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05 Essex questions
We've had our 05 Essex since July and have spent three months actually living in it.So far we've been very happy with it. Problems we've run into so far: Hydro Hot Failure: turned out to be the flame sensor, $200 repair. While we had things apart we also changed the nozzle. I bought a new filter but have not yet replaced it which brings me to: Question #1. Do you have to "prime" these filters by filling them with diesel before installing, as you do with diesel engine fuel filters, or are they self priming?
I replaced my house batteries with Deka AGM's. Question #2. After doing so I went to the setup menu on my Magnum to change the battery type. When reviewing the video showing how to do this they showed two AGM settings AGM1 ans AGM2. I did a bit of research and found that the brand of battery you have determines whether you select 1 or two. Problem is, mine only shows AGM, not AGM1 and AGM2. Is that because I have an older unit?? I set it to AGM and hope I'll be OK.
Only other problem I had turned out to be a bad sending unit on one of my air pressure gauges causing it to show only 60 psi. I shamefully admit I had to enlist professional help to troubleshoot that problem and we still had to contact Spartan. They were extremely helpful. That ended up being a $900 fix, all but $150 of which was service call and labor related. He did also rebuild the air dryer while he was working on it, which he said needed to be done. Such is life.
Only other problem I had was self inflicted. Trying to get to my buddy's ranch in Arizona last month required a coupe miles on a gravel road that gets minimum maintenance. My pal was in front of me in his 08 Travel Supreme Select. He went around a curve, stopped and came walking back and told me he'd just done some fairly major damage to his coach trying to get through a particularly rough and narrow spot. I, wisely I thought, decided to back up and find a place to turn around. I found a spot but had to back over a bit of a hump. Unfortunately there was a rock I hadn't seen and I managed to break my ride height valve bracket. The rear of my coach is now sitting on my rear tires. Fortunately for us we were able to get it off and weld it and we were good to go! No questions about that but a couple tips. #1. Be very careful when backing ! (RV Owning 101!!) #2. Always travel with a skinny guy! I never could have gotten under there! We were not too worried about my pal crawling under as the coach was already resting on the rear wheels.
This is getting bit long winded but one more problem I'm having is that it's a real ordeal getting my dipstick back in after checking my oil in my Cummins 500 HP. The guy who came out to troubleshoot my air pressure problem was a big truck diesel mechanic and his answer was "Yea, sometimes you just have to twist, turn, push, pull, and coax them!" Not the answer I wanted to hear!
The coach is now stored at a buddy's garage but we'll be moving it to Mesa right after Christmas to spend the winter. I'll have plenty of time to do a bit more maintenance and improvements then!
I'd post some photos, but I'm too dumb to figure out how, even after having read the instructions!
Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays to all! (Pick the one that makes you happy!)
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2005 Newmar Essex 4502
500 hp Cummins
2005 Dodge Ram 1500 Toad
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