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mexicanpilot · 06-24-2016, 09:20 AM

We were driving along in our 1998 Monaco Dynasty and heard a grinding noise in the engine compartment, very loud and then pulled over to the side of the road just as the power steering failed. Seems that the hydraulic fan motor ground itself up and then the power steering failed right after that I'm hoping all the debris in the line didn't get to the main pump, but perhaps it has. Does anybody have any thoughts on what the problem is? I suspect the hydraulic lines for the fan motor now have metal in them and maybe got into the hydraulic pump and lines. Monaco tech support says there are three internal filters in the large hydraulic reservoir in the engine compartment and I'm hoping that caught all the junk before ruined the big hydraulic pump. A gentleman I called at Source Engineering, referred to me by Monaco, said that that hydraulic pump is a two-stage pump.....one side does the fan and the other does the power steering. he also indicated how important it would be to flush the system but says it's very rare for the hydraulic pump itself to go to get toasted. I understand the parts are pretty hard to get for an RV that's a 1998 Monaco. I'll know more in the morning when the mechanics take a look at it. Any thoughts from your experiences would be helpful. They said the parts might be very difficult to get Thanks.

mel s · 06-24-2016, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mexicanpilot

We were driving along in our 1998 Monaco Dynasty and heard a grinding noise in the engine compartment, very loud and then pulled over to the side of the road just as the power steering failed. Seems that the hydraulic fan motor ground itself up and then the power steering failed right after that I'm hoping all the debris in the line didn't get to the main pump, but perhaps it has. Does anybody have any thoughts on what the problem is? I suspect the hydraulic lines for the fan motor now have metal in them and maybe got into the hydraulic pump and lines. Monaco tech support says there are three internal filters in the large hydraulic reservoir in the engine compartment and I'm hoping that caught all the junk before ruined the big hydraulic pump. A gentleman I called at Source Engineering, referred to me by Monaco, said that that hydraulic pump is a two-stage pump.....one side does the fan and the other does the power steering. he also indicated how important it would be to flush the system but says it's very rare for the hydraulic pump itself to go to get toasted. I understand the parts are pretty hard to get for an RV that's a 1998 Monaco. I'll know more in the morning when the mechanics take a look at it. Any thoughts from your experiences would be helpful. They said the parts might be very difficult to get Thanks.

mexicanpilot
See the "Parts List", (in the Files section), here: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Monacoers/info

mexicanpilot · 06-28-2016, 02:18 PM

Mechanics are working on our Monaco Dynasty with Cummins 8.3 engine 1998 to figure out what the grinding noise was and why we lost our power steering. preliminary findings indicate that compressor shaft and bearings completely trashed, wobbling inside the casing. This drive shaft then went into the hydraulic motor and powered that, which is why we lost our power steering right away when the grinding started. the other end of the compressor goes into the engine gearbox and is powered by that. it doesn't look like those gears are damaged at all, but they're still evaluating the parts so far. We will probably get an oil change with filter to get any metallic flecks out of the oil, new Holset compressor. and worst case scenario, they. take off the plates at the back of the engine and examine the gear drives for damage. No indication of that so far.
Thanks

mexicanpilot · 07-04-2016, 02:50 PM

We had experienced a grinding engine noise several weeks ago in our 1998 Monaco Dynasty. The power steering instantly failed and we pulled over and shut down the engine near Mammoth Mountain, CA. After being towed to Britt's Diesel in Bishop, CA., they diagnosed the problem correctly as a failed engine compressor. It had just ground itself up, the bearing included. Seems the engine gear train turns the compressor bolted onto the engine and then there's a drive coming out of the compressor that turns the hydraulic pump, hence the power steering failed. Had we run the engine much longer, we could have had huge damage to the engine and gear train on the back. As a precaution, they did take the rear covers off the gear train and we were told how lucky we were, that none of the gears were damaged. A new compressor was installed, new hydraulic fluid added, engine oil and filter changed as a precaution, and we were on our way.