WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?

[CAPT MOGUL & Sandy]

We know the tape measure but to the left of it? What is it?

Sorry, pic is upside down!

[JIM KELLER]

OK I'll Bite. What is it ?

[CAPT MOGUL & Sandy]

We left Key West last Wed. heading for a wedding in Dothan Al. As we passed through Miami the engine warning and engine shutdown light came on and we lost power for a few seconds. We pulled over to check things out. All systems were OK so we proceeded North but lights came on 3 more times before we stopped for the night in Arcadia. Next morning things didn't improve so we decided to make a stop at DDA in Tampa. They said they couldn't work on it but could run a test on the ECM ( engine Electronic Control Module) Everything checked out with no faults recorded. The tech remarked that the ECM was most likely on its last legs, but may work for a while. We decided to head North. We were having more and more shutdowns so we headed for Orlando. We stopped at Dougs shop in Sanford and had a DDA tec work all day on Saturday trying to figure the problem out. He finally installed a test ECM and we left the next morning for Dothan. Shutdown lights started as soon as we started out but the machine kept running. Real problems started just before Perry Fl..Engine stopped completley and we coasted to a stop on the side of US 19. Anyone of you folks who know that area know how desolate that area is. Got my book stuff out and found Prevost Action line 800 line, talked to the Area Service rep who suggested taking it to Jacksonville. Much to my supprise the machine started (we found that when the engine sat 1/2 to i hour it would run for 10 to 20 min.) so we got moving and decided to head for Prevost Jacksonville. After 4 more shutdowns we finally reached I 10 and found a towing service for a Monday morning tow on a hang truck. Stay tuned for CHAPTER 2

Ed

[CAPT MOGUL & Sandy]

Jim, you have to wait for now. Other work calls me this second. Wait for chapter 2! This afternoon.
Ed

[Jamie Bradford]

Please keep us posted......

[Pete]

Looks like a corroded light bulb socket to me. Waiting to hear as Paul Harvey used to say "The rest of the story"

[JIM KELLER]

Ed & Sandy, Are you stuck on the side of the road now ? If so, how can we help ? We are here in Florida and willing to do what ever.

[garyde]

Corroded wire crimp connection is what it looks like in one of the storage compartments. Don't know the relation to the measuring tape.

[merle&louise]

Ed,

I spoke to Dan Smith yesterday on our way to Columbus, GA. I thought I understood him to say that you and Sandy were in Diamondhead? Hope you guys get your problem fixed soon.

Could it be one of the shut down sensors: low oil pressure, high water temp, etc. If it starts up after 30 minutes or so my guess is it's electrical.

[CAPT MOGUL & Sandy]

Chapter 2: After a 2 hour trip to Prevost Jacksonville, the hang truck backed us up to bay 4. Jason the Prevost tec. started looking for the problem at once. He had me start the engine, thank goodness it started, and soon it quit. Jason asked me if I had shut it off, I said no and had thought he had. I tried to start it again but no luck. After all the work we had done previosly, Jason found where the trouble was by grabbing the ECM wiring harness near the ECM power plug. The short story, we had 12 volts, they hooked a lamp in series and would not light,no amps, so they checked the power wires and found the bad connections. I still can not believe the engine will run on copper oxide. I mean there is not one strand of wire in this connection. When it decided to fail, resistance built up, got hot and acted like a curcuit breaker and stopped current flow. Once it cooled off, the engine would run untill it got hot again. These are the power wires to the ECM coming from the junction box over the engine with 10A breakers. Go figure. It appears that Prevost soldered two different size wires ( acid core solder?) together. We were on the road within two days.
On another subject, during our two days there, we were able to observe a few things. We have numerous water leaks on our machine and are trying to find the best way to resolve this issue. Lucky for us we found two other XLII in the shop for side delamination, so we were able to observe the repair procedures. We were told there are over 250 XLIIs on record with this problem, ours is 251. The opinion is that IT IS NOT IF, BUT WHEN the rest of the fleet will develop this problem, no matter what the year. One that I saw had the fiberglass section between the front and rear slide removed because it was leaking. These repairs are $15,000 tho $ 50,000 is more like it. This is depending if Prevost is willing to help. Prevost's fix is to caulk the panels and flush rivet them. Then glue a cover plate over them.I am frugal and I plan ( for now) to go with button head exterior rivits. I know from experience, they don't make that much more noise. It is true "Rivets Rule".

Ed

[CAPT MOGUL & Sandy]

Thank you, Jim Keller, for caring about us. No, we are safe now in Diamondhead, MS at Dan & Jo's for a few days. We were supposed to have been at my great niece's wedding in Dothan, AL on last Saturday night and then join the Fosters and Smiths on an outing. BUT......! Missed all that!
I have to say, it was a very scary feeling for a few days broke down on the road and then seeing the bus being towed. That was one BIG TOW TRUCK!!! Excellent job they did with the towing. Very professional. I will add, we also lost our hub cap on the road after leaving Prevost JAX. We are the blame for it though and no one else. We told the tow company that we would put the hub cap back on ourself. They put the axle shaft back in and Ed told the guy we would take care from there. So, if you see it west of JAX on I 10, it's ours probably. Don't think it would be in good shape though??????
Sandy

[CAPT MOGUL & Sandy]

We found out the hard way here! If any of you have Coach Net insurance, make sure you check your expiration dates. We have never got any renewals in the mail and guess what ??? Ours was expired!! I will be calling them about this but will buy Roadside Assistance Insurance from another company now.

Check your expiration dates. I was told by the Tow Company that we are one of 5 people that had this insurance and never received any renewal notices.

Sandy

[JIM KELLER]

Sandy, Check out AAA. Their RV Road Service will render towing service and reasonably priced. Glad you and Ed are OK.

[Jamie Bradford]

Very,very good point Sandy!

My insurance expired in October and I did not realize it until December - after I noticed my credit card was not charged after repeatedly being charged for 3 years.

I called the insurance company , who for the last 3 years did an auto-renew , and asked why it was not renewed as before??

The response was " oops -- I guess we made an error and you have been driving with no insurance..... " Great!! I changed insurance companies.

Watch These People !!!!

Jamie

[Pete]

Ed & Sandy, glad all is well. We have been waiting to hear what happened with you guys. You are in good hands in Diamondhead!
Pete & E.J.