Newell Gurus

Anyone know of a Roadside Service I could contact in this area? I'm on my way to Miami/Newell & everything just shut down. Thanks! Jim 214-632-1854

I have spoken with Jim. He is headed back to coach, and we will try a couple of things. I'll post what we find.

First blush is that engine is not charging coach batteries. He ran the batteries down to about 10 volts, and it died. But he can't get the gennie to start so he can merge and charge. The gennie turns over but will not start. I suspect fuel solenoid is not kicking in. So if he can get the gennie open, we are going to try to hold the solenoid and crank. I'll let you know what happens.

If you need a jump start/quick battery charge you might try TA Truckstop. I think they have a roadside assistance. There is a TA on Council Road off of I-40. Not too far from Norman. If you get all running, probably have to keep generator running until you get to Miami.

Jim is back on the road. He hooked jumpers to the engine batts, idled for a while, and the gennie started. Merge switch is now on. He will go to next safe area and let the gennie charge the batteries.

The larger prob is that the alternator is putting out voltage but not charging the batteries.

Richard ~
A tremendous thank you for all of your assistance in getting the problem worked out & Jim back on the road! This group is just an incredible bunch of people and what a life saver you've been today!

"Mrs. Jim/Navigator" at home sick & unable to be along for this journey today!

I had that problem on a Ford PU several years ago. Alternator put out voltage but no charge to batteries. It turned out to be a corroded connection at the point where alternator wire connected to the battery terminal. A great mechanic in Grants, NM made the diagnosis and saved me buying batteries and an alternator. Hopefully it will be something that simple Jim.

It's good he got things going enough to move some. There's nothing in that area (at least close). Everything will be up in OKC, 25 miles or more. I don't know if the TA has roadside or not, it's roughly 40 miles one way. I have yet to find anybody who'll do reasonable work at fair prices in the area.

I live on the south side. They have a couple of decent restaurants, but the Unversity of Oklahoma is about the only thing on the south side. Interesting, because we're at the crossroads of I40 and I35. You'd think there'd be tons of places to get anything class 7/8 related. I recently had to order a wheel from Minnesota! Nobody locally had one or even really acted like they wanted to find one.

We are at Twin Fountains RV Park, north side of OKC for Thaksgiving (family in OKC and Norman) and Jeff B (Sundance) came by and helped me tighten a clamp on a hose that was dripping some coolant. We had spend the past two days (Mon and Tues) in Miami and they closed yesterday at noon for the holiday, reopening on Monday. Dont know if I saw you in Miami or not but hope you got what you needed there. When you put this bunch of guys (and gals) together with the guys (and gals) in Miami, why would anyone want anything other than a Newell? As Jeff said, why would you buy a new Newmar when for the same price you could get an older Newell? Happy Thanksgiving and thanks to all the gurus.

Yes Gary you are correct! Having this great group brings great peace of mind with helpfulness!

I have made it back home safe & sound! After Richard's assistance I was able to travel about 50 miles & the generator stopped running then I noticed my battery guage going negative so I got off the freeway at the next exit & as soon as I pulled into the strip center the engine died. I thought I'd stay there until morning then repeat the same steps Richard & I had earlier & make my way down to the Flying J near the Turnpike entrance. About 11p.m. a heavy knock on my door saying "Okla.City Police". The nice officer told me the owner of the center called & said he would not allow "camping" on his property! I explained that I was not camping but having serious engine problems & would be out by 6 a.m. The office said ok. I could not get back to sleep so just got up, dressed & proceeded to get the coach started again. I was thinking how I could keep the engine running (my wife says I have MacGiver traits)! I had purchased a 16ft. battery cable so I ran that from the coach thru the big rear grid onto the Tahoe & connected the two! I drove down to the Flying J & everything was registering fine so I just hit the Turnpike for Miami! I made it just fine around 4:30a.m. Newell guys found one of the brass battery caps on the drive battery was stripped. It was working loose & breaking connection. The generator would not run because when I had it serviced, one of the electric connectors was dislodged. In addition, someone before I bought the coach, had attached a pair of vice grips to the end of the drain tube on the fuel tank! With having filled the tank to capacity, the issue with poor contact & no air flow was starving the generator! Put the electric cap in place & remove vice grips & generator runs perfectly!

Thanks to all of you for your concern and assistance! Very much appreciated! We are ready to start rolling!!
Jim

Glad everything worked out OK Jim.