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So I wanted to put in Toms 6 pack rebuild kit in my front 6 pack, and decided that it was located in a terrible place for service and troubleshooting. I pulled the whole unit out from the space behind the driver side headlight. I moved it into the front bay just under the driver seat. There was already a big hole drilled and covered with a piece of aluminum plate, assuming it was to access a pressure switch. I pulled the plate off and put some edge molding on it and passed the air lines and wiring through the hole. I may put some sort of cover on this but I will see how much crud gets through and decide if it’s worth closing it up. 

Here it is in its new home:

   
   
   

In researching our next Motorhome Im seeing some on this site looks to have owned Newells and will say sold and they have Prevost listed. Curious reason to go to a Prevost from Newell.

Will sell cheap. Dont have time to use and its getting waisted. Rather see someone else enjoy it. Has some problem with suspension air lift. Need to sell asap

Well here we go. This is a critical potential hydraulic emergency notification for the early steerable tag crowd. 

I'll do my best to convey the problem and yes, it is of DOT importance.  

1. Symptoms
2. Troubleshooting
3. Cause
4. Cure
5. Conclusion

1. SYMPTOMS

 Started out on a summertime trip looking forward to a relaxing get away.  As most of us know the relaxing part may or may not happen based on the rigs behavier. Three miles from home I start merging on the highway. 1 mile later I scan my instruments and I see I'm overheating. Pull over on the shoulder, leave the rig running and head to the rear.  The cooling fan not running.  First thing, I pull the connector on the manifold, still no fan. 

 I did install the fan overide cockpit controlled switch, or if adopted, in the official Newell Gurus Glossery, the FOCS.  Installing FOCS, IMO, is one of the best modifications to have in order to have some control for engine temp. Heat kills and so does my X wife when she feels the need.

Where were we? ADHD MOMENT.

 She's running around 215 degrees so I milk it to the next exit 1 mile away.  So since the fan is not working properly it's time to put my aviation skills to work. Check the hydraulic and coolant fluid levels, they are normal. Next I get my ball peen hammer and gently tap the manifold lightly repeatedly. Low and behold as I tap and the fan comes alive slowly. The more I tap the faster the fan responds. Within 20 secounds the monster is alive and spinning like she should. All is well so let's roll again and see how the temp is.  The temp stayed around 184ish so I feel comforitable and safe operationally. So I drove it this way for the excursion. 

2. TROUBLESHOOTING

Obviosly it first appears we have a spool valve that is not porting fluid properly within the manifold.  First step is to pull it out for examination. Suprisingly the fluid loss was minor when I pulled it out. Maybe 10oz but not much more. I examined the spool valve and orings and don't see anything that makes my eyes bug out. Next I put my finger inside the valve like a prostrate exam. There is someting in there so I keep examing the patient. The first piece I get out is a piece of metal and the 2nd 3rd and 4th piece are too.  This has to be the culprit but what the heck is it? The next move I reassemble what appears to be a big washer with an orifice drilled hole. They all fit together nicely, see pics.

It appeared that this was made intentioinally but for what purpose and where does it belong?  Time to call Newell on the bat phone.  I should have written down the names of the factory guys because without their knowledge this condition would forever keep me up at night. 

3. Cause
The pics of this washer orifice was uploaded and they said they would get back to me.  Maybe 15 minutes later I'm back live with the boys.  The guy they get gives me the Paul Harvey story. So Paul says, he remembers the issue, he goes back in time when they first encountered a pulsation after they installed the ZF tag.  He said when they first started with the steerable ZF tag there was a steering wheel pulsation that developed. 

4. Cure
Someone thought trying to reduce it by limiting the fluid flow and effectively dampening it. There was born the washer with a hole in it for the fix. Well it worked but in my opinion the fix was not properly done. I have worked on many hydraulic systems that use restriction orifices that either were bored out to a design specification in the manifold itself. Another method is to utilize a orifice fitting threaded into the manifold itself. Either way is considered a properly approved design or device. The washer was OK if it was used for developing a fix, but only temporary prototype testing.  Someone at Newell felt otherwise and used the homemade washer orifice as the cheap fix.

Anyhow, he asked if I had any pulsation issues with the steering wheel and I said I did not have any. He said, as long as there is nothing pulsating just go without it. Now we know the part of the story but there's more to it. There was a couple of other anomilies that need to be mentioned.  I've had the rig for a few years and always wondered if the steerable tag was in working order.  I never saw the tag wheels in my mirrors at low speed when turning so it was also on my radar to validate its operation. In addition after removing the FOD, Foreign Object Damage, the tag came alive and I could see them functioning in slow turns. That was a good moment for sure.  One other condition was my front wheel steering. Sitting still there were times when I could not turn the wheels effectively. When moving slowly and driving the steering control was normal. The most pressure required is highest when you are not moving. Well that also went away. Restrictions from the floating washer parts also migrated around and induced these problems as well. 

