Community Forums

FIRE UP · 03-03-2019, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IMDiesel

FIRE UP

So If I understand you correctly their IS a lanyard? I have not been able to find any info about one on the MERIDIAN. My wife is a retired school bus driver and insist their should be an air drain. She drove a Freightliner school bus.
I cant seem to find one. But I was looking for an obvious valve. Does your coach have them?

IMDiesel,
Well Sir, as I stated earlier, they (Freightliner) didn't always thread the lanyards through the frame for access by the owner. It all depends on mood of the builders that day. I've seen many coaches with the lanyards coiled up, inside the frame rails, near the air tanks. I've seen them, just like mine, in the pics below. Now, ANYTHING is possible on these coaches. It is possible that Freightliner and or even Itasca/Winnebago, either removed them or, they were never installed to the valves in the first place.

So many guys think ALL COACHES are built the same. Nothing can be further from the truth. I've got a contact on this forum that we found out, our coaches were built minutes apart and, are identical coaches. But, there's differences in them.

So, you may have no lanyards at all. You may have them coiled up, at or near the air tanks. You may have them protruding through the frame, just inside the front passenger fender well. The pics below are ones I just took minutes ago.
Scott

IMDiesel · 03-03-2019, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIRE UP

IMDiesel,
Well Sir, as I stated earlier, they (Freightliner) didn't always thread the lanyards through the frame for access by the owner. It all depends on mood of the builders that day. I've seen many coaches with the lanyards coiled up, inside the frame rails, near the air tanks. I've seen them, just like mine, in the pics below. Now, ANYTHING is possible on these coaches. It is possible that Freightliner and or even Itasca/Winnebago, either removed them or, they were never installed to the valves in the first place.

So many guys think ALL COACHES are built the same. Nothing can be further from the truth. I've got a contact on this forum that we found out, our coaches were built minutes apart and, are identical coaches. But, there's differences in them.

So, you may have no lanyards at all. You may have them coiled up, at or near the air tanks. You may have them protruding through the frame, just inside the front passenger fender well. The pics below are ones I just took minutes ago.
Scott

Well said!

The picture really puts it in perspective. But I will heed your consensus that my coach may and probably will be different when I get a chance to explore for them again.
Thank You.

oscarvan · 03-04-2019, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillJinOR

if you get water out of the drains the dryer has failed.

The most important statement in this thread so far.......

The next sentence is: And if the dryer has failed don't drive it any further than the next repair facility, as long as you have pressure.

FWIW on my 2016 (2017 coach) Freightliner XC chassis there's two loops behind the right front wheel through the chassis beam and one one behind the left front wheel.

twinboat · 03-04-2019, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oscarvan

The most important statement in this thread so far.......

The next sentence is: And if the dryer has failed don't drive it any further than the next repair facility, as long as you have pressure.

FWIW on my 2016 (2017 coach) Freightliner XC chassis there's two loops behind the right front wheel through the chassis beam and one one behind the left front wheel.

There was a time when air brake systems didn't have air dryers. Early 80s saw an uptick in them.

We would drain quarts of water out of the tanks, if not drained regularly.

Is it good for the system to have some water in it, not so much.

Do you ground the vehicle until repaired, I don't think so.

bandcworkhorse · 03-04-2019, 08:52 PM

Ok, I'll show my ignorance. My 16 Ventana has an automatic moisture ejector. Doesn't that eliminate the need to pull the cables on a regular basis? I have pulled them, and no water comes out (a good thing).

twinboat · 03-05-2019, 05:34 AM

Any mechanical device can fail. It doesn't hurt to occasionaly manual pull the drain valves for a look.

It only takes a few second pull to look for moisture.

lwmcguire · 03-05-2019, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinboat

Any mechanical device can fail. It doesn't hurt to occasionaly manual pull the drain valves for a look.

It only takes a few second pull to look for moisture.

This is the kind of thing to put on a weekly/monthly or some way to remember to check list

For me if I am traveling then it is a weekly item as are several other things

Just don't overlook it long term

IMDiesel · 03-05-2019, 10:46 AM

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Well yesterday I had a chance to take a look and this is what I found.
I saw two lanyards at the right wheel-well and two air tanks that they went to.

One of the cables attached to one of the tanks directly and one went to "something else" attached to the other tank as shown in the pictures.
Having seen this I'm not sure what to expect if I pull on them. Will they drain while pulled only or will they have to be re-set?
I can't tell if they were ever used but I suspect not.

Could they get stuck and create a leak?
Don't want to create a problem.

twinboat · 03-05-2019, 10:58 AM

One looks like a standard tank drain and the other is a auto eject, tank drain, device.

It should purge a slight amount of air every time the pressure drops 10 psi or so.

Worst case, it they leak after pulling them, a few more pulls should get them re-seated.

Should be one more drain though.

IMDiesel · 03-05-2019, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinboat

Should be one more drain though.

Could you elaborate?

twinboat · 03-05-2019, 01:04 PM

Air systems have 3 air tanks, wet , primary, and secondary.

The wet tank may be a section of a larger tank, so it looks like one tank. There will be a visable seam 1/3 along its length.

That tank should have 2 drains.

FixerCQI · 03-06-2019, 07:40 AM

I am diesel ; Looking at your pictures I think the auto valve is probably on the wet tank and it has a lanyard in case it fails. The other two cords drain the primary and secondary. Hard to tell which is which, but if you pull one and get water, and then pull the other and get no water I would think the second was the secondary. If you get water from both, make an appointment with a mobile mechanic. That is 3 valves as far as I can make out, but the wet is automatically done for you. As for the valves sticking, if you can see the other 2 as well as the wet, you could just tap them back In place.

IMDiesel · 03-06-2019, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinboat

Air systems have 3 air tanks, wet , primary, and secondary.

The wet tank may be a section of a larger tank, so it looks like one tank. There will be a visable seam 1/3 along its length.

That tank should have 2 drains.

Twinboat,
I'll have to check and see. Maybe the left wheel well has one .

IMDiesel · 03-06-2019, 06:43 PM

I was able to take another look today and did find a 3rd lanyard!
It was located in the front part of the right wheel-well. The same wheel as the first two.
I also found the third lanyard went to the opposite end of same tank that one of the other two went to.
I believe it was the tank with the "auto valve " as FixerCQI descrided it.
Only 2 tanks total. Not 3 as twinboat had suggested.