Country Coach Radiator Charge Air Cooler Failure Issue

What Country Coach Motorcoach Model Years was there a potential of the Radiator / Charge Air Cooler Failure Issue to Occur?

Owners of the 2002-2007 model year Country Coach motorcoaches (also some 2000 and 2001 models) have experienced a Radiator (coolant/oil) failure issue and a Charge Air Cooler cracks causing a loss of turbo boost with accompanying loss of power/speed pulling hills.

Radiator - With the radiator failure issue, there is a likelihood of a failure occurring in the joint between the end tank and the core in the aluminum radiators installed in CCs in the 2002-2007 model year range.  The engine’s side mounted cooling fan kicks in drawing up to 45HP energy off the engine. Each time the engine reaches a certain temp the engine fan kicks on. As it is shroud mounted and bolted to the radiator core that vibration and energy from the fan is right against the tanks. It can rip apart at the faulty weld, if you have a radiator with this fault issue. A radiator replacement is the fix in this situation.

Charge Air Cooler – On a Country Coach the charge air cooler is between the radiator and the condenser and the oil cooler, all bolted together (looks like a box). Charge Air Coolers as originally installed in 2002-2007 models featured a bolt-together construction. When aluminum expands and contracts with heating and cooling, wear and tear and failure can occur. If the Charge Air Cooler is cracked and leaks, the engine runs hot, causing accelerated wear and potential engine failure.  A Service Center with knowledge of the Country Coach product lines and model year build processes will be able to help you assess whether your motorcoach may have this Radiator or Charge Air Cooler issue.

*Premier RV Services provided this basic overview. For full details, check with Premier RV in Junction City, OR or with your preferred highline service center. Several are Country Coach Friends Incorporated motorhome owners club Business Sponsors. Members may reference the Club Business Sponsorsinformation at the website. Many offer a discount on services to CCFI MClub embers.

Motorhome Broken Shock

Have You Experienced Broken Shocks?

A technical article by John Davis, JDRV Services

 

Have You Experienced Broken Shocks on your Motorcoach? The main contributing factor to this is the fact that the HWH system has the ability to over inflate the rear bags. This pushes the rear suspension beyond the travel of the shocks and breaks the center shaft. This also results in the ride height valve system being over extended and can break the valves and linkages.

I am finding that the main cause is the system is designed to increase the air to the drive axle bags when the tag axle is lifted to compensate for the weight increase to the drive axle airbags. The problem here is that the system does not stop pushing that air to the drive bags until the tag returns to its down position.

When driving in heavy traffic or sitting for extended periods of time with the tag lifted, this may cause this issue as the tag is designed to return to the down position automatically when the coach reaches 7 or 12 MPH depending on which program it has in the HWH brain (normally when shifts to 2nd gear under normal acceleration).

In my experience, there is no true fix for this issue but there are things you can do.

Remember that the reason for lifting the tag is to reduce wear on the tires and increase turning radius at low speeds. If you are not making tight turns or backing up in a tight turn situation the tag does not need to be lifted. Be aware that you don't allow the tag to stay in the lifted cycle while in gear for more than about 4 minutes at any one time.

You may have also heard of the shock limiting straps. These are not a foolproof fix and have been also known to break, but are an accessory that can be installed to help reduce the possibility of shock breakage.

Contact me to discuss this subject in more detail if you wish or any other coach questions you may have.  (I am pleased to extend a 10% discount to Country Coach Friends Inc Club Members.)

 

JDRV Services Inc: www.jdrv1.com/.

Ph:  541-306-6473

2001 Intrigue Toggle Switch Question

Hey What’s That Light Up Toggle Switch Do?

A gentleman called Premier RV of Oregon recently to ask a question about a toggle switch in the steering gear compartment under the driver seat. He owned a 2001 Intrigue and he’d always wondered what that switch is for?

These toggle switches are for testing and diagnostics purposes. ABS blink codes are displayed on one of the toggle switches. There is also a toggle switch for the generator codes you may find located there. The service tech can hold that toggle down for a bit and release and codes will light up. You can learn more about these toggle switches in the White Tab Appendix Section in your Country Coach Owners Manual. If you have questions such as these you may feel free to email premierrvservices at gmail dot com.

Premier Rv of Oregon, 325 E 1^st Avenue, Junction City OR 97448 www.PremierRVServices.com

Motorhome Fresh Water System Care

Sanitizing and Chorinating the Fresh Water System

as taught by RVIA/RVDA endorsed RV Schools and as seen in FMC 3/2014

Foul or stale tasting water can ruin an excursion; it also may be harmful. If foul water persists, you may need to chlorinate the fresh water system. RVIA published this method of chlorinating the fresh water system as taught in all RVIA/RVDA endorsed RV Schools.

1                     Drain/flush fresh-water tank; leave empty

2                     Mix ¼ cup liquid household bleach (sodium hypoclorite with one gallon fresh water.

3                     Pour directly into fresh water tank through the gravity fill.

Note: If the motorhome is not equipped with a gravity fill for the fresh water tank, use a funnel to pour each gallon of mixture directly in the fresh water hose prior to connecting it to the city water source. Some motorhomes may be equipped with an alternate method of pumping the chlorinated mixture directly into the fresh water container.

4                     Add one gallon chlorine/water solution for every 15 gallons of fresh water tank capacity.

5                     Top off tank with fresh water.

6                     Remove or bypass water purification equipment and/or filtering cartridges.

7                     Turn on water pump and open every faucet in the motorhome, including exterior faucets, and shower heads.

8                     Allow solution to pump through system into toilet, through water heater, to every hot and cold faucet at each sink until the distinct odor of chlorine is present at every fixture.

9                     If applicable, at the city water inlet, gently use the eraser end of a pencil to depress the check valve and briefly allow the solution to pump out the city water inlet until the chlorine odor is detected in the discharge.

10                  Close all faucets and turn off water pump.

11                  Allow system to stand dormant for 4 hours. This will chlorinate and disinfect the system, including fresh water tank, water heater, faucets, complete piping system, and all fittings to a residual level of 50 parts per million (PPM).

12                  At four hours, drain and flush system once again and top off water tank with fresh water.

Do not allow to sit longer than 4 hours. If 100 ppm residual concentration is desired, use ½ cup bleach instead of ¼ cup for each gallon fresh water; let it stand 1 to 2 hours. If the odor of chlorines it too strong after sanitizing procedure, drain, refill and flush tank until satisfactory level of taste/odor achieved. This process should be done after extended storage, winterization, as you detect stale water, not less than once per season.

 

COUNTRY COACHFRIENDS INCORPORATED motorhome owners club website lists all its past enewsletters and this is also a good sources of information about your motorhome care...  www.CountryCoachFriendsIncorporated.com