Worse case senario, I really don't want to think about but could have been catostrophic in my opinion. So my hope is to convey to all of you that have early steerable tags to be aware of this washer and I RECOMMEND, REMOVE IT ASAP. 

5. Conclusion
Food for thought. There has been hydraulic fan motors that have failed and I wonder if this condition could be a canidate for some of those. Steering tag and steering wheel control problems as well for sure. Also call Newell if you think you need more information and advice.  This is a real potential killer so I strongly urge that this becomes, as the FAA folks know an Emergeny AD "Airworthiness Directive". For now let's call it a Newell Service Bulliten. Unintended consiquences like this has taken down many aircraft, much more comforting pulling off to the side of the road!

I have Coach 145 and I have a inverter question. It only has 1 plug hooked up and I'm wondering what it goes to. It's a small inverter so I know it can't run much. I may be looking to upgrade soon but I do know this one works, I just don't know what.        

So been on the road a few months down on the east coach and just got back in. Doing a little maint. on coach 480 and leaving out again.  heading from Texas to rapid city, Sd area then towards glacier national park.  anybody have any great ideas on where to stay and what to see between these areas ?  Seen mt rushmore, devils tower, etc. Any roads to stay away from ??  Nice resorts to stay in along the route ??. I see lots of KOAs that can handle the length, but would like some advice.. Thank you..

This could be lengthy, cause I am wordy. I am commenting on a 99 Newell with two slides that I owned for 10 years and a 2007 Marathon with two slides that I have owned for almost a year. 

Synopsis. There is no clear winner. The Prevost drives far better. The Newell has far more usable and practical living space. The Marathon electrical work is superior but proprietary. The mid door entry floor plan of the Newell was superior in terms of living space and passenger comfort. 

Now, the long winded version. My only purpose in pointing out my observations is that no RV is perfect and each owner has unique use requirements and personal preferences. My intent to is provide hands on perspective to help you if you are considering either one. It would be a better comparison between an 07 Newell and an 07 Marathon, but alas my time and funding did not permit this. Also, my perspective is one of self maintenance. 

Starting with ‘why did you change after 20 years of Newell ownership’. Again, this is MY perspective, and the opinion of one person. As I contemplated the future, I could see that one of two things would take me off the travel road that I enjoy so much. The first was that I would become uncomfortable with driving a beast this size, or it would become too tiring to travel across the country. The second was that I would no longer be able to physically maintain a high end RV. To the first issue of driving, I drove a bunch of rigs, around 10 mid 2000 Newells, a couple of Super C’s, and a six Prevost based conversions. As far as the pure driving experience it was not a close comparison, the Prevost conversions were hands down winners. On the second note, I live less than an hour from both a Prevost Service center and a Marathon service center. That’s a little different than traveling to Miami, OK from where I live six months of the year. I wanted the option of throwing plastic at a problem instead of yours truly having to deal with the issue. That is the top line reasoning I used. 

In contemplating selling our beloved Mickey (Newell 512) and starting over with another rig, there were a number of must haves. The first was roof air. Basement air is great, I had reengineered the AC units to the point where they were effective and reliable, but with roof air, any RV shop in the country will pop a new one on the roof. Not such an easy task to find someone to work on SCS, Cruiseair, or RVAC units. The second requirement was to stay with the Detroit S60 engine and Allison transmission. If you are in the Prevost market, monitor the FB Prevost group for the folks seeking Cruiseair technical help. 

Rhonda had two requirements. Stacked washer and dryer, and two couches. 

Now that the prologue is finished. Here are some specific details. 

As commented earlier, the living space, storage space, and layout with the 1 1/2 bath two slide Newell is as good as it gets. The space in the rear bath and bedroom is really appreciated. The toilet in this Marathon and most Prevost conversions is cramped. If you are looking at Prevosts, I suggest you sit on the throne for a practice run. 

I enjoy the larger windows in the Prevost, but an 07 Newell will have larger windows also. Both Prevost and Newell have issues with those windows breaking the seal and fogging over time. I guess I am going to learn how to fix them. 

We have been in some hot and humid conditions this summer. Two AC units keep you comfy, three will have you under a blanket, and all four running will turn your lips blue.

One big difference I have noted is that due to the location of the forward roof air and the super large glass up front is that you WILL run the dash air while driving. It’s nice that the inverters will run two of the roof airs off the engine, but the air flow does NOT cool the cockpit. More about this in minute. 

