Community Forums

DeeGee · 08-02-2018, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brobox

I know it's a drive, but Dave, DSL417 raves about the Cummins facility in Sacramento. Is there a Cummins Coach Care in So CA? Probably not with the cost of real estate.

There is a Cummins Coach Care right here in Ventura. Spartan lists them as a 1W shop too (1 means can do any work and W means that they do warranty work). They are the ones that turned me away, saying that they only do Cummins motor work. I called Spartan's next recommendation in Santa Maria and they don't do any Spartan work either. My next two choices are the shop in Colton and one in Bakersfield, both supposedly 1W and good. The Bakersfield shop, although farther, is probably easier to get to, but I see several folks are recommending Colton. I have to sort some medical issues first, but I do need to get this taken care of. My coach is almost a year old and I have had a grand total of about 2-3 weeks of use out of it.

EVsCoach · 08-02-2018, 10:12 PM

I’ve used Colton Truck Terminal Garage a couple times and highly recommend them. Talk with Ed, 863 E Valley Blvd
Colton CA 92324, *(909) 825-4080‬ or *(909) 370-2205‬. Great folks to work with, warranty or otherwise.

DeeGee · 08-23-2018, 11:07 PM

We pick the Anthem up from Colton Truck Terminal Garage tomorrow. Mixed news: The CEL was not active while they were checking. It went on and off dozens of times on the trip there, so I really felt it was a loose connection. Same three codes:

SPN 03031 FMI 9 DEF tank temp not reporting
SPN 1761 FMI 9 DEF tank level sensor not reporting
SPN 3364 FMI 9 DEF fluid quality sensor not reporting

They disassembled and cleaned the connections, then took it for a 45 minute test drive with no lights appearing. Hopefully that's fixed. Of course, Spartan will only pay 1 hour for that, and they spent 3. Ah well, it's only money.

On the left-right weight imbalance, it MIGHT be fixed. To recap, my axle weights when weighed at Quartzsite in January were:

-------- Left ------ Right ----- Total ----- Max
Front - 7400 ----- 9400 ----- 16800 --- 17000
Drive - 7125 ----- 7800 ----- 14925 --- 20000
Tag --- 5575 ----- 4900 ----- 10475 --- 12000

The big problem is the first two numbers - Spartan says no more than 1000 pounds difference side-to-side on an axle. In addition to that, the weighing was done with about 120 gallons in the fuel tank, full water and empty dump tanks. Thirty more gallons of diesel would put me over the total front axle limit, and that is without anything in the basement freezer, now occupying useless space.

Rich at the Colton shop measured the ride height. The rear was correct at 8.25". The front is supposed to be 9" IIRC. The right was 9.25 and the left was 10. He didn't want to set it to spec because he said that the coach appeared straight and he thought it would give it a lean. I told him to set it anyway, and we would see where we were, at least knowing it was set to the Spartan spec. When he went to do so, he found that the left ride height valve was broken - it would put air in but not out. That could certainly force the system to the right... He obtained a new valve and installed it yesterday. The ride height is now to spec and he reports that the coach still appears straight.

I still have no way of knowing if the coach is in balance, so until I can find someone with a proper set of scales I have to assume the previous weights are in effect. Maximum weight on the front is supposed to be 9090 pounds at 130 psi, well under the measured 9400. If I am in balance with full fuel I would have 8500 on each, which should require 125 pounds. I will have to keep running 130 until I can get it weighed. If it is still off, then I have a floor plan with an inadequate front axle. Even if it is balanced, I still cannot carry anything, meaning that the axle is adequate for the chassis and house alone. What good is a basement that is empty? If I read the charts right, I need 85 in the tag and drive axles (actually 75, but Spartan says 85 min).

Matt D · 08-24-2018, 03:06 AM

Discovering the height valve defective is a huge smoking gun.

Is there anyone in the area that can weigh it for you?

In a different brand, a very knowledgeable forum member had the same issue of heavy front axle. He set about finding a way to make the tag air user adjustable.

I know Spartan is dead set against this, but it might solve your problem. What would happen is the lesser air pressure in the tag would appear as a lighter load on the tag when weighed. The drive weights would go up, and the front axle weights would decrease.

-Matt

Fattman-Litlboy · 08-24-2018, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowejug

Colton truck center in San Bernardino is a authorized spartan... just had my radiator replacement done there a few months ago... not only that but these guys know what there doing ... great shop... and they can do anything...
Just lock your doors when you get there.. not the safest area...

