Pudgy Camper

Thanks for the info John! With mine I can rotate the bottom half and I can feel the flapper operating inside. The only reason I was going to pull the turbo is to have it looked at and verify there's nothing going on with it. I already have the coolant drained and in the middle of a radiator replacement. Maybe I'll pull off the actuator first and test it with the 60 psi testing procedure. Do you recall what truck shop you got your parts from?

Yeah right when I think I'm getting caught up, and at least have the known issues fixed, something like this reveals itself. I got lucky to even see it. It it wasn't for being in the process of replacing the radiator, I might have missed it!

Seems like every time I go to fix something on this rig I find another surprise. I've only had it about a month and have found 4 serious issues that were due to just complete laziness from the previous owner. This time it's the waste gate actuator rod and it appears to have been cut with a grinder. Not sure why they did this, I'm guessing the actuator froze up maybe? The coach still runs good but is a little sluggish on acceleration. I just figured that was normal for a 30k lb rig. But after talking with others, my ISL 400 should be putting out around 31psi of boost and the most I've seen is 24 and that's with me really mashing the throttle. I'm going to be pulling the turbo off so I can have it looked at just for good measure. I'll also be testing the actuator and hopefully find that it tests bad. Either way, looks like I'll be replacing the actuator, they're around $600. Just wanted to share with you guys and get your take!

Thats leaking coolant. Yeah it's in bad shape! The CAC looks surprising good, a little dirty but I don't see any signs of damage or leaks. Hopefully I can keep from replacing it. My biggest concern is what caused the radiator to fail...old age?, something to do with my leaking compressor head?, or something else?

I had my trans fluid analyzed, it came back good... very dirty and old, but no coolant contamination. My radiator happens to be just a coolant radiator only and I have a stand alone trans cooler (cooled by coolant) mounted on the frame below/behind the fan. Had my coolant analyzed too and it was in bad shape, very dirty but no combustion gasses.

Well it looks like I get to join the new radiator club🤬 It started leaking a couple weeks after purchasing the coach and getting home after a 10hr drive. Before it started leaking, I noticed some gurgling sounds once in a while as the coach was just sitting quietly in my garage. Also, the pressure in the expansion tank seemed to increase as it was sitting. Maybe air was in the system? Radiator cap bad, not releasing pressure? I have another thread titled 'Coolant in air tank' and the consensus is my air compressor head gasket is leaking and allowing coolant into my wet tank. That is another issue that still needs to be addressed, but now I'm wondering if all these symptoms are related somehow. But for now I'm moving forward with the radiator replacement and replacing hoses, turbo boots, water pump, thermostat and getting the CAC tested. I'm hoping there isn't a bigger problem lerking in the darkness after all this is done!

Hi Van, do you have another thread or more info on how you did this mod? I'm currently in the process of replacing my radiator, hoses, water pump, etc. I have an external transmission cooler in line with the lower radiator hose. Its about 4"x4" square and 24" long. It's horribly rusted and I would like to get rid of it and at the same time eliminate any transmission/coolant contamination issues. I've seen a couple other threads where guys add an external cooler/fan combo and I would like to know more about yours.

I have heard good thing about the OAT coolant but I'm confused by the different types. I noticed there are a couple different options in the ES Complete lineup. I'm assuming the ES Complete OAT (red label) is the OAT technology? But I've also seen a ES Complete Hybrid, not sure what this is. And what coolant filter would be compatible with the OAT coolant? I believe it would be Fleetguard WF2122 (non DCA) from my notes a couple months back. I had my coolant analyzed it's in bad shape. No oil in it but very old and very dirty. So when I change over, I need to go with something that will hopefully stop or reverse any damage that has been done!

Thanks for all of the input everyone! After looking at all the options, I think I'm going to go with a Dometic 4101 12v compressor refrigerator. It's only a 10 cu ft, but has excellent reviews and should work great for just me and the wife. Its dimensions work out perfect to replace my existing Norcold 1200 and still leaves room for a small pull out pantry next to it. The cost of the Dometic 12v (about $1500) is more than most residential fridges I considered, but the pros still out weigh the cons (in my case). I would have really liked to upsize to the RF18 but its too tall and I would have needed to perform major surgery on my opening. Some of the other residential fridges would work without a lot of modification to the opening, but with all the other work I'm doing to this coach, I figured simple is better and I won't need to upgrade my inverter at the moment. Thanks again and I'll update once I get around to the install!

Yeah I definitely want to stay away from any type of conversion kit. Either 120v residential or 12vDC. Anyone installed a 12vDC fridge? (I'm not talking about 12v/120v/LP gas absorbing). 12vDC fridges are similar to residential but run directly on 12v alone. I haven't seen a lot of feedback on these on this forum but they seem to get good reviews from others.

Thanks Reka, that sounds like the perfect size fridge for my needs. How did you get it into your coach? Did you have to pull a window and use a forklift? I couldn't find a width measurement for it with the doors removed. I have about 25" of opening with my coach door removed or open all the way. Also, I see different opinions on the MSW vs FSW inverters to run a fridge. That's why I was considering the 12v DC fridge.

