PART 2 - Part 1 two weeks ago in our last article...
We return to our tale where we left off - right after the oil in the
generator was changed in June 2016 and the first run of the generator at
home after that. (If you have not read Part 1 yet, please go to the
article just preceding this one and read that first.)
So
- we had a trip planned leading up to July Fourth. And during that trip
we had a need to run the generator. We were at a large farmer's market
and it was hot - July hot - outside and there were heavy storm warnings.
We decided to buy sandwiches at a stand and go back to the RV to eat
them, start the generator to run the A/C and cool off - and wait to see
what was going to happen with the storm - which was coming very shortly.
We were parked on grass between two gravel aisles and were on a slight
incline - front of the van lower than the back. At this same farmer's
market we have been parked in the RV in this very spot in the past as
this is where one can find space to park an RV even as small as a
Roadtrek on a crowded market day. We got into the van and I started the
engine to give the RV batteries a little boost to provide the
electricity needed to start the generator and then went right to the
generator switch. I pushed the switch and it started - and a a minute or
two later it stopped. Tried again - it cranked but did not start. I
waited a few minutes and tried again. It cranked, then started - and
then stopped. It had not done this since a year before when there was
too much oil in the generator. I tried again - it cranked but would not
start. Now the storm was coming up - not bad - but beginning. I wondered
if the incline we were on was not helping getting the generator
started. Looking down the field there were RVs parked on a much flatter
area. I moved the RV to that area - but away from the other RVs. I tried
to start the generator again - this time it cranked and started. I
waited five minutes with it running and then started the A/C. While we
ate the rain came down hard and wind gusted around us. At least the
generator was running, it was cool inside with the air conditioner
going, and we were dry. Not long after we finished the sandwiches -
which were good, by the way - the storm passed. I shut down the air
conditioner. Allowed the generator to keep running for several minutes
to cool down - and we went out back to the market. A little unneeded
excitement for what was otherwise a pleasant day.
We
skip now to the last day of the trip - and another farmer's market.
There we were parked on a very steep angle, this time with the back way
down. I just had a feeling that we should just not try to run the
generator again - leaving well enough alone having finally gotten it to
run several days before. Well, it was time for lunch - and it was again
hot outside on July 5th - and Meryl suggested that we get sandwiches and
go back to the RV to eat with the air conditioner running. I was not
going to say anything - and we bought the sandwiches and went back to
the RV. Same process to get the generator started - I pushed the start
button and with relief the generator started right up. I let it run for
five minutes and turned on the air conditioner switch. As soon as I
pushed that switch the generator shut down. And this time, it was not
starting again. It cranked and would not start. All my prior unspoken
feelings about not starting the generator again came to the surface with
a few harsh words of frustration and anger - mostly at the generator.
We took the sandwiches and found a picnic table under a net which did
not give any real shade from the sun and ate - me, mostly silent. This
was our last day of the trip and we would be heading home that night. I
tried not to let this ruin the last day, but it was not easy.
Once
home, I could not get the generator started. I went over to the service
station with my friendly mechanics and told them what happened with the
generator. The first reaction was why would you go there again to have
the oil changed. I explained the rest of what I went to have done on the
generator there and that I felt it was too much to ask them to do. They
told me to bring it over the next week and he would check the oil level
and the spark plug and see if he could see why it was not starting. We
made an appointment to bring it to him.
That weekend I
decided to put some SeaFoam in the gasoline. SeaFoam is used to clean
up deposits in engines - large and small, clear out the effects that
ethanol in the gasoline have on the engine, and help carburetors run
better. It is sold in a 16 ounce can and one ounce per gallon of
gasoline is needed. There were about 26 gallons of gas in the van gas
tank left and I bought two cans, a measuring cup and a funnel. Not
cheap. This stuff is about $9 a can - at Walmart. It would be well worth
the cost if it got the generator running - if I could get the generator
running. I put it in. Drove the van up and down the driveway to mix it
into the gasoline in the tank and then tried to start the generator. It
started - I don't think because of the gas additive - not that fast -
and I let it run on the driveway - with no load on it for two hours
getting the additive into the generator's parts to do its thing.
