Need help blown 8.1 Vortec engine 1000 miles from home!

[ghawkman]

Im sorry to hear you had a bad experience in my backyard. We deal with Beckleys RV in Thurmont,Md. and they would have had to drive by Beckleys to get to Gettysburg. Im hoping it isn't Beckleys you are talking about ..

[onholdguy]

Make sure to check with Jasper engines. I have both used them and sold them when I had a shop. The month have to pull the windshield to get it out. Make sure to get so there details before they start
Recommend that you also change the front seal in the transmission because it is about staring you in the face and if you don't change it might have a leak later which then you have to pull the transmission again. Cheap insurance.

[kstateaddict]

I sure hope you don’t have to replace the engine. We have a 2002 Winnebago Adventurer W-20 with the 8.1. We have 79,000 on ours and I’ve heard the horror stories the 8.1 failures since we bought the coach. Maybe I missed it but do you have water in the oil now? There are shops out there who are great at trouble shooting but a hell of lot more that aren’t! . You need to find a the best people to give you a honest opinion and accurate evaluation of your problem. Sounds like the members are steering you in the right direction. A thousand miles from home is a bad deal. Hopefully you are pulling a toad that will get you home. As for me if I had the same problem I would get the family home the take a friend, or my brother back there with tools and find out for sure if the engine is trash then I guess it’ll get expensive. Building engines and race cars most of my life really makes feel your pain. I don’t know where your coach is but hopefully some mechanical inclined members are close that could give you some help. Good luck!!

[rickers001]

That's terrible news.
Years back my parents suffered a blown transmission on their 32 foot F450 motor home and stayed at the Ford dealership for weeks while waiting for the replacement trans.
They were able to plug in and do other things.
NOW here is what I experienced in the beginning of April this year.
My k3500 turbo diesel /Camper blew out a cylinder in the bush, I got it towed out to a gravel lot by the main highway and sourced out a new engine and changed it myself in the dirt in TWENTY EIGHT DAYS WITH ONLY HAND TOOLS, one week of solid rain.
I hired the tow truck for an additional 2 hours in the last week to do just the lift out a lift in.
Try and find a local confident mechanic that will take it on.
Ric and Doggy Zena.

[rvpapaw]

Yeah; probably not a blown valve. Grey smoke sounds more like a cooling issue, like a water pump. I know it sucks, but get a second opinion.

[DryCreek]

Do you have a door on the driver's side? If so, then the R&R for the engine just got a whole bunch easier!

[FredV]

The plain and simple on this situation is that there is a serious shortage of qualified auto/Truck technicians that would be willing to work on Motorhomes. This situation is only going to get worse. Dealerships and aftermarket Auto/Truck repair facilities are NOT able to fill employment vacancies. Why do I know this? I retired as a heavy line tech from a GM dealership 3 years ago and my job is still open. My suggestion is that if you are comfortable with the facility you are dealing with then be patient it could take awhile. As long as your motorhome is in line to be worked on and not being skipped over for better paying work just be patient

[Hames57]

Perfect example of the major drawback to motor homes. Finding service when everyone else also needs servuce. Sorry for your bad luck. I sold my motorhome because of fear of your situation happening to me.

[aubiedory]

Highly recommend Price Chevrolet large truck repair in Charlottesville VA. They always did work on my P32 chassis at reasonable cost and time. They were a Workhorse repair facility until GM went bust. Service Manger is Vann Clem. Telephone # is 434/218-0185. Saw him replace engine in motorhome on my last visit.

[ronboatplane]

Originally Posted by dcoff12

Good suggestion and I have spent most of today doing that. One that was a Workhorse Certified Service Center no longer works on RV's and another will accept the unit for repairs and we are attempting to evaluate the widely mixed customer reviews.
Thank you for your input joespapa.

Better than original gm as is optimized for our RVs. Call Jasper direct to find dealer that will come get your RV and haul it in for installation. Been there done that

[kluza2786]

I see that you're in southern Indiana, so I would suggest contacting Jasper Engine (812-482-1041) to see what garages they would recommend in the area. They have a large customer base so they could probably tell you who seems to be the most reliable. If your engine is "toast", they also can tell you the cost for a remanufactured unit. I don't work for Jasper, but they used to be one of my Detroit Diesel engine and Allison Transmission dealers, so I'm familiar with them.

[Duner]

I have been running a Jasper rebuilt for 3 yrs and 20,000 miles. I lost a piece of piston at 80,000 miles due to a defective MAF causing it to run lean and I did not realize it was pinging all along.

Redlands RTS in CA did the motor swap and recommended Jasper mainly because of the nationwide warranty coverage. The warranty for motorhome is shorter than a truck at 18 months/100,000 miles.

Here in SoCal, the land of high prices, the complete job was $15,500 and that included new Banks headers. And it also included a bunch of new stuff....O2 sensors, belt, hoses, plugs, water pump, filters, solid core ign wires, thermostat, gaskets, etc.

I have two complaints about Jasper:
1) The engine came with the wrong timing cover (there are two versions) so that the engine would only start every 3rd try. Turns out the timing sensor in the wrong cover is offset from the gear slightly. Took Redlands experts two extra days to troubleshoot and fix (on Jasper's dime).

2) The engine burns oil at the rate of 1 quart per 500 miles while my old engine got 2000+ miles before I had to add a quart. But 500 mi is about the threshold where they say it's ok.

By the way, the engine comes out the bottom. They jack the front up about 2.5 ft and remove the front axle, wheels and all.

Good luck,
Bill

[DryCreek]

Originally Posted by Duner

By the way, the engine comes out the bottom. They jack the front up about 2.5 ft and remove the front axle, wheels and all.

Unless you have a driver's side door.

[CJ7365]

Haven't heard from the OP is some time (07-24-2018 09:39 AM)

Wish he would come back and give an update.


Dry Creek, when the motor come out the drivers door, are the heads taken off?