Could it be the "rain" thing?

[lhill]

Hi folks,
I drove my motorhome from Dallas to Houston last Sunday in heavy rain the whole way. The first 200 miles was fine, but about 50 miles from home, all of a sudden the engine missed for less that a second, almost felt like the transmission slipped and then grabbed. I pulled in to a rest area for a couple minutes and let it idle, seemed smooth and normal, but when I pulled back out on the highway and was accelerating, it began to miss quite a bit as the rpm built. Once at speed it was smooth again unless I crowded the throttle. I made it home without further trouble, at slow city speeds it didn't miss, only seems to do it when it's pulling hard. I'm hoping that it just got wet because of the heavy rain and once it dries it'll be back to normal. Have any of you experienced anything similar? What was the outcome? The engine missing and rain could just be a coincidense and I have further troubles.... I won't be able to drive it again until the first weekend in May, I'll take it out on the highway and cross my fingers that it's okay. Any suggestions on what to look at to prevent future water problems? I am supposed to be driving it to Florida for a 10 day vacation the last week in May so I need to get this resolved. I really thank you all for any and all input.

[lhill]

Hi folks,
I drove my motorhome from Dallas to Houston last Sunday in heavy rain the whole way. The first 200 miles was fine, but about 50 miles from home, all of a sudden the engine missed for less that a second, almost felt like the transmission slipped and then grabbed. I pulled in to a rest area for a couple minutes and let it idle, seemed smooth and normal, but when I pulled back out on the highway and was accelerating, it began to miss quite a bit as the rpm built. Once at speed it was smooth again unless I crowded the throttle. I made it home without further trouble, at slow city speeds it didn't miss, only seems to do it when it's pulling hard. I'm hoping that it just got wet because of the heavy rain and once it dries it'll be back to normal. Have any of you experienced anything similar? What was the outcome? The engine missing and rain could just be a coincidense and I have further troubles.... I won't be able to drive it again until the first weekend in May, I'll take it out on the highway and cross my fingers that it's okay. Any suggestions on what to look at to prevent future water problems? I am supposed to be driving it to Florida for a 10 day vacation the last week in May so I need to get this resolved. I really thank you all for any and all input.

[lhill]

Sorry, forgot to mention that it's an '03 Allegro with the Workhorse W20 chassis....

[Allegro Happy]

We and friends who had an Allegro had problems in the rain. We had a Ford, 2001 and they had a Ford 1999. We drove from Myrtle Beach to Delaware in the rain. It sputtered, etc. and the problem was that the air filter was sucking in water from the rain. When we took air filter cover off, there was LOTS of water in it. We had a Ford dealer replace them, I think there was a warrenty notice out about this. Don't know about your engine, but it's something to think about. Good luck

[DriVer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lhill:
Sorry, forgot to mention that it's an '03 Allegro with the Workhorse W20 chassis.... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Sorry for your troubles however we have had other owners tell us about water ingestion however I can't find the thread at this moment.

Perhaps one of the folks that were involved will ring in and direct you in the right direction.

Bring the unit back to your dealer and let them know what's going on. Please also join us in the Workhorse Chassis Motorhome Club Forum in the Owner's Corner.

[Fyrflie]

I too have had the same issue. It did it just enough to raise my suspicion but then it quit and has never done it again. I have a Workhorse P32.
Would like to find the cause.

[John Dotas]

I recently had the same problem with my Ford V10
Drove from Nashville to Louisville in heavy rain. Didn't have any miss until Louisville. When I got... BACK HOME AGAIN IN INDIANA..(sorry I couldn't resist) and had the MH serviced several days later, my service dude checked the air cleaner and poured about two cups of water out of the air cleaner housing. First time I've had the problem but have heard of other V10 problems. Can't say I recall anyone with the workhorse having similiar problems. I believe that Ford is installing some type of guard over the air cleaner. Sorry, can't help any more than that.

John D.

[Bob (WA0MQE)]

ihill...

There is a thread on either this forum, or on the RV.NET forum about Workhorse Chassis' misfiring in rain. You could do a search and probably find it. However, I don't think it's a water ingestion problem. My 2001 Workhorse P32 with the GM 8.1 had the same problem. It didn't need to be raining for it to misfire, it would happen when the road was wet. The air intake is mounted high and is above the grill opening, meaning it couldn't be picking up water from the road. What I think was happening is road splash. On my rig when I open the engine dog house, and look down the right side the engine is totally exposed to the road. The right front tire can splash water right up on the engine and the right side spark plug wiring and coils. Most factory built vehicles have a splash guard to prevent this from happening. Most motorhomes don't. I built my own and haven't had the problem since.

Bob

[lhill]

Thank you all for the great tips...when the missing began I immediately suspected water had splashed up on the sparkplugs and coils, but water injestion could certainly be a part of the problem too. I'll check my air filter for water and fabricate something to go around the air intake to deflect water and also fabricate rain shields on both sides of the engine to block "splash". Thanks again!

[eghershey]

I'd bet a dollar to a Krispy Kream that your sucking water into the air intake and fouling the Mass Air Sensor.
I have the same problem and the dealer has made a feeble attempt to correct it. However, I have proof that its an air intake problem and not plug fouling.
Many are using the CarChip X on their RV's and it provides a lot of valuable information, including codes, that you download onto your computer.
The CarChipX sells for $179.00 from the distributor and I just saw it advertized, in stock, at of all places, Sears for $149.00.

[Afton]

I have experienced water injestion problems with my Ford F53 Chassis on my Winnebego Adventurer. I still haven't got it running right since. Here is the thread for the discussion.

water injestion problems

[machman72]

Sounds like a "Ford" problem. Even though it is not a MH, I have a 2003 Mustang GT that did the same thing to me on a trip to PA a few months ago. It was raining heavy at the time, and only seemed to happen when I was getting in the throttle coming out of Rest stops. Has not done it since. I suspect the water ingestion is the culprit.

["007"]

Afton after reading all the problems you have had with the v-10, what now is just not right. You have cleaned or replaced the MAF haven't you. "007"