Power Problems with 2007 MADP 4528

[Jetsmania]

Hi! I wanted to wait till we returned from Stone Mountain, GA to post this. On our way to GA we had problems with maintaining power and speed as we headed south. I thought it was me but, when Jill was driving she felt the same thing. We stopped at Coach Care in Columbia, SC They put it on the computer and told us we had an air leak and tightened some clamps. We left and headed to GA and seemed to be OK until the hills came. We could not get over 40 at times. We limped into Stone Mountain and drove over to Coach Care at Atlanta Power South in the AM. Once again hooked up to the computer again and were told air leak. They pulled our engine cover (located in the rear bath) checked the turbo and wasted at least 2 hours doing every test Cummins told them to do. Nothing. The punch line: I had been insisting for two days that I felt the Fuel Filter was probably clogged. They finally looked at it and said it was bad (At least I know my turbo was cranking at full blast when they ran the test on it)They told me they had to follow Cummins flow chart by using Computer Tests first before they played mechanic. The fuel filter being bad, was causing the test to show a air leak. A bad fuel filter is not covered under warranty. They credited me the time it took to find the problem and I paid for the repair. The coach runs better then new and I am ready to race. Paul

[Jetsmania]

Hi! I wanted to wait till we returned from Stone Mountain, GA to post this. On our way to GA we had problems with maintaining power and speed as we headed south. I thought it was me but, when Jill was driving she felt the same thing. We stopped at Coach Care in Columbia, SC They put it on the computer and told us we had an air leak and tightened some clamps. We left and headed to GA and seemed to be OK until the hills came. We could not get over 40 at times. We limped into Stone Mountain and drove over to Coach Care at Atlanta Power South in the AM. Once again hooked up to the computer again and were told air leak. They pulled our engine cover (located in the rear bath) checked the turbo and wasted at least 2 hours doing every test Cummins told them to do. Nothing. The punch line: I had been insisting for two days that I felt the Fuel Filter was probably clogged. They finally looked at it and said it was bad (At least I know my turbo was cranking at full blast when they ran the test on it)They told me they had to follow Cummins flow chart by using Computer Tests first before they played mechanic. The fuel filter being bad, was causing the test to show a air leak. A bad fuel filter is not covered under warranty. They credited me the time it took to find the problem and I paid for the repair. The coach runs better then new and I am ready to race. Paul

[Norm Payne]

Glad you got it fixed. Do yourself a favor and buy two new fuel filters - a primary and secondary filter. If and when it happens again pull over in a safe area and replaced them. It only takes a few minutes.

[rebelsbeach]

Paul, thanks for putting this on the forums as we had discussed it when we met at Stone Mountain...

Norm doesn't say much but what he does say....speaks volumes.

[hoosier1]

I to had power problems with my 2007 MADP climbing hills. I had Coach Care in Bakersfield CA running all the computer test and everything was ok. The problem was my passenger side tags brake was draging all the time and even locked up while I was at Coach Care. It really left a nice black line thru the parking lot. They replaced the brakes on both tags and found a part missing. It sure made a whale of difference climbing mountains.

John Pilkington
2007 MADP

[cmc]

Paul it was good talking to you on the phone the other day sounds like you guys had a good time in georgia I only see one fuel filter on my 07 madp am I missing seeing one some were hope to see you in florida this winter
Charlie

[cwg]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">
Do yourself a favor and buy two new fuel filters - a primary and secondary filter. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That brings up an interesting point. When I was at the Coach Care Cummins facility in Denver I asked about buying the two fuel filters on my rig in case of something like this happening. I was told twice that there is only one filter. ( I see two).

Then when Paul had his clogged filter issue, I believe they told him that only one ever needs to be replaced. The other was only to drain visible water in the fowardmost filter. Norm, can you or others expain this?

[cmc]

just to clarify the one fuel filter I see looks like a combination fuel filter and water seperator my dsdp had two seperate filters
charlie

[Jetsmania]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I only see one fuel filter on my 07 madp am I missing seeing one </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Hi! You are correct. There is only one fuel filter. Some other coaches have a secondary filter. The other filter (looks like an oil filter) has to do with making sure the balance in the antifreeze is correct. That should be checked with each PMI service according to Coach Care. That filter rarely needs to be changed. Don't forget the fuel filter should be checked once in awhile for water in the bottom of it. If you do have water you just open the petcock at the bottom and let it drain out. We are now carrying a spare filter. It is easy to change, but highly reccomended by Coach Care not to put a dry one on. It needs to be put on full of Diesel Fuel. Otherwise you take a chance of letting to much air in the line. The cost of the filter was $14.00 I forgot to mention that I also changed the Genset Filter. I figured if one had crap in it, the other had to be on its way also. Paul

[brucedelta]

As posted in another thread I have a boat background and am new to RV's. On boats water seperator's are a big deal and very important. It sounds like a RV has only one filter, but is water a common issues. How often do you check for it in general. Is there an alarm system if the water seperator gets full?
Just trying to learn about the details I will have to manage!

[RVDude]

Coolant filter - If your engine is running Final Charge as your coolant, the coolant filter is essentially a dummy can - it does not contain any SCAs or other additives as Final Charge does not need SCAs added and needs no service until 300,000 miles or 3 years when Final Charge Extender is added and that's it. Just don't mix Final Charge with other red/orange coolants. If you believe the Final Charge literature, red/orange coolants are NOT created equal.

I have found Final Charge Global Extended Life coolant/antifreeze in a 50/50 mix at some Wal-Marts at about $10/gal.

Final Charge Web Site

[Jetsmania]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Is there an alarm system if the water seperator gets full? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Hi Bruce! No alarm I know of. The amount of water in the seperator depends on the quality of fuel you purchase. From the truck stops it seems like we hardly ever get water. On my 16' Box truck we seem to pick up a lot of water from the local gas stations. paul

[Dav5942]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jetsmania:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Is there an alarm system if the water seperator gets full? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Hi Bruce! No alarm I know of. paul </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, there is an indicator Fuel/water on the dash! Spartan manual says change both fuel fiters at oil change. Cummins spec sheets say change seperator at oil change and primary every other oil change. We had less than an ounce of water in seperator after 19,000 miles. Just like a boat if you use it-minmal water in the fuel problems(until you get the one bad fuel load-left us with no engines between Venezuela and Trinidad).

[brucedelta]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dav5942:
Just like a boat if you use it-minmal water in the fuel problems(until you get the one bad fuel load-left us with no engines between Venezuela and Trinidad). </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wow that is not where I would want that to happen. I bet they don't even have Sea-Tow down there
Since I assume if you were traveling in that area you had spares I am guessing the changing at sea experience was none the less miserable!