Help,on side of road

[BrigitteM]

PanJH:
It sure sounds like you lost the water pump shaft seal/bearing... Usually not a problem unless the rig sits for long periods of time, eg. several years, and dries out... that's why I always add some water pump lubricant when ever I change the coolant.. Like someone else mentioned, it's not a big job... Maybe an hour to R&R the belt and pump.. You'll also need to replace the belt as well since it is a serpentine style belt.

[F4Gary]

Not a resounding endorsement for Coachnet.
Glad you are getting it fixed.

[n2zon]

Originally Posted by Squidsroom

Try truckdown.com to locate mobile mechanic or heavy duty haul.

That site's a keeper! Bookmarked...just in case.

[ponytl]

Originally Posted by PanJH

I appreciate all the help !!
Wasn't able to find a mobile mechanic but did find a good towing company. American Eagle Towing. Great guys they knew what they were doing.
So, here's the summary .....
At 2:00 Friday afternoon , a few miles out of Homestead on the 18 mile stretch, the water pump decided to have a massive failure. I pulled over to the side, one of the few places where there is actually room to do so. Checked it out and decided we couldn't continue. Called my road side assistance, said it would be an hour or so for the wrecker to get there. 5 hours later he shows up and after checking things out, he said he would be able to tow us. The road side asst company calls the Highway patrol to get recommendations . They come and park behind us to provide some safety. We were 5 ft off the very busy US 1. They decide on another tow company and they talk to me and the Tropper on the phone and we tell them about the configuration of the motorhome. They say " no problem" well they come and they said they couldn't tow it the proper way but wanted to raise it up by the trailer hitch and tow it backwards. I told the jerk that the trailer hitch had a tongue weight capacity of 1000 lbs and the coach weights 42,000 lbs. No way are you even going to get near my coach. The Tropper gave him hell in English and Spanish. It's not 3 a.m Saturday do we decided to wait till morning. Couldn't sleep with the cars and trucks whizzing by at 80+ mph all night long. At 8:00 the search resumes for a competent wrecker. Things go back and forth and finally at about 4:00 a couple guys show us that said they had it under control. And that they did. They were super professional and efficient. Got us all hooked up and ready to go and just as we are pulling out, one the rear air bags on their truck blew out. .They had to unhook everything and make a trip back to Miami to get another truck. At 7:30 last night we were hooked back up and off we went to the repair shop where we arrived at 10:00. They gave me the gate code when I talked to them on Friday so we are camped out in their back lot... with 50 amp hook up ! They open at 07:30 tomorrow.
I will be contacting mgmt at Coachnet. They sent out two incapable companies with great delays. They finally sent out a good crew... the guys that did the work told me they are NOT on the coachnet vendor list but do get called a lot from them as a last resort when other companies fail. These guys should be there primary go to shop, but I imagine it's all about the $$'s

Man I have been on that road many times on my harley... mostly from homestead to key west.... Glad you got to a safe spot... I looked up on the Barth page and a guy posted how easy it was to replace 3 bolts and the belt... I'm sure if i could find the part and a way to get it... i would have replaced it on the side of the road... in my world this wouldn't even be a foot note on one of my trips... BUT for the $50 on ebay I'm thinking it will be a part I might want to have in the parts box...?

[R.Wold]

Just curious how this ended: Did they get right on it? What did they charge for labor? Parts? Did you have them change the belt while they were at it? Hope youre back on the road enjoying the Keys!

[gjos]

My 2019 DS had to be towed with 1500mi on the odometer. I was in the middle of a lesson from RV Driving School when I over heated. CoachNet had a tow there in about 2hrs. The driver took off the generator’s muffler and drive shaft and he was off leaving me with tears in my eyes. My beautiful new home on the back of a tow truck.

I hope everything’s working out.

[PanJH]

Originally Posted by R.Wold

Just curious how this ended: Did they get right on it? What did they charge for labor? Parts? Did you have them change the belt while they were at it? Hope youre back on the road enjoying the Keys!

Well, we are back at our home south of Tampa. We could have stayed at the Cummins shop as they had hookups, but chose to drive back the 3.5 hrs and wait till they get to it, which might be today or Monday. I did tell them to swap out the belts, they are 9 yrs old now. Hopefully we'll get back there early next week and continue our trip to the Keys.

[Dave Reyburn]

Originally Posted by PanJH

Well, we are back at our home south of Tampa. We could have stayed at the Cummins shop as they had hookups, but chose to drive back the 3.5 hrs and wait till they get to it, which might be today or Monday. I did tell them to swap out the belts, they are 9 yrs old now. Hopefully we'll get back there early next week and continue our trip to the Keys.

PanJH , do you have the ISL 450 Cummins in your 2013 DS? how many miles on it when your water pump failed? I'm thinking it would be a good spare part to add to my emergency spares kit. I have a 2013 MA with about 50k miles.

[Dave Reyburn]

Also FWIW. I've called on CoachNet 3 times so far for roadside assistance and they are 0 for 3 in finding a mobile tech for me. Each time I located my own mobile tech diesel mechanic/truck repair shop and took care of it myself. No offence to anyone who loves CoachNet, but they are basically useless except to people that have no ability to assess and repair their coach when things go wrong. Even though I only pay $150/yr for CN premium service I'm going to drop them next year. Luckily I've never needed a tow but if I ever do I will use my Foremost insurance instead.