Bob Wightman

just re-caulk...but use a urethane base caulk like OSI Quad that you can get from Home Depot or Lowes

Hello Group, I am considering buying a 2006 HR Scepter with a Cummins ISL 400 with 65K miles on it. Its on consignment at a dealership, when calling for info about the coach I was told that its in great shape but its "Funning Hot". Online research before going to see (because they are closed for the holiday) says everything from: bad sensor and/or gauge, clogged or bad radiator, fan controller problem, leaking coolant somewhere, and worst....bad head gasket. I'm really interested in this coach and serious about buying it but don't want to buy a bad motor. Since this seems to be a common thread on the internet I was wondering if anybody has already been down this road and could give me some advice as to what to look for when I see the coach. Thanks in advance!

On my 2004 Monaco Knight, when the ABS light comes on it is because the sensors on the rear wheel that reads the "Tone Ring" inside the brake drum is dirty. This usually happens when the coach sits a lot and dirt/rust builds up on them and they won't get the magnetic pulse from the tone ring. The sensor can be removed and cleaned or replaced without removing the wheel and drum, they pull out from the back side of the brake plate. I had a shop take the wheels off and clean everything and check the brake pads at the same time, which fixed the problem. From time to time since I've had the ABS light come on and it usually will go on and off during the trip to wherever I am going, then it just stays off. The ATC light comes on every time I start the coach but goes out as soon as I step on the brakes.

If you are talking about "Engine Oil" dipstick then you definitely would want one of them and should order one. The transmission oil dipstick on my 2004 Knight with the ISC 8.3L Cummins is just a cap that looks like a dipstick. Allison has a way on the control shift panel to check the fluid level. I have it written down in my coach but as I remember its "Let the engine get up to temperature" and then its push two keys at the same time and it will display if the fluid level is normal or how many quarts to add. I would prefer an old school dipstick but thats not how these rigs are equipped. I think there is a short dipstick for the transmission that you have to access through a floor hatch but I've never looked to find it.

I was just looking through the classified ads on this site for RV's for sale. Other than messaging the sellers to ask the dreaded "Still Available" question is there anyway to know if these coaches are still available or have been sold? I find people list their coaches for sale and then never take the listing down or mark it as sold when they do sell the RV, which makes (at least my searching) me only look at the newest posts and probably miss some opportunities on nice coaches that may still be available. The other funny thing is that when people do list their RV for sale, and you reach out to them for more info many of them never reply. Searching for a new RV certainly is a tedious task.

Hello Group. Recently I had a problem with the electrical supply to my coach that damaged the Norcold 1200LRIM refrigerator. After troubleshooting to what parts were bad and replacing them I still had the "no co" code. I have the 628661 control board and had a great deal of difficulty finding the procedure for resetting this newer model board, finally found it and wanted to share it with the group, BTW this link will show how to reset the older and newer control boards. https://rvfridgeguys.com/blog/norcold-refrigerator-in-lockout-mode-do-you-need-to-reset-your-power-board-/.

Last Update: Put two new heaters in the refrigerator and a new control board (just to be safe) and still had the "no co" code. Now I am sure (by resistance/ohm test...BTW/FYI readings on both new ones was 59 Ohms) that the heaters were bad, and I'm almost sure there was nothing wrong with the control board so couldn't understand why it still said "no co". Figured the control board needed to be reset, but I had previously upgraded the control board and keypad to the newer models and couldn't find the procedure for how to reset the 628661 model board. Finally after much searching I found it and wanted to share with everybody to save you some time looking. Attached is a link to the reset for both the older and newer stile Norcold control boards. This worked for I'm happy to report it works and I now have the refrigerator fixed, it ran over night and "Baby it's COLD inside!" https://rvfridgeguys.com/blog/norcold-refrigerator-in-lockout-mode-do-you-need-to-reset-your-power-board-/.

