The Trip from Hell (Part 2 to the Maiden Voyage)
02-04-2015
Author: Blog Editor in RV Full-Time with Us
.jpg)
To pick up where we left off last week, Our Maiden Voyage, Vicki and I have been on this RV Trip for 3 days, we have made it from Colonial Beach Virginia to about ¾ the way through South Carolina in 3 days. Sitting in a parking lot just off the exit and it’s now Sunday morning.
I crawled under the motorhome and looking around I noticed that there was what seemed to be a small pump off to the left side of the motor it was sort of tucked away and it had a pulley on the front and NO belt. Taking a closer look I noticed that the belt I had replaced maybe should have been wrapped around that pump.
I took a quick pick with my phone and sent it to my buddy Pete back in Virginia then gave him a call. He explained to me that was the Hydraulic pump and that is why I have no Parking Brake. I could not walk into the auto parts store and ask them for a Belt that runs hydraulic pump as cars do not have that. So I had Vicki get me a long piece of string, I placed the pump in what seemed to be a good position for a belt when tightened then ran the string around the pulleys and tied it tight.
I then loosened the pump and removed the string. I went into the auto part store and explained my dilemma, the girl was very helpful and after some trial and error we thought we might have a belt that would work. I took it over and was able to replace the belt. I checked the other belts all seemed fine, so I put the pin back in the parking brake and started her up. Sure enough parking break now releases, I topped off the radiator with a gallon and a half of Antifreeze and we proceeded to head back down I-95.
The Worst Sound Ever
It’s late afternoon on Sunday and as we drove I kept a close eye on the temperature gauge, it did not seem to be heating up as quickly but she was still running hot. We were good for about 20 miles then we would have to pull over and let it cool down for an hour or so. For the life of me cannot figure out why she is overheating. It seems she has a leak but I can’t see any when I look.
We purchased a case of antifreeze and decided we would just baby her to south Florida. By now we have made it into Georgia and it’s late about 8:00pm and we are just 30 miles from the Florida state line when I hear a sound that I did not want to hear, a belt slipped off and was hitting the fan blades. We were lucky because we were at an exit so we pulled off and pulled into an abandoned gas stations parking lot. I turned the motor home off and wanted to scream, this is just no fun!
There was a sign for a campground about ½ mile down the road, Vicki called them and asked if they had space and explained our situation. The owner was awesome he drove up to meet us at the gas station, he could tell we had not had a very good day. He told us to see if we could baby it to his campground, don’t worry about checking in we could take care of that in the morning just to follow him to our site and he would help get us setup.
So that is what we did.
That night after getting settled in I decided that I would call Fleetwood in the morning and see if they could shed some light on our dilemma.
Basically for simplicity sake your motorhome is comprised of 2 separate components: the chassis and the living space.
The motorhome manufacturer is responsible for everything around the living space of the motorhome including the plumbing and electrical. The chassis manufacturer is responsible for everything around the drive train or another way to look at it everything that connects to the chassis, the tires, suspension, motor, transmission etc.
I point this out because I cannot stress to you enough how helpful each of the manufacturers are. You can call and get total schematics of your plumbing and electrical system from the Motorhome manufacturer and details on your motor from the chassis manufacturer.
So the technician gave me the number to call for my chassis which happen to be John Deer and after giving him my VIN number he was able to give me all sorts of information. First I asked him why when I went to the auto parts store and asked for an alternator belt they gave me a Serpentine belt. He explained that although my motor was manufactured in 1991 the actual configuration was for a 1985 Ford F350 and that when I needed parts that is what I should tell them. (I CAN NOT STRESS TO YOU how helpful that is to know).
He then gave me a list of the belts including part numbers for each one. He also went onto to explain to me that part of the reason I was running hot was that the hydraulic pump has a cooler that sits in front of the Transmission Cooler and Radiator and if the pump is not working then the fluid is just sitting there and blocking the air flow to the radiator.
He said that I probably have a belt that was not running it good enough and that if I replace it that may help my situation. After our conversation I proceeded to the nearest auto parts store and purchased ALL new belts. I was tired of messing with this and did not want any issues when we pulled out of the campground this time. I spent the rest of the day making sure everything was tight topped off the radiator once again and because it was so late in the day decided to get a fresh start on Tuesday morning.
So we would go back to our original plan of driving for about 20 miles or so then pull off. Vicki was great and looking ahead to find out where we could pull off. Long story short this continued all day for the next couple of days we limped through the state of Florida in this manner, it was not the best situation but we were determined to make it to South Florida.
