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Rwbrown3 · 08-10-2020, 03:42 PM

So we just bought our "new" 2007 Damon Tuscany 4076 in Florida and drove it to Kenai Alaska, where it sits in storage til next spring. This is the first time we ever drove a motorhome and I have to say it is not as bad as I thought it would be, actually thought it wouldn't be all that bad until the salesman took me on a test drive and put in the drivers seat for the return trip. I crept back to the dealership wondering what I was getting into, my wife kept telling me I could buy a new Goldwing if I didn't get an RV. Our north only had a couple of setbacks. When we were about 80 km west of Edmonton, the overheat alarm came on and I pulled over to find out the serpentine belt had shredded, after a tow back to Edmonton to First Truck Centre (freightliner) they immediately found the ac compressor had seized and overnighted a new compressor, those guys were awesome and garage is a 24/7 operation. After replacing the AC compressor they could not charge the system as one of the lines has a major leak. The cost to get back on the road was just over 1800.00 US.
I also replaced the chassis batteries at a cost of about 400 bucks. The salesman told us they had replaced all the batteries at a cost of 3000 dollars. Not knowing any better I trusted the salesman. I looked at the batteries after noticing low battery voltage when we stopped for the night, and after looking at the batteries saw the sticker on them to be from 2017. I replaced them before they completely failed.
The second setback I have now is with the gauges. I hear a small air leak behind the gauge with the two air pressure readings. I can feel air leaking behind the gauge, I didn't want to mess with it as I was travelling and maintaining over 100 psi of air. I think the gauge is cracked under one of the plastic hoses, but not sure but I will pull the gauge out and look in a couple of weeks.

Any help on these matters is appreciated. First I want to find the AC hoses and replace them, just how do I source those hoses? The AC compressor was sourced from ACME I'm assuming the hoses are either from ACME or Tempco. Are the hoses just one long hose or are they made up in sections?

Second, the gauge, has anybody had this problem? If so what was their recourse? We like the look of the white faced gauges and want to keep them.
A third issue I have is with some of the switches, some are not lit and the windshield wiper switch takes several presses sometimes to get it to function or to turn off, it may be a matter of spraying contact cleaner in the switch or it may just be wearing out, either case where I can order replacement switches?
Another issue is with the Vanguard side and rear camera system, first I don't like the black and white monitor and want to replace the camera system with a color system with higher resolution, I'm wondering if the wiring is standard or will I have to rewire the entire system when I replace it?
Lastly I have fogged up windows on the drivers side, I can barely see the side mirror through the glass and if the sun is on the drivers side I see nothing but fog, my wife asked the salesman about it and he told us it just wipes off, we should've known better. We don't mind fixing things and we were going to buy the coach so some honesty would have been appreciated.

Luckily I found a blue Damon bag in the coach that has every piece of paperwork that came with the coach. Caterpillar, books, Allison transmission, the original owners manual and more, all books for all systems even the radios have books and the warranty cards are included. Lots of reading.

We really enjoyed the drive up even with broken serpentine belt. After the battery fiasco I had the oil and filters changed while at the Freightliner garage as a precaution. I also changed the oil and fuel filter for the Onan generator. Every heavy industrial vendor there is seems to be within walking distance of that freightliner garage. I bought the Onan parts at Cummins just down the road. After replacing the fuel filter the generator takes a very long time to prime the fuel so I will have to make sure I have the lines tight enough, lots of vibration on the Alcan hwy.

This Tuscany has been very comfortable and after 5,000 miles not a bad way to travel. A hundred gallons of fuel allows for very long days in the driver seat, I usually only last about a half tank of fuel. We averaged 8.6 mpg overall, which is great in our opinion. When we first started our trip I drove 55 mph and we average 9.6 mpg but after a couple thousand miles my speed had crept up to 65 and 70 mph with terrain varying from the flats of Alberta to the Northern Rockies and we still maintained 8.6 mpg.

HarryStone · 08-10-2020, 08:17 PM

Welcome. I have a Damon, but it’s a gasser, so no help there.

stripperguy · 08-11-2020, 03:43 PM

I too have a 2007 Tuscany but mine is a 4072 that was wrecked.
I needed to replace the condenser and repair the A/C lines and fittings.
The A/C hoses are standard stuff, likely BH8 and BH6. You can buy the hose by the foot for cheap, and buy a crimping tool from amazon
Fittings to match your existing ones and the hose can be had from any number of online sources. I bought my supplies from cold air.com
If you peruse their website you’ll find a mountain of info

Rwbrown3 · 08-11-2020, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stripperguy

I too have a 2007 Tuscany but mine is a 4072 that was wrecked.
I needed to replace the condenser and repair the A/C lines and fittings.
The A/C hoses are standard stuff, likely BH8 and BH6. You can buy the hose by the foot for cheap, and buy a crimping tool from amazon
Fittings to match your existing ones and the hose can be had from any number of online sources. I bought my supplies from cold air.com
If you peruse their website you’ll find a mountain of info

Awesome!! Thanks. I called FTL today who referred me to Thor who told me to call Pro Air. Acme is out of business and so on and so on. I don't know the length of hoses that I need so I will have to pull them out, I assume it is not that difficult, I will get on Amazon and buy the tool and do it myself. Thanks for the info. Today I learned there is an air dryer somewhere, so I'm trying to figure out where that might be found and order a dessicant filter. Ahhhh, learning lots about this rving thing.

stripperguy · 08-11-2020, 08:10 PM

The receiver/dryer is up front, on the "firewall".
As for the hoses, it's a long tortuous run.
You may want to use the old hose to pull the new hose into position.

Oh, and I mistakenly called my source, coldhose.com by the wrong name in my other post.

In my case, I retrofitted a condenser from a Volvo S40 (it was handy) and needed to replace a damaged fitting as well as adapt to the Volvo condenser. I only needed a 4 ft piece of hose, but I would expect that the hoses are one continuous length front to back.

Coldhose.com has any fitting you may need, as well as a receiver/dryer for your (and my) Evan's system.

I was pleased to hear of your experiences in your Tuscany, at least the favorable ones. I have the same fogged driver side window. I've drilled a pair of holes in the septum and will draw a vacuum on the gap to try and remove all the moisture.

Here's a link to photos of my Tuscany, they may help you find some stuff. I have many more that are not online...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/pWYcwJp1yvHi67wn8