Burnt Plug Wire on the UFO

[UFO Pilot]

While traveling South to the Workhorse Rally in Palm Desert the UFO developed a vibration at 3000 RPM's. When I pulled into a rest stop I could hear the engine misfiring on the left exhaust. I called Keith at Redlands and he told me I probably had a burnt plug wire and to drive it on to his shop in the morning. We arrived about noon today and they found the #4 wire burnt. They replaced the wire and all is well again. Keith told me this is the first they have heard of burnt plug wires on the UFO chassis. Great service from Keith and the Redlands staff!

[DriVer]

Originally Posted by wthomas1

Great service from Keith and the Redlands staff!

wthomas1, You're right about that! Everyone that passes by Redlands tells us the same thing! Give a BIG hello from all of us to Keith and the gang and that we appreciate their sponsorship!

Have fun at the rally! We're up NEXT!

[Full-Timers]

It’s no doubt that you got good service from Redlands Truck and RV. Those guys are the best! It is also sad to think that the UFO is going to suffer the burnt wire problem as seen on a lot of front engine W22s. Mine was plagued with this problem 3 times until I installed the vent kit. I haven’t had a burnt wire since 2005 (25,000 miles).

[UFO Pilot]

Yes Keith and his staff do a great job. After they fixed the plug wire the tech inspected the entire chassis. He found 2 small trans fluid leaks that they will fix while they are here at the Rally next week. They didn't want to hold us up any longer and assured me that the leaks were very small. I wish I could find service like that near our home base.

[max49]

[QUOTE=wthomas I wish I could find service like that near our home base. [/QUOTE]

Me too!

[gbs2320]

This has got to be a fluke since the UFO at least with the Winnebago coach has a huge area on both sides and around the top of the engine for air flow. I can work on the engine from the drivers side from a crouch inside the engine compartment on the drivers side. There is 8 inches or more of space above the engine. One approach to improve the exit of the air would be to prop open one of the rubber skirts the hangs from the bottom edge of the rear cap engine opening to the top of the radiator. I prop the rubber skirt up on the oil filler tube and tranny filler tube that rest on the top of the radiator to create an air exit path for upper engine compartment hot air. Greg

[DriVer]

Originally Posted by gbs2320

I prop the rubber skirt up on the oil filler tube and tranny filler tube that rest on the top of the radiator to create an air exit path for upper engine compartment hot air.

Greg, there isn't any amount of hot air that is going to cause a spark plug wire to fail. Plug wires fail due to extreme sources of heat into to the several hundreds of degrees typically from radiant sources like a glowing exhaust manifold.

Even if it's a couple of hundred degrees in the area you are venting that would not impact any of the engine components. I would recommend that you run your vehicle with all the rubber in its stock configuration.

All the air that is forced through the enclosed fan shroud through to cool pack is just about 100% efficient with little or no bleed like a front engine rig.

[gbs2320]

Originally Posted by DriVer

Greg, there isn't any amount of hot air that is going to cause a spark plug wire to fail. Plug wires fail due to extreme sources of heat into to the several hundreds of degrees typically from radiant sources like a glowing exhaust manifold.

Even if it's a couple of hundred degrees in the area you are venting that would not impact any of the engine components. I would recommend that you run your vehicle with all the rubber in its stock configuration.

All the air that is forced through the enclosed fan shroud through to cool pack is just about 100% efficient with little or no bleed like a front engine rig.

I thought as much but thought I would give it a try next time out and watch my scan II gauge and watch the water temp to see if doing so with the rubber skirt has a negative or positive effect on water temps. If ok for water temp then getting more hot air out can't be bad even if it has negligible effect on a spark plug wire. But the fix for front engine rigs is the air tube kit to push air into the engine around the at risk plugs so some sort of air cooling effect seems to be part of the equation. So getting hot air away from the plugs with an exhaust opening may help some. Although given the large engine area of the UFO I still believe this event is a fluke due to a weak plug wire rather than an inherent problem like some front engine rigs (often due to chassis maker not providing enough room in the dog house front engine compartment (as some have said on this forum). Greg

[Max Hubrich]

Wayne (wthomas1),

For your info--

I don't have a UFO, but I had two small transmission fluid leaks on my Allison 1000 tranny several years ago. One I fixed myself, with a new "O" ring on the filler tube where it goes into the tranny, the second one required the tranny to be pulled. A little fluid was coming from the small drain hole where the engine and tranny mate up. It was assumed it was a front seal- well, it wasn't. One of the bolts holding the pump to the transmission housing had a bad rubber seal. No more problems in almost 4 years .

Good luck,

[UFO Pilot]

The Workhorse Rally here in Palm Desert ends on the 23rd. I have an appointment at an Allison repair facility in San Bernardino on the 26th to have it checked out. Hopefully it is something very simple. Redlands said the leak is very small, the trans fluid isn't low so they are probably right.

[gbs2320]

When I got my UFO in March of 09 at 1 yr old and with 3800 miles on it, it had two tranny leaks. Each cooling line - input and output leaked where they attached to the radiator. When they were installed the installer placed the rubber Orings on the wrong side of the metal washer so they did not get pushed into the Oring grove. I had a weaping leak that made my radiator a mess on the tank on that side. The fluid level was only down about 8 oz. Any new or newish coach/chassis has a few issues. I easily fixed mine w. a couple of new Orings from the hardware store. Greg

[DriVer]

Originally Posted by gbs2320

I easily fixed mine w. a couple of new O-Rings from the hardware store.

Greg, Good catch and good job. Sometimes ya have to just scratch your head and ask why ????