The
day before I was to bring the RV to the mechanic to check out the
generator, the generator, once again, would not start. So much for the
SeaFoam. I drove the RV to the service station that night so that he
could have it to work on at the start of the day. When he had the
generator the year before he had asked me for service manuals. I
actually found them all on the Internet for free and printed them out -
and it is a LOT of pages. I had all of that - plus several
troubleshooting guides and the manual for the generator - for him to
have when he worked on it.
I had not heard from him the
next morning and went over there that afternoon. The generator was
running. He told me it started right up. He said the spark plug was OK
and the oil level was where it should be - BUT - he saw a drip of oil
around the drain plug that was followed by several more. He told me he
went under the van to see if the generator drain plug had not been
screwed at the oil change securely - and then he said - "It just spins
in the hole when I turned it with my fingers. It does not tighten.
Either the plug or the threads in the hole are stripped." OH BOY! I
looked under the van below the generator and could see the oil
collecting under the generator on the cardboard that he had put down
under it. It was running and he said that the oil level was fine for it
to run - but there was an oil leak from the drain plug that needed to be
fixed - and this was not something that he could do.
I
really had no choice now. I had to call one of the two authorized Onan
service centers here and have them fix this. I looked at the websites of
both and the one that was closest had photos of a large service
building with large RVs inside having their generators worked on. The
other service center had no such photos and just mentioned that they
work on RV generators. I choose the closest one - the one that I had
called a year before that wanted $400 to diagnose the generator. I
called for an appointment and explained the problem about the stripped
drain plug or hole and that I needed that repaired. I was told it would
cost $135 an hour plus parts. What was I going to do? I made the
appointment.
When things are going wrong they always
seem to double. We saw a sign while driving down the four lane avenue
that we live on that Roadwork would be starting the week before we had
our appointment for the generator. The large light up sign on a trailer
said to "Expect Delays". Well, I now had something else to "expect". A
few days later we received a notice in our mailbox from the County
telling us personally that there would be road work in a few days - nice
of them to give some notice - and to expect delays on the road, that
the road would have lanes alternatively closed, BUT don't be concerned
you will still be able to get out of your house and into the street -
though you may have to ask one of the workmen to stop work to do this -
and that it may take up to five minutes for that to happen. Wonderful!
I
have written in articles before about what it takes to back the
Roadtrek out of our driveway and into the avenue with traffic - which
never seems to stop and around here, the speed limit is just a
suggestion that no one seems to pay any attention to. The speed limit is
40 mph - the cars and trucks whiz by our house at 60, 90 (truly a blur
as they zoom by). Try backing up a four ton van that is 22 feet long
into that - with no clear vision to your rear side or behind you. We do
this with Meryl in the street with a walkie talkie - telling me to "GO
NOW! - NO! WAIT! A car is coming around the blind curve. STOP!" And we
are going to do this now with road work and lanes closed. Less you think
that the roadwork will slow the cars down - no, it has not.
So
the work started a week before our appointment. We presume that the
intent is to repave the road. But all they were doing is digging two
foot wide trenches through the asphalt for twenty feet with a crew
following behind with hot asphalt filling the trenches back in and a
steam roller (do they still call these "steam rollers" - well, that is
what I was told they were when I was a kid) flattening it back out. They
did nothing in the trenches that were dug. They did this up and down
the road. Break, dig, and refill. Then they started breaking up curbs
along various parts of the road - to just rebuild them with cement. By
the end of the first week they had dug and refilled trenches and broke
curbs - not replacing them. By the end of the second week - our
appointment was not until the Monday of the third week which I had a
fantasy in my head that it all would be finished by then - they
continued as before - trenches, curbs - an then started breaking around
all of the manhole covers to the sewer in the road and refilling around
those - seemingly adding a ring to make the manhole cover higher. And
they paved around those. Work would start on the road at 9 am and was to
end each day at 5 pm - though every day they would be gone by 3:30 pm -
not just stopping then to get the road ready to leave it for the night -
but GONE. Our appointment was for 9 am. We would leave at least 45
minutes early for a trip that without traffic should take twenty
minutes.
