Community Forums

soundsuperio · 02-03-2021, 12:12 PM

Question: my 2015 Anthem has been in heated storage since late October. Spartan did engine service at end of June and it's been driven 4,000 miles since. Genny has 188 hours since last serviced. I am planning an 8 week, 5,000 mile summer trip and a 2 week 2,000 mile fall trip. Do I need to get service done now or can I wait until between the 2 trips or even until after both trips.

brobox · 02-03-2021, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundsuperio

Question: my 2015 Anthem has been in heated storage since late October. Spartan did engine service at end of June and it's been driven 4,000 miles since. Genny has 188 hours since last serviced. I am planning an 8 week, 5,000 mile summer trip and a 2 week 2,000 mile fall trip. Do I need to get service done now or can I wait until between the 2 trips or even until after both trips.

You will be fine. It has not been a year and not anywhere near 15,000 miles.

DeWat · 02-03-2021, 03:13 PM

+1 on Chuck's advice. Very few of us reach the mileage for most of the required services before we time out first... in your case, 1 year.

Magic-carpet · 02-03-2021, 04:28 PM

I'd probably service the genny before the next trips.

Gary.Jones · 02-03-2021, 04:48 PM

Some say service the Onan every 150 hours. Onan says to service the genny every 250 hours. I follow the 250 hour recommendation in the owners manual of the 12.5

Gary

fagnaml · 02-03-2021, 04:59 PM

I concur with Dewat's and Magic Carpet's thoughts. Your next engine oil, oil filter, and fuel filters change is due in June 2021 presuming you have a Cummins engine. For my 360 HP ISB engine Cummins specifies oil, oil filters and fuel filters change every 12 months.

Additionally, when was your engine air filter last changed? Cummins specifies changing the air filter every two years so that may be something to consider doing before a long summer trip.

Your generator, presuming it is an Onan generator, is overdue for oil & filter change. Onan specifies oil & filter change every 150 hours of use.

I follow Cummins service recommendations for my engine and generator as the cost for routine engine and filters replacement is "cheap" compared to what could be very expensive repair costs if the routine maintenance is not performed.

What areas of the great USA do you plan to visit?

soundsuperio · 02-03-2021, 05:16 PM

Thanks all. I was/am concerned as one Cummins Coach Care said to do all services now and a second said wait until after both trips. Still a quandary but I have until mid-April to ponder this since I cannnot get out of storage until then.
Only use generator for A/c when driving and one or two nights of Wally camping.

First trip is Detroit to Northern California then north to Olympic Penninsula followed by Boise. Hope to attend the ECOA and FMCA rallies in Spearfish and Gillette. Then hightail it to Nashville for the NAMM show then home to Detroit area.

Second trip is a week at Disney Fort Wilderness then 4-5 days for wife’s college friend get together. Hope to park at NIRVC and could get service done there.

jbhobbs54 · 02-04-2021, 04:17 AM

I know how you feel, last year serviced the coach and genny fairly early in the spring. Then started cancelling trips right and left because of Covid. Maybe a couple of weekend trips and one to Hearthside in October. Once we got it home it has been in the barn. We didn't put hardly any hours on the genny or miles.

It will be coming up on a year this spring, so, I agree with others you will time out before you mileage out. They will both get serviced this spring whether it needs it or not as it is cheap insurance compared to a tear down.

Enjoy your travels, sounds like a good time.

Gary.Jones · 02-04-2021, 07:23 AM

Jeff

Well, to each his own, but I would probably not be changing oil just because the clock ticked for a year. The only real problem I would be worried about would be water accumulation in the oil and I would sample the oil and see what it looks like. Also, you probably should have been running the Cummins on a regular basis anyhow even while in storage without major trips. Finally, you probably have a DEF sensor that actually works since you have a 15, but if your coach was a few years newer, I'd be a lot more worried about my DEF concentrations as there have been a lot of people that got into trouble with their DEF getting too old.

And finally, yes COVID has wrecked a lot of routines this past year and at the age of most of us, we don't need a lot of wrecked/lost years. However, at our age, there is no way that I can throw caution to the wind and just say, "what they hell, lets just live while we can....." I'm shooting for at least 90.

Gary

DSL417 · 02-04-2021, 03:30 PM

2015 DEF sensors break too...go back through the early threads on this and you’ll see I started fighting DEF errors in 2017...nobody at Spartan or Cummins could figure it out. Finally, out of warrantee I paid to chg out with a Gen 6. After warrantee expiration!

mymyst · 02-05-2021, 08:25 AM

You would be fine running to the mileage interval before major service, however, you might want to at least get the chassis and u-joints lubed before departure. I tend to follow the u-joint lube every 5,000 mile guideline whenever possible, and don't run much past it.

Old Scout · 02-05-2021, 08:39 AM

...I am pretty A/R about the drive train--I lube it before every major trip.....rest of chassis once or twice a year.....we use to average 10-12k miles per year...not so much anymore.....

soundsuperio · 02-05-2021, 10:18 AM

OP here. I was concerned about the conflicting advice from Cummins so I spoke with my service guy at Spartan, Chris, who said to do all the service after I return from the western trip and before we head to Florida. Just need to schedule the service appointment soon.
Thanks for all the input. Hope to see many of you at ECOA rally in Spearfish.