How much maintenance should you do by yourself?

[Dennis_K]

I do all my own maintenance and repairs on all my vehicles unless it's under warranty. On the MH sometimes I do the warranty stuff to knowing I can't find a reliable shop near by that I can trust.

As for the question on how much you can do yourself... I recommend staying with what you are comfortable with doing, things you are familiar with. Once out of that comfort zone you probably should take to someone else.

I stop myself when the project takes tools I don't want to buy or requires lifting too much weight.

[dix39]

IMHO, as much as you want to. You can do what you feel comfortable with, or learn how to do more. It's all a matter of personal preference. And if the learning process is pursued there will be a mistake made occasionally. At least there have been for me. :-))

As soon as I get a new vehicle, cars, boats, aircraft, bikes, RV,s, etc., I get as many maintenance manuals as I can find that cover them. About the only thing I don't try is something that requires special tools that are very expensive, such as alignments. I have justified the purchase of many tools by doing my own work. I tell my wife it will cost this much to have someone else do the work and only this much for the tool. That usually works.

We have a 26' gas class A MH and have been looking for a short DP. One thing I've noticed about DPs is that everything is larger and therefore heavier. If you should decide to start removing things underneath be aware of that. I had a friend who was killed that way working on heavy equipment.

IMHO, there are some very helpful youtube vids, and a few that are not so helpful. Anyone can post them. Just be certain that before a lot of faith is placed in one that it is correct.

Just my 2c.

Steve

[Bigd9]

"Let the Professionals Do It" makes me cringe. The previous owner used professionals he trusted.

They charges him $1500 to install a new 15,000btu roof air conditioner because the original 13,500 one died. After I got the coach I found out the original unit was still up on the roof, but they had just installed the $24 starting capacitor.

He was charged several hundred for a new engine air filter, but the date code on the filter showed it was made about a half year before the coach was made!

He paid over $500 hundred dollars for a front wheel seal just 200 miles before I bought the coach. I noticed it was leaking badly and when I pointed it out to him he was sick. His trusted professional had closed shop and moved, so the PO couldn't go back on him and get the seal fixed properly.

So my thoughts are do as much as you can, or at least get educated so you can check on the work others do.

[Jake21]

IMO, definitely learn to change your fuel filter. I have had my "check engine" light come on and the now known engine hesitation. Happened twice and it was a simple fuel filter change in a Wally world parking lot. I always carry a spare.

[Dutch Star Don]

Like Clint Eastwood use to say..."a man must know his limitations". For several reasons, I think you should do everything you can, as long as you're skilled enough and comfortable with it doing it. First, not every shop is using a 'skilled" mechanic to do oil changes and often have a guy who doesn't have a clue changing oil. Since it's not to hard to change oil, there are few issues, but on occasion, they can screw something up. Second, I feel if you learn to do things like changing your own fuel filters, this skill will be invaluable on the road in an emergency, like bad fuel.

Lastly, I often find other small issues, before they become big issues, while working on my coach and rolling around underneath lubing the chassis.

[Spk64]

I agree ^^^^^
And as others implicated. Doing something yourself often highlights what was done poorly or just plain wrong in the past. I have un-covered many items that were not correctly done prior to us owning the coach.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by Spk64

And as others implicated. Doing something yourself often highlights what was done poorly or just plain wrong in the past. I have un-covered many items that were not correctly done prior to us owning the coach.

Just yesterday I was moving a poorly placed connection on the CR-V I recently bought and found that the shop had left out a support tube from inside the plastic air tubing. There is no way for the compression fitting to seal the connection if that small piece is left out. Going to have to drive over to RoadMaster tomorrow and see if they'll sell me just that piece or if I have to buy a whole parts bag for $30 - $40.

[MSHappyCampers]

I assume you're talking about routine maintenance like oil changes, lube, etc.

I don't do any of that, it's just not my area of expertise. I am a pretty good handy-man and do most of the repairs and mods, but nothing pertaining to the chassis, engine, or tranny!

I take the coach to Speedco once a year for that. Costs me less than $300 for the whole thing, including servicing the generator.

[GreyGoose57]

Thanks Joe,

One other question....when you go to Speedco, do you get synthetic motor oil or regular?

Thanks,
Mark

[windsorbill]

Originally Posted by GreyGoose57

Thanks Joe,

One other question....when you go to Speedco, do you get synthetic motor oil or regular?

