Would not start – Feb. 2010

I arrived in Mazatlan around 1pm after a two hour drive. That morning, indeed for several months, I’ve not had or heard any problems from the engine. Always started right up. But this day, after I stopped for fuel, then drove a few miles and stopped for cash and a meal, I stopped and parked the RV next to the fence of a RV park I’ve stayed at before. Went in and found they did have room for me, paid, picked out a spot and came back to the RV around 45 minutes after parking. This time it wouldn’t turn over. Had no trouble the four other times that day I’d started it up.

There wasn’t a sound I could detect when I turned the start key. No click or anything. Immediately I look at the shift lever…it’s in Park. I check the dash for idiot lights. They look fine. I watch them when I turn the key to start..they dim like they are suppose to.  Hmmm. So I think that the starting motor must have died. Or the starting solenoid. I’m sitting right next to my RV park so I’m hoping that having the rig towed into the park and backed into my assigned spot would be OK, and not too expensive. But I’m not sure the tow company would do that since the park is crowded. I suppose I could spend the night there, along side the road, that happens all the time with tour buses right there where I was parked but I didn’t really want to do that right there on a main drag.

Anyway, I grab the shift lever and pull it throughout it’s range and try to start it again. The engine turns right over and starts right up! YEA! So I move into my spot and setup then go talk to the office gal and she calls and makes me an appointment with a mechanic.

Late the next day, the mechanic showed up. He and I discussed my problem with the starting system in the rig and decided to take the starting motor in for a preventative maintenance inspection. At the Cummins shop in town. The motor has 147,000+ miles on it and yet, they said it was fine. Didn’t even need new brushes. That cost me $650 pesos, or $50 US. I was hoping they would find something wrong, so it would be fixed and I wouldn’t have to worry about it. No such luck. Well, maybe jogging it around or removing then reinstalling the wiring did something to make it right. I don’t know, but it’s worked fine since then, more then two months now.

Fuel leak repair in Alaska…Oct. 2007

Last October I drove the RV over to a cabin I rented about 2 miles from the RV park where I’d been volunteering for 3 months. I’d put around 22 miles on the thing since I’d done an oil change and filled the tank with diesel to prevent moisture. I’d also added a quart of anti-gel juice to the diesel. It needs it up here I’m told because of the very low temps. I put the 22 miles on the rig to get the anti-gel through the system.

Anyway, I drive over to the property, pull up passed the driveway and begin to back up into the parking spot I’d selected right next to the cabin. As I glance out the front window, I notice a trail of something on the ground that seems to be following me. Damn. I’ve sprung a leak. So, I stop, leave the rig running and jump out to take a look. I stick my finger in it and smell it…smells like diesel fuel. Then I run back and look under the rig. There is a steady stream of fuel dripping off the side of the engine. I quickly finish backing up, shut the engine off, and then walk down the road to see how much fuel I’ve lost. Luckily, the leak started just 20 yards up the road. Not to much fuel loss. I’m distressed because of the huge bill ($3600) I’d paid for repairs just a few months before. And here I had another problem. Well, I figured it wouldn’t change much with it just sitting there so I decided to leave the problem until spring. That night it snowed so there wasn’t a thought of fixing it until spring!

It’s now spring here in Fairbanks, Alaska, and this week I started calling around trying to find a mobile diesel engine tech in the area. Turns out there isn’t one. At least not that I could find with the phone book and asking repair places. They all wanted me to tow it in to them. I didn’t look forward to paying $300 for a tow followed by a $300 bill for repairs.

But being a volunteer here at Ice Alaska has it’s benefits and I figured I’d ask around. Sure enough, there is a diesel tech that volunteers here at the park. I get his number and give him a call. He comes over the same day, takes a look and finds a hose with a worn hole. We get new hose and replace the bad section while also changing the fuel filter. Thirty minutes later we fire it up and crank it until it finally fires. Good to go! The best part? He only asked for $50. I gave him $70.

Manifold leak repair in Mexico…March 2007

I had an exhaust leak from the manifold of the engine and hired a Mexican mechanic and crew to work on it. There was a broken bolt and perhaps other problems but I just let the crew do their work and I only checked on them occasionally. (A reader of one of my submission to RV.net where I answered a gals question with a picture of my engine noticed what I had not, an area of black soot near the manifold, indicating an exhaust leak). They took much of the equipment off and then they called another mechanico who only does broken bolt removal on big engines. He can make a living doing this because it takes special skill and tools, and it happens allot with big diesel engines. After 45 minutes, and $30 USD, the bolt was out and the crew then replaced all the manifold gaskets and bolts, tightened everything down with a torque wrench I loaned them and then replaced a couple leaking cover gaskets. All for under $200. I was very happy.

