Community Forums

big jimbo · 05-28-2008, 08:52 PM

Do we, the Alpine Orphans's Club, have any legal recourse with Monomoy? I am getting real tired of having problems everytime I take this coach on the road, and having to pay out of pocket for repairs that should be under warranty.

Last week it was the generator, see my previous post. Yesterday, I had another electronic gremlin pop up on the freeway in Southern California.

This time the Silverleaf was giving me all kinds of messages such as:
ABS failure
Check Engine
Stop Engine
Low Voltage
and some other strange numbers that meant nothing to me.

The transmission was shifting hard and at strange times.

I found a safe place to park, turned of the chassis batteries and the house batteries for about 10 minutes, and things seem to have reset but I only drove a couple hundred feet into a campsite and got it parked.

Everything seems to be OK while we are parked but I am very worried about what will happen next week when I get ready for a 400 mile drive home.

big jimbo · 05-28-2008, 08:52 PM

Do we, the Alpine Orphans's Club, have any legal recourse with Monomoy? I am getting real tired of having problems everytime I take this coach on the road, and having to pay out of pocket for repairs that should be under warranty.

Last week it was the generator, see my previous post. Yesterday, I had another electronic gremlin pop up on the freeway in Southern California.

This time the Silverleaf was giving me all kinds of messages such as:
ABS failure
Check Engine
Stop Engine
Low Voltage
and some other strange numbers that meant nothing to me.

The transmission was shifting hard and at strange times.

I found a safe place to park, turned of the chassis batteries and the house batteries for about 10 minutes, and things seem to have reset but I only drove a couple hundred feet into a campsite and got it parked.

Everything seems to be OK while we are parked but I am very worried about what will happen next week when I get ready for a 400 mile drive home.

Ted III · 05-29-2008, 03:11 AM

Jim & Sally, I do not know anything about the legal ramifications that may or may not exist with Monomoy or the Silverleaf product. The transmission has I believe a 5 year warranty. I just had my 05 in at one of their authorized stations for hard shifting and they fixed in one day at no charge. I would think Silverleaf would have a warranty of some kind, possibly you should contact them.

big jimbo · 05-29-2008, 06:34 AM

Ted,

I have talked to Silverleaf on the phone and they have been very helpful.

I honestly think the electrical problems are in the coach wiring itself and that is confusing the Silverleaf.

In the 8 months or so that I have had this coach, I have tightened just about every electrical connection that I have come in contact with. Of course, there are hundreds of other connections that I have not seen yet.

The first thing that happened, right after we bought the coach, the main ground cable in the battery compartment where it attaches to the frame was totally loose. I just hope that has not caused other electronic things to screw up.

EngineerMike · 05-29-2008, 07:17 AM

In the brave new world of electronic wizardry, good clean ground is more important now than ever. Have you checked both sides of the main ground connection (@ batt's and @ frame?). This has been a problem in more than one case. That's my legal advice.

midflajim · 05-29-2008, 07:24 AM

Some thoughts
1. ABS. I had same problem one ABS sensor bad
2. Check engine. I would say Cumins issue
3. Low voltage. Had bad batteries (sulfated)
would not hold a charge (routine)
4. Transmission. Allison (same problem) took to Allison
5. Law suit. You are at the bottom of the totem pole.
Tech support excellent from this web site. Best thing going.

Jim
06 Apex

FRED MASINO · 05-29-2008, 09:32 AM

Jim, I belive I saw you driving on Lyons in Newhall on wed. Where are you camped? Don't know much about Silverleaf, might be able to help with ground problem. Email with your #.