The Prevost does not get the fuel mileage that the Newell did. Granted, I got a exceptional 8.3 mpg with the Newell, and the best so far is 6.0 with the 14L EGR engine. There are a number of confounding factors. One the Prevost is geared lowered. I turn about 100 more RPM at 65 than I did the Newell. The second factor is the dash air as commented earlier. The dash air automatically activates the engine fan on low speed. In the 99 Newell the condenser fan was electrically activated and separate from the huge engine fan. The third factor is the 50DN alternator is powering two 4k inverters driving two roof air units. The fan and the inverter take HP. In my Newell mileage I did not factor in the fuel the generator used to run the SCS units while driving. Bottom line, I don’t know if the mileage difference is as great as I think it is. This winter I will run the overhead on the engine and install a lower restriction exhaust. That was worth about 1 mpg on the Newell. 

The Newell is setup for living and easy access to the support systems like batteries, inverters, Aquahot, and plumbing. The Prevost is setup for easy maintenance. Changing shocks, air bags, suspension parts is  quick in comparison. After all the bus chassis is designed to stay on the road, downtime on commercial bus means the operator is losing money. 

Spare parts and documentation for the Prevost side is insanely good. On line electrical, mechanical, and pneumatic diagrams by serial number of the bus. It’s the same with parts, I can order by serial number of the bus either by phone or on line. Two days to my door. 

All though the slide outs are smaller and not flat floor, I prefer the Prevost slide mechanism over the HWH for one simple feature. If the slide faults, the system flashes a code telling you what is wrong. 

What problems have I dealt with? I had to replace a circulation pump on the Webasto heating system. I replace all the tie rods and drag links. I ran over the power cord which created all kinds of madness to access the cord reel in the center of the coach, and to repair the trap door which releases the cord and sewer hose. I had a noisey bearing in one of the electrical toe heaters. 

And there are still air systems to chase leaks. Sigh……..

And for the final commentary. There is NO forum for Prevosts like the gurus. Most of the Prevost owners do not have dirty fingernails. I find that most of the Prevost coaches are used as toys that come out of the shed every once in a while. Not all of course, but look at the older Prevosts in general you see for sale. It is highly unusual to see a Prevost coach with over 150k miles. 

If this one went up in smoke, what would I buy next time? Not trying to be politically correct, but that would depend upon the coach. Neither is perfect, both have really strong selling points.

After I posted, I realized that I had left out a very important consideration for me. The Prevost came equipped with an iPad/Crestron system which is not working well. Lucky for me there are discrete controls for every function. All the high end stuff has this gimmickry today. For the life of me I do not understand why I need the ability to lie in bed and configure the DVD to play sound through the outdoor speakers. The switching boxes and cabling to enable the connections between every TV, the satellite system, the AV system, and the Crestron is substantial. Here is the rub, streaming, Starlink, and wireless has made all that mess obsolete. I am going backwards towards simplicity. Firestick on the TV’s, one HDMI ARC cable to a capable AV receiver in the rear allows me to ignore the Crestron control. And I can change the channel with the remote. Yeah I know I sound like a retrogrouch, but I can’t imagine throwing 10 to 20K to bring that system up to date.

And one more big change I made to the coach. I removed the outdoor entertainment center which occupied half a bay, and replaced with a nice rollaway tool chest.

https://www.racingjunk.com/rvs-and-motor...-sale.html

I’m not certain I’ve posted about this topic before, but I have some experience that may help others, so I posted this onto the VIP group on Facebook and want to do the same here.

When you know how to make lemonade…life can be cooler…with a few precautions.

Hey…may not be engraved aluminum, but for that rare occasion of Dual 30A, my little flags will work great to keep things under control!
   

So, when you have dual 30 amp outlets, and have tested them to make sure they are wired out of phase, then you can enjoy having 240v service at 30amps!
   

I made a video on this topic, and plan to do a part 2 in which explain the proper way to test the outlets. Of course, by not knowing your park and its electrical wiring, you take the risk of something not going well.

How To Get 240v Service For Your Rv Using A Dual 30 Amp To 50 Amp Adapter
https://youtu.be/XkTdkaTWw-k

So, after a long year recovering from freak accident wherein I broke my first bone ever, and had a full hip replacement, I was finally able to spend a weekend in Gettysburg in the coach. Only thing I've found not working are chassis batteries and the Watts water pressure regulator. 

I capped the line back to the regulator, so I at least have water, but the shower interestingly, which started fine but, within first minute or so lost almost all pressure, almost like draining the lines after turning water off, just gradually lost pressure to a steady trickle. if this makes sense to anyone, I'm open to any and all suggestions

Anywho, after calling Cambri for suggested replacement, she said they have the same part (2A645) in stock for $279. So, I figured if I'm investing that much, I might just reconfigure things to better suit our needs/use. I still am considering new plumbing configuration (so any suggestions are most welcome) but in the meantime time I dusted off and fired up the good ole ebay machine and voila, found NOS shipped for 100bucks. This is the actual reason for this post. They seem to have a good inventory of parts. Hope this helps someone

https://ebay.us/m/hjf0YF