Tony G

2002 Windsor also interested.

I had the same issue thinking it was the valve block but turned out to be hardened and failed seals in the hydraulic cylinder. I pulled our cylinder, replaced the seals and afterwards no more slide creeping out. Very solid now. After repairing it, when pulling it in the slide it is so tight the motor sounds like it stalls; whereas before hydraulic fluid would continue to blow by the bad seals and the motor would just slow down. I think the seals were less than $10 sourced at a hydraulic service company. I can find the invoice with more info if you need it but I would recommend taking your cylinder to a shop that sells seals to ensure fit as they may have used various suppliers when our coaches were built. Most difficult part was getting the rear bolt out that holds that end of the ram - I had to cut it, soak with PB Blaster and punch it out as it was firmly rusted into the frame bushing.

Ha! Kind of like new boats...fraught with problems and when you leave the US getting parts in many places is impossible. We bring loads of spares for our 40 year old cutter which takes up lots of storage space but its nice to have when we or some other cruiser needs it. We say that "cruising is fixing your boat in exotic places" and I guess the same holds true for traveling with the motorcoach.

Thank you all for your insight. I no longer keep a sticks and bricks home in the US and live nearly 100% on our sailing boat (we're currently in Dominica headed back to Trinidad) but I use my rig to visit customers in the US and keep it for that utility. We did spend most of last year living and enjoying traveling in it during the COVID event as ocean travel was severely impacted but I didn't visit many customers. I love our bus but debate in my mind if it makes sense to keep it if COVID mess continues on. If I were to sell I'll could buy another one later when needed but I dread debugging another land yacht.

We've had our 2002 Monaco Windsor for two years now and I am curious if the value of our coach has gone up? After looking around on RV Trader it would see that it has but I think some of you on this site may be closer to the real market.

I adjusted mine about 6 months ago as the rods seems to stretch and loose tension and opening difficulty ensues. If you can make small holes near the rod ends where the square brass part is (watch video) you may be able to reach in with a screwdriver and manipulate the latch open. I had the thought to add some access panels for easier adjusting when I had the thing apart. The same added access panels could be used to open if a lock-in were to occur.

For what it is worth my ocean sailing cutter and Monaco Windsor both use 6v flooded Trojans and I equalize them monthly while living in either "home". I can get 7 to 10 years out of flooded cells as long as I NEVER run them down below 70% of their nominal capacity and don't lapse watering them and equalizing as above. I also take hydrometer readings while equalizing so I can stop when cells become equal to without over doing the equalizing charge. I have equalized while at anchor on the boat and boon docking in the bus and only equalize if there is no shore power option. When I equalize away from shore power I try and schedule it while we are motoring to a new harbor hours away or running the genset for other tasks that load it more (like both A/C units running). My 2 cents worth... Tony

While doing routine maintenance on our genset I noticed small magnetic fragments stuck the stator and found a larger piece of the same material in the bottom of the housing. At first I didn't know if this was some road debris or part of the alternator. After reading I learned this model and vintage had issues with the permanent magnets coming unglued form the rotor. Apparently the cause was Onan used epoxy that was substandard for a period. Anyway a new rotor seems to be around $450 to $600 and a complete alternator around $1100. I don't think the stator is that damaged because the genset seems to still produce nominal power and I've likely been running it in this condition for some time. The repair does not look that difficult but the price of parts has me a little peeved. Has anyone found a discount or wholesale source of Onan Cummins parts? Thanks! Tony