Alternator failure…Nov. 2006

Many times over the last 2 years I’ve tested the voltage across the batteries with the engine running. It’s always measured 13.8 Volts. This is fine and indicated a correctly functioning alternator. But on the recent trip between Fort Stockton, Texas, and Hondo Texas, the voltage meter on the dash rose to a very high value. Still indicating ‘OK’ but higher then normal. After an hour of that, it suddenly plunged to ‘discharging’ on the meter. Hmmm. I kind of expected the alternator to fail sooner so I just assumed it was bad and did what I could to conserve battery energy while I continued on to Hondo, a mere 3 hours distant. Firstly, I turned off the stereo radio, it’s large speakers draw a lot of power while playing, secondly the headlights, no need for them in the daytime. I have nothing else to turn off. And the meter, although it’s now higher then when I started, is still in the discharge zone. The diesel engine doesn’t use any electricity while running so the power draw must be the control circuits for the refer and the LP and CO alarms and some other 12V parasitic draws like the radio clock and such. Not a big deal but I didn’t want the battery (starting battery – a single ‘Deep Cycle’ 12Volt) to be discharged to deeply since that can ruin it.

So I stopped the rig, kept it running, and jumped my little trickle chargers 12 Volt lamp load out of circuit so the ‘House’ batteries (two deep cycle 6 Volt wired in series) would trickle current into the starting battery. Of course this would eventually exhaust the house batteries and if they were too deeply discharged could be ruined too.

I make it to Hondo OK and hook to 120 Vac which charges the 6 Volt batteries, and the starting battery too (with my trickle charger installed-not standard equipment in RV’s).

The next day I move to a RV park closer to town, also closer to the towns services, and start calling around for tech help. I could do the job myself but don’t really want to. After calling a local shop, which doesn’t do that kind of RV work, I get a tech’s number but he had been burned on a Class A RV job recently so he doesn’t even show up like he said he would. He didn’t share details so I suspect he was the problem, not the RV’er. Well, Hondo is kind of small, so I leave the next day for McAllen, Texas. A much larger city with lots of service support if I get in trouble changing it myself. I limp down there with my genset running the whole time to use the converter to charge the batteries. Takes around 6 hours to get to McAllen.

I get lucky that afternoon and find a nice RV park that has room for our small, informal caravan with all the services nearby or at the spaces. Once hooked up, I get to work trying to find out what type and size of alternator I need. Read the books and then call Freightliner. They tell me the style, 21SI, and the output, 100 amp. So I call around to auto parts stores and find a Delco alternator, get to work and 6 hours later, I have the old alternator out. Not fun, not fun at all. It’s all dirty under there and I wipe grime out of my ears for a couple days while I rest and watch the weekends football games.

Old alternator, it’s really grimey too:

Saturday, I get a ride downtown and buy a rebuilt 100 Amp alternator. Costs $142. Plus $10 for the shop guy to take my old pulley off and place on the new one. Just easier for me. Run back to the rig and drop it in place, climb under the rig and don’t notice that I’ve got it wedged in wrong so it’s bending the bracket. Well, one thing leads to another and soon I’ve bent the shaft on the dang thing so it won’t turn.

Monday we return it and I buy another one. They’re out of the 100 Amp units so I get a 135 Amp. Costs another $143. With a promise from the desk that they will submit my warranty claim…I don’t expect much from that but I’ve already saved over $100 in labor costs…so now I’m committed to finishing the job myself. If I get a refund, great, if not, I’m not that unhappy, I’ll just pretend I had to buy it from Cummins or Freightliner. By the way, I called and Freightliner wants $470 just for the alternator. Labor would have been $90 an hour if I’d had them replace it.

We also run around trying to find a new connector that supplies the field voltage to the alternator, mine is all corroded and stuff, and they’re suppose to be available ‘everywhere’. NOT. We found it at one auto parts store out of the five we went to.

