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CJ7ole · 06-27-2019, 11:37 PM

I thought I had a water pump squeal, so I took it to my local MH shop. Turns out the problem was that I needed a new serpentine belt, idler pulley and tensioner, pump was OK. Oh and by the way your exhaust manifolds are warped and are leaking and you are on the verge of broken exhaust studs, we recommend installing new manifolds and bolts. Oh, and you have two seized brake calipers. We recommend new calipers and pads all around, we can turn the rotors. $5700 total!!! Plus $50 per, for any studs that we have to drill out.

I reluctantly said fine, but I will do the brakes and belt parts, I don't want to deal with the headache of possibly broken studs. OK then you are down to $3200.

Oh brother.

How difficult to do 2002 F53 brakes? Done plenty on cars and trucks. I have already changed out the plugs.

At Rock Auto the parts for the belt issue and brakes are $450.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f23/chang...ay-338532.html

buzz57 · 06-27-2019, 11:57 PM

If you have done brakes before, it is very similar. Main differences are hubs must come off with rotors as they are back bolted so they are heavy and awkward. Now is the time to repack your front wheel bearings.
The rears are a bit different unless you have done a 3/4 ton or bigger. Rear axles must come out before you can remove the hubs. Then remove the bearings and retainer nuts. They are torqued , I marked mine before removing and replaced to same position. You will lose some diff oil, maybe a cup or so on each side so will need a top off when done and also need to tilt each side to refill the oil trapped in each hub. THIS ASSUMES YOU NEED NEW ROTORS!!
If it is just pads, easy peasy just wheel removal. SERVICE the caliper slides and regrease with special slider grease.
I would highly recommend doing a complete fluid change now, you will be amazed how contaminated it is.

Manifold bolts @ 50 each is a bargain!!!! It took me over 16 hrs with very special drill bits to replace mine! I also did not reuse the manifolds, there is a seller on ebay that sells headers for the v10 in pickups that fit well, are cheaper and lighter than the manifs but there is no provision for egr so a bit of a mod is needed, its easy.
On mine out of 20 studs, I had to drill out 11 the rest came out reluctantly. There is NOTHING easy in this job.

Waiter21 · 06-28-2019, 05:35 AM

Servicing all of these is fairly easy and straight forward

BRAKE HOSES and PADS - If the calipers and disks are ok, it may be just replacing the pads. While you have stuff torn apart, now's a good time to replace the hoses and repack the front bearings.

REPLACE HOSES

REPLACE PADS and REPACK BEARINGS

The Serpentine belt, tensioners and idlers is also fairly easy. Once the belt is off you have access to these items. My MH is 20 years old so while I had things torn apart, I decided to replace the waterpump and thermostat as preventative measure.

REPLACE BELT

AND the big one - Broken studs... Its a tedious job, fortunately, on RVs we have a lot more room to work than the truck and van people.. When I did mine, the only regret I have is that I didn't make the decision to remove the heads sooner.

REPAIR BROKEN STUDS

..

bobbelcher · 06-28-2019, 05:47 AM

took my passenger side manifold off and broke two studs in the process. pbr and wd 40 spray down like crazy. one of the studs that broke was for the egr.

the manifold was warped and there was no gaskets used. my friend is a machinist and he decked the manifold so it was able to be reused and didn't cost me anything. We broke a bolt putting it back on... my friend tried reusing an old stud because believe it or not, no one sells the studs that i needed so i had to just settle for buying just bolts. the first stud he tried reusing snapped off. luckily we got it out easily and then just used the new bolts i bought.

The driver side needs done but im holding off on doing it. the passenger side was a several day ordeal and more stress than i need right now.

I haven't done brakes yet but its getting close. I assume that job will go smoother than the manifold project.

CJ7ole · 07-04-2019, 08:36 PM

Thanks for the info guys, appreciated! I had the shop replace the manifolds. Labor was $750 plus $300 extra labor for 6 broken bolts plus $1900 for the manifolds and another $322 for gaskets and hardware kits. I feel like I got ripped off on parts, but that is how they make their money. Probably paid close to three times on parts for what I might have found them online. I now have what looks like a perfect of manifolds if anyone would like to make an offer. The shop said the problem is not that they warp, but that they stretch over time with the heat cycles and eventually the bolt holes don't line up with the studs, resulting in broken bolts, manifold leaks (which I had) and potential valve damage. A bunch of hooey? I don't know.

I did order a Dayco serpentine belt/tensioner/idler pulley combo from RockAuto for $68 vs $194 the shop wanted to charge. And I ordered Centric (what the shop recommended) full loaded calipers all around and grease seals for $404 after core return from RockAuto, vs $960 the shop wanted to charge. Their labor for the belt and brakes would have been $850.