Meryl had the idea that we pull the Roadtrek
out of the driveway at night - late at night when the traffic has mostly
stopped - and turn it around, backing it into the driveway so that we
could drive straight out into the street - at least not having to back
out into traffic. Great idea! We would do this the night before. Of
course, that night there were "severe storms" coming. Of course, there
were. I have not heard a weather report in the last two months when
there would not just be rain or showers - but always "Severe Storms!"
("Expect damaging wind, possible hale, downed trees and power lines." -
Oh yes - "Flood warnings".) The hourly weather report said the storm
would arrive in our area after Midnight. I kept looking out the window
at the cars going by and said to Meryl that we had to do this by 11 pm -
before the "severe storm". I now had two concerns. Meryl in the street
with the walkie talkie in the drenching rain and that when we backed the
Roadtrek up the driveway we would now have the rear air conditioning
vent pointing down - and if any rain when in, it could then find its way
into the van - which I have been told will happen. I say this so often -
with the RV there is never a dull moment! We went out - there seemed to
be no cars. It had not started raining. I got into the RV and Meryl
went out to the street. She was to direct me out and then in turning the
back of the van toward the driveway, and then back in without hitting
the curb with the back of the van. I slowly started to back down trying
very hard not to hit our fence post which was just too close at the
angle I was on. She kept telling me to move the back of the van to the
passenger side and if I did that I would move right into the fence post.
I got into a better position and started again down. She tells me that
it is clear - go now. I do. And I get into the street and am not
anywhere near where I need to be to get the back of the van lined up
with the driveway. And then I see the cars coming. I got over to the
side fast - and past our house. I will not go into the harrowing details
of my fifteen minute drive to be able to get back to the house and to a
position where I could get backed into the driveway - with cars that
just did not stop - some of which would not move around me as I was
stopped on the side of the street. I got it in. When we walked back into
the house, the rain started.
I could stop here and
make a Part 3 but I am just going to keep going. Stay with me, the best
is yet to come. So, it is the next morning - the sun is shining and we
head out. Pulling out forward into the street is not so bad. We took the
Roadtrek and our car - I drove the car and Meryl drove the Roadtrek as
she rarely gets the opportunity when we are traveling. We both had the
directions to the service center - which we had driven to a week before
to be sure we would know where to go. We also had a walkie talkie to
communicate between vehicles if we had to. I got to the place first and
as I was pulling in a big Class A RV (bus type) was pulling out. The
service garage was not what I had expected. It was a large warehouse and
they worked in the middle of the warehouse floor. There was a business
RV inside being worked on - a traveling dog groomer. Meryl arrived and
waited in the RV outside in their lot. I went inside the warehouse and
was directed to the office. It was about five to nine. I was told in the
office that when they were ready for us they would call us in. OK. We
waited outside.
Not long after the same Class A came
back. A man got out - there was a boy in the front inside - and the man
went in, talked to someone and came out waiting near us. The RV had
California plates. At about 9:30 am - now I was supposed to be in there
at 9:00 - and now he was here looking as if he was to go in also - he
came over to me and asked when my appointment is. I told him. He told me
that HIS was at 8:30 am and he had left because they told him that it
would be awhile for him to get in because of the dog groomer - and he
had left to get his kids breakfast. There was a family inside - two
girls, the boy I saw (all with California blond hair) and his wife. His
Class A was new. They were on a cross country trip and he had already
been at this service center for his generator that past Wednesday - for
six hours! He was not happy. We commiserated about the quality of RVs
and both waited to be called. The dog groomer was finished and left -
and he was called in. They told us to pull in right behind him. Yes, the
shop was that big - much bigger as there were several trucks inside
plus a lot of large generators scattered about. I went over to the
service tech who would work on our generator and told him what the
problem was with the drain plug. I also told him about all of the
problems we had starting it. He told me he would check it all out. He
was not happy that the generator is under the van requiring being on the
floor to work on it. He told me to wait and he would first take a look
at the oil drain - before he did anything else - "because if it has to
come down off the van, I am going to work on all of it standing over
the work bench and not under the van." He came and found me outside
about twenty minutes later. "It has to come down. I have to order the
parts for it - maybe we have them, I have to check." He told me that the
oil drain hole is stripped and that a new oil pan with a new drain hole
was needed along with a few other parts that went along with that. OK -
dollar signs flashed in my head! It was an hour's labor to take it down
off the van ($135) and another hour to put it back when it is finished
((+$135) plus the parts- plus whatever else he found that was preventing
it from starting. He told me to leave, and when he had it down they
would call me. We went home. Roadwork had begun - they were digging and
refilling more trenches and the lane in front of our house was closed.
