Catching Up on Maintenance is Expensive

[dennis.mcdonaugh]

We really haven't used our motor home in two years. Over that time, I've sort of kept up with maintenance, I put a new chassis battery in it last year when I drove it over for its yearly safety inspection and I've kept up with re-caulking the roof and things like that, but I have not been doing most of the maintenance as it came due since we weren't using it. Now I'm doing all the deferred maintenance at once. Holy cow have prices gone up! I'm starting at the front and working my way back to the end. I going to end up spending close to $1500 just for parts and fluids.  

The upper and lower service kit for the Haldex Pure Air Plus air dryer is over $275 from NAPA. 
The cheapest I could find the engine air filter is $190 for an AC Delco unit from Amazon.
The fuel filters are over $100 for the pair of Fleetguard replacements.
Oil and oil filter are over $130.
The generator oil and oil filter, fuel filter, air filter and antifreeze are over $100.
Transmission oil filters are right at $100 and a gallon of Transynd is $50. Has it really been three years already?
The three filters for the hydraulic reservoir are $100 and 5 gallons of AW-46 hydraulic fluid is $75.
Finally, 20 quarts of gear oil for the differential is $400.
That still leaves miscellaneous things like grease for the chassis, PAC brake lube, Dexron transmission fluid for the hydraulic systems, windshield wipers, and fan belts. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 15, 2024 by dennis.mcdonaugh

[Just Jim]

You are correct.  I just did the maintenance on mine and I'm at $1800 and counting just for fluids and filters.  I just keep thinking of all the money I saved by doing it myself.  LOL.

[Dr4Film]

Welcome to the world of RV Diesel Pusher ownership!

[timaz996]

Yes the inflation is nuts.

[jacwjames]

I work on mine throughout the year, trying to keep it maintained and ready to roll

But I quit tracking all the costs, I'd hate to think what I've spent on the maintenance and all the upgrades.  It seems to be a never ending battle

But you gotta pay if you want to play.

[throgmartin]

Speaking of maintenance.......... One of the most overlooked maintenance items is caulking. While being the cheapest to perform owners still forget to add it to their list. Few realize just how much over looking caulking can cost you. We just handed a customer an $ 8,000 bill for repairs, all due to letting caulking go to the point of failure. $ 50 worth of caulking could have prevented that huge bill.

While engines, transmissions and other chassis components need attention, so does the house portion. Water is your biggest enemy. Identify all the seams that need caulking then stay on top of it.

[6Wheels]

And fuel has not come down either.  $3.79 in Georgia, but I bet it is higher elsewhere.

[jacwjames]

3 hours ago, throgmartin said:

Speaking of maintenance.......... One of the most overlooked maintenance items is caulking. While being the cheapest to perform owners still forget to add it to their list. Few realize just how much over looking caulking can cost you. We just handed a customer an $ 8,000 bill for repairs, all due to letting caulking go to the point of failure. $ 50 worth of caulking could have prevented that huge bill.

While engines, transmissions and other chassis components need attention, so does the house portion. Water is your biggest enemy. Identify all the seams that need caulking then stay on top of it.

I agree with this, I missed a problem in my belt molding, passenger side rear where the rear cap overlapped/met the roof.  There was a bulge and the caulking failed probably due to chassis flex.  The small caulk failure resulted in a pretty large delamination problem. 

Since then I stripped out all the old belt mold caulk and went back with Geocel.  Plus now I have a garage I can park in. 

[Just Jim]

So... was checking the batteries to make sure they had enough water and noticed this loose wire hanging in the back.  It also has a wire attached to one of the batteries... see the pics.  Any idea where that loose wire should be attached?  I don't see any connection point on the back side of them.  The wire has two small wires inside the protective plastic wrap.

[Ivan K]

Temp sensor for inverter, the other likely for a solar controller if you have one. Typically the eye goes on negative battery post but I'd prefer not to have any polarity on it in case the insulation breaks. I'd just tape it to the battery. 

[Just Jim]

thanks Ivan,  Yes, I do have solar.  The eyelet is so small that it did not make sense that it went to one of the battery posts.  So, just tape it to the side of a battery like the other one?

[Ivan K]

16 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

thanks Ivan,  Yes, I do have solar.  The eyelet is so small that it did not make sense that it went to one of the battery posts.  So, just tape it to the side of a battery like the other one?

Yeah, Jim, I taped ours to a battery side inside the opening between our 4 batteries so it doesn't get influenced by outside air but whatever works.

[Gweedo]

Clean all the connections and use dialectic grease on them  

[veraken]

I had a problem when I was on shore power where my chassis batteries were only being charged at @ 12.5v or less. After investigation I found that it was due to a bad temp sensor from my inverter ( I have a Trace RV2012) to the battery. I just disconnect the temp sensor. I  talked to Xantrex and they do not have a replacement for my unit and they said just leave it disconnected - not needed.

[Kenster]

On 3/14/2024 at 8:26 PM, dennis.mcdonaugh said:

Eat the elephant one bite at a time. I have to ask, where you found engine oil and filter for $100. What engine do you have?

 

 

 

 

We really haven't used our motor home in two years. Over that time, I've sort of kept up with maintenance, I put a new chassis battery in it last year when I drove it over for its yearly safety inspection and I've kept up with re-caulking the roof and things like that, but I have not been doing most of the maintenance as it came due since we weren't using it. Now I'm doing all the deferred maintenance at once. Holy cow have prices gone up! I'm starting at the front and working my way back to the end. I going to end up spending close to $1500 just for parts and fluids.  