Fred & Lon Masino
lonfre@msn.com
2001 Alpine Coach 40FDS

Renipladlo · 05-29-2008, 11:03 AM

As has been mentioned before and I will reiterate, ensuring the electrical connections are all good and tight is/are the most important single issue you as an owner can do. No vehicle, and I mean no vehicle, can be expected to bounce down the road, maintain a safe and correct course, without periodic maintenance, and this means checking connection for electrical and plumbing. Someone posted a formula concerning mass X velocity, and if you just take the GVW of your coach, and the crunch those number to get it moving, keep it moving, and bringing it to a stop, those numbers are scary. Monthly, you should be under that thing, in the battery compartment, generator, under the dash, fuse and breaker panel, and check those connections, more so for a motor home, than even a travel trailer or 5th wheel. If you don't want to do it, sell the thing, and hotel it, your maintenance time will go down, and so will your joy. FWIW, We just took delivery on our APEX coach, using this forum as my guide on things to check, I believe I can honestly say, I spent at least 4-5, 9 hour days, checking, tightening, tweaking, making sure it worked the way it should, reading manuals, filling out warranty cards, etc. I am not near done yet; it's off to Cummings tonight for a couple of engine recalls. Do I like having to spend all this "personal time" dealing with something WRV should have done, or the selling dealer should have done, your darn right I don't. But, the old adage, if you want something done correctly, do it yourself, holds more true for a motor home, than most likely any other piece of equipment you have, And I made my suggestion above, love it or leave it.

William Schnieber · 05-29-2008, 12:02 PM

WOW!!

You really tell it like it is don't you.

I strongly agree with you, that you have to be constantly tightening and checking things, being an electrician; especially wire connections and most of all GROUNDS. These units are high maint. and require TLC. If one is not willing to monitor maint. then pay the bill to have someone else do it for you. (Hey I think I just found my calling, maybe I should start a new business.)

Renipladlo · 05-29-2008, 07:19 PM

And to prove that point can affect me as well. On Saturday last, I did battery maintenance, tightened all the connections, read my post earlier. The genset would not take coach electrical load, so we figured, filling the batteries, required a large charge load, and the genset could not do it and handle all the other things, so we left it plugged in and waited till the next day. It started right off and took over everything without a hitch. So we took it to storage on Monday. Today 29 May, we needed to take it to Cummings Diesel for two engine recalls, not too much of a big deal. Went to level it up to empty the closed, using the silverleaf monitor on the dash, went to the leveling menu, chose to auto level the coach - NOTHING, turned the key off/on - NOTHING, shut down the electrical system, to engine, and coach, waited a minute for the system to reset, turned everything back on - NOTHING. The thing refuses to work period. I had to use the slide controls on the hydraulic pump, after going to Cummings, (parking lot is very level) and show the tech how to put them out. I am real tired of things not working on a coach we have owned for only a month, and this is after the dealership had it for two weeks to do a so called PDI. We have taken one trip in it, and that nearly could have killed us, as the cooktop caught fire under the lid, and the little lady did not know it until the smoke started to fill up the kitchen. I have a 4 page letter written outlining what still needs to be fixed, and establishing a written record. I am guessing, I missed some ground someplace, or a fuse blew, or maybe I am just dumb.

midflajim · 05-30-2008, 04:17 AM

The Silverleaf has a saftey feature built in that every time you turn off the disconnects the HWH system has to be reset by pushing the red button in where the HWH system is located.
Jim
06 Apex

big jimbo · 05-30-2008, 05:49 AM

And where is the HWH system located????

After I turned the disconnects back on, the Auto_Level and the slide outs worked just fine. Isn't that the HWH system?

midflajim · 05-30-2008, 08:32 AM

When you open the compartment door outside left of the entry door that is where all your HWH stuff should be. Never know with WRV. There are two red buttons as you look at the pannel (not labeled) on the right the top one is the reset. This how it is supposed to work ? I have been trouble free after multiple conversations and equipment upgrades from both HWH and Silverleaf

Renipladlo · 05-30-2008, 09:01 AM

To All,

Hmmm, did not know about resets. Will check once coach is returned. Cummings got the wrong part in, so it's Tuesday before it is ready.

Will try once I am back home, Thank you for the info. However, believe they worked once right after I shut everything down and turned it back on. Sounds like a trip to Albany, Oregon would be a good idea. For those upgrades.