Monaco Says Its Not Their Problem....

[Las Vegas Rambler]

Hi The following I posted on the Monaco Owners page, but thought that HR and others using the Roadmaster Chassis should be aware.

BEWARE! I was enroute to Alaska.. 5 miles south of the Alaskan border when the problem began. Seems as though all the coolant was leaking out of my 2007 Diplomat. I pulled over, cooled it down, added water and made it across the border to a gas station / Rv Park.

I was informed by Monaco that the "closest Monaco Certified Service Center" was 300 miles away in Fairbanks.... A $2900 tow later here I am at the service center.

I was informed that the radiator looks like someone shot the inside of it with multiple shotgun blasts......

Small rocks from the gravel road where they temporarily patched the roadway had been picked up and propelled at a high rate of speed by the cooling fan into the radiator. Therefore because it is "road debris" it is not Monacos problem. They also elaborated that there is a rock shield that prevents this problem. They told the repair center that the radiator is $1900 plus approximately $800 in shipping from Indiana....

Hmmmm....I learned that there IS a rock guard in place on the Roadmaster Chassis - BUT that rock guard is right below the fan.... it only helps with "road debris" coming in from right below the fan..... I also learned there is NOTHING to prevent "road debris" from coming up from the tires on either side of that rock guard, or from the Monaco installed rock guard that hangs down the back of the coach that throws the rocks back in towards the fan which in turn propels those rocks into the radiator.

I know I went extremely slow over the gravel patches - and I learned that it wouldn't matter as the vortex that is created by the MONACO Provided rock guard traps rocks, throws them back towards the fan and even if I was going two miles an hour I would probably experience the same issue. Other roadmaster chassis coaches have had the same problem.

Hold on guys - there is a fix!!! I learned that you can use screening wire attached on both sides with wire wraps (tiewraps) to prevent any side entry of "road debris" If you didn't want to do it yourself, I learned that wire is $20.00 and the installation labor is approximately $45.00! When it comes time to service the filters etc, you can easily cut the tiewraps and reinstall them after service. I wish I had known - I would much rather have paid $65.00 then the $5600.00 I am looking at right now.

Just wanted to help others to know about the design flaw and to know there is an inexpensive fix.

June 26 Update
Here is an update for those that are interested and have no vested interest in protecting Monacos back.

I made multiple calls to "all" levels of Monaco management including Toolson on down and they would NOT accept any liability for this issue!
The response was that owners should take the necessary precautions to protect their coach before making a trip.....

I knew of protecting the headlights and the risk of gravel into the windshield BUT who would know that I should install barriers in the engine compartment????

Today I called Customer Service about "other issues" ....my front slide doesn't seal when extended and my front roof air is inop...During the call I digressed into my disappointment concerning the blown radiator caused by rocks being blown into it from the tires.. The technician said that if I had called him, he would have told me of that issue and what steps to take to prevent it....Boy am I sorry I didn't talk with him before this event - curious how one technician at Monaco knows the issue and the fix and no one else that I talked to
at Monaco Corporate knows.

I had stopped by Coburg enroute, met with several people in customer service, had talked about our planned trip to Alaska and No One there or at the other dealers that I have been to enroute ever mentioned taking addional steps..

I am waiting for the new radiator. Should be next week sometime. I understand that this repair center will install what is aluminum screening that is quite similar to window screen to prevent it from happening again.

Stuck in Fairbanks

John

[DriVer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Las Vegas Rambler:
Stuck in Fairbanks </div></BLOCKQUOTE>LV Rambler, Hang in there partner! Wishing you the best.

[dlovitt]

Does your coach have a rear-mounted or side mounted radiator?

[Bill2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dlovitt Does your coach have a rear-mounted or side mounted radiator?

Dlovit, this incident happened a year ago. The person that this happened to may not even be on the site anymore. The coach he is talking about has the rear radiator. If it had been the side radiator, that probably would not have happened.

[dlovitt]

bill 2
Thanks for the info.

[Ronnie Bledsoe 2006 Dutchstar 43']

I had a Monaco Dynasty with a side mount radiator. Travelling I5 North of Los Banos Ca. I stopped at a rest area and did my walk around only to find coolant running on the ground. Shut down and called Coach Net got towed to Modesto.
Problem caused by a rock kicked up by duals into shroud several revolutions and into the radiator creating a hole and leak. Fan blades also nicked. So it can happen to a side mounted radiator.

[dlovitt]

Anybody have a "fix" for this potential problem?

[moisheh]

dlovitt:

There was mention in one of the forums of a rock shield that can be installed. IIRC someone made their own urilizing steel and expanded metal.

[Happycarz]

dlovit,
Anything is possible. My experience with 3 Monacos with the side radiator is that I haven't had anything damage a radiator in over 150,000 miles. That includes kicking up rocks on gravel roads. (The toad didn't like that.)
The rear radiator models were the ones that had the majority of the rock problems and some came from the factory with rock guards and some didn't.

[MonacoMama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moisheh dlovitt: There was mention in one of the forums of a rock shield that can be installed. IIRC someone made their own urilizing steel and expanded metal.

We have a rear mounted radiator. We also have this "rock shield" on the bottom of the coach. I believe it protects the oil filter and possibly the radiator. (Sacs removed it to do the oil change....)