On Thursday night we pulled off at the last rest area on 95 about 100 miles from Margate our final destination we would get up in the morning and by night fall we would be at our tree lot, or at least that is what the plan was. So Friday morning we woke up topped off the radiator once again and proceeded down I-95, we got about 5 miles from the rest area when we heard a high pitched whistle then a loud pop steam was pouring out of the engine compartment we quickly pulled over.
When I got out of the RV I could see water pouring out of the engine, it looked like we had cracked the block or the water pump went out. My heart sank less than 100 miles away and I do not think we are going to make it! I explained to Vicki what seemed to be the issue and we would need to let it cool down before I could take a closer look. I wanted to figure out where the water was coming from so I had Vicki look down from the top as I poured water into radiator hoping to see where it was coming from.
It only took a few seconds when she told me to stop and called me inside the cab. She pointed to the Top radiator hose and there was clearly a hole in the side. This was a great relief because a hose is a lot cheaper and we still have a shot at making it to South Florida. I removed the hose and looked at where the hole was. What a surprise I got when I look at it closer, there at the bottom of the hole was a very small piece of FAN BELT. It appeared that a week ago when this issue started and we spun the belt that when it shredded that a small piece of belt pierced the radiator hose.
The issue was that the hole was so small that when the motor was turned off and no pressure it was not leaking, when we started the motor and started driving the pressure would build the hose would expand and there was our leak. Although the auto part store was 8 miles away we were able to get a replacement hose the manager at the store took pity on us and actually brought it to us. I paid him replaced the hose and topped the radiator off and sure enough the next 95 miles were uneventful. It was hard to believe that the entire issue was a small hole.
I crawled under the motorhome and looking around I noticed that there was what seemed to be a small pump off to the left side of the motor it was sort of tucked away and it had a pulley on the front and NO belt. Taking a closer look I noticed that the belt I had replaced maybe should have been wrapped around that pump.
I took a quick pick with my phone and sent it to my buddy Pete back in Virginia then gave him a call. He explained to me that was the Hydraulic pump and that is why I have no Parking Brake. I could not walk into the auto parts store and ask them for a Belt that runs hydraulic pump as cars do not have that. So I had Vicki get me a long piece of string, I placed the pump in what seemed to be a good position for a belt when tightened then ran the string around the pulleys and tied it tight.
I then loosened the pump and removed the string. I went into the auto part store and explained my dilemma, the girl was very helpful and after some trial and error we thought we might have a belt that would work. I took it over and was able to replace the belt. I checked the other belts all seemed fine, so I put the pin back in the parking brake and started her up. Sure enough parking break now releases, I topped off the radiator with a gallon and a half of Antifreeze and we proceeded to head back down I-95.
The Worst Sound Ever
It’s late afternoon on Sunday and as we drove I kept a close eye on the temperature gauge, it did not seem to be heating up as quickly but she was still running hot. We were good for about 20 miles then we would have to pull over and let it cool down for an hour or so. For the life of me cannot figure out why she is overheating. It seems she has a leak but I can’t see any when I look.
We purchased a case of antifreeze and decided we would just baby her to south Florida. By now we have made it into Georgia and it’s late about 8:00pm and we are just 30 miles from the Florida state line when I hear a sound that I did not want to hear, a belt slipped off and was hitting the fan blades. We were lucky because we were at an exit so we pulled off and pulled into an abandoned gas stations parking lot. I turned the motor home off and wanted to scream, this is just no fun!
There was a sign for a campground about ½ mile down the road, Vicki called them and asked if they had space and explained our situation. The owner was awesome he drove up to meet us at the gas station, he could tell we had not had a very good day. He told us to see if we could baby it to his campground, don’t worry about checking in we could take care of that in the morning just to follow him to our site and he would help get us setup.
So that is what we did.
That night after getting settled in I decided that I would call Fleetwood in the morning and see if they could shed some light on our dilemma.
Who to call when you have issues with your motorhome?
First thing Monday morning I called Fleetwood to talk to them and see if they might be able to shed some light on our issue. When I called them, they explained to me that I would have to call the Chassis manufacturer. So during that conversation I found out some great information and will share it with you here.Basically for simplicity sake your motorhome is comprised of 2 separate components: the chassis and the living space.
The motorhome manufacturer is responsible for everything around the living space of the motorhome including the plumbing and electrical. The chassis manufacturer is responsible for everything around the drive train or another way to look at it everything that connects to the chassis, the tires, suspension, motor, transmission etc.