I know about that problem, but figured with the age and milage it would have already been fixed or would have already happened. I will check the engine serial number to see if its within the range. Thanks for the heads up, although I knew about it, I didn't know the detail that you provided, which is very helpful. Thank you! I saw that one too and commented on it. Would consider more seriously but in South Florida with a busy schedule I'm trying to find something available closer to me.

UPDATE: I wanted to followup with anybody that might have been interested in the converter bypass I built when the converter burned up from an open neutral with load. The circuit breaker bypass worked excellent with the converter removed...but it has to be removed completely to direct wire the two load circuits that feed the house outlets as standard electrical wiring. Now that i'm back from the trip and the new converter has arrived i have determined that the bypass cannot stay wired as an option in case of convert failure due to each supply and load circuit having its own neutral (white) wire. So, I removed one of the service disconnect boxes, rewired the other to have a 30 amp breaker for a converter shutoff in the bay with it, and a 20 amp breaker that I hardwired to an outlet box in the battery bay to keep the engine batteries charged while in storage. I think the battery bay electrical is a nice upgrade but wanted it breaker protected in case there was any problems with the charger I added to the wall of that compartment. All good on the electrical supply side, now (when the parts arrive today-new heaters) get the fridge fixed and the rig will be back to normal (or better)

Good Morning Group! I previously was asking opinions about a 2004 Monaco Camelot that I was intending to purchase that everyone was gracious enough to give me feedback on. That purchase however is not going well (seller getting cold feet and wants to keep it) so I'm looking at other options to up-size from my current 2004 Monaco Knight 34PDD to. Recently I found a listing for a 2006 Holiday Rambler Scepter 40PDQ that seems to meet my requirements for 4-Slides, powerful motor for towing, side radiator, and nice interior layout. My question to the group is: "What should I be looking for or need to know about that might be a problem?". The coach has about 125K miles on the Cummins ISL 400hp motor, which doesn't bother me as much as very low miles (not being used). Seems like a nice rig, but i've only seen it in a FB Marketplace ad, and its about 4 hrs drive from me to see it in person at a dealership. Trying to do my due diligence before making the trip to go see her in person, any feedback would be appreciated.

Try using the battery boost switch on the drivers console, that links the engine and house batteries together like jumper cables would do.

If possible find out what oil has been used by the previous owners and then continue using that. I run the Rotella T4 in all my diesel motors and swear by it as i change the oil on the proper intervals. If you don't want to change the oil and just change the filter then run the synthetic...otherwise I agree with the others that synthetic is a waste of money.

On my 2004 Knight the problem was a dirty “Tone” ring on the rear tire/hubs. It’s serviceable without removing the tires from behind the brake plate.

Ok, to keep everybody updated, I was able to fabricate a bypass for the inverter. I bought a Square D 2 pole service disconnect, replace the 60 amp breaker switch with two single pole breakers (15A & 20A), removed the inverter all together, took the 30 amp feed from the inverter and wired it into the service disconnect box, jumped the two hot terminals together to share the 110V, brought in the two circuits from the inverter and put the hot leads under the two breakers and wired together all the whites and grounds. Worked like a charm...worked so good I got a second service disconnect and did the same thing. This time I branched the 30 amp feed off the input of the first disconnect and fed the second disconnect, added a 30 amp breaker and a 20 amp breaker to the second disconnect, ran a #10 wire out of the disconnect to feed the new converter when it arrives. Set an electrical box in the battery bay and connected it to the 20 amp breaker. On that box I plugged in battery chargers (two of them- one to each pair of 6V batteries to total 12 volts) to charge the house batteries. So far all that is working good and all the AC power is back on everywhere. I did all this with the idea that converters fail, usually when you need them most so a way to bypass them would be nice to have already installed. My only concern is the output of the converter had a white & black for each circuit, my plan is to connect the output of the new inverter to the same output lugs as the first disconnect so that I can choose to power the house from the batteries or the generator/shore power by just flipping some breakers. I would think the appliances would be happier running off shore power/generator supply than the inverter. My plan is to kill the breakers on the inverter when I want to bypass it, but let it still charge the house batteries. Gonna have to see how this all works out next week but seems like it will work. My only concern is with connecting the two separate white wires coming out of the inverter...but since it works now it should work with the inverter. The only bad thing so far is the refrigerator. I put in the new 5 amp fuse and it was running on AC, I felt the back of the freezer get cool and the heating section on the refrigerator get hot so I thought all was good. Not so, when I got home the fridge was hot and had a beeping no co code. I tried to reset the board per what I found online and it didn't work. But, my Norcold fridge has the updated control board in it to mate with the new control board on the inside...which doesn't look like the board on the "how to reset the no co code". Too tired to research further, think I need to replace the control board AGAIN to fix it. Planing on carrying food in coolers this weekend but still planing to go now that everything else is working. Any input on the fridge problem is appreciated, and I hope my bypass McGiver works for someone else.

