PTO and Vickers Hydraulic Pump Trouble

[Grant Lasson]

I recently purchased a 2002 Zephyr (Cummins 450/Allison 4000). As we headed out on our first family trip, before we ever got out of town, the coach overheated. Major disappointment. The Freightliner of Utah people were useless. They took the coach to a shop that works on the Allison transmission. Their diagnosis is that the PTO spline was stripped and the Vickers hydraulic pump needs to be replaced. Very expensive. Over $4,600 in all.

Here are my questions:?
1) Has this been a "standard" problem? Are there recalls?
2) What caused this problem? I'm leery to simply replace with the same technology because of the expense and the lost time. (The coach has been in the shop for two weeks tomorrow.) If I caused the problem, I want to know how. If the pump/PTO combination is faulty, is there a substitution?
3) Can the Vickers pump be rebuilt? A new pump is $2,100...

The Zephyr only has ~32K miles on it. I thought I'd be getting a coach with a long life with few mechanical issues--I'm having a crisis of commitment and confidence.

Thanks for any available help,

Grant Lasson

[hondo122]

Try this site you may get better answers http://www.tiffinrvnetwork.com/

or post in our Tiffin owners group

[Grant Lasson]

Apparently, I'm not the only person with this issue. There is a good "white paper" at JOHN DAVIS RV SERVICES INC. that describes the symptoms and the resolution.

Thanks,

Grant