About
an hour later we got a call to come back - we were to leave the
generator and take the RV home. When I got there the service tech was on
his computer looking up the parts. He said that they had no room there
to keep the RV and when it was finished - in a couple of days - we would
get a call to come back. I asked that while he had it to put a fuel
filter in - the one the Roadtrek dealer/service could not put in. I told
him that - he said, "Cowards!" and smiled. He said he would replace
that and also the spark plug and that just looking he could see that the
carburetor was way out of adjustment. Fine. We took the Roadtrek
without the generator prepared to leave - hoping that he capped off the
gas line really well. Inside the Roadtrek we found that to get to some
connection he had to take apart one of the cabinets and the top of the
cabinet and the screws were on the floor. He had told us that he had not
put somethings back together as he would need to get back into them
when he put the generator back up. Left like this, they would fly around
the inside as the RV was driven home. We picked everything up and put
it all in the car. Meryl drove the RT home and I followed in the car.
The road crew had closed two of the lanes in front of our house and we
had to get into the driveway across the closed lanes. The worst part of
returning home with the Roadtrek without having the job finished was
having to get it out of the driveway again to bring it back to have the
generator put back in.
The next day in the late
afternoon we got a phone call. The generator was fixed and we needed to
make an appointment to have it put back under the van. I took the
soonest appointment which was Thursday (this was Tuesday) in the
afternoon. Wednesday night we went outside at 1:00 am to back the
Roadtrek out into the street, turn it around and back it into the
driveway so that we could pull it out the next day in the early
afternoon while the road construction was going on (which still had not
progressed much). It was easier this time so late as the passing cars
were fewer and more spread out - but there are always cars and trucks no
matter time of the day or night.
Out Thursday for the
ride back with the Roadtrek and the car following. The job would take at
least an hour or more and we did not want to stand around waiting there
in their shop. We arrived just before 1:30 - the time of the
appointment and there was no one around in the shop. Obviously we
arrived during lunch break. I could see our generator sitting on a work
stand. About ten or fifteen minutes after one workers started to arrive.
When the service tech arrived who was working on our generator I asked
him if it was running good - and did it keep running when there was a
load on it. Yes, he answered. He told me that it had been running all
morning and did not shut down - and it ran with a load. Great! He told
us to pull the Roadtrek into the shop but not straight in but in and
around a corner to the side. This meant around all that was in there and
it was close quarters. Meryl was behind the wheel and, with assurance
that he would guide her in, she drove it in. She got out - and while I
did not realize it, she handed me the keys and I put them in my pocket.
We told the tech that we would go off in our car to have lunch and come
back in about an hour. And we went off.
At the fast
food restaurant I could not figure out why my pockets were so stuffed
and I started emptying them onto the table - and then I saw that I had
both sets of keys to the Roadtrek. If he needed to start it he was not
going to be able to. We had an exchange about how did I end up with the
keys and why they were not just left hanging in the ignition, resolved
that - my absentminded fault - and Meryl volunteered to drive back to
the place with the keys while I finished lunch. No, I told her that we
will just finish and both go back together. We got back there. I pulled
over and Meryl went in to hand the guy the keys. When she came back she
said that the back of the Roadtrek was up in the air on the back of a
forklift. I was not happy to hear that. We went off to waste some more
time and came back about forty five minutes later.
