" or move a smidge on one end...then the other catches up.  NORMAL.

The Balance Cylinder as Mike points out....controls that.  BUT, short cycling or shutting off prematurely can and HAS caused issues.  SO, just keep that in mind.  NOW....the next question IS...DO I HAVE AIR TRAPPED or is mine messed up.  You can easily put to to rest.  With a GOOD charge or on SHORE...  Run the slide out...and hold for a few seconds and hear the change.  Then retract...same deal....learn how long to hold after the motor pitch changes.  THEN repeat that drill for 3 or 4 complete cycles.  You will have BLED OFF any any air and also properly "CHARGED" the system.  

BTW....check the level....SLIDES IN.  The reservoir should be right up to the top surface of the tank.  THAT's IT...  very little free space.  NEVER add Fluid to the extended slide....unless it is so low it DIES...  YES...that is in the manual...or has been in many.,...but with Monaco....you never know.

This is Hydraulic SLIDE 101....

Yes Tom, lessons can sometimes be very painful 🙂 ...... don't ask me how I know.  Regarding those synchronizing cylinders, they are a little tricky to get all of the air bled out of them.   The main extend/retract cylinders have a sliding 'collar' over the internal rod keeping it from completely bottoming out.  If you pick one up and flip it back and forth you will hear it 'rattling' around inside .... it's supposed to do that, it's not broken.  Holding the retract mode switch down like you say also pressurizes the system to help hold the slide in from creeping back out.  Same goes for the front generator hydraulics.

That's the synchronizing cylinder for your slides two hydraulic cylinders.  There are two connections on the side of the cylinder.  it's a 'blind' cylinder and has a rod sticking out of both ends. It makes sure the pressure in both of your slide cylinders is the same, so the slide extends and retracts straight.  From your photo it doesn't appear to be leaking.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it !  😉 

3 hours ago, dennis.mcdonaugh said:

That's not an explicit part of the tow setup, but one of the steps probably accomplishes that task.

When the transmission gets shifted into neutral the steering wheel is unlocked.

30 minutes ago, cbr046 said:

@Mike H, @StephenW - did you disable the steering wheel lock on your Fords?  If so, how did you accomplish that?

- bob

 

On my 2019 the procedure is as follows:

1. Press the START button without starting the engine
2. Shift to NEUTRAL
3. Press and HOLD the brake pedal then rotate the 4x4 control knob five times from 2 wheel to 4 wheel drive
4. Message shows up on the dash display saying "Vehicle is now ready for towing"
5. Press the START button again without starting the engine
6. Be prepared to select which security alarm mode you desire

You should really check you owner's manual, especially for the newer models, because Ford changed that procedure on the new trucks.

2 minutes ago, jacwjames said:

Thanks Mike

The truck is already set up for towing so I assume it can be towed which is a big advantage.  Price is in line with what I've seen especially with the towing package.  

Been doing some research, you can find both pro and con comments but overall it seems to have some positive reviews and comments. 

Asked a mechanic friend and he said overall pretty positive. 

Fuel milage is about 1mpg below what they advertise.  I average around 18.5 mpg.  There's a device and free software called ForScan you can download to change some of the hidden functions.

I've towed both a 2012 and now a 2019 both with the Eco boost engine BUT they HAVE to be 4x4's.  After 2019 or 2020 they started doing some funky things with the towing set up procedure.  Setting it up to be towed disconnects everything so no milage is recorded.

3 hours ago, Dr4Film said:

@Mike H They charged me $1200 for the removal and repaint/touch-up of the front cap. I did not have them reinstall anything as I had decided to sell the coach by then and figured I would leave it up to the new owner as to what they might want to do for any protection. If I had kept the coach, I was going to have a shop in Texas do a color-coded "truck liner" type of material applied to the front cap.

I'll be looking to have the 3M film replaced.  Did they even give you a quote for replacing the film?

On 12/4/2023 at 9:02 AM, Dr4Film said:

I believe the shield installed on Monaco coaches has been the Diamond Shield, HOWEVER, the Window Sticker & Data Card probably states that it is the 3M shield.

Dave Pratt knows the history.

I hired Dazzling Detail to remove mine on the Windsor. They repainted and touched up areas that were damaged after removal.

 

 

Richard,  What did they charge you to remove and replace yours?  I'm needing to have mine replaced.  The only heartburn I have with Dazzling Detailing is getting them to show up.  I've been 'stood up' 4 times now with a no show for having our coach detailed.  They seem to do good work whenever they do show up though but they haven't showed up for the last several times I've called them, and I feel I have been very generous to his guys when they have showed up.

Keith,  Before you start tearing into hardware have you done a system reset?  You should have a reset button possibly in your front run bay that'll do sort of a 'soft' reset or you can hold down the level button for 5 or 10 sec and that will do a 'hard' reset.  I've had to do that on occasion.  At least get that out of the way first before you proceed on.  Also, after you leveled your coach did you leave the HWH system on so the auto-level will stay activated.  I've also had to educate the guys about how to make sure the system stayed activated when they've pulled it inside.  And as a side note, always follow what Frank said about making sure your front tires are straight whenever you park it anywhere or you're exposing yourself to wheel well/fender damage.  Same goes for making sure you are aired up, and at RIDE HEIGHT before you make any turning of your steering wheel.  Don't ask me how I know.  I do know that mistake gets expensive, unfortunately.

