RoadTripper2084

After trying 3 different shops in my area for different jobs and not being thrilled with any of them, I think I finally found one I'm happy with. Of course, a lot depends on the guy they put on your job too. These guys get all the local school bus work, and out of town fleet jobs too for government outfits, even the military for some rigs for their strict maintenance schedules, etc. I talked to the mechanic who did my flush and he explained his process very thoroughly. I think he appreciated the old girl too (Blue Thunder, no the missus). When he was done I told him "it sounds like you know what you're doing". 😉

So my rig had the old-school green 50-50 coolant in it that required the DCA filters, test strips, etc. I could never tell a difference on the strips either before and after I changed the coolant filter. Thought about sending off a sample for testing, even collected the sample, but decided to go ahead and get the coolant system flushed and replaced with long-life coolant instead and be done with it, since I had no idea how long it had been in the system. Shop I used recommended Shell Rotella® ELC NF (Nitrite-Free) so that's what I went with. It wasn't particularly expensive, either. https://rotella.shell.com/en_us/products/lubricants-heavy-duty-products/antifreeze-coolant/_jcr_content/par/toptasks.stream/1608168686759/3ecd8f9b24bcb915db9b64cabe790ae608b28380/shell-rotella-extended-life-coolant-nitrite-free-sell-sheet.pdf I'm not a coolant expert, this seems to reference OAT technology and 1.2 million miles, both of which sounded good to me. 🙂

I actually assembled my 280ah battery myself using some quality cells from China, and well reviewed BMS module. Was a fun winter project, but probably not for most. Total cost was approx. $1K Cdn, or $630USD at the time.

My LiFeP04 battery BMS has built-in bluetooth so I can monitor the stats using an app on my phone, control whether whether or not charger and/or discharging is enabled. So I was able to skip purchasing a separate shunt monitor.

Okay, so I tried to trace the wires, they join the main bundle that traverses the back of coach across the engine compartment from driver's to passenger side. From there could go into the rear electrical panel, or somewhere else. Without taking the bundle apart I can't trace it further. Here's the "auxiliary" fan that's mounted on the passenger side of my engine compartment. Is this factory? What's it for (moves air from outside to the engine compartment, I get that, but when/why)? Seems to come on if I flick the switch mounted on the outside of the coach, but never heard it otherwise.

Thanks that's a very helpful video! Wondering if you worry about drilling "too far" as the drill seems to lurch as it clears the metal your drilling through?

My Michelin XZE's have a "7 Year / 700,000 Mile / 3-Retread Manufacturer’s Limited Casing Guarantee”. With TPMS and regular (outside) inspection I am hoping to use them to 10 yrs.

I just did my first attempt at lubing the chassis yesterday. I have a question, are there any other grease points / zerks for my drum brakes other than the one on each slack-adjuster? Had issues getting a good fitting onto the U-joint zerks. What a PIA! I have a needle-like tip I will try, saw a video that make it look feasible.

Okay, cleaned things up as good as I could, from what I can tell, the 3 hydraulic lines for the jacks are the leakers. They seem greasy all the down their entire lengths. I've read that this is a common ailment on these RVA 3-point jacks? Other than attempting to tighten the fittings are each end, I'm thinking of letting this issue ride for a bit, any concerns?

This seems like an excellent idea.

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! 😀 So now I need to figure out what it's being used for. It would make sense, I guess, if it controlled the aux fan attached to the passenger side of the engine compartment, but I've never noticed that fan turning on or off by itself. If I flick the switch it's on, or off. Maybe I need to wait longer. Will trace wires... Unfortunately, there is no prize, just the glory of victory! 😉 Okay, here's the 2nd part I can't identify...

Interesting idea. My rig has a large fan mounted on the rear passenger's side engine bay behind the air louvers on that side. It has a manual on/off switch accessible from the outside of the rig. I've always wondered if that was a previous-owner add-on? I thought maybe it was to help cool the engine under the bed when you pull off the road late and want to lose some heat quickly before sleeping or something. Maybe this temp sensor is meant to turn that fan on when the engine is hot enough? Manual has nothing about it. I'll try to follow the wires...

I took my OG Leece Neville alternator in to a local shop in Calgary a year ago for a rebuild, old-timer there has been at this for decades. Sold me a new model (connector compatible) instead, and it's been perfect so far. Cost me $558 Cdn, incl. tax.

Another pic with more context.

Okay, I have a couple of "things" I found in my engine compartment, under my bed, and I have no idea what they are. We'll do one at a time, let's see who can identify them first!

