Community Forums

Retiredfields · 08-21-2009, 07:21 AM

We decided to go to Yakima to get an engine service done at Cummins Northwest. We also went to Les Schwab to get the front tires balanced because of a bouncy ride at 45 mph.

As soon as the left front tire was off, the tech noticed a "cord separation" on the outer edge of the tread. He said it was not safe and may have been caused by poor alignment. We ended up with two new Toyo tires, which he recommended. The ride is much improved over the original Toyo's and we feel fortunate that a blowout was avoided. Out the door for $730.

Then at Cummins, I told them the turbo was making a loud whine out the exhaust pipe. They agreed and pulled the turbo apart. It had a leaking seal and worn bearings (at 26,0000 miles???), so a new one was ordered. I also found out there is a campaign (recall) on the ISL to replace a fuel line. They had the part in stock. It was 105 in Yakima, so we killed a day and a half waiting for the turbo install.

We had a full engine service, all filters, air filter, software ECM update, turbo replacement ($100 deductible), and recall fix, all for $529.

The ECM update improved the cruise control greatly. Make sure you tell them the cruise control is "bucking", then the ECM update is paid for by Cummins, not you.

I highly recommend Les Schwab Yakima and Cummins Northwest Yakima. Great folks at both facilities. Also, get the recall done as the old fuel line is high pressure and could crack, causing a fire.

EngineerMike · 08-21-2009, 10:22 AM

So what was the Ugly?

Jim A · 08-21-2009, 11:15 AM

Probably the 105° temperature!!

Retiredfields · 08-21-2009, 11:15 AM

5 days of Yakima.....

EngineerMike · 08-21-2009, 02:51 PM

I guess without the WRV juggling act for entertainment, Yakima would lose a wee bit of its luster.

gjstacy · 08-22-2009, 12:09 AM

Ken & Nancy, you must have been there when we were there yesterday morning. We saw 2 Alpines in the Cummins bays, but didn't happen to see the owners. We delivered our blue/champagne 07 40ft at 8:00am yesterday, and were out of there around 1:00pm. They did a diagnostic of our engine and related components to see if they could figure out why we have had low fuel economy. Sure enough, they found a leaking charge air cooler...of course, that's a WRV part, so no warranty. They had so much work they would not have been able to get our fix done before Monday, and that was only if we didn't need a new one of those thingies. By that time, we'd been hanging around Yakima for a couple of days and had no desire to hang around today and the weekend. So, we left with the diagnostic and will have the work done by Cummins in LV.

We made a bit of a detour just to have Cummins in Yakima look at this for us because there is no one that knows our Alpine configurations like they do. And, they are great to work with!

Yes, our ugly was the heat, and we did miss Camp Run-A-Muk!!

Retiredfields · 08-22-2009, 06:02 AM

gjstacy, sorry I missed you. I did see your coach and looked for the owner. I also saw them test your CAC and saw the leaking around the upper rear area of the CAC, SORRY.

I had ours tested and it slowly leaks, but was within specs. I don't know how many miles you have on your rig, but these parts, like the CAC should last for hundreds of thousands of miles. What a joke.....

We tried to spend the night at Cummins, but their electric was so bad that my surge protector kept shutting off the power, so we moved to the state park a few miles away. It was very nice, but too many MOSQUITOES. For us, that was the real "ugly" of Yakima......

gjstacy · 08-22-2009, 05:18 PM

Dang! Sorry we missed you, too! I guess it's good that a disinterested party also saw our CAC leak...although I do trust the folks at Cummins NW. I just wish they could have gotten us fixed up by yesterday, as we would have stayed that long. But when they said there was no way for them to pull it apart, tighten the bolts and reinstall the unit by Friday, we just decided to have the work done elsewhere. Of course, our concern was that if the bolt tightening didn't stop the leak and they would have to order a new CAC, we could have been there until Thanksgiving!

We're thinking we'll take the coach to SoCal since there is no one we would trust in Vegas. If Acacia will do this work, that's where we'll go...otherwise, we'll probably take our girl to Redlands Truck. They're pretty pricey, but we really trust them.

We have 30,000 on our coach, so YES, this part should not be worn out!

We also have engine oil leaks, that will be covered under warranty, so we'll take her to Cummins in LV for that work. We thought about having them do the CAC work, but when the guy told John he estimated a 14 hour job, John became very uncomfortable. Cummins NW told us not to believe more than 10 hours, unless they don't know what they are doing. Don't need that!

We stayed at the Yakima Nation RV Resort in Toppenish, and while it is nice, it was a pain to run back and forth both days (first for some small jobs by Aubreys). Plus, they were also overrun by mosquitos, and I'm still scratching.

By the way, we were very happy with the work we had done by Aubreys! They repaired our leaking potty, our loose panel that covers the radiator and our electrical problem (which turned out to be a bad circuit breaker switch).