Community Forums

paulrk0815 · 02-01-2016, 04:53 AM

I am a new RV owner. I just picked this unit up in Florida from an individual and drove it to Tn. I have some unanswered issues. One of which is that the coach seems to bottom out on bumps in the road. Front suspension is running too low. I can raise it temporarily and it corrects the problem Is there an manual height adjustment ?

Also after about 400 miles, the temperature got up to 240 and this caused my oil pressure to drop to 35lb.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Have already lost confidence in the unit.

Ranger Smith · 02-01-2016, 05:15 AM

Here is some info on ride height adjustment
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...t2QGrWA976P0WQ

It is a pdf

**CLIFFTALL** · 02-01-2016, 05:20 AM

Welcome to irv2. I moved your thread here to get some Country Coach Owner input.

Cliff

smlranger · 02-01-2016, 05:43 AM

There is a ride height adjustment so suggest you find a shop that is familiar with coach air suspensions and have them check. You may need new ride height valve/s. Also, if your front shocks are weak, it will bottom out when you hit dips in the road.

Your overheating issue could be many things. Bad thermostat, dirty radiator, fan not working, etc. I checked our coach over thoroughly, did a test drive, and had the dealer fix a few things before we finalized the purchase. Even so, when I got it home, I took it to my local Cummins Coach Care shop and had them check everything and do a full service.... fluids, filters, air dryer, serpentine belt, transmission. Depending on the age of the engine coolant, it may be time for a drain, flush and refill. If original coolant hoses, I would be replacing them at the same time.

CC makes a good solid coach but they all need maintenance. Depending on what has/has not been done by the previous owner, a 16 year old coach may need a lot of maintenance catching up if you want to avoid problems.

Welcome to the CC owner family and don't hesitate to ask us for help. There are some very knowledgeable CC owners on this forum.

Smitty77 · 02-01-2016, 09:16 AM

Congrats on the new ride, and welcome to the forum.

Ride height valves have been mentioned, and yes to finding a shop that knows how to work on these chassis.

If you do not have a good folder of documented maintenance, especially with that 240 temp which is high, suggest you also have the baseline maintenance items taken care. Lube, oil, filter, air filter, hoses inspected clamps tightened, fluid analysis of at least oil to get the health of the engine, belts, tensioner, fluid tested and possibly replaced, tans flushed and changed to Transyn if not already completed, differential oil changed out, etc. Same for the generator.

This will cost a pretty penny, but would also give you the baseline on where to go from her on regular maintenance. But, hope you have a fat folder of documentation, and it is not needed

!

Enjoy,
Smitty

deandec · 02-01-2016, 10:43 AM

On my rig, the Cummins engine will automatically shut down at 225 degrees water temp. (I know this from experience.....)

Also, it will shut down if the coolant is too low. (More experience.)

You have a side radiator so a dirty radiator would not be a likely problem.

So, perhaps the gauge is wrong, or the thermostat is too high temp rated or stuck closed, or the coolant filter needs to be changed (cheapest fix)?

If it took @ 400 miles for the 240 degree temp to present itself then it would seem to be a temporary aberration. Take it for another ride and observe the temps after 20 miles to see if it repeats itself.

The bigger concern I would have is that the engine did not shut down at 240 degrees. That might mean that the ECM is not working correctly. (I think you have a Cat so perhaps it does not have the shutdown features. Check your manuals.)

phays · 02-01-2016, 05:31 PM

paulrk,
Good suggestions so far on maintenance items. When I purchased my 2000 Magna, I did all the fluids, filters, transmission, belts, coolant, thermostats, and generator.

I did overheat and traced it to bad coolant and turbo air sensors for the hydraulic fan controller that prevented the fan from running at higher speeds when needed. You can search this forum and the Yahoo Country Coach Owners forum https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/...sations/topics for info on the fan controller.

My coach also had a bad charge air cooler that I had to replace. If you don't know about loss of turbo charge pressure it shows up as poor acceleration and poor hill climbing.

As for ride height. You do need to find a shop that can make the adjustment for you. There is one ride height valve for the front suspension and two for the rear.

