Community Forums

Mine_Hunter · 03-08-2012, 02:05 PM

Hi All,

This is my first post on this wonderful board - and I hope that I can contribute to the community here as much as I can over time.

The last time I had an RV was about 7 years ago (Bounder 34J), so I am not 100% new to RV'ing and can handle most "above the floor" maintenance and repair. However, when it comes to the engine and drive train I tend to leave it to the experts most of the time.

After contracting the RV "bug" again over a year ago, I just last week picked up a 1998 Dolphin 5350 with the Ford chassis (460 engine I think?). It needs some fix-up's but luckily nothing major that I can see thank goodness. I won't go into the fact the last owners failed to clean out the black holding tank and it sat for months while the water evaporated (yuk). Sooooo much fun to deal with!

Anyway, today I would like ask some direction from the RV gurus on here. While driving the RV from Vancouver, WA back to Redmond, WA it was all to obvious the vehicle has some type of exhaust leak - as you could hear it plain as day mostly when pulling a grade and slightly less when the engine was at anything beyond idle. I don't know if it is a gasket, manifold, connections, or the pipe itself - but it sounds like it's on the right side of the doghouse.

The question is: where does one take such a large vehicle when it needs servicing like this and considering the engine size? A normal muffler shop? A Ford dealer? Some sort of specialty shop?

My worry is if I go to just any old muffler shop (like Midas) they would not have the knowledge to work on the rig? Am I off base? Worrying to much?

Suggestions?

Any and all comments would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

Mark

ga traveler · 03-08-2012, 02:31 PM

We took all our motorhomes to a nearby muffler shop for all our repairs. They did an excellant job. There is nothing special about a motorhome exhaust. The pipes are a little bigger than a car, but all exhaust shops carry larger size pipe.

Nick-B · 03-08-2012, 09:56 PM

Ah, the dreaded 460 exhaust leak. If you are lucky it is only the pipe but these engines are notorious for cracked manifolds and broken manifold bolts. Just be prepared for it.
Best fix is replacing the restrictive manifolds with headers. It is not cheap but you'll gain some serious power as well. That is what I did and I'd do it again. Best of luck!

Mine_Hunter · 03-09-2012, 08:33 AM

Thank you all for the great information!

I will let you know what I find once I get a chance to have it looked at.

Hoepfully its nothing major!

Take care,

Mark