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Hi All,

I'm helping an 85 yo guy get his coach ready to sell. It's a 92, low 300's number. It's been sitting for years, although the owner has started it and warmed up the engine once or twice a year. I know only the very basics about diesel pushers like this, just researching and learning as I go.

The coach is level with the engine running but leans badly after the engine has been off for a few hours - roughly 3" higher on the driver side.The campground leveling mechanism hasn't been activated - he starts it, warms up the engine then shuts it off. It takes several days to a week for it to level out.

I believe the problem is an air leak between the passenger side height control valve and the airbags. Neither one of us wants to spend the money for an electronic air leak detector for this one-time use, so it's gonna be soap solution. I've already replaced the driver side HCV because the plastic body had cracked and got it adjusted - not a fun process at all...

Thought it'd be worth running this by the pro's - are there other things we could check first?

We left on a trip to SouthEast TX from Huntsville, AL yesterday it started in the mid-70s and ended up over 95 degrees inside the coach.  We decided to punt and return home early this morning even though the temps would again be in the 90s - this time we had a bunch of windows open and it was much cooler.  The coach has been sitting in a storage building with the front A/C on ‘Low’ setting for a month or so since I was working inside and was cooling down to about 75 nicely during that time… as with any trip, once the coach started shaking and baking (literally) the front A/C died (blew fuse in panel box and would not restart - probably fried the circuit board).  Now I have to decide do I want to pull the A/C units (front and rear) and rebuild the circuit boards if needed and figure out what is really wrong with them or just punt and put in some type of inverter AC unit - I did read through a bunch of replacement threads and it seems like I could use several of the van conversion 48-volt AC units since I have 48-volt rack mount batteries now… I think the inside blower could be mounted pretty easily in the living room where the current ducting is located and another in the bedroom where the TV is located or similar… it’s just a thought … I would LOVE to be able to boon-dock this beast on our land in TN while building our home eventually and run it off the sun and batteries…

I was researching how to pull/repair our ailing SCS basement A/C and saw the following quote! 
Newell Gurus Forum: This is a valuable resource for Newell-specific advice. Search for threads on SCS air conditioners or post your question for community input. Members like Richard and Rhonda Entrekin or Jeff LoGiudice often provide detailed guidance.

Took the rig out to the Hoodu mountains and developed a nasty air leak under the cockpit, figured it was the ride hight valve - still produced just enough air pressure to get back home. Drove the coach up a make shift ramp and discovered a small pin point hole on the bottom of the drive side air accumulator tank. I manually empty the air tanks about 4xs a year to drain the water which I figured is fine since it's not humid up here in Alaska. I guess I was wrong! I did a quick handyman fix of using a self taper screw with a rubber gasket and gasket sealer into the hole of the tank after cleaning it well. I did the same fix on a hot water tank on a Country Coach numerous years back with good results. Going to let the sealer cure a day before testing. Question for you all - how in the heck do you replace these tanks if needed? They are fully encased in a steel frame of the suspension. On my old country coach they were easy to get off with just 2 straps each. Thanks everyone and happy camping!

Jesse and Sara White
Wasilla Alaska
2001 Newell Coach

Hello all,

Retired a few years now and considering a quality "vintage" coach (late 1970's-early 1990's most likely) for regular short-distance trips (under 500 miles) and perhaps in the next few years a cross-country journey.  The most important considerations for me are:

1.  Build quality of the coach.  I've been considering Newell, Wanderlodge, Prevost and peeking at MCI and Silver Eagles.  I'd like to avoid fiberglass entirely.

2.  Durability and reliability.  I know for any vintage coach, issues occur and repairs can be costly.  I do have decent mechanical skills working on automobiles and pickup trucks and would enjoy handling routine maintenance DIY like oil and filter changes, belt changes and such (I like to keep an eye on things).  So good access to the engine, generator, radiator, chassis and other major components would be helpful.  While I like the Wanderlodge FC, the engine location is less than ideal, particularly if the radiator hasn't been converted to swing out.

3.  Usability and drivability.  Most state parks in our state and neighboring states have a 40' limit so I would ideally like to keep it at 35' to 40'.  I'd like an engine powerful enough to run 70mph on an interstate and maintain a decent speed on inclines.  I prefer a diesel pusher with a tag axle.  I do not want slides.

I'm also interested in a coach in good condition with records of regular maintenance.  I'm not interested in a gutted or "project" coach nor one with a sketchy history of deferred maintenance and repairs.

I've read on a post here about the construction of the vintage Newells but am unclear on how the aluminum body is actually built and how it compares to an all-steel coach like the vintage Wanderlodges.  I also know that Newell, Prevost (and some converters) and MCI are still in business and building coaches but Wanderlodge and Eagle are both out-of-business.

Any and all advice is appreciated!  Thanks all!

I fired up the rig to bring in the slides and it started instantly as usual but after running for 10 seconds or so it sounded odd began to run rough and died.  Feul starvation was my first thought, so I checked the filter. Sure enough it had no feul in it.  I added feul to bring it up to about the halfway point on the filter and tried again, no luck. Dianna was watching the feul level in the filter while I cranked the engine and saw that it was leaking at the base of the globe. I removed the globe reseated the o-ring and put it back together.  After filling it back up with feul no more leak, but I can't get it to fire at all. Any suggestions?

When i bought my coach the previous owner did not have the fancy elbow for the sewer connection. I looked everywhere for a reasonable replacement. I did not like the "cup" idea. So I went to the store and bought a fitting saver reamer. Looking everything over i removed the panel that holds the city water pressure regulator. Since I had just rebuilt that on Saturday it wasn't hard to pop the rivets off to make room for a drill. Proceeded to ream out the old style fitting about 1 inch deep. I wanted to use it as a union to glue in a new fitting. Dry fit everything and realized I would have to trim the new fitting about 3/4 inch so it would clear with an elbow attached. Got everything test fit pulled apart cleaned up and glued together. No more searching for connectors. I'm now able to buy hoses that readily attach and seem mostly universal anywhere. As far as I'm thinking... problem solved.

Ive had my coach (639) raised to replace the Aquahot and generator exhaust system.  The front and mains were on heavy duty ramps and the body was cribbed with jack stands. The tags were not raised and still resting on the ground as the mains were only raised about 5".  It sat like that for sever weeks as I ended up having to completely rebuild the entire aquahot (unfortunately not just the exhaust). Anyway, I pulled the coach out and drove about 1/2 mile when the passsenger side tag locked up.  I park the coach and called Newell for advice.  They immediatley asked if the coach had been sitting and said the brakes can get stuck and told me how to cage the brake.  I went back with the 1' ( I think) socket and backed the bolt out of the brake chamber.  I was not sure how far to back it out and did not want it to fall completely out.  After backing the bolt out with the ratchet it started to spin freely.  I backed it out by hand until it got tight.  I then put the socket back on it a made probably 8 to 10 complete 360 degree turns.  The wheel was still locked up.  I did a few more turns and same thing.  I then played with the tag weight increase/ decrease button and it finally started to turn.  I got the coach home, but not sure where to start.  This senerio does not sound like the brake getting "stuck" as it rolled fine for 1/2 mile before locking up.  Not sure why the tag weight button would change thinkgs aside from maybe applying enought weight to turn a still partially stuck brake.  Any ideas????

I did a word search but did not find info- 
How is the long trim strips attached- I see a phillips head screw on each end but I need to inspect under the trim. I suspect it covers a seam- just below drivers side rear slide.

thanks 
JD

I have this on the inside drive wheel -never seen anything like it. Can someone identify and tell me how to inflate/check pressure?
Thanks
JD