Thanks for the comment. I just added this service location to our listing in IRV2.
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/list...rs-397259.html
Jim

DeeGee · 08-24-2018, 08:59 AM

They (Colton Truck Terminal Garage) are quite knowledgeable. However, they do not have a pit, so some things are simply too hard to do. They crawl around underneath, but without a pit something that requires a big honking torque wrench applied from below isn't happening.

757driver · 08-24-2018, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt D

Discovering the height valve defective is a huge smoking gun.

Is there anyone in the area that can weigh it for you?

In a different brand, a very knowledgeable forum member had the same issue of heavy front axle. He set about finding a way to make the tag air user adjustable.

I know Spartan is dead set against this, but it might solve your problem. What would happen is the lesser air pressure in the tag would appear as a lighter load on the tag when weighed. The drive weights would go up, and the front axle weights would decrease.

-Matt

Could not agree more. It does not make any sense for a tag axle with 2 tires to be carrying almost 10500 lbs when the drive axle in front of it with 4 of the same tires is carrying under 15000lbs. Spartan insists it is a set value of air pressure going to the tag axle and they won’t do anything to lower it or fix the problem. I also plan on adding a pressure regulator to the tag axle line so that I can lower the tag pressure and take some of the weight off of the tag AND steer axle and put it on the drive axle where it belongs.

I know Spartan used to give control to the owners to adjust the tag pressure but they found people were going to the extreme of having a tag axle too light and too much weight on the drive axle but Spartan has gone overboard the other way and has way too much weight on the tag. Ideally the tag axle should be 50% of the drive axle weight, not 70% plus.

DeeGee · 08-24-2018, 06:37 PM

Hmm.... how would I get this done? And would it allow Spartan to invalidate my warranty? I know, Magnuson-Moss Act, but this is an area where they could claim a cause.

Gasman 2 · 08-24-2018, 06:55 PM

DeeGee, what's the weight you are carrying on the front axle?

Richard

Gasman 2 · 08-24-2018, 07:23 PM

Sorry DeeGee,
I should have read thru the entire post. Went and looked and saw your weights. I agree you are to close to the max for comfort.
If you could get that tag down to 9k you would see a big improvement on the front. But I know Spartan won't help you with that.
I had a similar issue with the Aspire we had and I installed an adjustable pressure regulator on the tag axle with a pressure gauge and set the pressure to 40 psi and it took weight off the front and increased on the drive axle.
Spartan inspected the chassis when we at training and they didn't say anything, but I didn't tell them what I had done. And they weight it when we were there.

Richard

Gasman 2 · 08-24-2018, 07:45 PM

DeeGee, just thinking about this if you are over the rated capacity on the front axle Entegra/ Spartan would be force to correct this. It's a matter of safety and responsibility.
I suggest you re weight the coach since you have replaced the left front leveling valve and go from there. Have you reached out to Entegra with this weight issue?

Richard

DeeGee · 08-24-2018, 11:35 PM

It has been brought up, but the original (main) issue is/was the side to side imbalance. I think I have it corrected now - at least, the changes to the ride height valve logically lead me to think so. However, I do not have access to a set of scales to corner-weigh it. I had it done at Quartzsite last year. That gentleman appears to be out of business. Last I heard, the NIRVC facility in Phoenix did not have scales, and I can't get to Texas or Atlanta. I am running the maximum 130 pounds in the front for now. When I can find a way to get it properly weighed, I will then take up any issues with Entegra. I agree that if I was sold a coach with, for example, a large freezer in the front passenger side bay, I ought to be able to put some goodies into it. I can't carry donuts, let alone my collection of refined lead figurines, or the gold bullion bricks.

Gasman 2 · 08-25-2018, 06:03 AM

Yeah, probably have to leave your gold at home or you could ship it to me and I'll watch it.[emoji16]

Bill Tudor · 08-25-2018, 07:30 AM

I had the same codes on my Cornerstone and we found out that it was a defective valve that let coolant from the radiator to the DEF tank when it is sub freezing. Basically it was heating the DEF fluid all the time and after 5+ hours of running in very hot temperatures, the CEL came on. We bypassed the valve and will deal with it later in the fall when we are back home. Easy to check, just feel the DEF tank with your hand after running several hours. If it is at ambient temperature its OK, if it’s hot then the valve is stuck or broken.