When
we got back the Roadtrek was up in the rear on jack stands. I watched
from the garage door and did not go inside. I did not want to rush
anyone. I wanted it all done right. I watched as the tech got into the
fork lift and drove it behind the van, put the fork under the middle
from the back and lifted it up off the jack stands. I really did not
want to watch and walked away. There are somethings that you really
don't want to see how they're done. When I went back to watch again, I
could see the Roadtrek was off the stands and the tech was giving a
check around the generator. He then went inside and I could hear it
start. Brruummm. It was running! And then it stopped. It was started
again and it ran! And then a few minutes later it stopped. I had it
running longer at home before the work was done. He came out and got
under the van. I could see him looking inside the generator access door,
fiddling with something inside. He pushed the start switch on the unit
and it started and died. He went back inside, started it, it started and
shortly it died. I went out to talk to Meryl. I told her what was
happening and that this was not good. We both decided that we should
leave and not say anything. Let him work on it and let him fix it. We
got in the car and drove off to the stores that were near by.
I
had never asked when the generator shop closed for the day as I never
figured we would be there that long into the day. It was almost 4:30 and
we had not heard from anyone. Meryl called and spoke with the service
manager who said that we could come back and get it but they had to
speak with us. She did not ask why and we got back there quick. When we
got there the Roadtrek was in the shop with the generator running. Good
sign! We walked across the warehouse to the office door and went in to
see the service manager. He told us what he needed to speak with us
about. The reason that it was not starting earlier was that when the A/C
was started the startup power for the A/C was too much and it
overloaded the generator. The problem was the generator voltage
regulator. The reason that it was running was that because they did not
want to keep us without the RV any longer they put a new voltage
regulator on the outside of the generator (it belongs inside) - as to
install it where it belongs would require the generator to come back
down off the van and then be put back up again - two hours were needed
just for that plus the proper install of the voltage regulator. We could
make an appointment to come back whenever to do this and use it as it
was. No. That was not a good idea. With the construction going on and at
some point it would get more complicated when they actually got around
to putting asphalt down finally over the entire road, we needed to get
this just finished and fixed and were not going to use the RV until it
was fixed. We asked if they could just keep the Roadtrek in their shop
overnight and do whatever was necessary to have it all correct and
finished. They said yes and we went home without the Roadtrek in the
car, hoping that the next day, Friday, it would be done and we would get
a call to come and pick it up and be done with all of this.
It
was around 2:30 the next day that we finally got the call. We had gone
out with the car to do errands - all in the direction of the generator
service shop. We finally were told that it was running and all was well.
We got there in less than a half hour to find the Roadtrek in their lot
running with the A/C going. We went inside and were handed the invoice.
It was over $900. Thursday night I learned that a new generator -
without installation - which is not much if it is replacing a current
generator is only $2400. But the new model cannot just be put in the
same place without some modifications as the old and new units are
slightly different in shape and size. So while we could have just had a
new Onan generator installed (they are the only company that makes
these) it would have cost us considerably more. What is most important
is that it is running. When we got home I started it and turned on the
A/C. It sounds somewhat quieter now when it runs. The next day I did the
same just to see that it still starts and runs and keeps running with
the A/C on. It does.
Is there a moral to this drawn out
tale? Not really. Just some of the frustrations of owning an RV - any
RV. Some think that it is a dream come true. It is a dream with a price -
sometimes a very steep price both out of pocket and in frustration and
concern. Is all well now? Well, I know that we need to replace the RV
batteries very soon as they are five years old - and I am not so sure
that all is well with the interconnection between the RV batteries and
the engine batteries in the van. That may be another tale to be told.
Before
we left the service shop I asked the service manager two questions?
What would the price have been if it was just the oil pan that was
stripped that needed to be repaired/replaced? About $500. And then I
asked him what do they charge for an oil change of the one quart of oil
in the generator as I don't really want to go back to Pennsylvania to
have this done given the problems in the past two years. About $125 -
and he can do it while we wait. That is a lot for an oil change, but
considering the two bridge tolls, the two turnpike tolls and the gas -
it is a plan for next year.
Thank you for going along on this journey and reading this Onan Tale!