Two large manuals came with the coach. One with all the chassis info and one with the house info. Each has schematics of the electrical systems, plumbing, etc

Also, when you post, give us a bit more info about your rig in your signature.
pete
2000 40' Magna CAT C-10, #5892

Mr_D · 02-01-2016, 06:11 PM

You would think, as I did, that a previous owner, and owning his own trucking company and shop would get the maintenance right. Maybe he did but I have no records to prove it.
Well, maybe they will and maybe they won't. Or that engines are bullet proof if you do an oil sample, or that windows, that are fogged, will show up before you sign the paperwork.
You just never know with anything mechanical, sometimes there are warning signs and sometimes not.
Be prepared and somewhat flexible, prepare for the unexpected.

waternut · 02-02-2016, 03:54 AM

Just a thought, my gauges do not read correctly when I compare them to my Silverleaf and inverter panel. Temp reads high, oil pressure low and volts low. Am told I do not have a good ground and that this is a common problem on some coaches. Have pulled the gauge panel and voltage is low on the gauges, Is your volt meter reading under 12 volts on the instrument panel? Does your Silverleaf with your gauges? If not would explain why engine did not shut down, gauge is reading wrong on dash. Just a thought.

paulrk0815 · 02-02-2016, 07:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by waternut

Just a thought, my gauges do not read correctly when I compare them to my Silverleaf and inverter panel. Temp reads high, oil pressure low and volts low. Am told I do not have a good ground and that this is a common problem on some coaches. Have pulled the gauge panel and voltage is low on the gauges, Is your volt meter reading under 12 volts on the instrument panel? Does your Silverleaf with your gauges? If not would explain why engine did not shut down, gauge is reading wrong on dash. Just a thought.

Yes, my voltage gauge reads between 10 and 11. I knew that it was off, because the lights and everything worked as it should. I ran at night from Florida to TN. At first I was concerned about the charging system, therefore I ran the generator to create more charge. I then came to the opinion that charging system was working properly and just assumed that the gauge was bad. I did not connect the two issues. Thanks you so much for your experience in this matter. I will check the ground on the instrument cluster.
I am proceeding with doing a full service on this unit as I know nothing of its past. This was a bank repossession. The coach is extremely clean and appears to have been well cared for. I am sure that I will need more advice in the future. I am capable of doing all my own maintenance, although I will take it to a local specialist for a good check over. I will change all the fluids and filters first. Any hidden issues that you know of. Will be 70 in 6 months and plan on closing my business and traveling. Want it to be ready to go.

Again, thanks for all the advice from everyone

waternut · 02-02-2016, 06:09 PM

Let me know where you pull your ground from and if that fixes it. Am still trying to find a good ground on mine. Am going to then check the positive to good ground and see if I have correct voltage.

phays · 02-02-2016, 06:34 PM

On my 2000 Magna there is a ground bar on the passenger side against the front end. Remove the panel in front of the passenger seat and look toward the front of the coach and up. I attached a 12 gauge wire to this bus and connected it to one of the ground wires in the instrument cluster and it didn't help me much. Once in awhile my gauges do read correctly.

I stopped worrying about it since I run Silverleaf's VMSpc software on a notebook computer and read all my gauges from the engine data buss. I did overheat once to the extent that the voice warning system did announce that the engine was overheating but I was aware of the situation and was already pulling off the road since I have VMSpc setup to sound an alarm.

barmcd · 02-03-2016, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phays

On my 2000 Magna there is a ground bar on the passenger side against the front end. Remove the panel in front of the passenger seat and look toward the front of the coach and up. I attached a 12 gauge wire to this bus and connected it to one of the ground wires in the instrument cluster and it didn't help me much. Once in awhile my gauges do read correctly.

I stopped worrying about it since I run Silverleaf's VMSpc software on a notebook computer and read all my gauges from the engine data buss. I did overheat once to the extent that the voice warning system did announce that the engine was overheating but I was aware of the situation and was already pulling off the road since I have VMSpc setup to sound an alarm.

I've seen this advice given as a cure to fix wandering gauges. In practice, I wonder if this isn't the cause of the problem and not the cure. When you have multiple grounds you can get ground loops. Then you get a small current between two different grounds which could cause inaccurate gauges.

paulrk0815 · 02-04-2016, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barmcd

I've seen this advice given as a cure to fix wandering gauges. In practice, I wonder if this isn't the cause of the problem and not the cure. When you have multiple grounds you can get ground loops. Then you get a small current between two different grounds which could cause inaccurate gauges.

I spoke with a tech at Country Coach and he said to go direct to the frame. Not to use the bracing for the body. This seems to be a common problem. Run the ground to any of the gauges and that ground them all as they are grounded in series. I will do that this weekend and report back.