Community Forums

kcblues2 · 04-23-2013, 06:55 PM

Hi all, we just purchased a 1989 Newman Kountry Air motorhome from my mother-in-law. It has 40,000 miles and has set for 5yrs. We put new tires and new battery, and had a mechanic check the belts ect, Something keeps draining the battery and it back-fires every time we start it. We got it pretty cheap but starting to think we may have made a mistake! We are 60yrs old and green as green can be but always thought we might love rving. This seemed like a cheap way to find out plus the kids would love to use it for camping. I guess my question is we have had it at the mechanics twice and $1000 later no improvement so should we take it back or try and find someone else? We live in Kansas City and cannot find anyone that works on RV motors

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biker art · 04-23-2013, 08:46 PM

Sounds like a simple tune up .You need a good mechanic to look at it.It also sounds like you wasted $1000 .It may need spark plugs and wires plus a carb rebuild after sitting for so long.

ronspradley · 04-23-2013, 08:46 PM

Welcome to the Forum. Great group here and much experience and knowledge. I would suggest maybe you to go the Newmar section of Forum and ask questions there. They might have better answers to your questions. And whether the questions are here or elsewhere, you will get a better response if you include some specifics about your MH. Like what engine and chassis. What did this "mechanic" do for his thousand dollars. Which batteries are going dead. There will be battery for coach and chassis, or motor and house, whichever you want to call it. It takes some effort to get a vehicle that has not run in years back on the road. In my experience, I have not seen anything "cheap" associated with an RV. You will need to be able to either fix things yourself (with maybe some coaching from IRV2), or pay for them to be fixed. But you do not have to find an RV mechanic to work on the RV motor. This is just another truck motor, GMC if I read your post right. Anyway, just saying to hang in there. Ask questions here and I am sure you will get some help. Happy Trails.

ronspradley

TQ60 · 04-24-2013, 10:28 AM

back fire is usually late timing

"Young folks" may not be of help, look for seasoned mechanic that has experience with trucks and is old school tune up trained.

1989 should be electronic ign. But little in computer, could be vacuum hose or other, the person will need to be able to troubleshoot.

Suggest replacing all hoses they crack and leak

spritz · 04-25-2013, 10:47 AM

We bought her last season 44,000 ,miles, cleaned her up inside and out and now she looks & drives like a million. We only had some work with the exhaust and a clogged fuel filter to fix. She didn't get much use the last 5 or so years as the guy had had a stroke. I have used a few (maybe 3-5) shops around our place (no more than 5 miles) for the MH our daily driver and the old Caddie. The last place I used told me that none of their techs works on carburetor's

AHHH What?? I know drive around 30-40 miles 1 way to a garage that does everything to cars and to MH's. Shop around. We recommend this place to everyone.
I will pay more to go some places if the service and work are done correctly.
Tim

13476 Hanson Blvd. NW
Andover, MN 55304
ph: 763-755-4460
fax: 763-755-9858
info@andoverwheelandframe.com

kcblues2 · 04-25-2013, 10:45 PM

Thanks to all who took the time to answer and direct me about our recent motorhome purchase. Although Ron kinda scared me with the nothing is cheap about an RV!

I will definitely look into all of your suggestions! Thanks again

BA-in-Mich · 05-05-2013, 06:18 AM

One thing to look at is the distributor weights. Make sure the weights are free to move back and forth. I had my distributor " recurved " a couple of years ago and made a big difference in how it ran. When I pulled the distributor, I found my weights were very sluggish moving back and forth like the grease had hardened up. Also as far as the backfiring goes when I lost the voltage to the fuel pump in the gas tank my engine would stumble and backfire. When I was driving on a flat road at a steady rate no problem but when I hit a hill or needed to accelerate it would backfire and stumble. I am assuming you have the 454 engine. If it is and you have the quadrajet,look for a carb rebuilder. Those are great carbs in the hands of a person that knows how to rebuild them.
Also as far as nobody working on rv's go around to some of the older auto parts stores and start asking around if they know somebody that does work on the side and knows anything about carbs. If you get a couple of people that give you the same name check into it.