On Tuesday morning, armed with the new alternator, the new connector and the knowledge I didn’t have on Saturday, I rewire the new connector, clean all the other connectors, and slide the new alternator in place, making sure I don’t bend the bracket again. It takes a bunch of reefing and hammering on stuff but I get it installed and wired up.

The engine starts right up and I see the voltmeter jump up into the green, means the alternator is wired correctly and operating. Whew. So I go out and get everything picked up, do some strapping of cables and such and finally finish. Just in time to go take a shower before the women in our group arrive.

Here’s a shot of the engine compartment and the hole where the alternator goes:

Now with the new alternator installed:

And another view:

Some thoughts on replacing the alternator:

1) Don’t ever use a floor jack to push up on the pulley, see what’s blocking it, if anything, I stupidly did that and it cost me a new alternator;
2) I tried to loosen the belt idler adjusting component but it seems to be siezed up, I didn’t want to break it so I had to install the alternator onto the belt using as much care as possible and by wedging the alternator in the right place against belt tension then hammering in the bolt. Then the lower bolt required more wedging with a crow bar. By dropping the alternator in wrong the first time, it wedged in against the lower bracket wrong, so I bent it, and consequently, bent the alternator shaft;
3) It’s filthy under there and if I had to do it over, I’d spray wash the engine, bottom and top first;
4) I checked the belt before reinstalling the alternator to be sure it was still good, plus I have a spare belt;
5) Changing the small connector carrying the field voltage to the alternator is a good idea if your unit is older, they get a lot of crud on them and corrode easily. I cut the old wires back 3-4″ to avoid any old corrosion that may have creeped up the wires and reattached new wires with terminals for the new connector;
6) After starting the engine and checking the voltage meter, go back and check the alternator to be sure the belt is running true.

Good luck!

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Rig won’t start! July 2004

1994 Fleetwood Bounder 36.5′
190HP Cummins Diesel Engine
96,000 miles
Previous owner was a RV rental place in Fairbanks, Alaska

This RV has had many miles from Alaska to Florida and back again every year for several years through states that use salt on the roads in winter or it tended to be near the coast (rusty chassis). There is some evidence that the rigs front end went through a wash that had water in it. There was a couple pounds of sand & small rocks up in the genset compartment that took a couple hours to remove.

Starting problem: After picking coach up at the consignment dealer, ran fine, restarted several times.
Got it home, parked it on a 3-5 degree slope, nose down.
Next day started fine.
3rd day would not start, strong batteries, just not getting fuel. Would not start for the next week.

Neighbor and #1 son worked on coach and gave up, but did notice that an air release banjo screw on the engine was striped, would not seal and allowed air into the fuel delivery system.

Hired diesel mechanic who did some magic involving removing the output hose from the water separator and dipping it in a can of diesel fuel, pumping the lift pump, cranking it for many seconds several times, etc.

Mechanic decided that the banjo screw assembly needed replacement and that the in-the-tank fuel pump wasn’t working or was weak.

Ordered and replaced banjo screw, two washers and the sealing screw, $39 worth of parts, $245 for labor (including trip charge) @ $60/Hr.

Since I had a backup out-of-tank in-line fuel pump ($55, cheap insurance) with a 5-9 GPM output, I went ahead and plumbed it in near the engine while we were waiting for the parts to be delivered, bolting it to the frame and rerouting the fuel hose. Additional parts needed were fuel hose ($3.60 per foot! needed 8′) brass couplers and adapters to mate the 1/4″ pump with the 1/2″ system ($20 or so), clamps, and electrical connectors. Got lucky and found a nearby live wire that is live during ‘run’ and ’start’.

[Update 5-'06: Talked to an RV'ing friend. He carried a spare fuel pump with him when he traveled. He'd had it for two years or so. When his fuel pump went bad on him on the road, he got towed to a dealer and had the dealer install the pump he had with him. After around 300 miles, same symptoms, and he broke down in downtown Reno on a stretch of road that was being rebuilt. After the traffic cleared he was towed to a shop and they explained that since the spare fuel pump the other shop had installed had not been soaking in fuel, the seals dried up, rotted, broke free and plugged the pump. My advice: If you're going to carry a spare fuel pump, store it in a sealed tub of fuel.]

Starts great now! All I need do now is place a fuel filter for 1/2″ hose in front of the pump.

I mounted the pump as noted above and you can see from this picture that I looped the fuel hose and mounted the pump so that it was well away from road debris (but not road dirt it seems).