Thanks,
Mark

Mark,

Unless you're driving an awful lot of miles in your coach, I don't think synthetic is a good 'investment' for the main engine. Cummins want the oil changed ever year, and if you're only putting on 5-10,000, that's well within the mileage for regular oil. At least that's the way I see it.

[steve11669]

I do everything on mine because I enjoy doing it, the job gets done right and i dont get ripped off.

When something needs attention of which I know nothing about, I do some research and get into it. Theres sometimes a fear of the unknown but I always figure things out.

My motor home came with a file folder of repair invoices from the previous owner who would drop the rig off at a big rv facility for big and small repairs. I went through all the invoices and was amazed, m that a business would charge so much for many menial tasks that I was able (or learned) to do myself for little or no cost. I'm talking major dollars! I wasn't amazed the previous owner would pay the prices because I see his or her stupidity. The repair shops know to what extent they rip stupid people off. I could give examples of those charges but suffice it to say there's continuial gouging.

I have an ex brother in law who was the service manager at a prominant Cadillac dealsr in San Diego and he shared how he and the dealership routinely rips customers off. I am talking daily and extensive! Dealers make more on service that cars sales.

These repair shops are not your friends. They're there to get your money. Those guys in the back with dirty finger nails are not rocket scientists! But they do what many people wont do for themselves. (Here comes the excuses).

As I said initially, I enjoy working on my things and knowing it was done and done right. Those who don't choose to work on their things pay much more than I but thats their right.

[PRO-BILT]

Originally Posted by Bigd9

"Let the Professionals Do It" makes me cringe. The previous owner used professionals he trusted.

They charges him $1500 to install a new 15,000btu roof air conditioner because the original 13,500 one died. After I got the coach I found out the original unit was still up on the roof, but they had just installed the $24 starting capacitor.

He was charged several hundred for a new engine air filter, but the date code on the filter showed it was made about a half year before the coach was made!

He paid over $500 hundred dollars for a front wheel seal just 200 miles before I bought the coach. I noticed it was leaking badly and when I pointed it out to him he was sick. His trusted professional had closed shop and moved, so the PO couldn't go back on him and get the seal fixed properly.

So my thoughts are do as much as you can, or at least get educated so you can check on the work others do.

That's my same experience and opinion on the DP that I just bought last fall.
They go in and fix whatever is on the work order (maybe) and that's it. For example sway bar link bushings gone on one side and the rod was wearing a groove in the sway bar eyelet. Don't know how many miles that would take but it was greased/serviced regularly, and no one seen it when it's inches from several zerks??? And don't get me started on cleaning things that have been worked on.
The PO couldn't even change bulbs (I found a receipt for $115.00 to change two of them) He had to rely on others and that did not work in his case. (now mine) But I am happy as I practically stole it and I have more time than money to bring it back to life again.
If you can't or won't fix it yourself, at least get to know your coach.

[Steve Ownby]

Originally Posted by GreyGoose57

Hi Everyone,



I have just purchased a 2003 HR Navigator (ISM 500HP Diesel) and would like to know how much of the routine maintenance you can do on your own without relying on a service center? I am very willing to do simple maintenance but I don't want to screw anything up and get over my head. I have learned over the years that I should leave some jobs to the professionals but I am not sure where that line is on a diesel motorhome. For those of you that do maintenance on your motorhome, what jobs do you do yourself?

Hey Mark,

My coach and yours are close cousins. I have owned mine for 11 years now and lived in it full time for ten. When the coach was new to me I had it serviced at the selling dealer for the first maintenance cycle. Since then I have performed most all the maintenance. I have used Speedco for L/O/F a couple of times and I don't attempt anything that would require a wheel to be pulled. As MrD said at the age of 70, some tasks are pretty tough.

Most regular, routine maintenance is certainly within your ability to perform. The fluid volumes are greater but Walmart as well as many other locations will accept automotive fluids. This the availability of U tube and these forums for advise you will be fine.

[LPerry]

My advice is to assess your basic aptitude for these things and do all that you can. If you have even a little mechanical ability you can do a lot of things yourself especially with the resources on the web to help you along. Don't be afraid to try things and learn. You'll learn about the vehicle and save money. If you get into basic oil changes and such you may even find that you can fix simple engine issues on the road with your new found confidence and some info from the forum.

I do it all myself. I couldn't afford the coach otherwise. I think I did at least $10k worth of work to the thing in the first month if I were to take it in to a shop. And that was just an evening or two a week after work. Many view these vehicles as complex, but really what they are is a big collection of simple systems.