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2008, quad slide, C-15, 625 HP, ZF-12 speed. $599k at Newell

http://www.newellcoach.com/newell-coaches/coach-1223/

Hi all.....I just purchased #599, a 2001 triple slide w/ DD Series 60, working my way home from OKC to Michigan. I stopped at Newell Coach today, got a little "Newell 101" from Randy. SO many controls to learn. Randy told me it was ok to run down the road with the "Detroit Engine Pre heat" switch in the on position, as it would act as "motor aid" water heater. When doing just that today, after about 5 hours of driving, a red "pre heat" light came on in the "warning lights" section of the instrum panel. What does this mean?  Thanks in advance! Bryan

I have extra tickets to the NASCAR race at Talladega, AL.  I also have a camping spot with our group which includes a pass for a tow vehicle.  The campground opens Tuesday morning May 2nd.  I have three grandstand tickets for Friday, Saturday & Sunday May 5, 6 & 7th.  The grandstand seats are with our group & are three rows from the top of the OV Tower.  You see the whole track!  Richard & Rhonda bought our tickets last time we had some available & I believe they will vouch for the fact that the tickets are top notch.  email me if you have any questions.

Tickets are being sold at a discount:
Camp site-$100
Grandstand tickets are $125 per set(3 days one person)  3 sets available.

While on the way to Memphis I noticed that the longer I drove on a continuous basis the more my steering deteriorated. the steering column in the area of the tilt mechanism would start squeaking and the steering would increasingly have an initial stickiness when I made a steering input. It became a matter of the steering inputs being stick, move, oversteer, stop, stick, move, oversteer in the opposite direction and stop, repeated endlessly. The problem wasn't severe, it just made precision difficult. The problem disappeared for several hours when I applied some Teflon spray through the various gaps in the column covers near the tilt mechanism. Since I arrived in Memphis I've sprayed while lithium grease through the same openings hoping for a longer term solution. BTW, the steering improvement was wonderful. I had not realized the concentration that I had been investing as a result of the stickiness.

Now that I've eliminated the leak in the step slide I'm down to the air compressor running about once per 20 hours more or less. Now I have an interesting leak down situation. All three needles (2 brake and 1 supply) drop in unison. So, either there remains a leak in the systems from the supply tank and bot check valves on the two brake tanks are back flowing at the identical rate, or there are equal leaks in each of the two brake systems, or there is some common place where the two brake systems somehow come together and a single leak could effect all the pressures equally. None of these three explanations seems plausible. It's a puzzle that I'll be noodling on for a while it seems.Given the leakage rate it's not like this is an urgent problem. Actually, if it was just the leakage rate I wouldn't be bothered. What bothers me is I can't figure out how the leakage pattern is possible. I hate being stumped, it's one of my several mental obsessions.

Any thoughts?

the central vacuum cleaner on my Newell sends 120V to the micro switch where the hose plugs in. Is there a way to make that a low voltage circuit? I'm thinking of using a relay. I'm wondering if there is a relay available that's also reduces the voltage in the signal wire?

We are the proud new owners of coach 414. Originally ordered by the Blakes "Lot A Burger" Family here in New Mexico.

how do i determine the tongue weight of hitch on my coach #748?

This past Thursday, March 30, 2017, we departed Rancho Jurupa Regional Park in Riverside, CA where we had been for the last six days.  We were going to drive up to the Fontana/Rialto Elks Lodge to pick up my renewal membership card so we could be sure to be able to stay at a few Elks Lodges on our way north along the California Coast, and from there continue up the coast to Ventura, or further.  I have always been paranoid about overheating, and I check my coolant temp gauge often.  Thursday was no different.....as we drove up Cedar Ave. towards the Fontana Lodge I glanced at my gauge and it read a normal 185.....just a few minutes later I glanced down and saw it moving north of 220 fast......that is not normal.  I tapped the glass on the gauge to see if it was stuck, but it continued to rise.  I told Elaine what was happening and quickly looked ahead to see where we could get off the very busy Cedar....the first street available was Santa Ana.  I quickly turned  right, and pulled on to the dirt shoulder and shut her down quickly.....by this time the gauge was approaching 250 and automatic shutdown, but I managed to shut her down myself.

   

As I exited the coach to walk back to the engine bay I was thinking it was one of three things, or a combination thereof......stuck thermostat, ruptured coolant hose, or water pump.....I first opened the rear facing radiator door to check the site glass for the coolant level....usually I can see the red coolant line right in the middle of the site glass.....there was no coolant visible.  I then opened the right rear engine bay door, and saw steam coming out of the over flow hose.  Next I walked around to the left rear engine bay door and opened it......I immediately saw steam blasting out of a 1" stainless steel braided hose at the rear of the engine (not the radiator side), and it seemed apparent that was the problem.....always nice when the cause is immediately apparent, and no further guess work is necessary.

