Northernizing and Winterizing RV

[restwzeasy]

The RV we purchased has spent all of its 7 years either in Florida or Georgia. It is now in Ontario, Canada and I'm wondering if there is anything that I need to take care of in order to localize it. We used to sometimes go winter RVing - ski trips. Since the RV has never seen a real winter, I'm not sure if I have to change all the fluids and add block, fuel, oil, battery, etc. heaters? Does anyone have any experience in something like this? What is the recommendation for using the RV slides in winter snow/ice conditions?

Oh, and what suggestions are there for underbody rust protective spraying? Most of the underbody is covered from the elements, but some parts aren't and they just love salting the roads over here in winter.

[JimM68]

Many manufacturers offer an optional "Cold weather package" Mine has it, even though I bought it (used) out of florida. The cold weather package included heating in the water / waste tank areas, a winterizing valve and inlet, and an electric heater in the wet bay. Probably a few other things as well.

What year, make, and model is your coach?
Do you have the build sheet / window sticker?

[restwzeasy]

Hi JimM68. I don't have the window sticker, but I know that there are heater vents in the storage/water bays. The things I'm not sure about are the fluids and heaters.

Are there different lubricants/oils/fluids recommended for the vehicle being used in Ontario and possibly through the winter? I know the previous owner recently did all of the fluid changes including coolant. I'll check the freezing point for the coolant, but what else do I need to be concerned about?

In the owner's manual it talks about needing: battery, fuel, coolant, oil, etc. heaters. Going to try to check today if I can find any of them installed, but I strongly doubt it as the previous owners wouldn't need such items.

[bdaball]

I doubt undercoating a 7 year old chassis would prevent any future damage to calcium or road salt. Most any surface will already have small amounts of surface rust by now and any coating you do would only trap that rust and moisture inside. I would think you would be best served to leave well enough alone.

As far as winterizing. Make sure anything rubber or flexible that moves is well coated with some type of lube or spray. Running a slide in and out in freezing temps may cause a rip if one surface is frozen to another if you attempt to seperate them.

Normal winterizing may become an issue unless you use the "Blow-out" method.

Most RV's are not designed to be used regularly in temperature below freezing. That would not be my first choice.

[TW]

Fleetwood is manufactured in the 'North', That it was used in Florida or even SOLD makes no difference. The fluid.s are the same, if SOLD in Canada or FL. Just check the Coolant. Winterizing is the easy. If You like not to do it yourself, see your nearest FLEETWOOD dealer. If he does not want to work at it, because you bought it SOUTH, have a Mobil Tech come to you.

[JimM68]

Any motorhome can be winterized.
I think the OP is talking about USING his moho in the winter?

My Knight has the cold weather package, and I would not fear using it in cold weather. I am however deathly afraid of leaving it outside cold and dead and forgotten all winter long.

Call fleetwood with your FIN number, and get the build sheet on your coach.

Most Class A diesel motorhomes are built to be used in cold temps, but best to be sure.

Using your moho in the winter is going to require power, and plenty of it. Both electricity and propane. You'll want to connect your drains and dump only when required, and the same with your incoming water. Keep the propane heaters running, they heat the basement. Pull the slides in if it is going to be very cold or windy. Consider putting something over the windows to insulate them and prevent condensation, same with your ceiling vents. At the same time, be sure to provide at least some fresh air. Humidity buildup can be a big problem. Make sure your batteries do not freeze. Best way is to keep charging them.

[restwzeasy]

I`ll ask for the build sheet and also ask them for recommendation for the northern climate.

We don`t usually use the fresh water from the coach when we go somewhere in winter. Instead, we bring gallon containers of water from supermarket and use the gray and black tanks only after pouring few gallons of RV antifreeze down the drains in the fall.

We used to keep our 94 Sourthwind outside and didn`t have major issues. We always ensured that the roof, windows, and door were sealed from water and we`d go clear the snow off the roof after major snow storms. In addition, we would start the MH for about 10mins about once a month.

I`m trying to find indoor storage for our-new RV; however, it is proving to be difficult finding anything; never mind something reasonably priced. Only one I found was about $1,200 for Oct-May and no in-out access.

I know diesel gels in the cold weather and without any of the heating components (for fuel, oil, coolant, batteries), I want at least some piece of mind so that I could run the engine at least once a month even if it does end up staying outside. I also thought about buying a cover to give the MH some protection; however, when I was at the dealer he asked me if we had full body paint. After answering yes, he told me that he wouldn`t put a cover on if it were him. Hard to argue with a sales person who is arguing against his commission.