The upper and lower service kit for the Haldex Pure Air Plus air dryer is over $275 from NAPA. 
The cheapest I could find the engine air filter is $190 for an AC Delco unit from Amazon.
The fuel filters are over $100 for the pair of Fleetguard replacements.
Oil and oil filter are over $130.
The generator oil and oil filter, fuel filter, air filter and antifreeze are over $100.
Transmission oil filters are right at $100 and a gallon of Transynd is $50. Has it really been three years already?
The three filters for the hydraulic reservoir are $100 and 5 gallons of AW-46 hydraulic fluid is $75.
Finally, 20 quarts of gear oil for the differential is $400.
That still leaves miscellaneous things like grease for the chassis, PAC brake lube, Dexron transmission fluid for the hydraulic systems, windshield wipers, and fan belts. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dennis.mcdonaugh]

9 hours ago, Kenster said:

 

I normally keep up with maintenance yearly, but I didn't change any fluids the last two years since I didn't drive it 30 miles in that time. I  have the ISC and use Mobil Delvac Heavy Duty diesel oil from Walmart for $14.82 a gallon.

Edited March 18, 2024 by dennis.mcdonaugh

[Bobkat11208]

On 3/16/2024 at 9:12 AM, 6Wheels said:

And fuel has not come down either.  $3.79 in Georgia, but I bet it is higher elsewhere.

Even with Open Roads fuel card (my open roads.com) it’s starting to creep up here in Indiana. But, for example at Loves close by, I’ll take $3.825 vice $4.449 pump price any day. 👍

 

 

[Kenster]

I've got a 100 gallons on board that I bought for $3.36 a gallon. I don't want to burn it up.

Edited March 18, 2024 by Kenster

[96 EVO]

Your wasting your money replacing Allison spec trans fluid at 3 yrs with few miles!

[jacwjames]

11 hours ago, 96 EVO said:

Your wasting your money replacing Allison spec trans fluid at 3 yrs with few miles!

This where oil sampling really makes sense.  Not only do you get information on any type of significant wear issues with the transmission but also the condition of the oil and if it is well withing spec's you can extend the oil change interval. 

[dereeves]

On 3/16/2024 at 8:12 AM, 6Wheels said:

And fuel has not come down either.  $3.79 in Georgia, but I bet it is higher elsewhere.

We just drove this 2000 Diplomat from Lakeside, OR to here in Oklahoma City, OK at the end of Feb. The cheapest diesel we paid was like $3.79 a gallon and most was over $4.00 per gallon. I was wanting to keep tab of it for the overall fuel price for that and the Navigator that had to come back as well, but a quarter way into the trip i decided i didn't want to know that. Oh and the route was OR to Bend, OR then south through NV and across AZ and NM on I-40, which was kind of like a Ukrainian highway, or how i imagine a Ukrainian highway is after 2 years of war...

Edited March 19, 2024 by dereeves

[dennis.mcdonaugh]

29 minutes ago, dereeves said:

We just drove this 2000 Diplomat from Lakeside, OR to here in Oklahoma City, OK at the end of Feb. The cheapest diesel we paid was like $3.79 a gallon and most was over $4.00 per gallon. I was wanting to keep tab of it for the overall fuel price for that and the Navigator that had to come back as well, but a quarter way into the trip i decided i didn't want to know that. Oh and the route was OR to Bend, OR then south through NV and across AZ and NM on I-40, which was kind of like a Ukrainian highway, or how i imagine a Ukrainian highway is after 2 years of war...

No, that gets discouraging right away. 

[Jetjockey]

I have owned numerous aircraft and all of them cost less to own than my motorhome!

[Paul J A]

On 3/19/2024 at 7:27 AM, jacwjames said:

This where oil sampling really makes sense.  Not only do you get information on any type of significant wear issues with the transmission but also the condition of the oil and if it is well withing spec's you can extend the oil change interval. 

Yep. Doing what you believe in and believing in what you do. 

[dennis.mcdonaugh]

I finally finished my to-do list with the exception of the air filter. I've had a hard time finding one at a reasonable price, but supposedly have one on back order. We'll see. 

The last thing I did was rebuild the air dryer. The last time I did it was 6 years ago when it starting purging air every 5 minutes. I had to tear into to find the issue and it turned out to be a small piece of rubber from the turbo saver valve got caught in the purge valve.  This time was preventive maintenance since having an air issue on the road isn't fun. 

We've only put about 20K on the coach in that time. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't very dirty inside and all the rubber parts looked good. I've replaced the desiccant cannister and Coalescing filter once since the last rebuild.

I removed the dryer from under the coach so I could rebuild it on the bench. The directions tell you to do it on the vehicle, but I think that's meant for a truck and not a motor home. Its much easier to clean, lube and rebuild it off the coach.  Besides the two filters, I replaced the one way check valve, turbo saver, pressure relief valve, purge valve and purge valve shield. 

The line from the governor and the outlet to the air tanks both had quick connect fittings that were difficult to remove the last time I did this. I reused them and they were next to impossible to get loose this time so I just cut them off. They were both elbow fittings so I couldn't unscrew them with the hoses attached.  I replaced the push fittings with compression fittings so the next time they will be easier to remove.