Community Forums

tranquility · 12-13-2012, 07:44 AM

Although I have monitored this forum for some time this is my first thread. Attended the Rally in Tn. this past September and was very impressed. We have been to a number of other rally's over the past three years and this was the best. Looking forward to 2013. Now my problem: We traded in our 2012 Thor Challenger, after several serious problems includeding for one, the large slide failing a number of times and having to be removed and rebuilt twice, once at the factory, all within 12 months and 12K miles. After our seven months trip we dropped the Challenger off at Lazydays (we live in St Pete.) and looked for another MH. We found a 2010 Monaco Diplomat 42 SKQ, test drove it and bought it on November 14 th. To cut to the chase, at the first walk through when our tech. was about to go into the leveling proceedure he noticed something wrong with the Lippert system as he tried to put the jacks down and move the two front slides and said to leave it and he would call a tech to fix it. After he left I noticed a burning odor and heard the pump running. Even with smoke coming off the motor we were able to disconnect the battery cable. They orderd a new pump system and the following week we came back to continue the walk through but again the pump failed when they tried to lift the jacks and had to lift the jacks manually. We went home again. Our service advisor called yesterday to advise they had ordered new Valves ( suspect the o rings or gaskets burnt). This MH only had 7600 miles on it and sat for a year after the previous owners fell ill and had to sell the unit. The lack of use no doubt explains some of the issues. However when reading back to about page 100 of this thread I see that the Lippert system has had many failures, some with fluid getting into the motor. Given our previous experience with the Thor, I am not sure I want a new headache, never knowing if the system will fail when I am in the middle nowhere which we like to do. I see many of you have dealt with this issue and am seeking your advice.

MSHappyCampers · 12-13-2012, 10:25 AM

WOW! I can certainly understand your frustration!

Sure hope you can get this problem solved quickly and get back on the road. I assume all this is at their expense right now ??? Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Dutch Star Don · 12-13-2012, 12:14 PM

tranquillity....Welcome to the group. Your slide issue is like me with water leaks. Had another coach that had water leaks that made me crazy. I had one on my Monaco and I thought here we go again, but it turned out to be a small leak and was fixed.

All brands of coaches have issues with their slide motors, which are usually only made by a couple of companies. It often seems like just about everyone has issues when you read the forums, but you have to remember that only about 1%-3% of the RVing population participates in these forums. Of those participating, they're generally only here to discuss issues and repairs/modifications.

So don't get discouraged. It sounds like something may be binding up the slide or a motor or valves have gone bad. Give the dealer a chance to repair it correctly, but don't take it home until it works flawlessly.

As a new Monaco owner, are you aware of the slide procedure for Monaco coaches ONLY. On a Monaco, the slides are FIRST extended before you dump the air or level with jacks. Extend the slides, dump the air and then level. Again, on Monaco coaches with the three jack system, the front jack MUST make contact with the ground first. The rear two are then lowered and level the coach from side to side. Your coach most likely has auto-leveling which will do this automatically, but if you ever need to do it manually, keep this in mind.

Once the dealer says the coach is ready, I would run the slides through several extensions and retractions. I would extend them all and then retract. Give them a few minutes to cool and do it again. I would do this at least 5 or 6 times.

Because of the power it atkes to extend and retract, a lot of us make sure we'rre first connected to shore power before we put the slides out. It also keeps you from bending under a slide to access your utilities. I occasionally run my generator when I'm extending my slides while boondocking. This way, my batteries don't take a big hit right off the bat.

Good luck.....it will work out and you'll be very happy with your coach. You'll love the ISL 400 and will get that smile back when you climb mountains.

micki49 · 12-13-2012, 05:58 PM

I am glade I read this post because I did not know that you are to extend the slides first, dump then level. We just got the Knight this fall and now it is stored for the winter. I will remember to do this in this order next spring. Thanks for the post.

itdave · 12-13-2012, 06:23 PM

tranquility
You did not say who the dealer was or where you were located. This is just a general statement, many dealer tech are not well versed in the systems used by Monaco. If I were you I would contact Monaco and find the location of the nearest authorized Monaco repair facility. If there are none near by if you give your location someone on this forum will more than likely give you info on nearby shops that do a good job on Monaco's.

Steve Ownby · 12-13-2012, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tranquility

Although I have monitored this forum for some time this is my first thread. Attended the Rally in Tn. this past September and was very impressed. We have been to a number of other rally's over the past three years and this was the best. Looking forward to 2013. Now my problem: We traded in our 2012 Thor Challenger, after several serious problems includeding for one, the large slide failing a number of times and having to be removed and rebuilt twice, once at the factory, all within 12 months and 12K miles. After our seven months trip we dropped the Challenger off at Lazydays (we live in St Pete.) and looked for another MH. We found a 2010 Monaco Diplomat 42 SKQ, test drove it and bought it on November 14 th. To cut to the chase, at the first walk through when our tech. was about to go into the leveling proceedure he noticed something wrong with the Lippert system as he tried to put the jacks down and move the two front slides and said to leave it and he would call a tech to fix it. After he left I noticed a burning odor and heard the pump running. Even with smoke coming off the motor we were able to disconnect the battery cable. They orderd a new pump system and the following week we came back to continue the walk through but again the pump failed when they tried to lift the jacks and had to lift the jacks manually. We went home again. Our service advisor called yesterday to advise they had ordered new Valves ( suspect the o rings or gaskets burnt). This MH only had 7600 miles on it and sat for a year after the previous owners fell ill and had to sell the unit. The lack of use no doubt explains some of the issues. However when reading back to about page 100 of this thread I see that the Lippert system has had many failures, some with fluid getting into the motor. Given our previous experience with the Thor, I am not sure I want a new headache, never knowing if the system will fail when I am in the middle nowhere which we like to do. I see many of you have dealt with this issue and am seeking your advice.

The Lippert is a known issue. Monaco issues their own recall on the Lippert and some help should be available to you. As some one else suggested, your dealer may not be up to speed on this problem.

I would call Monaco and see if I could get a meeting with the Monaco area rep. They might participate in the fix. The people who can solve the problem for you are just up the road in Wildwood at Alliance Coach. Many of their techs are old Monaco techs and one of the owners Brett Howard is the former center manager when the facility belonged to Monaco.

When Bill Osborne took over as president of Monaco, he took his family on a road trip. He got to a campground in Cody, WY and the Lippert pump failed. He was not happy. They are very familiar with the problem.

You'll get the problem fixed and can enjoy your great coach.

tranquility · 12-14-2012, 06:44 AM

Thank you all for the responses. Yes, the MH is at Lazydays and the Tech.(30 yrs exper.) has been in contact with Lippert. It does appear that the first failure was fluid into the motor. I thought the whole unit was replaced but the second failure was a valve issue. Given the high heat from the burning motor it would be reasonable to suspect any o-rings or gaskets were damaged. I was told yesterday that valves were being replaced. My Thor unit was a Lippert and worked fine for the jacks, the slides were all electric. After the problems several years ago I would hope Lippert has made changes and any replacements now should not have the same problems. This unit was used for just one trip (7600 miles) and is like new inside and out. The low mileage was a concern to me, as we all know its lack of use that may cause problems. Yes I am aware of the Monaco process for leveling as well as the many folks that think otherwise. I will follow the Mfg. advice. Good idea to keep the shore power on until slides are in. Think I will have a couple of Seals in my spare parts bin. After warranty expires I may go to Alliance, I know Brent, very good reputation. Thanks All