All it takes to be a 'certified' Aqua-Hot service technician is $100 and 8 hours in their classroom ....... THAT'S ALL!  I had one of those so called certified service techs out of Titusville, Fla come to work on mine and about destroyed it.  I had to take it up to the Hitching Post to get it repaired.  When all said and done I was out $3,000 for what should have been a $165 mobile service charge.  The owner of the Hitching Post is a jerk, and they are Pricey, but the technician there is more down to earth.  The only other place I would go to is Lazydays in The Villages.  They still have some of the old Monaco Service Technicians still there from when it was a Monaco Service Center.

16 hours ago, pwhittle said:

Camera kits V2.0 are back in stock.

Paul

Great news Paul.  Did you have to change your price any? I'm thinking about getting a kit if even just for a spare for when mine OEM's crap out.

Has anyone replaced a door bell button switch on their coach?  My question is: "does it just press in from the outside or is there a nut on the backside holding ti in place?".  Just want to make sure I don't cause any damage trying to replace it.  I found what I believe is a replacement at Home Depot and it appears it's made to just press in a 5/8" hole.

UPDATE:  It does just press in from the outside.  It was just 'glued' in with a bunch of silicone calking.  Apparently water still seeped in as the switch was all rusted and ended up coming out in pieces.  Now have a nice new lighted switch and just need to re-calk around it.  I was going to delete this post but decided to leave it in case someone else was wondering how to replace theirs.   Switch was $4.98 from Home Depot.

If you're in the Ocala area just take it down to Lazydays in The Villages.  That used to be a Monaco Service Center and they still have many of the old Monaco technicians there.  I have been very pleased with all the work I have had them do for me, and without trying to up-sell me additional repairs.  

Tickets are $13 if you buy them on line otherwise they are $15 at the gate and I think it may be $10 for parking if you drive in.  As far as camping you'll need to start calling campgrounds.  More then likely camping at the fair grounds has been sold out, as are most of the 'local' campgrounds.  You may find that you'll have to drive quite a ways to find a campground, much depending on your size.  Lazydays campground is closed so that's impacting availability of other campground sites.

Are you looking for a campsite or admission to the actual RV Show ?

4 hours ago, astgerma said:

I have the same problem with the driver side shade.  It does not want to go back up.  But if I push the down and quickly push the up it will go up.  this happens all the time.

I have found that just changing the shade switch solves that problem.  I have had this happen to me several times and it has always been the switch.

10 hours ago, Twomed said:

Thanks Mike...passed on names and number.  He has been told by some folks that the fuel tank has to be dropped in order to replace the cylinder.  They are on the road today so problem solved.   🤑

Yeah, when dealing with the HWH systems you really need to have a tech that really knows what they're doing or you can end up when a hell of a mess.  Someone earlier this year was told they needed to cut a hole in the slide wall to get them out !!!  Lazydays in The Villages still has the Monaco fixture to remove a slide and lay it down if they need to.

10 hours ago, Viper04 said:

Lazy days in Wildwood is still set up to do your repair. Contact DOTTIE in parts. She has been there since the Monaco Wildwood days. Ask her for the mechanics name you need to work on your slide. 
 

she will tell you straight up if the RIGHT GUY still works there. She is a whiz at sourcing Monaco coach parts. 
 

Tim

 

2000 Dynasty pulling a 2019 

Ram  Limited. 

His name is John, don't have his last name

13 hours ago, amphi_sc said:

We just came down from Sevierville via 441 west to 411 thru Marysville, Benton etc.  Stayed off I-40 and I-75 until south of Atlanta.  Pleasant drive missing Knoxville and Chattanooga traffic enjoying the countryside.  45' with toad.

We just drove I-40 and I-75 today and traffic thru Atlanta and Macon was a nightmare !  Stopped at the Carroll's Sausage RV Campground for the night.  Was a very long day

michaelivan,  The other route I have taken is up through Ashville and down I-26 to I-95.

My experience has been that if you're at the point to be experiencing seal leaks then it would be very pertinent to have ALL 3 of that slides cylinders rebuilt.  I would be reluctant to say that no special skills are required.  You really need to know how to bleed the air out of the synchronizing cylinder to assure the system is balanced out or you could introduce more problems.  Lazy Days in The Villages is an old Monaco Service center and still has some of the old Monaco technicians working there.  ECOR Hydraulics in Melbourne will rebuild those cylinders for about $120 each with about a one day turnaround.  There is a place in the Daytona area that LazyDays has used but I hear they are a slow turnaround and very expensive.  The only fault I have with these hydraulic places that rebuild them is they they don't pressure test them afterwards.  I have had one cylinder fail immediately costing me the time to have it removed again and a 200 mile round trip to get it rebuilt and reinstalled again.

We're at the Anchor Down RV Resort now and I'm driving that route from Pigeon Forge ( I-40 to I-75 )  all the way to the Carroll Sausage Store & Campground in the morning.  RV Trip Wizard has me going through Chattanooga and the ByPass around Atlanta.  I know it's going to be a long traveling day (est a 6 hr day)