Vision coolant leak
Sharing this in case anyone else with a Vision cares to check for this potential condition. Short story - heater hose rubbed against trans dip stick tube and sprung a leak. My heroes at Sanderson Ford in Phoenix got us back on the road. Long story....
On first trip of the year I started smelling coolant at our gas-up stops. We were doing about 400 miles a day so I didn't think too much of a hot engine giving off some smell. The temp gauge was rock solid and there was no indication of coolant leaking under the rig.
It seemed a bit worse over the next couple of days so I finally (doh!) checked the coolant level and found the tank to be EMPTY! Oh s)%t. Took the jeep into Tucson to buy 2 gallons of "yellow" from a Ford dealer. Bought a cheap fluid pump ($10) to get it from the container UP into the tank.
Drove 175 miles to our next camp, north of Phoenix. Checked the tank...EMPTY! Still no fluid on the ground, no coolant in the oil, temp gauge rock solid. Called Sanderson Ford and they said I could bring it in but no promises other than taking a look at it. Called a couple other Ford truck dealers and got the "we are booked 3 weeks out for RV service". This was a Tuesday and we had a Friday departure.
I drove the jeep into town Wednesday morning to buy more yellow coolant. Filled the tank and drove 30 miles to Sanderson. (yep...tank empty) Booked a 2-star hotel room for $330/night (spring training!!). Starting praying that Sanderson would troubleshoot on Thursday and find a simple leak to repair.
Thursday early afternoon got the call that the Entegra folks installed the heater hose in a way that put it in contact with the transmission dip stick tube. Rubbed a hole in the side of the hose. Likely lost most coolant on those 4500RPM trips up the "hills". Nearly no leaking while idle.
This could have been a lot worse. The Ford service guy said that where Ford put the temp sensor might not have indicated a problem until it was too late. The leak must have developed slowly and I found it in time to add enough coolant to keep the engine temp happy. Sanderson Ford was willing to squeeze me in while having to explain to a non-emergency customer that their repair would take an extra day. Not many would do that. We were back on schedule thanks to their willingness to help.
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Bob and Lynn [humans ]
Jasper and Duffy [springer spaniels]
2020 Entegra Vision 29s w/ Tyron Bands up front and RV Whisper Monitor (awesome)
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