Community Forums

markpj23 · 06-05-2010, 07:11 AM

After reading the horror stories on these forums about the leaking LCI hydraulic pump seals I was prepared for the worst. My pump started leaking exactly 1 month after my coach extended warranty ran out, and 13 months after we bought the rig new.

I called LCI tech support fully expecting to do battle. Their website says they honor a 2-year warranty on these pumps, but only to the original manufacturer - who of course is now defunct.

Anyway, to my surprise, the tech checked my coach VIN to be sure that no prior claim had been made. Then they asked me to send a photo so they could identify the correct part number. Once they had that, all they wanted was a ship-to address for an entire new pump assembly, manifold and all. I did have to pay labor for installation, but I could have done the swap myself if I had had the time & place to work on it (we're on the road now).

So to me this is a maintenance expense... less than $300 on a 13 month old coach with 22K miles. On balance I'm not upset.

Should be good news to others facing the same issue. LCI is honoring their warranty and willing to work with the coach owners to resolve the problem.

RVRon · 06-07-2010, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markpj23

LCI is honoring their warranty and willing to work with the coach owners to resolve the problem.

It's really a shame that LCI has had this issue at all. A lot of people have had to cancel trips and/or vacations due to LCI's faulty engineering. Having said that, I will say that they did step up for me after I called 3 times and 60 days later (and right after a safety report was filed with the NHTSA). I was also reimbursed for 3 hours of labor, but it WAS within 1 year.

Again, it's good that Lippert is doing good things to try to correct this mistake. Glad they got you going again at no charge as the price for the replacement unit is around $1500.

bullydogs1 · 06-07-2010, 10:20 AM

As I have posted previously, LCI has given both support and stood behind their product. They get nothing but good marks from me. The shipping could have been faster but we did not have to cancel our Memorial Day Weekend...and you can tell the new motor to the assembly is different so the flaw was designed out. I remember having the slide fail in the driveway and opening up the pump and getting Mount Vesuvius of burnt oil on me. That was a very bad day.

kketterling · 06-07-2010, 11:43 AM

markpj23: My pump, which I'm assuming is identical to yours, is still working but it's starting to leak and leave a spot on the ground when I have the slides out. My question is how bad does mine have to get before Lippert will replace? I don't want to have the pump fail and get stranded.

Thanks

bullydogs1 · 06-07-2010, 11:58 AM

Call LCI right away..That pump will fail when you least expect it and it could cause a short in the motor and start smoking (Just ask RV Ron)...he was stuck in Delaware with slides out and Jacks down..I was in my driveway about to pull out to Pa when the kitchen slide stopped halfway out/in...Get that motor/assembly and it will take about 2 weeks to get. You don't want to be anywhere if that seal fails...and your slides will not work nor will your jacks. Lippert's site is lci1.com....get it shipped now and be careful...you might even want to make sure you have a 1/2 bolt driver hooked into an electric drill with a 5/32 allen wrench to turn the valves if it fails before new pump arrives. I would take off that bell cover on the housing and you will see the manual turn nut and the oil in there will come out so it should dry out preventing a short.

kketterling · 06-07-2010, 02:02 PM

Just got off the phone with LCI and intially they thought it was leaking were the tank attached to the pump and gave me instructions on how to reseal the tank. Told them I didn't think that's were the leak was so until they agree to replace the pump they want me to identify were the leak is actually at. I cleaned everything up and laid down some white paper towels to see were the leak was coming from. Tonight I will also have Chris run the slides in and out and watch to see if I can spot the leak.

bullydogs1: I did what you suggested and removed the cap but didn't see any oil which is good as that tells me the oil hasn't started to pass through the motor. The loss of the use of the slides is what worries me the most with the coach and yes I do carry the necessary tools to manually do the slides if need be. Only tough thing doing it manually is you have to be a contortionist to get at the pump when you can't open the generator compartment because it too is operated by the LCI pump.

deaton · 06-07-2010, 08:50 PM

My Lippert pump failed over the memorial day weekend - with the slides extended, naturally. The symptoms were the same as many others, leaking seal flooded the motor and shut that puppy down.

