Community Forums

toban · 04-26-2015, 06:13 PM

Yes, a friend of mine just had a disaster with his 2005 Monaco Windsor.

He was travelling down the freeway when all of a sudden there was loud bang and a sudden scraping noise. He pulled off the freeway to find the whole front of his engine had dropped down, transmission was on the road in pieces and the drive shaft was broken. He got Coachnet to haul him into a large Peterbuilt dealer who was a Cummins/Allison dealer. They had 2 mechanics come out and look at it and it was determined his front motor mounts were broken and that's what caused the motor to fall forward taking everything else out. I was startled when I heard this. He has to have new motor mounts from Cummins, a rebuilt Allison 3000 transmission, a new bell housing for the front of the engine and a new drive shaft.

So, my question is this for anyone who is an expert on this issue, does this happen often and why would this happen? As you can appreciate, this is a very expensive fix.

Any comments would be appreciated and I'm sure all the readers with Cummins engines will take note.

Toban

WILDEBILL308 · 04-26-2015, 06:48 PM

Never heard of that happening before. I wish I could see the break. I am betting on a defect from Monaco.
Bill

Steve Ownby · 04-26-2015, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WILDEBILL308

Never heard of that happening before. I wish I could see the break. I am betting on a defect from Monaco.
Bill

At 10 years out, a manufacturing defect is a stretch. While motor mounts do fail, it's certainly not common. Also the motor mounts aren't Cummins supplied part. Could happen with any engine.

Steve Ownby
Full time since '07

Mr_D · 04-26-2015, 11:44 PM

Uh oh, that's a new one on me! Would never expect that to happen.

twinboat · 04-27-2015, 04:46 AM

Working around questionable " mechanics" , for 16 years, in a DPW yard, I could, and have seen things like this.

I am willing to bet, that sometime in the past, someone had the mounts off for whatever reason and didn't re-install them properly.

Smitty77 · 04-27-2015, 08:49 AM

Ouch! That's not a nice way to slow down... Sorry to hear this, and hope you update us if he learns of any reasons 'why'. I believe that year Windsor was on the Roadmaster RR8S chassis. And not that it matters in this problem, the leveling system I think was one year usage of Firestone. The coach was a solid, ISL driven, performer.

Pervious owner history of accidents and repairs? That would also cross my mind. As mentioned, removed and improperly replaced mounts. Poor annual maintenance of overall chassis, including inspections, looking for loosening bolts, stress cracks in metal, severe rust, etc. - many possible reasons for a failed motor mount...

Either way, best to your friend!!
Smitty

toban · 04-30-2015, 12:50 PM

I'm the original poster on this thread.

I just talked to my friend and he has confirmed the one engine mount was sheared off and it took the other one out with it. The mounts and yokes came from Cummins and were supplied by Cummins.

Doesn't this give you an nice fussy feeling?

Nice.

Toban

Dutch Star Don · 04-30-2015, 01:18 PM

This is a one in a million incident.....why would it give us a fuzzy feeling. It's silly sometimes how people jump to conclusions. It's a 10 year old coach and NO ONE knows how it has been treated. NO ONE knows if it struck something on the road that was never seen/found.

Lastly, for those who don't own a Roadmaster Chassis, the rear motor mount is the trailer hitch. It's all incorporated. I don't think ANYONE can determine what happened without an investigation and study of the circumstances/materials. I don't think I would be suddenly fearful of Cummins motor mounts after a freak incident.

Ron & Kerrie · 04-30-2015, 03:52 PM

WOW never heard this before

WILDEBILL308 · 04-30-2015, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toban

I'm the original poster on this thread.

I just talked to my friend and he has confirmed the one engine mount was sheared off and it took the other one out with it. The mounts and yokes came from Cummins and were supplied by Cummins.

Doesn't this give you an nice fussy feeling?

Nice.

Toban

Doesn't bother me a bit.
Bill

toban · 04-30-2015, 09:03 PM

Thank you for your post but I can tell you I know this person and he maintains his coach very well. He checks everything on it and has it serviced on schedule. I can't tell you if he hit something but I think there is a good possibility the mounts at the back were faulty and over time they failed.

Just my opinion.

Toban

Dutch Star Don · 04-30-2015, 10:23 PM

"Toban"....sorry....I wasn't trying to be critical, but is he the original owner? I take very good care of my RV's, but I don't really insect motor mounts. As I said, Monaco uses the trailer hitch as the rear mount. When they use to build the Roadmaster chassis, they created the frame rails, bolted the hitch on, installed the engine and then placed a large hitch assembly with a wheel on it into the receiver and then move it around the shop. Because it was a semi monocoque chassis, they use to use bottle jacks to support the frame rails until the walls were installed.

It could be the coach was bottomed out on the hitch several times and cracked the welds.

toban · 05-01-2015, 04:55 AM

He is the first/original owner.

Now, the way these engines are installed, the front of the engine is where the belts are which faces the rear of coach and the rear is where the transmission is attached. So that I'm straight here as I'm not familiar with the Monaco chassis per se as I have a mountain master Sparatan under my Dutch Star.

So, the front of his engine is attached to the bumper hitch assembly on the chassis? It was the rear mounts that let go where it is attached to the transmission.

Please set me clear if I've got this wrong. I could see if you bottomed out hard enough you could damage something if this is the way the engine is mounted.

Toban

Smitty77 · 05-02-2015, 11:03 AM

Yep, still a puzzle of what could have caused it. I wonder if a visit to the Monaco board with a repeat of some of this info, might provide more thoughts from owners of similar era coaches with Roadmaster's installed.

And yes, even with good manufactured products, like Roadmaster's (Well, maybe not the 4 series with the need of modifications to make safe... But I do feel that is not the norm for Roadmaster's.) and Cummins - bad parts do sometimes make it into usage. Who knows, that engine mount could have had a problem from day one.

Other Monaco owners can tell you if this is a fluke, or if others have had similar problems.

Either way, very sorry for your friend!
Best to all,
Smitty