Community Forums

chboone · 06-14-2014, 10:46 PM

octanefam,
The major rebuild is understandable at 175K being caused by dropping a valve seat. Have seen it first hand in my previous life, on a 1,680 HP 12 cylinder twin turbo natural gas engine running at 1200 RPM driving a 1.2 MW generator.

Chuck

Genset · 06-15-2014, 07:59 AM

I would be thinking the 5.9 rebuilt, you can be assured the reman is not equal to a new engine, might run fine but will not make the same mileage.Also Fleetwood on a freightliner chassis will provide much needed attention at the 175k mile area.
But the big thing can be your unhappiness with the lack of performance with such an anemic engine, between low hp and low torque, the right lane is your future being passed by everyone.
You might be very happy with this. Sure not me.
Do what makes you happy & forget all the experts.
Dave M

Robin_M · 06-15-2014, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Genset

But the big thing can be your unhappiness with the lack of performance with such an anemic engine, between low hp and low torque, the right lane is your future being passed by everyone.

Dave,

FWIW, I didn't find that to be an enormous problem. The ISB in my 99 Discovery was certainly no rocket, but even before a I added the Banks kit, it was only noticeably sluggish out of the gate and on exceptionly long climbs. Once it got up to speed, it was not a problem. I passed lots of other vehicles on the highway. After the addition of the Banks TLC kit, it performed reasonably well from a stop and on all but the very steepest hills. The up-side of the ISB, of course, is the great fuel economy. At today's fuel prices I sure miss that.

speerfamily · 06-16-2014, 06:56 AM

I loved my 98 Discovery just sold it back in October. Got 25k for mine as well, it was well maintained with new tires and inspection done. The propane generator while being a pain to fill the tank on the road, was a great generator, it is an extremely low maintenance clean running generator. I found by shifting down manually going up steep grades that I could reasonably keep my speed above 50mph for all bu the steepest hills...not as fast as my current rig, but I regulary got 11mph and except for the big hills, I pulled a car and kept up with traffic just fine. If you like the coach it would be a good starter without breaking the bank.

octanefam · 06-16-2014, 07:29 AM

Thanks for your input. We have made the offer to him just waiting to hear back from the seller. Bank will only lend us the book value so we will see what happens. THe book on this unit is $22,280.

Patiently waiting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by speerfamily

I loved my 98 Discovery just sold it back in October. Got 25k for mine as well, it was well maintained with new tires and inspection done. The propane generator while being a pain to fill the tank on the road, was a great generator, it is an extremely low maintenance clean running generator. I found by shifting down manually going up steep grades that I could reasonably keep my speed above 50mph for all bu the steepest hills...not as fast as my current rig, but I regulary got 11mph and except for the big hills, I pulled a car and kept up with traffic just fine. If you like the coach it would be a good starter without breaking the bank.

98FPA · 06-16-2014, 07:30 AM

Good, bad, or indifferent; if it has made it to 175K apparently this MH has been a certainly seen its fair use. It was apparently a good MH for one or several owners through out this time. Probably a lot of good moments too. As speerfamily stated may be a good starter coach without breaking the bank. Good luck and keep up posted on your decision.

octanefam · 06-18-2014, 10:45 PM

Well the seller and I have finalized our deal just waiting for my Truck to sell which should be Friday then I can proceed. The only problem that I know about is that the cruise control doesn't work. He replaced a relay and it worked all last year but then this spring it quit working. Any ideas? I know I'm not giving much detail but thats about all he has told me about that issue.

THanks

Robin_M · 06-19-2014, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by octanefam

Well the seller and I have finalized our deal just waiting for my Truck to sell which should be Friday then I can proceed. The only problem that I know about is that the cruise control doesn't work. He replaced a relay and it worked all last year but then this spring it quit working

Well, obviously, you're going to start troubleshooting with the same relay that made it work last year.

One of the things I liked about this motorhome is that it has a standard Freightliner chassis. Very little on the chassis has been altered. That means you can take it to any truck mechanic that works on Freightliners for chassis related repairs and maintenance. I hardly ever had mine worked on by a motorhome dealer.