Seller has not followed time based oil change intervals on chassis or generator

[cpeisher]

Drove my family 6 hours to possibly buy an RV. 2015 Tiffin 35qba with Ford v10 and 5 speed tranny. Potential price of $82k. The owner pulled the complete service records from the dealer where he has had it serviced. It had the oil change on the chassis and the first oil change on the generator done in January of 2016. In December of 2016 it had the second generator oil change and the first and only air filter change. Generator specs say change oil at 20-50 hours then every 150 hours there after. Should have had 4 generator oil changes by now with 570 generator hours. In 30 days it will have been five years since the last oil change on the chassis engine and it has currently been 4 years since the last oil change on the generator. So it is under mileage for the next engine oil change but the manual says to change every 7500 miles or 6 months. So it is way over TIME interval for oil changes, like over due by 8 oil changes per time interval of 6 months. And likely overdue by hour interval on the generator by at least two oil changes. What are your thoughts?

[patches64]

he felt that it was to costly to have the oil changed so he may have did it him self just a thought

[Sarz272000]

Check the welds between coach and chassis. There have been issues where they break. Search Tiffin forum for details.

[txcpl]

The guy is at least being honest with you concerning oil changes. Apparently the RV hasn't been driven much, from your description. If I wasn't using the RV, I wouldn't take it every 6 months to get the oil changed, just because the manual said to. That's not practical. With low miles and high generator hours, kinda makes me think it was used for tailgating.
How did the coach part of the RV look? Taken care of or abused?

[rockriver]

i read posts about having the oil tested... sounds like a good idea. and. i'd suggest having a qualified mechanic check engine..
buying a new generator is a known expense. limited labor charge.
replacing engine or having it rebuilt ... sounds expensive...

[twinboat]

I bought a 2000 Ford V10 MH in 2014. It had 16,000 miles and 3 oil changes in 14 years. The generator had 6 hours and no oil changes, just a few carburators.

I used it until 2018, putting 35,000 more trouble free miles on the chassis and 500 trouble free hours on the generator. I changed the engine oil every 5000 miles and changed the generator oil once.

IMHO, if its the MH for you, get it warmed up good, change the oil/filters and drive it.

[Spdracr39]

It won't be a problem. Maintenance when necessary is whats important. Blindly following recommended schedules without considering circumstances is wasteful.

[lwmcguire]

Time based oil change is quite similar to discarding your distilled water based on the expiration date

Everyone is aware you must get up at midnight to observe expiration dates or face consequences

Of all things to worry about time based oil changes are simply a joke unless it is tied to a warranty

[mrfix]

you'll be fine, service the entire rig, front to back and establish a new baseline for your own maintenance schedule and move on, enjoy your new rig, the ford v-10 is bomb proof and the onan engine will take a beating for a long time.

[RonLC]

Originally Posted by spdracr39

It won't be a problem. Maintenance when necessary is whats important. Blindly following recommended schedules without considering circumstances is wasteful.

Totally agree. Most of us are experienced enough to know the important items such as oil changes, etc. When you take a look at the recommended service items on the so called X miles checks you will notice a lot of items that are either unnecessary or easy to do your self....lube accelerator pedal, change air filter, inspect belts are examples. The 15,000 mile check on my Freightliner costs about $1500. If you don't need an oil change at that time, the rest of the inspection is about 5 hours labor plus parts. I suspect this is a big money maker for the company.

[Dav L]

Pull an oil fill cap, look to see if there is any sludge on the cap or better yet in the valve cover. If it's clean, ask for a discount but feel ok no matter what.
Just get all serviced if not for sure when last time was.
Pack the family in the rig and go have some fun.

[winniman]

I used to get the same thing from my car dealership. I have a car for a second vehicle. I don't drive it in the winter, and don't put large miles on it in the summer. I would always get a notification from the dealership that it was due for its oil change, even though it had sat in the driveway all winter. I base oil changes on miles driven, not time past. The oil sat in the ground for a couple million years, I don't think a few extra months is going to hurt it.

[hohenwald48]

Much ado about nothing.

[wildmanbaker]

The time limit for an oil change is based on the fact that some vehicles set and idle for long periods without incurring mileage.