I'm enjoying following along as you determine the root cause of your leak deductively. Do you have a table showing what your expected/correct outcomes are for each of these test scenarios?

Hi, do you have schematics for your year for the air system? Here are diagrams from my '97's system, probably similar to yours. From your description of the problem, I think you should start by looking at the relay that disengages the spring (park) brakes on the rear drive wheels. Highlighted in orange below: My understanding is that the air pressure held by the park brake switch/valve in your console acts as a signal to the relay to dump the air (engage the park brakes) or pressurize with air. It seems like when it dumps the air from the rear parking brake cans, the relay (above) that controls whether air flows into the springs brakes or not is sticking and letting all the air dump into (and out of) the spring brakes. Since these are critical safety item, both air tanks will feed into those brakes. So find that relay and remove it and disassemble to see what you've got. I successfully removed a similar relay on my rig last fall and was able to clean it up and re-lube the o-rings and it's 100% now.

...make that 6 cold miserable months. Okay, I removed all the insulation I had behind the top front cabinets to get access to the non-working running lights there, definitely no +12v hitting that string. I was able to see that the black wire from the electrical bay would break continuity when the "Truck Flasher" button was pressed, so that gave me confidence that the problem wasn't in my wire-patching, at least not directly. Frankly I was out of ideas and time, so resigned myself to not having working front clearance lights and set out to finally re-assemble my dash. Not a huge issue in these parts since it's light out till 10pm into July, so actually driving in the dark is only a possibility in the fall. ...but wouldn't you know it. While I was vacuuming out the bottom of the dash area I stumbled across a connector with an exposed red wire .5 inch away from it, hiding under the other bundles! At some point my jostling of the wire bundle must have caused this wire to pull out of its pin crimp. I repaired the crimp and my front clearance lights are working! So that was dumb luck more than anything I did, but considering the hours that I spent trying to find the problem, I'll take it as a win! 🙂

Thanks guys, found it immediately based on your advice.

At the risk of looking foolish, I can't seem to locate the serial # tag on my Cummins C8.3 engine. I figured lots of folks here probably know exactly where I should look. I have the C8.3 engine, which I believe is also known as the "6CTA" series. This is what Cummins says about it: I can't really access the spot on the top of the left-side of the block, I took a few pictures but couldn't see anything. They mention that "the long narrow metal tag is attached to the front cover/gear housing...". Any ideas where I would look for that?

Interesting, I had no idea such a thing existed. Whatever it is, it's not leaking enough to warrant me topping up any fluids.

Okay got some pictures. It appears to be hydraulic fluid. Here you can see two drops that have accumulated on the hoses: On the paper towel after I wiped them off: I cut the zip ties and opened the bundle to see the different hoses. There is an insulated copper pipe I'm guessing is the "hot" coolant from the engine block? You can also see where the outer layer of the hoses have sloughed off where the zip ties were. Also, my three jack hoses are all a mess, coated in built-up grease from long-term fluid leaks. Front/center jack: The worst of the leak appears near the front of the coach: I wonder if it could be diesel leaking from the generator fuel line, then running down the rest of the hoses, as well.

I will tear into the section of bundle I can access tomorrow and cut the zip ties and take some "samples". I was thinking of getting a coolant drain/fill next week before our upcoming vacation season starts but no point if I need to drain it again to replace these lines. Coolant lines may have shutoff valves in the engine bay somewhere, is that correct? Maybe it's possible to replace the lines without draining the entire system first.

Well I'm not sure which hose(s) are actually leaking. The moisture tends to travel to the lowest point in the bundle, all zip tied together. I'm still thinking it must be hydraulic fluid, since antifreeze would evaporate quickly, and this is a more oily residue. I guess I have to cut a bunch of zip ties and see if I can figure out which hoses are actually the source. Could also be travelling down the hose from a fitting I suppose. There are coolant lines that run to the front of the coach, right? For dash heating?

My coach has some signs of seeping lines that run from the rear engine bay to the front in the space above the storage compartments. In the utility bay where there is no headliner I see some slight collecting of fluid in low spots on the lines. In addition, there is a prevalent smell in the storage bay and even in the house of the motorhome if it's been sealed up for awhile, almost smells like cheap cologne, kind of an alcohol smell. I am also able to see that the outer covering on some of the lines is sort of sheathing off a bit, very thin outer layers (sorry can't find a pic right now). I *think* these must be the hydraulic lines? I've read that this is a common issue on older coaches. How can I easily determine if it's hydraulic vs coolant? I haven't needed to add any hydraulic fluid in the 1.5 years I've owned the coach, maybe 7k miles total. Thoughts?