Now I might need to buy that new 37 hp 175 psi Kobalt compressor to bust all of those nuts loose. My old Crapsman 1 hp only cycles 80-100 psi and comes up short on heavy rattling with my IR gun.

tiffy2000 · 07-05-2019, 05:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJ7ole

Thanks for the info guys, appreciated! I had the shop replace the manifolds. Labor was $750 plus $300 extra labor for 6 broken bolts plus $1900 for the manifolds and another $322 for gaskets and hardware kits. I feel like I got ripped off on parts, but that is how they make their money. Probably paid close to three times on parts for what I might have found them online. I now have what looks like a perfect of manifolds if anyone would like to make an offer. The shop said the problem is not that they warp, but that they stretch over time with the heat cycles and eventually the bolt holes don't line up with the studs, resulting in broken bolts, manifold leaks (which I had) and potential valve damage. A bunch of hooey? I don't know.

I did order a Dayco serpentine belt/tensioner/idler pulley combo from RockAuto for $68 vs $194 the shop wanted to charge. And I ordered Centric (what the shop recommended) full loaded calipers all around and grease seals for $404 after core return from RockAuto, vs $960 the shop wanted to charge. Their labor for the belt and brakes would have been $850.

Now I might need to buy that new 37 hp 175 psi Kobalt compressor to bust all of those nuts loose. My old Crapsman 1 hp only cycles 80-100 psi and comes up short on heavy rattling with my IR gun.

If it is just the wheels that you need the torque wrench for just get a torque multiplier $65 and it will break them loose

Waiter21 · 07-05-2019, 06:51 AM

If you have 19.5 inch wheels, they should be torqued to 150 ft-lbs.. I use a regular ole Harbor freight 1/2 inch torque wrench. Remember to set the torque to zero when your finished and before you store it.

If you're replacing calipers, I'd also replace the hoses. Consider installing the speed bleeders, makes bleeding a lot easier.

CJ7ole · 07-05-2019, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiffy2000

If it is just the wheels that you need the torque wrench for just get a torque multiplier $65 and it will break them loose

No problem busting them loose with my breaker bar, been wanting a bigger compressor for years, now is my excuse...

Got a digital click style 1/2" Craftsman torque wrench, goes to 250 I think, should be good.

Waiter21 · 07-05-2019, 07:06 AM

Quote:

No problem busting them loose with my breaker bar, been wanting a bigger compressor for years, now is my excuse...

:-) :-)

When I painted mine, I "needed" a higher capacity compressor. No really, I did..

I bought a 21 gallon from HF. I think it was around $140.

The Craftsman is superior to the HF, If I was doing this for a living, I'd go with higher quality, but a couple times a year, HF works ok.

CJ7ole · 07-05-2019, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waiter21

:-) :-)

When I painted mine, I "needed" a higher capacity compressor. No really, I did..

I bought a 21 gallon from HF. I think it was around $140.

The Craftsman is superior to the HF, If I was doing this for a living, I'd go with higher quality, but a couple times a year, HF works ok.

My Craftsman is a really good compressor it was their "Best" 1 hp unit, all USA made, GE motor, Devilbiss tank, big gauges, it just doesn't have enough horsepower. Will be sad to see it go, been in the family for at least 30 years.

The Lowe's Kobalt I am looking at doesn't seem to have any competition at that price point. 3.7 hp, 220 volts, 60 gallon tank, 2 stage, 175 maximum PSI. 10.7 CFM at 175 PSI. $549. Chinese motor and compressor, USA tank I believe, assembled in USA.

CJ7ole · 07-16-2019, 09:55 AM

My 60 gallon Kobalt compressor is doing great and it holds pressure for several days at a time without cycling. I installed a 1/2" ball valve followed by a regulator set at 120 psi just after the tank The compressor cycles 140-175 psi, so I will always have a 120 pounds of steady pressure before my other end use regulators, which are only rated for 150 psi.

Except for a wrong caliper from RockAuto, the brakes are done, even though they would have been fine as-is, contrary to what the shop said. I had to acknowledge they were unsafe when I left the shop. Rotors didn't need turning, pads were at 70-80%, only one set were slightly uneven. No melted caliper boots.

Waiter21: Thanks for the references from your F53 Brake pads and wheel bearings – 1999 Southwind 35S website. Very informative, especially useful on the serpentine belt routing, and, yes, RockAuto did send the wrong belt size. Thanks for the heads-up before I tried to install it. Wheel bearing install was useful too. But I am not going to "bed" the brakes as you suggested, seems just way too aggressive, to heat your new brakes to the point of fading. Never heard of anyone doing or even suggesting that. I am sure if I google it, I will be proved wrong.

Anyone from SE MI reading this: stay away from C.A.R.S, Inc. in White Lake unless you have very deep pockets. They do good work, just too much of it. I would take it to a Ford dealer before I go back there.

Torquing the caliper bolts to 250 ft-lbs was all I could manage from beneath the coach and it maxed out the setting on my 1/2" torque wrench. BTW, the current recommended wheel nut torque from Ford on the 19.5" wheels has been upped to 165 ft-lbs.

CJ7ole · 07-17-2019, 06:23 AM

Correction on my last post: upon closer inspection of the one caliper I had not returned as a core yet, I did see some deterioration of the caliper boots. It didn't look melted, more like it was just 17 years old.

RockAuto didn't mis-box the one caliper I had to return, they had an error on the website, noting that both left calipers were identical. Turns out my rig needs three identical calipers and one with the bleed screw opposite hand.