dennis.mcdonaugh

I’ve got 2 newish Penguin II high capacity units on my Dynasty. One is 8 years old, the other two. Both were easy to install and have been running well. I got 16 and 22 years out of the originals.

My Dynasty doesn’t have two zones, the ACs operate independently of each other and the furnace is controlled by the front AC t-stat. Made it real simple to change out the ACs.

I got mine from camping world. Good price and quick delivery. FedEx boogered up the box on one of them and broke the shroud. CW sent me a replacement before they sent an RMA to return the damaged one. Great service from a frequently maligned company.

Yes. I am installed them when I replaced both my 20+ year old units. I still have a used set in case I need to replace one.

It looks like I didn't screw anything up and the leak is gone. I'm going to keep the old one and rebuild it in case the new one leaks down the road. Its unlikely I'll be the owner when that happens since it took 24 years for the original to fail, but you never know. Do you remove the shaft and o-rings by taking off the knob with the philips screw in it?

I lubed the chassis with the DeWalt cordless grease gun this morning and what a different experience that is. I wish I'd bought one years ago when I went with a pneumatic gun instead instead. I was a little worried a couple of times when it took longer than I thought it should to get a couple fittings lubed, but eventually they I got them all done. Thanks for the suggestion!

Are we talking step cover or step? Window actuator sounds like step.

I had the same issue and Jim’s procedure fixed it.

Sorry you went through that. Glad its fixed.

I've got 1400 hours on my 7500 and have replaced the T-stat and temp sensor. The temp sensor actually failed about 7-8 years ago. I have thought about changing the belt, but don't see them go out often so have been putting it off. I probably need to do it for peace of mind. I carry an oil, air and fuel filter with me at all times "Just in case".

I just snugged it down as much as I could with a 10 mm wrench. There's not much leverage available on a wrench that size.

Thanks! I’ll try to do that. It’s going to be hard to get a torque wrench in there since I don’t have a set of crowfoot wrenches.

Thanks! I Got it back on. What should I torque the bolts to? The bolts threads are 12 mm with a 10 mm head. I looked up grade 8.8 bolts and it said 65 ft/lbs. I’m pretty sure they weren’t that tight. The next grade on the list was 5.6 and 28 lbs was specified for them.

I removed the valve assembly this morning. I can't see what was providing a seal between the engine block and the valve body. There's no sign of anything like the aluminum gasket the new one has or any type of sealant. You can see the two 3/4 NPT fittings that bekec1 mentioned a couple posts above. I think I'm going to go the route he did and stick two plugs in those holes. I wish I'd known about that 10 or so years ago when I bought the new valve body.

I’ve had mine turned off for years since I had a blank filter (no SCAs) anyway. Eliminating the housing would definitely have eliminated the possibility of the valve leaking.

I received the blank coolant filter yesterday and decided to replace the coolant valve today. I had a plan, turn off the valve, remove the old filter, turn the valve on and let the coolant drain. Remove four bolts and the valve, replace with four new bolts and new valve, install the new filter and replace lost coolant. Things went south after the first step. The filter was stuck and I broke my filter wrench trying to get it off. None of my other filter wrenches were big enough or they were too big to work so off to NAPA to get a replacement. The new one was more robust than the 40 year old wrench I broke so I was sure I'd have the filter off in no time. It was so tight I bent the filter and twisted the new wrench. Plan B was to just take the four bolts out with the filter still attached. The valve is held on by four 24-year old M10 bolts so I was really worried about breaking one off. I think you'd have to take off the manifold and turbo to get a broken bolt out because there is no space there to get a drill in there. I used a ratcheting gear wrench because they aren't very long so I couldn't put a lot of torque on the bolts. I still had to pull on them pretty hard, even after spraying them with Kroil every day since last Monday. I worked back and forth and sprayed them again and in the end they came out intact and I backed them out just enough so the coolant could drain into the big square tub I used to collect it. After an hour, I'd estimate two gallons have come out. I'm going to let it drain over night and put the new valve on tomorrow.

My 2000 Dynasty S Series chassis uses the same bag as Jim's Windsor, the Firestone number is W01-358-9376.

Thanks, I didn't know that. Now I have to decide which is worse, wrestling the oil filter off or leaning over the bed frame to get that top bolt off. On another note, the coolant valve has stopped leaking again, just like it did about 8 years ago when I bought the new one I have in the box.

Thanks I’m still waiting on the new empty coolant filter to arrive. Why does the empty one cost double what one with SCAs cost? In the meantime I’m spraying the bolts with Kroil every day in hopes that they all come out easily. I can get to 3 bolts from the bottom, but one I have to reach through the exhaust manifold from the top. That is the upper bolt next to the oil filter. The filter totally blocks it from below. If this leak had started a couple days earlier, I could have replaced it while the oil was drained from the engine.

I used Penguin 2s. I had to change both thermostats. The heat pump operation is wonky in the front unit. It also controls the furnace. I used to be able to select A/C, furnace or heat pump. Now I can only select heat or A/C. When heat is selected, the furnace or heat pump comes on, depending on the difference between ambient temp and selected temp. If there’s a big gap, the furnace comes on. Once the gap is smaller the furnace goes off and heat pump comes on.

The first time I changed the coolant, I didn’t realize I had to pull out the hose attached to the radiator cap and top off the coolant level. The system was low and I didn’t know it. The level in the overflow tank was correct. The generator would run 10-15 minutes and shut down.

Wow. That’s all I can say, just wow! You and your boys did and incredible job.

You can replace the o-rings on the valve?

I'm not sure what o-ring you are talking about. I have the whole housing and it comes with a metal gasket - its the new version with better valve handles. I've used a blank coolant filter (Fleetguard WF2122) since since I switched to OAT coolant over ten years ago. Here's a picture of the where the leak falls on the ground. I was wondering about reusing the coolant since its only a few years old. I can strain it with a paint strainer and cheesecloth before putting it back into the engine.

After driving the coach for its yearly inspection, I noticed a small wet spot under the engine a couple days later. I did a cursory inspection when I changed the oil and filter, but saw no wet spot or drips on the bottom of the engine. A few days later the spot was still there. A more thorough inspection revealed I may have a leak in the valve for the SCA canister, the one you can shut off to replace the canister. Luckily, I have a new one in the box on the shelf. Anyone have any idea how much fluid I’m likely to lose changing out that valve?