Hi Tom, thanks for taking the time to reply to my post. I'm a General Contractor with quite a bit of electrical experience (also have an electrical engineering degree from a previous career) so totally understand your descriptions and commentary. I tested the ATS and fortunately it still works, shut down the breakers on the AC supply at the house and fired up the generator, with the normal delay of the AC's both came on and worked. Found all my ac outlets in the house are out except for the two on the night stands in the bedroom, and on the outside the outlet for the block heater still works. Figured I could run everything I need by extension cords if i had to, but since I will have to remove the converter anyway I could jump the two circuits to the supply side inverter breaker and fire up the outlets inside the house, and then split them again when the new converter arrives...pretty simple to do. The only drawback would be charging the house batteries, which I do have solar for and could run the engine to let the alternator do. I was just going to replace the converter with the same so the panel in the house would work, which surprisingly it still seems normal now. If the Magnum converter will plug into (by the telephone wire) to the house panel then its probably a pretty good upgrade...if not I never had a problem with the Xantrex. Any others that have feedback would be appreciated. VERY busy day today so "IF" I'm going to do this i need to get it done after work today/tonight or cancel the trip.

Last night the neutral wire connection to the plug on the 50 amp electrical extension cord we use to run our RV in the driveway before we leave for a trip come loose. I only knew about it (as I was doing other things) as the wife said "Something is going on with the AC's in the RV". The surge suppressor lights showed me the cord had a problem, found and fixed the problem but once the power was restored I found there was more damage (those who know what happens to an RV when you loose the neutral wire on a 50 amp 220V cord to an RV are expecting this), the biggest of which that I've discovered so far is that the Xantrex 458 Converter/Inverter blew up, also found the fuse on the refrigerator blown up too (but was still running on LP, so hopeful thats all it is). So, since we were going to leave for a weekend trip tomorrow...and I cant get a new converter until sometime next week...has anybody bypassed the electrical circuits on the converter (not the charger to the house batteries) to McGiver their way through a trip? I'm going to be running on generator the whole trip so will have AC power available...if this is not a good idea I found I do have some outlets that run on the generator and can use extension cords to get me through until I can replace the converter. Also, recommendation on where to buy the new converter. Thanks in advance for the advice. 2004 Knight 34PDD, Onan 7500 W Diesal generator

I'm open to all options that fit the list of what I'm looking for but stay within my budget. The problem I'm finding is that sellers typically have done little to no mechanical maintenance on their coaches and tires need to be replaced as they are date code too old to be safe...and are asking prices that should be in "Ready to Go Anywhere" condition. I found that out on my 04 Knight, had the purchase price PLUS almost $10K at a shop before I even drove it home changing belts, hoses, fluids, brakes, and all other stuff that had never been done. Then on the second trip out we blew a tire so I replaced all of them, makes you sick to take off what look like brand new tires to put on actual brand new tires. After AAA NEVER showing up (what a joke Gold RV membership is) when I called them for help with the tire I determined all new tires was a must. These days tires alone are around $7,500.00 (I put on all Firestone-don't trust Chinese name brands for big rigs), add that to the sale price and the number goes up quickly.