[HD4Mark]

For the fuel you will need to buy anti-gel additive for the tank. Available at any auto parts store. The stuff I used to buy treated up to 100 gallons so one bottle did the trick. Now we are lucky enough to drive it somewhere warm.

For the fresh water system living in NY just south of you with below zero (F, we Americans haven't got over trying to change to metric) I would empty holding tanks, empty and bypass the hot water tank, blow out the lines with a small compressor then fill with RV antifreeze and dump some in both holding tanks. Might have been overkill but we never had a freeze up problem. This was to store it not use it all winter of course.

Oil wise you may want to drop from 15W40 to 10W30 but check your manual. Your antifreeze can be easily checked with a cheap hydrometer from your auto parts store.

[restwzeasy]

Thanks HD4Mark. Do you store your RV indoors or outside?

Is there anything special that anyone does if they are storing it outside? I heard waxing the roof with either car or floor wax. Thoughts?

[HD4Mark]

Quote:

Originally Posted by restwzeasy Thanks HD4Mark. Do you store your RV indoors or outside? Is there anything special that anyone does if they are storing it outside? I heard waxing the roof with either car or floor wax. Thoughts?

We wish we had indoor storage but only have a concrete pad next to our detached garage with a 30amp hook up. Our rig only gets used in the winter to escape the frozen north so there is not near as much work to do. We do have a cover for it but this summer we did so much work on stuff like the a/c and replacing the fridge it never got put on. The covers can be a PIA to put on and take off and you need to be careful what might wear or tear a hole in them. We had to put tennis balls on the little levers on a slide topper then patch the cover.

Some laugh but we use Mop & Glow floor wax on the roof after washing it with car wash soap and a deck brush. Seems to work OK for the money. Wash and wax the rest but that is such a huge job I would almost consider hiring it out.

[restwzeasy]

Ok, so the winterizing is partly done. I drained the tanks, blew-out the hoses with air, drained the water out of ice maker, washed and waxed everything including putting 303 on the roof before waxing it. Cleaned everything inside, put RV coolant down every drain, and plenty of dryer sheets throughout to keep rodents away.

Now I'm trying to handle the fluids. I changed the wiper fluid with one good to -40C and have the RV in shop to do engine oil, transmission fluid, coolant, and hydraulic fluid/filter check/replacement. The shop is fairly big (10 bays I think), but they mostly work on trucks so they are being careful with the RV and called me to ask what kind of fluids do I want. I was hoping that they would know.

Anyway, I've been reading the forums and I'm still worried about the engine oil. Majority of owners seem to like 15w-40, but even if I don't drive the RV anywhere in winter, I will have to start and run it for at least 10 mins at least once a month. I'm worried the 15w-40 standard oil will be very thick like honey in -35C and am not sure if it will even start. If it does start, I can just imagine all of the metal shaving going on. For that reason I'm thinking synthetic, but I definitely don't want to be doing 2 oil changes per year since the distance travelled won't be enough to burn the oil even in an annual change cycle. I think this is the list that I should go with.

engine oil: Rotella T6 Synthetic 5w-40
transmission oil: TranSynd TES 295
coolant: fully formulated/heavy duty
hydraulic fluid: Dextron III

Any objections/suggestions?

[Martind4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by restwzeasy I will have to start and run it for at least 10 mins at least once a month. Any objections/suggestions?

I think you'll find you will do more damage by running only 10 minutes per month. If you can't get it out on the road and run for 20 or 30 miles, I think you're better off to just let it sit.

At 10 minutes the engine isn't warm enough to evaporate the starting fuel that gets washed into the oil system. Starting and running a diesel for short periods is just inviting trouble.

[restwzeasy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martind4 I think you'll find you will do more damage by running only 10 minutes per month. If you can't get it out on the road and run for 20 or 30 miles, I think you're better off to just let it sit. At 10 minutes the engine isn't warm enough to evaporate the starting fuel that gets washed into the oil system. Starting and running a diesel for short periods is just inviting trouble.

Thanks for the pointer Martind4. Spoke to the shop today and they gave me their view on the engine oil choice. I decided to stay with the 15w-40 diesel engine. I think Cummins requires CI-4 or CJ-4. It is a shop that works on trucks a lot so I trust them. It's mostly me trying to get through everything as I'm trying to learn everything and without looking shaky in the shop.

["007"]

I'd stick with your list looks good to me plus your have a heater to heat your oil before starting if you need to get out and head south.
My coach will sleep until spring after all the fluid changes, will just exercise the Gen monthly.