NEED ADVICE "QUICK"

[chris cross]

We're at the start of 2 months in Colorado. Spent the long weekend in a State park outside of Las Cruces, NM. When we left this morning all was well until the freeway. Coach would not accelerate past 55 and the maint. light came on. Got off the pedal for a minute and said "O-Darn". First thing I always do in a situation like this is to Gently tap the problem unit. So I flicked the "maint." light on the dash, laughed at myself and the coach powered up to 65 in a flash. Now I know my flick did nothing. I put in a new Fleetguard air filter last fall and we toured Washington for 2 months with no problems.
There was 1/2 mile of dusty road into the park. We're spending the night in Albuquerque, next to Camping World for a topper instal tommorrow am. My big concern is the mountains ahead of us and the thin air. Some past posts dealt with blowing out the filter but I don't have the time to search.
Any thoughts on this will be most appreciated.
Thanks

[chris cross]

We're at the start of 2 months in Colorado. Spent the long weekend in a State park outside of Las Cruces, NM. When we left this morning all was well until the freeway. Coach would not accelerate past 55 and the maint. light came on. Got off the pedal for a minute and said "O-Darn". First thing I always do in a situation like this is to Gently tap the problem unit. So I flicked the "maint." light on the dash, laughed at myself and the coach powered up to 65 in a flash. Now I know my flick did nothing. I put in a new Fleetguard air filter last fall and we toured Washington for 2 months with no problems.
There was 1/2 mile of dusty road into the park. We're spending the night in Albuquerque, next to Camping World for a topper instal tommorrow am. My big concern is the mountains ahead of us and the thin air. Some past posts dealt with blowing out the filter but I don't have the time to search.
Any thoughts on this will be most appreciated.
Thanks

["007"]

Chris if you go to find and type in "dust in filter" leave the check mark you will have 8 posts with your problem. You have to vac the filter and canister. Good dusting.

[chris cross]

thanks 007:
In my haste to post I forgot to say that my gauge registers nothing. When I put the new filter in I reset the gauge and it's been the same ever since. I look at it with the engine running. Is there a way to test it?

["007"]

If the gauge is on the canister maybe someone didn't reconnect it when filter was changed. Plus don't they give you instructions on how it should operate. Alpine is a good coach but I have Newmar gas, sorry.

[Dave Fernandez]

Hello Chris:

I would look at the gauge on the air cleaner and see if it is in the red? If not I would take it to Cummins Dealer (Kenworth) and have them check for fault codes which should be stored in the onboard computer. The fault code should provide the reason that you had a loss of power.

[Shorts]

Chris,
When you have time you may want to go to my posting of {warranty repair accountability}posted on May 2nd.
If you have no reading on your filter minder I would head for the the first cummins shop you can find. I am going to post a photo soon on how my filter air intake system was installed at the factory. On the back of the can that holds your air filter is a rubber 90 degree elbow that slides over a round metal extension from the back of the can. It is here on that extension where my connection for the filter minder was placed. The rubber elbow looks like it was cut with a razor blade knife aproximently 3/4" wide and 1,1/2" long to facilitate the connection for the filter minder. Then the rubber clamp was put on the wrong side of the connection which left a non sealed hole around the connection where dirt and air could be sucked in to the engine completely by passing the filter. Cummins told me that the dirtier the filter became, that the more suction that the engine would put on this location. My 400 cummins was dusted at 10,000 miles. Western RV has not offered to help,and refuses to take any responcibilty. We paid almost $14,000 to have the engine rebuilt. My filter minder never read over 15, however if there is a hole at the same location as your filter minder connection, you may read nothing or get a false reading. My filter is at fleeguard being tested to see if it failed. You and all other Alpine owners need to check to see if your factory gold star production line team did the same for you. I know of one other so far. It is my understanding also that this is not the Cummins approved location for the filter minder fitting. Do not blow your filter out, fleetguard will void the warranty on it. This is on their website. Shorts.

[dgerstel]

Chris,

You didn't say what your driving conditions were. I have found that if I start climbing a hill shortly after starting driving, the engine isn't warm enough for the fan to start up and then the intake manifold air temp. goes too high. The coach is not going fast enough to blow air through the turbo air cooler. At this point the computer takes over and cuts the power to the motor. I have had this happen once and have seen the temp go high another two times but cut the power my self before the system did. I am seeing the temp on my VMSPC.

Dale

[chris cross]

Thanks Dale:
I'll keep that in mind and eliminate that possibility. It did not happen today and I was up to temp before the freeway. Hopefully there won't be any more posts on this issue.

[Wil Rathke]

Chris,
If the air filter is clogged, the engine will be blowing black soot on acceleration.

I had a similar problem with my 2005 with ISL400 and Cunnins found clogged fuel filters. I also agree that you should visit the nearest Cummins shop and have them check the engine fault codes.

[chris cross]

Thanks Will:
Drove into southern Colorado yesterday with no problem. Made very sure we were at temp before freeway. That sure seems like it takes a long time. No black soot. That's good. We are staying in Lathrop State Park for two weeks. Next hill will be Wolf Creek Pass out of Pagaso Springs.