Stuck in Lodi

[Gordo]

It has been sometime since I have posted anything on this site but thot I would append what is still an unfinished saga for all to see. My 02 Itasca Suncruiser 35U on the W22 chasis has performed rather well thru the 38000 mile mark however last monday on a return trip from Idaho to home in Arkansas, inside Colorado some 25 miles from the Kansas line the old 8.1 decided to throw a fan blade thru the radiator. My towing company, wanting to do things right, had me towed 100 miles to the nearest workhorse repair show, a sublet operation in the very small town of Grenada, Co. One nice restaurant, nothing else except for closed buildings and poverty. No cops, no docs, no 911 service etc, not even a grocery store or gas station. The shop owner is conscientous and wanting to perform....unfortunately I have to, at this point, saddle him with my extended warranty carrier....Western General Ins. Co.a heartless bunch of b........d's if I ever met one. It is over 100 degrees, the basement AC is barely doing the job running off of the genset, my wife is diabetic with hbp and I have 3 chihuahuas doing the tango....The Ins. co. decide they want to send an inspector....don't do anything until he gets there which should be 1-2 days. Don't order parts....do nada.....I blow up and proceed to tell them off. Guess they finally see it my way but then on 3rd day try to foist some aftermarket light duty parts on me....the shop owner says no way...if they force him to take that route his invoice would reflect that for my protection...a day later they relented...we order the parts on the 5th day,,no way of getting them here even tho I offer to pay airfreight overnight...Ext. warr. people won't of course. so now we don't get parts until Monday which will make it 7 days laid up. Just got word today that tornado hit WH distribution warehouse in Michigan or somewhere and don't know if parts made it out first or not......the Gods must be angry with me. If this adventure ever ends I will probably finish this or maybe not...just fade away.

[Gordo]

It has been sometime since I have posted anything on this site but thot I would append what is still an unfinished saga for all to see. My 02 Itasca Suncruiser 35U on the W22 chasis has performed rather well thru the 38000 mile mark however last monday on a return trip from Idaho to home in Arkansas, inside Colorado some 25 miles from the Kansas line the old 8.1 decided to throw a fan blade thru the radiator. My towing company, wanting to do things right, had me towed 100 miles to the nearest workhorse repair show, a sublet operation in the very small town of Grenada, Co. One nice restaurant, nothing else except for closed buildings and poverty. No cops, no docs, no 911 service etc, not even a grocery store or gas station. The shop owner is conscientous and wanting to perform....unfortunately I have to, at this point, saddle him with my extended warranty carrier....Western General Ins. Co.a heartless bunch of b........d's if I ever met one. It is over 100 degrees, the basement AC is barely doing the job running off of the genset, my wife is diabetic with hbp and I have 3 chihuahuas doing the tango....The Ins. co. decide they want to send an inspector....don't do anything until he gets there which should be 1-2 days. Don't order parts....do nada.....I blow up and proceed to tell them off. Guess they finally see it my way but then on 3rd day try to foist some aftermarket light duty parts on me....the shop owner says no way...if they force him to take that route his invoice would reflect that for my protection...a day later they relented...we order the parts on the 5th day,,no way of getting them here even tho I offer to pay airfreight overnight...Ext. warr. people won't of course. so now we don't get parts until Monday which will make it 7 days laid up. Just got word today that tornado hit WH distribution warehouse in Michigan or somewhere and don't know if parts made it out first or not......the Gods must be angry with me. If this adventure ever ends I will probably finish this or maybe not...just fade away.

[DriVer]

Of all the rotten luck! Throwing a fan blade, you just can't make this stuff up. I hope you get back on the road soon and we're all waiting to hear how all of this gets resolved.

[John-D]

The tornados that hit in Michigan did their worst damage in the Fenton area. I suspect, that workhorse shipped the day they got the order so you may be in luck there. They ship Fed-Ex by the way

You might see if the shop can supplement you with 50 amps of 120/240 volt power (offer to pay if they have the outlet) that might help a bit.

Meanwhile... Do the shop around on extended warranty companies... Most of them I fear are like the one that is currently biting you.

[Joe Gilbert]

I recall that some of the early W22's had an issue with the fan shroud not being attached rigidly enough. The shroud would flex, hit the fan, and in some cases break the fan. Make sure this was not the cause of your fan failure.

[Gordo]

Update: Workhorse parts not available at the current moment from distribution center in east due to tornado damage.They cannot tell me when I will be able to get the parts....being required to leave RV at shop in Colorado and take toad to home in Arkansas. When finished will have to return to pick up. Presume WH will be smart enuff to put some redundant systems in now to avoid a repeat of this disaster. Reno has only limited parts and cannot help.

[max49]

Good luck Gordo, that's discouraging, and it could happen to any of us, and we'll be waiting for a long time for parts.
Either WH just does'nt care or they just don't know how to keep parts in stock and get them to their customers pronto.

[DriVer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by max49:
Either WH just doesn't care or they just don't know how to keep parts in stock and get them to their customers pronto. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Max, They had a tornado for Pete's sake and quite possibly a flood. Jeepers! I think we've all seen that.

[brgman]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Either WH just doesn't care or they just don't know how to keep parts in stock and get them to their customers pronto. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Driver,
Most large company and distributors have multiple distribution centers. The company I work for has 8 distribution centers all over the USA. I would hate to think what would happen if Workhorse distribution center burned to the ground.

Brgman

[DriVer]

I think they've developed this thread over here about the Parts Warehouse.

[Max Tunnell]

I had the exact same thing happen about 1 year ago, 48000 miles, on our 2003 38G Adventurer that is the twin of Driver's. Lots of damage- radiator, A/C and related stuff.

I did not have as much of a problem with the warranty folks (They did inspect, but we were in San Antonio) or as much of a time problem. BUT-- I can not help but wonder if there is a built in problem with the fan or the shroud. and I wonder if it will happen again.

I would not have given it a second thought untilI saw your poat

[Joe Gilbert]

Max / DriVer: There was in fact a "built in problem" with the fan shroud not being properly secured. The issue was discussed on this web site or perhaps RV.net. The shroud was not secured on the bottom of the shroud and could flex enough to hit the fan.

I just rolled under my W22 to remind myself what I did to correct the problem. I added two self tapping screws on the bottom lip of the shroud, attaching it to the metal frame behind the shroud (this was the fix performed by WH and by several owners). I've had no problems in 24,000 miles.

[oemtech]

I have an Dec 03 chassis... But, I figured that most everything after about Apr 04 should have the fix installed.

The GOOD & The BAD



The FIX:

[Joe Gilbert]

Yes Dale, that is the required fix. My chassis is an 04 and did not have this fix. I added two bolts however, the one you show certainly cures the problem.

Perhaps someone, with a better memory than mine, should put together list of these nifty fixes and have it posted full-time on the opining page.

Recalls / fixes I can remember

1) Fuel clip recall.
2) Fan Shroud attachement.
3) Brake linkage greese fitting.
4) Check for proper wire protection on tilt-steering column.
5) Water ingestion into air intake (perhaps only a National RV issue).
6) Water finding its way into windshield wiper
wiring (perhaps only a National RV issue).
7)Need for brake caliper maintenance.

I'm sure there are more items, such as these, which have been known problems on a significant number of W22's/W24's.

DriVer, can you add to this list?????? If yes, we could submit our fixes for these issues and have the best fixes listed for each known problem. Just a thought.