I point this out because I cannot stress to you enough how helpful each of the manufacturers are. You can call and get total schematics of your plumbing and electrical system from the Motorhome manufacturer and details on your motor from the chassis manufacturer.
So the technician gave me the number to call for my chassis which happen to be John Deer and after giving him my VIN number he was able to give me all sorts of information. First I asked him why when I went to the auto parts store and asked for an alternator belt they gave me a Serpentine belt. He explained that although my motor was manufactured in 1991 the actual configuration was for a 1985 Ford F350 and that when I needed parts that is what I should tell them. (I CAN NOT STRESS TO YOU how helpful that is to know).
He then gave me a list of the belts including part numbers for each one. He also went onto to explain to me that part of the reason I was running hot was that the hydraulic pump has a cooler that sits in front of the Transmission Cooler and Radiator and if the pump is not working then the fluid is just sitting there and blocking the air flow to the radiator.
He said that I probably have a belt that was not running it good enough and that if I replace it that may help my situation. After our conversation I proceeded to the nearest auto parts store and purchased ALL new belts. I was tired of messing with this and did not want any issues when we pulled out of the campground this time. I spent the rest of the day making sure everything was tight topped off the radiator once again and because it was so late in the day decided to get a fresh start on Tuesday morning.
ARE WE THERE YET?
The new belts seemed to help but we were still having an issue with the motorhome getting to a certain temperature and then it would shoot up quickly the logical solution at this point was to take it to a shop, however we could not afford that between the belts, antifreeze funds were running low already and we still have to fill the tank up again and get to south Florida.So we would go back to our original plan of driving for about 20 miles or so then pull off. Vicki was great and looking ahead to find out where we could pull off. Long story short this continued all day for the next couple of days we limped through the state of Florida in this manner, it was not the best situation but we were determined to make it to South Florida.
On Thursday night we pulled off at the last rest area on 95 about 100 miles from Margate our final destination we would get up in the morning and by night fall we would be at our tree lot, or at least that is what the plan was. So Friday morning we woke up topped off the radiator once again and proceeded down I-95, we got about 5 miles from the rest area when we heard a high pitched whistle then a loud pop steam was pouring out of the engine compartment we quickly pulled over.
When I got out of the RV I could see water pouring out of the engine, it looked like we had cracked the block or the water pump went out. My heart sank less than 100 miles away and I do not think we are going to make it! I explained to Vicki what seemed to be the issue and we would need to let it cool down before I could take a closer look. I wanted to figure out where the water was coming from so I had Vicki look down from the top as I poured water into radiator hoping to see where it was coming from.
It only took a few seconds when she told me to stop and called me inside the cab. She pointed to the Top radiator hose and there was clearly a hole in the side. This was a great relief because a hose is a lot cheaper and we still have a shot at making it to South Florida. I removed the hose and looked at where the hole was. What a surprise I got when I look at it closer, there at the bottom of the hole was a very small piece of FAN BELT. It appeared that a week ago when this issue started and we spun the belt that when it shredded that a small piece of belt pierced the radiator hose.
The issue was that the hole was so small that when the motor was turned off and no pressure it was not leaking, when we started the motor and started driving the pressure would build the hose would expand and there was our leak. Although the auto part store was 8 miles away we were able to get a replacement hose the manager at the store took pity on us and actually brought it to us. I paid him replaced the hose and topped the radiator off and sure enough the next 95 miles were uneventful. It was hard to believe that the entire issue was a small hole.
What we learned in our Maiden Voyage (Our Teachable Moment)
- If you buy an older motorhome be sure you contact the motorhome manufacturer and have a good understanding of your rigs configuration.
- People are generally good. There were several individuals that helped us get to South Florida and helped us out for no reason other than they could. If you see a fellow RVer on the side of the road stop and offer to help, you never know if it’s going to be you. Remember if you own an RV it’s not a matter of IF it’s going to break down but more of a matter of WHEN.
- Always purchase Full strength Anti-Freeze and dilute it yourself, it’s a lot cheaper!
- Having a friend that is an RV mechanic is a huge plus!
- Most importantly – NEVER NEVER NEVER GIVE up! From our first trip we lived by an old Marine saying and have found it to be very helpful in our travels: "Improvise, Adapt and Overcome."
Comment
No comments found! Be the first one to write a comment!
Author Information Not Available