Oh gotcha, I'll check them out Thank you

From what I understand, JC only offers fixes and replacement parts for the gas absorbing fridges correct? I want to go a different direction completely and eliminate my existing Norcold absorb fridge. After years of RVing and dealing with Norcolds or Dometics in my previous toy haulers, I don't want anything to do with them. So this time, it's either a 12dc or 120vac res fridge.

Hi everyone, One of my next upgrades to my 04 Windsor is going to be a new refrigerator. Since I purchased my (new to me) coach about a month ago, I have yet to fire up the Nevercold fridge that came with the rig. I want to get it out and upgrade ASAP. After researching the different options, I believe I have it narrowed down to either a 12vdc style or 120vac residential fridge. Size isn't a major deciding factor and I wouldn't mind going with a smaller 9-10 cubic foot to eliminate major modifications and leave room for a side panty in the future. We aren't full timers and maybe spend 30-45 days a year RVing with half of that dry camping. I'm upgrading my house batteries to 4-6v Trojan T105s, (I think that gives me around 400 amp hrs). My existing inverter is a Xantrex (2000 amp I think) MSW. So my questions are: - What is preferred between 120vac residential and 12vdc refrigerators? It looks like the two are about the same cost. - Would I need to upgrade my inverter to a pure sine wave before going with a 120v residential? That may help with my decision if I can get away with using my existing Xantrex for now. However, I still want to upgrade to PSW down the road.

That's possible, the compressor is oil lubricated from what I understand. I will be doing a oil change along with oil analysis when I get started on this project. I'll update with my findings when completed.

I sure hope I caught it in time! Between battery issues, steering issues and now this, this thing is killing me, LOL!

Thanks for all the input guys! I think I'll try to do the repair myself. Looks pretty straight forward and Quick Serve shows all the steps. I just need to find the right gasket kit. Looks like they are about $165. This might explain why my engine temps climbed up to 210 from 175 on the trip home from Fresno. Took a long time for them to get back below 200. I'm sure hot compressed air into your cooling system isn't going to help anything!

That's what I was afraid off! Could be worse I guess. About 1 cup of coolant came out of the front drain. That's what I'm thinking too, planning on a full coolant flush and dryer filter replacement after the gasket fix. Is the compressor gasket a common failure item? I couldn't find a lot of info on it.

It's definitely coolant and I found it by draining my tanks. The front tank is the only one that had any coolant in it. No, I haven't changed my dryer filter yet but that's on the to do list. From what I understand, the only place where coolant could be introduced into the air system is at the compressor. It's water cooled and has a cylinder head, similar to a small engine, with a series of head gaskets. I'm betting that's my issue but wanted some feedback before I start pulling stuff apart!

Hi everyone, need some help with another issue I've discovered in my 'new to me' 04 Windsor. I drained a small amount (maybe a cup) of coolant out of the front air tank male air line fitting, next to the generator. Now, I'm still learning about the different systems on these coaches, but I'm guessing I've got a problem! From the limited info I could find doing a Google search, it looks like I have an issue with my compressor, possibly the compressor head gasket is leaking. Also, my coolant system is pressurized. I noticed that when removing the cap on the coolant reservoir. Hopefully it's only a compressor gasket problem, the fix looks pretty straight forward and Cummins Quick Serve shows all the steps. Any of you guys ever run across this? Thanks for any input!

Will do. Thanks Tom for all your valuable info!

Thanks everyone for all of the input! After a lot of research and considering the different options I think I'm going to go with the Blue Sea ML-ACR in place of the Big Boy Isolator Relay. It would save me roughly $200 and I really haven't heard anything negative from anyone that's using it. The only drawback is running the 2 wires to the front dash. I may hunt around and see if I have any spare wires going from front to back, if not I'll install the conduit system suggested by jacwjames. That is an excellent idea and might come in handy down the road. So my plan of attack is... - disconnect my existing IRD and Lambert battery maintainer - install 2 Blue Sea battery disconnects (one for house batteries, one for chassis) - install Blue Sea ML-ACR - install all new batteries (house and chassis) Hopefully this will get me back up and running and give me a reliable battery system that will last a while. Then I can focus on the next project....fluid, filters!

Thanks myron, yeah I've seen a pretty good You Tube video from AZ Expert that shown the BIRD install. I think I'll go that route and unplug the IRD.

Thank you Tom, so if I understand correctly, adding the BIRD Diesel 2 to the rear passenger bay (in the same location as the 2003 drawing) and going with a Big Boy non latching 200amp Isolator Relay would be the preferred way to go? I like the Blue Sea, haven't researched it a lot, but would like to keep things as simple as possible and not have to mess with for a long time.

When you guys are talking about 'exercising' what are you referring too? I thought the inverter takes care of that in terms of float charge, desulfacation etc. I'm getting ready to get new batteries and want them to last as long as I can. I'm in AZ, and although my coach is stored indoors, it still gets quite hot during the summer months and its very hard on all batteries!