Check engine light on, Freightliner chassis

[smack2020]

I am in the process of purchasing a new, 2013, Itasca Ellipse on a Freightliner chassis with a 450 Cummins. During our test drive, a check engine light came on. The dealer took the RV to Cummins who said that it was a freightliner problem. So the dealer took the RV to Freightliner where it has sat since Friday. Now the dealer is saying that a lot of mechanics are off on vacation and they don't know when they can get to the repair. Now dealer is telling me they have an appointment 110 miles away on Wednesday in case the local Freightliner shop can't fix the problem.
Question, is it safe to drive the RV over 100 miles with the check engine light on? Also I'm not to crazy about dealer putting over 200 miles on the RV.

[Wayne M]

I had the check engine light come on but in my case it was a Cummins fault code. I forget which one I called first , but there is a sequence that can be performed that will give the fault code. I performed that sequence and read back the fault code and they stated it was the EGR. It was 80 miles to the nearest shop. I specifically asked Cummins if it was okay to drive it that far and they stated that it was. They said to keep a watch on the dash and should the stop engine light come on - stop immediately and all for a tow. An EGR foul can cause regeneration problems. So see if you can determine what the code is.

The very first time my check light came on was on another trip. Drove it 45 miles to a Cummins dealer. The took their laptop out to the coach, plug in the harness and saw that it was one, and only one, fail of the EGR. They reset it and it was over a year when the EGR failed. The first time the attributed it to altitude change, which was great, and re-flashed the system with a new code. All under warranty.

Happy trails.

[Mekanic]

If I didn't buy it yet I'd just look at another one.

[rdkng88]

My check engine light came on and after a short time the engine powered down to a crawl. Ended up after a lot of cost and some rip of mechanics it was the crankshaft timing sensor. I was told it was the fuel pump and that cost was 2400 so you have to be careful. It failed three times and stranded me each time. I bought the best towing insurance and a tester of my own never had another problem. The Freightliner is gone and replaced with a Monico Windsor.

[Caveman CBB]

On my 2004 Chevy pickup the check engine light has been on for years. Everybody I know with a vehicle made between 1995 and 2008; or so; has the light on. We just put a piece of tape over the light and ignore it. It usually something stupid that turns the light on like you didn't get the gas cap tight enough or something like that.

[RELHUB]

Originally Posted by smack2020

I am in the process of purchasing a new, 2013, Itasca Ellipse on a Freightliner chassis with a 450 Cummins. During our test drive, a check engine light came on. The dealer took the RV to Cummins who said that it was a freightliner problem. So the dealer took the RV to Freightliner where it has sat since Friday. Now the dealer is saying that a lot of mechanics are off on vacation and they don't know when they can get to the repair. Now dealer is telling me they have an appointment 110 miles away on Wednesday in case the local Freightliner shop can't fix the problem.
Question, is it safe to drive the RV over 100 miles with the check engine light on? Also I'm not to crazy about dealer putting over 200 miles on the RV.

If you have not signed off on this purchase, I would not buy it. I would not want to take ownership of anything brand with service issues. Even if they offered to give me an extended warranty for free, I would still have to think about the deal.

[bdaball]

Two suggestions:

1) Call 1-800-FTL-HELP. They are there 24/7 with a trained staff. Be sure to have at least the last six digits of the serial number with you when you call.

2) Join in on the Freightliner chat room right here on IRV2 every Wednesday evening at 9 PM EST. Some one may have experienced the same situation

[SNAPPY]

It's a CEL(Check Engine Light). Key word being ENGINE. Freightliner is ALWAYS behind. I know. I was diesel mechanic for years and spent a few of those at Dallas FTL. They've since opened another location but are just as busy. Call their parts department and expect a hold time of 30min at the minimum. Take it to your nearest Cummins service facility. Call, make an appointment and I bet they can get to you within a few hours.

http://wsl.cummins.com/ServiceLocato...servicelocator

[smack2020]

Been a week and still can't find the reason check engine light is on. I took the advice on this thread and walked away from the deal and went with another rig. Thanks for everyone's help.

