2002 Signature questions

[Gravy1159]

My wife and I are looking at a 2002 Monaco Signature 45' with a 500 red top Cummins all electric coach with 75,000 miles on it. I was wondering about any concerns with the all electric, the air leveling or the miles on this unit.
I’m looking for any input from other owners out there to concerns on this type of coach.
Need input fast.. Looking to purchase this soon.
Thank you,
Dave & Cris

[Mike Canter]

Dave, I own a 2004 Signature and I just love it. Have had some minor problems but that has to be expected on a used MH. Are you buying this from a dealer or a private individual? That should be the Cummins ISM-500 motor which is a great motor and good for a million miles and it will have tha Allison 4000 transmission. I believe that the chassis and body and options are pretty close to my 2004 Signature. There are no real problems with the all electric other than you better make sure those eight batteries are good and those battery trays are not eaten up with acid. I replaced all of mine from Sam's Club and they are about $85 each (time eight). Check the DOT date of the tires and see how old they are. Most likely they are not the original tires but if they are then do not drive on them. Six years is the max safe time from the DOT date on the tires since you do not know their history.

The Aqua-Hot heating system has two modes that need to be checked out. One is the electric mode and the other is the diesel furnace mode. The only sure way to check out the electric heater is to just have the coach (with a cold motor) plugged into shore power or on the generator and turn on just the electric heater and give it an hour and see if you get hot water out of the faucet. If you drive the coach first then you will heat the water via the engine and will not be able to tell. The diesel mode is easy just turn it on and let it run for about ten minutes. Turn all thermostats to "Furnace" and select a high temp like 85* in all THREE zones and then after it heats up (10 minutes) go around to all the registers and see if you have hot air blowing out of them.

The other thing that fails is the Racor fuel/water separator in the back just inside the engine compartment. It is white and has your primary fuel filter. Just above that there is a small panel with two buttons for dumping the water separator and for priming the fuel system. With the ignition key in the run position with the motor NOT running go back and push the Fuel Prime button and listen for the pump in that Racor unit to run. Most of them lock up if not exercised on a regular basis. You need this fuel primer when you change the fuel filters and if you happen to run out of fuel.

As far as the Onan Generator start it up and turn on all three roof AC units to cool and put it under load. It will probably take a couple of minutes for all the compressors to kick on.

Make sure the rear camera and the side cameras all work.

Other than that you need to know when the Allison transmission filters were changed last and if that transmission has Dexron III fluid in it or it has been changed to the Allison synthetic Transynd fluid. If the fluid has not been changed then you are at the milage for a change and you need to put the Transynd fluid it it. It is around $40 a gallon and that Allison 4000 transmission takes 40 quarts of fluid so you are looking at a big cost. DO NOT LET THEM CONVINCE YOU THAT YOU ONLY NEED DEXRON III FLUID.
Check here Dexron NO Longer Approved For Allison Transmissions

Steve Ownby who owns a 2003 Signature will hopefully jump in.

If you have any questions on how anything should operate then feel free to email me direct at mike.c@mindspring.com


Get a complete list on all servicing, including anti-freeze, hydraulic fluid, engine oil change and generator oil change. Find out when the Aqua-Hot fuel filter and nozzle was changed last.

[Gravy1159]

Thank you Mike, this is a private owner coach and I will look at all of the things you talked about. I know he has replaced three of the large batteries. This unit has 5 double size batteries in it.
How many hours are too many on the Onan 12.5 diesel?

All of the fluids have been just changed.(The Onan too) The owner has a trucking company so he has good records for his equipment.
Do you have air leveling on your coach? Any problems or should I have any concerns?
Thank you,
Dave

[Mike Canter]

I only have a 1000 hrs on my Onan. They have a Isuzu three cylinder diesel engine in them and the go forever. I run mine a lot and don't think twice about it. It is better to use them then not. How many hours on the generator?

Yes I have the air leveling system and no jacks. It has never given me any problems. It is faster to hit the level button with the motor running than to do it after you shut the motor off. The only weak point in the leveling system is the aux compressor that keeps you level when your big air tanks get below 100 psi. The way to test the little compressor is with the engine stopped and the MH level pump the brake pedal until the main tanks both get down to about 80 psi then with the HWH leveling panel in manual mode which is one push on the level button have someone push and hold any UP arrow while you listen outside for the little compressor to start. It is not very loud and I think yours is lovated just behind the front steer axle.

So does he have Transynd synthetic ATF in the transmission?

[Gravy1159]

Mike, i'm not sure yet on the Transynd synthetic ATF in the transmission. I will be asking him when i go test drive it later this week. The Onan has 2245 hours. I'm glad to hear the air leveling is a good choice.
I will keep you up dated. Hopefully we will be proud Monaco owners very soon.
Fingers crossed!!
Thanks,
Dave

[Mike Canter]

Sent you an email. The gen hours is not too bad. Figure ours is a 2004 with 34,000 miles on it and we have 1000 hours on our generator.

[Steve Ownby]

Hey Dave,

A private deal with a previous owner who has a trucking company. It doesn't get any better!! The Cummins ISM & Allison 4000 are bulletproof.
Make sure you get copies of all maintenance records if he is ok with that. You will think about something in 2 months & wonder if that item was ever done.

Mike has covered things really well. You should make sure when the air dryer was last serviced. It should be done in the 24-36 month time frame. Make sure you understand the battery setup. '02 was really early in the usage of residential fridge units. In later years Monaco used 8 6 vdc house batteries in that application and 2 group 31 12 vdc for the chassis.

When you check out the Aquahot, go stand at the exhaust tail pipe for the Aquahot diesel burner & have some one turn on the diesel burner switch. A small amount of white smoke is ok as well as a slight diesel oder. Wait for the burner to cycle off by itself. You should hear the burner shut off and the exhaust will start to cool. The blower will run two or three more minutes & then shut down.

Have the guy go over the tag axle pressure valve so you understand how that works

Like Mike I love my Sig. My wife & I have lived full time in ours since April of '07 and love it.

Let us know how things go.

[Gravy1159]

Steve thank you for posting info also. I'm going to go drive this coach tomorrow and will be doing lots of the tests you and Mike have suggested. I need to check out the Aqua-hot system and get to know the tag axle info. I want to go over it very close. It is in very good condition and very clean. We really like the coach and hope we can get together on it.

I will keep you guys posted. We to are headed to full timing in this unit! We are looking forward to the new lifestyle. It has been our dream for many years.

Thank you,
Dave