Group, thank you ALL for your input! I'm pretty sure we have determined that the coach I am interested in is a late 2004 with 2005 upgrades. I was supposed to have a phone conversation with the seller yesterday...but it never happened, hopefully it will today. If this doesn't happen i'm just going to keep looking for another coach that has a pre-DEF motor. This one was/is interesting as it pretty much had my complete shopping list of things I wanted, which other than pre-DEF I wanted a side radiator so I can actually SEE my motor (I like to keep it clean and inspected like Harry does), dual couches in the front and king size bed in the back, tile floors, 10K# hitch, nice kitchen, pretty much all the high end goodies, and this one is only a few hours away from my home location in South Florida. I was really looking for a newer model, was hoping for a 2008 (or whenever just before DEF started) and was not specifically choosing a Camelot...thats just what I've found so far. When I purchase the new one then I will sell the 04 34PDD Knight that we have very much enjoyed and I have completely gone through to make 100%...then the process will start all over again debugging and restoring whatever I end up buying. I truly appreciate all the advice...keep it coming!

I'm on a Monaco owners FB page too, asked the same question there and think I got the answer. I think the VIN tag says 2004 but its actually a 2005 model where the larger motor is an upgrade option. I'm going to reach out to the seller to see what his title says.

Dr4Film, it certainly is possible that it could have been special ordered with the larger motor...but you would think that option would have been shown in the brochure. I met the current owner last weekend and got to see the coach, however at that time he was having "Cold Feet" about selling it so I didn't get to look into the engine compartment to see how everything looked. The seller was kind enough to show us the interior so my wife could see/feel what a 40 footer with 4 slides felt like (she of course liked it), since then i've been searching for something like it and kept seeing the sale post up. I contacted him again, now we are negotiating to see if we can come up with an agreement. Since this rig and power plant don't match I figured somebody might know something about this option, and the seller is not the original owner so he would't know if the motor was special ordered.

This is the picture he sent me from his engine bay.

Hello Group! Looking for feedback: We currently own a 2004 Knight 34PDD but are considering up-sizing to a 2004 Camelot 40PDQ to have a little extra room for when we have guests. I have found one for sale that I am negotiating with now but there is very little literature online about this model, and the Monaco Brochure I found shows this year and model with a Cummins ISC 8.3L 350hp motor. The seller of the Camelot I'm considering says (and has sent me pictures of) that his has a ISL 8.9L 400hp motor...anybody else out there have this setup? I tow a lot (and heavy) and my current ISC 8.3L 330hp does a great job...but more power when towing is always better. I would appreciate any feedback on this and links to spec info. Thanks in advance!

I left the radiators in place and changed the belts through the hatches in the floor of the bedroom in the closet. Takes two guys though, one to position the belt and hold it there and the other to load the tensioner spring to where you can get the belt on that pulley.

Did anybody take note of what the belt number was for the AC compressor belt? I just had my serpentine belt explode on my trip this weekend (had it replaced 3 years ago so now am wondering why it blew up...of course in the middle of a blinding rain storm) that I got replaced and drove it home 3 hours without a problem. When we had the engine compartment hatches open I saw the AC belt, figured i'd better change that too and keep spares in the coach. Trying to order the belts but don't know what the part number for the V-drive belt. BTW, the Gates part number for the serpentine belt is K080690 (8PK1753) 1-3/32" X 69-1/2" OC if anybody needs that info. Knight 34PDD W/Cummins ISC 8.3L 330HP

I forget what name brand I used but it is a round flat antenna that you still turn from inside the coach like the old batwing. It covered all the holes and works well, and you don't have to worry about leaving it up when you pull out of your campsite. Its very common as stock equipment on newer RV's