I turned to the forums and found a lot of other folks with the same problem. I also found an excellent post from last November from HAPPYCARZ that helped me a lot in dealing with the problem. http://www.irv2.com/forums/f115/lipp...ent-60352.html

Long story short, I got the slides in and rig home and contacted Lippert. They didn't so much as say they would replace the pump, but they said to send them pictures, my bill of sale, etc and they would give consideration. I bought the coach "new" in December of 2009, so it is well within the one year warranty period despite it being a 2008 model. So, I'm optimistic.

It doesn't seem to be too tough a job to change it out, and I'll let you'all know what Lippert does in my case.

kketterling · 06-14-2010, 01:51 PM

Just got off the phone with LCI and got the same request to send them a picture along with information regarding the coach. Hopefully they don't base their decision on when the coach was built because per Monaco that was 01/18/08 but I didn't purchase it until 10/15/09 and it only had 400 miles on it. Will wait and see.

deaton: Have you gotten a response back from LCI yet after you sent them the picture? Getting ready to take a trip starting 7/6 so hope they move quickly with this.

Thanks

idenphones · 06-14-2010, 02:26 PM

We are the second owners of our coach, a 2009 and LCI was VERY fair with us. Sent them the pictures and they shipped out the pump and manifold assembly no charge but they did insist that a dealer do the install.

bobinaz123 · 06-15-2010, 07:28 AM

So far the lipper pump on my 08 Camelot has not failed, but these posts got me spooked. On inspection I found that the pump mount is poorly designed. The oil tank has very little support. Most of the weight has nothing under it to support it. It is supported by the treads where the tank attaches to the pump. So, I installed a heavy L shaped support bracket on the outer side of the wall of the the fuse compartment on the forward driver side for additional support.

I'm not sure this is the cause of the problems others are having, but at least this fix eliminates poor support as the cause.

markpj23 · 06-15-2010, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kketterling

Just got off the phone with LCI and got the same request to send them a picture along with information regarding the coach. Hopefully they don't base their decision on when the coach was built because per Monaco that was 01/18/08 but I didn't purchase it until 10/15/09 and it only had 400 miles on it. Will wait and see.

deaton: Have you gotten a response back from LCI yet after you sent them the picture? Getting ready to take a trip starting 7/6 so hope they move quickly with this.

Thanks

Ken,
Should not make a difference. Our coach was built 4/08, purchased 5/09 and I didn't call them until 370 days after purchase. So even if there was a 1-yr warranty it had already expired. LCI website says 2-year warranty for their products as I recall.

Good luck - let us know how you make out.

kketterling · 06-16-2010, 04:15 PM

Just got off the phone with LCI and they are sending me a new pump. They didn't want the old one back so I'm hoping they've improved upon the design. Will see when I get the new one. They didn't have a problem with my installing the unit either which is good as I'd have had to drive about a couple hundred miles to get it done by DeMartini.

Thanks to this forum I've taken care of something that probably would have waited until the pump failed. Based on posts last year concerning difficulty in getting warranty service from LCI after the bankruptcy I was figuring I'd have to tear into the pump myself.

Again very pleased with the handling of this by LCI.

idenphones · 06-16-2010, 05:21 PM

That's great news Ken!

Time to get the coveralls out!

bullydogs1 · 06-16-2010, 05:52 PM

The new motor assembly is a different design so the flaw has been designed out of it. LCI has proven to me and several others on the forum that they are willing to step up to the plate. At least you got yours well in time..I didn't...and poor RV Ron got it big time when in Delaware while the jacks were down...the motor shorted, smoked and almost lit up. Mine failed totally just before a trip with the kitchen slide stuck halfway. None of us liked that it happened in the first place, but if some company admits a fault and is willing to correct it, then that's reasonable and acceptable. More importantly, someone is willing to talk to you when you call for support or help. Another big plus.