1998 Pace Arrow Vision in Cold Weather?

[Newrider]

Hello All,
My wife and I are the new owners of a 34 ft. 1998 Pace Arrow Vision. We have begun a cross country trip from our previous home in western North Carolina to our new home in Oregon. We are in Kentucky having the transmission replaced (that's a whole story in itself...) and while the work is being done we are planning our trip West.

We prefer to take the route through Missouri, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah etc but are concerned about the teens to zero and even subzero temperatures we are seeing in some weather forecasts.

So I am wondering: what temps can the Pace Arrow Vision handle before the water system freezes and pipes burst and other such such terrible things happen? We will of course be using the furnace while we drive to keep ourselves and the rest of the carriage warm. Can we help to keep the water tanks and system warm enough with a small electric space heater while we are hooked up to external power at night?

Many thanks and best wishes.

[SCFleetwood]

No means an expert but we had a recent experience on our break in camping trip with our 99 37S - it got cold with overnight temps below freezing. The furnace kept our rig snug - although I learned the dual zone furnace thermostat is in the back of the rig so we had to keep the front part higher on the thermostat or it would shut off - guess it was reading the temp in the back of the rig and would shut off thinking it reached temperature. Once I figured that out all was good. When we got home it got REAL cold for us - temps in the 10's overnight - kept 2 space heaters on in the rig as I could not winterize the rig. Kept the coach warm but the lines in the basement did freeze. Fortunately nothing harmed the next day we had it winterized and the tech used space heaters in the basement units to unfreeze the pipes.

May I ask what happened to your transmission? How many miles?

[Newrider]

Thanks for sharing your experience, SCFleetwood. I wonder if I kept an electric space heater going under the sink at night if it would keep the water lines from freezing - dont know if the heat would get further enough into the innards or not..

I purchased the Vision a few weeks ago with 94,000 miles on it after being assured by the owner and the rv repair place he has taken it to for the past 6 years that everything was great on it and it was ready for the road. Normally I would have had a mechanic check it out anyway but my wife and I had a hard deadline for beginning our trip West and I trusted that all was well. I had noticed that the motorhome felt a bit strange in reverse and that often it would not shift into the higher gear before 4000 and sometimes 5000 rpm but I had test driven it with the rv repair guy and he had said all was good.

We got about 450 miles and at one point we had gone over some very bumpy tarmac on the interstate and had to slow down for a vehicle in front of us. As I went to accelerate back to highway speed the rpms were high but the transmision would not shift into higher gear. I had to shift manually to get us to the KOA that night. Next day I took it to a truck repair place and after test driving it and checking the transmission fluid (red color with gray residue and burnt smell) they said it was very iffy that I would make it safely across the country and recommended a Jasper rebuilt transmission. Transmission arrived at their shop yesterday and installation has begun..

[ga traveler]

Do you have the V10 engine in your coach?

[Newrider]

Originally Posted by ga traveler

Do you have the V10 engine in your coach?

Yes it is.

[ga traveler]

Originally Posted by Newrider

Yes it is.

Then you have a 1999 chassis. The transmission for your coach has separate grounds going back to the transmission. This was a Ford "better ideas" idea, that was not a good idea. There is a bulletin from Ford to modify the grounds. I hope you did not spend all this money because of a wiring problem.