[JBMahan]

I hope this makes me feel better, venting I mean. Test driving Tiffin and amber 'check engine light' (CEL) came on, followed by the red CEL and "shut engine down" message. I turned to the salesperson and said that being a retired Air Force pilot, when the red light came on, it scared the hell out of me so I immediately headed for the shoulder of a busy interstate. She said to continue back to the dealership. I did. Dealership took Tiffin to Cummins who diagnosed problem but refused to do warranty work. Dealership took Tiffin to Freightliner who fixed the problem/s. Took delivery of Tiffin, drove from VA to St Louis and back with no problem. I took Tiffin back to dealership for some minor problems and it cost me $98.00, half the bill since it is a used 2011. Had major vacation planned 20 Dec thru 2 Jan at Myrtle beach. I picked up the Tiffin about 3 weeks ago and while driving it home the CEL came on. I made a U-turn back to dealership. I told them I had to have it back before the 20th of Dec or else I will be in divorce court Jan. My wife and I have been making this trip to Myrtle every year now for 5 years. Dealer took the Tiffin to a truck service repair and they diagnosed problem as 'crankcase breather filler' and had to order part. Cummins and Freightliner would not honor warranty work. RV sat at truck repair for two weeks. Yesterday, my wife and I decided to find truck repair and talk to service manager. He was very nice with same story as some above with limited qualified techs. He didn't know when part was coming in. He stated that Cummins told him the only way to keep this from happening again was every 2-3 days run the engine until it gets up to temperature to get the water out of the filler. Canx'd trip to Myrtle. That very afternoon I received call from dealership service person who stated that he authorized payment of $923 to truck repair. There was a long pause so I asked if I was supposed to pay 50% of bill and he stated that the dealership might absorb cost. What a lovely holiday. Oh, I'm due in court in Feb.

[Trekkers]

Originally Posted by smack2020

I am in the process of purchasing a new, 2013, Itasca Ellipse on a Freightliner chassis with a 450 Cummins. During our test drive, a check engine light came on. The dealer took the RV to Cummins who said that it was a freightliner problem. So the dealer took the RV to Freightliner where it has sat since Friday. Now the dealer is saying that a lot of mechanics are off on vacation and they don't know when they can get to the repair. Now dealer is telling me they have an appointment 110 miles away on Wednesday in case the local Freightliner shop can't fix the problem.
Question, is it safe to drive the RV over 100 miles with the check engine light on? Also I'm not to crazy about dealer putting over 200 miles on the RV.

We have a 2013 Itasca Ellipse that we bought on August 31st of last year. We were having our CEL on intermittently. It never caused any decrease in engine performance. It would come on if the engine was cold , warm or hot. It would stay on from seconds to about 2 minutes then go out again. It would come on 4 times in a minute or not for 2 hours. We took it to Stoops FREIGHTLINER in Indianapolis. They pulled the codes off of it and it was the "Engine Brake Actuator" that was bad. It was replaced and haven't seen it come on since. It was covered by the warranty. We didn't have to pay a cent.

[calhyatt]

Why are all these coach owners having such problem with brand new equipment ? I know the new machines have much more emission stuff to deal with and exhaust fluid injectors and such but these chassis builders have been doing this a long time. Is it the fault of the coach builder messing around with the chassis wiring or is it just the state of affairs with new advanced, more powerful engines and accessories...Just wondering.

[bdaball]

Originally Posted by bdaball

Two suggestions:

1) Call 1-800-FTL-HELP. They are there 24/7 with a trained staff. Be sure to have at least the last six digits of the serial number with you when you call.

2) Join in on the Freightliner chat room right here on IRV2 every Wednesday evening at 9 PM EST. Some one may have experienced the same situation

REPEAT, See quote above.....

[Trekkers]

Originally Posted by calhyatt

Why are all these coach owners having such problem with brand new equipment ? I know the new machines have much more emission stuff to deal with and exhaust fluid injectors and such but these chassis builders have been doing this a long time. Is it the fault of the coach builder messing around with the chassis wiring or is it just the state of affairs with new advanced, more powerful engines and accessories...Just wondering.

FREIGHTLINER installs the Cummins engine and makes sure it's starts up. In our case it was a Cummins problem and Stoops has an on-site Cummins-employed engine guy. He's the one that actually does the work. Regardless of the MTBF of a particular component, there are always some that are going to fail early. Obviously thousands of coaches work just fine. This tends to be a self-selecting group here. Many come specifically to find out how to fix a problem. Those that don't have problems don't constantly talk about there wonderful coaches. It's essentially the same reason the news overwhelmingly covers the bad stuff, not the myriad of GOOD acts that occur everyday in the world.