   

By the time I took this picture the steam had ceased coming out of the ruptured hose.....the hole was on the engine side of the hose.....not visible in this picture, but in the next one I have the hose off and you can see the hole.

   

Initially I called Good Sam ERS, but after an hour of waiting, and the fact the engine had cooled down enough where I thought I could remove the offending hose I decided to take care of the problem myself.  First I called a 'hoses and fittings' place just a few miles from our location that I had remembered seeing just off I-215 as we came into town a week before (Hose Specialist, Inc.) to see if they could make up a new hose for me.....I called and was advised if I brought in the bad hose they could fabricate a new one in just a few minutes with the requisite threaded fittings, so I got busy taking off the old hose.  I took about 15 minutes, but I got it out, and then headed over to the hoses and fittings place.  I was back in less than 30 minutes with a new hose, and began to install it....again, it took about 10 minutes to install the new one....

   

Next I needed to replace the coolant I had lost.....I had no idea how much coolant I had lost, but figured it had to be substantial for the engine temp to go so high so fast.  I carry about 4 gallons of coolant with me and began pouring that into the radiator checking after each gallon to see if I could feel the coolant yet.....after four gallons I cannot feel the coolant.  I decide to add water from my fresh water tank, again one gallon at a time......finally after reaching the 10 gallon mark I could see coolant appear in the site glass once again.  So, I started her up, went back to see if there were any leaks.....there were none.  I went back inside to watch the temp gauge.....it came up to operating temp and then leveled out just as it always does under normal circumstances.

To make a longish story shorter......while I was reinstalling the new hose Elaine drove the VW up to the Elks Lodge to get my renewal card, and by the time she returned we were ready to roll again.  We ended up driving 213 miles to Lompoc, CA and the local Elks Lodge there......no change in the coolant level over that distance, and the temps were totally normal all the way.

Whew!  I feel like I dodged a bullet!  I have checked the oil and see no coolant in it so far, but I will continue to be vigilant over the next few hundred miles.

My friends frequently ask me how I learned to fix so many things.  I usually answer, "because I've broken so many things!"

I'm not sure if this fits into the "broken" category since technically it wasn't broke.....but I had to fix it anyway.

If you want the short story, skip to the end.  Otherwise read it and weep.

Last year, before our 3000 mile venture in our '72 classic, I had some engine work done.  The day before our venture my wife asked me to replace the tail lights with a set of LED lights that I had purchased.  The original lights were painfully dim and she was worried that no one could see the brake lights in the daytime.  I obliged and replaced the lights.

Next day, as I'm getting on the highway the darned cruise control won't work.  DANGIT!!!!  I assume that the engine shop broke/cut/fried something and each night on our 3 week venture I would try to save my right leg from further pain by attempting to trouble shoot some part of the cruise only to resign that the circuit board must have fried.  Naturally upon returning home I purchased a brand new Rostra unit from eBay with a 3 year warranty to be installed this winter.

Of course I was busy with other projects this winter and did not get it installed.

Fast forward to the beginning of March and once again I'm pressed for time before we take the coach on our first outing of the year to Kentucky.  I carefully pull out the old unit and vacuum actuator (the control stalk was removed when we replaced the steering column earlier in the year....say, other projects!) and re-engineer the installation of the new unit with an electric throttle control.  I get it all neatly installed the night before our trip, of course I can't test it since my dear bride is loading the coach but what could possibly go wrong, I installed it EXACTLY as the instructions directed and I'm an expert at wiring now that I have at least 500 HOURS! wiring this or that on our classic coach!

Didn't work

My right leg again suffers the rigors of the trip, albeit a short 300 miles each way.

Once I get to Kentucky I start reading the TROUBLESHOOTING section of the owners manual where it clearly states that the unit needs to see a ground through the brake light bulbs and if you have LED's it will not be able to do this.  I'm thinking that would be a nice thing to

include in the INSTALLATION SECTION!  Once I calm down I drop the eBay seller a note and he kindly sends me a relay (free of charge...he must have felt my pain) that will fix everything and get me going down the road.

......which also means that the OLD unit was probably fine and didn't need replaced after all!!!!!!!

So......

If you install some nice bright LED brake lights in your classic coach and suddenly your cruise doesn't work, you're (probably) going to need a brake light bypass relay.