Coach Dead in Page Utah, Bad Turbo!!!!

[Lucchese1]

My coach is being towed in to Little Diesel repair in Kanab, Utah as we speak. It lost all power and the mobile tech said the turbo went out. The shop said it can not properly diagnosed until they look at the coach and determine how it failed, he said they can get brand new borg warner or Cummin's remanufactured, of course I prefer new. The facility is reputable as far as I can tell but not a authorized Cummin's repair shop, but is affiliated with one in Saint George. The coach is a 2005 with only 34000 miles on it, would the turbo be covered under the standard warranty , Any thing else to watch out for and if no warrant what can this possibly cost!!!!

Thanks In Advance!

Ben!

[Lucchese1]

My coach is being towed in to Little Diesel repair in Kanab, Utah as we speak. It lost all power and the mobile tech said the turbo went out. The shop said it can not properly diagnosed until they look at the coach and determine how it failed, he said they can get brand new borg warner or Cummin's remanufactured, of course I prefer new. The facility is reputable as far as I can tell but not a authorized Cummin's repair shop, but is affiliated with one in Saint George. The coach is a 2005 with only 34000 miles on it, would the turbo be covered under the standard warranty , Any thing else to watch out for and if no warrant what can this possibly cost!!!!

Thanks In Advance!

Ben!

[John_Canfield]

Ben - oh my goodness

Page W-23 of the Cummins owner's manual shows our warranty as five years or 100,000 miles - whichever comes first. I can't imagine the turbo not being under Cummins warranty - I'm sure Cummins supplies the engine to Freightliner with turbo attached.

Good luck and let and keep us posted.

(I have about 34,000 miles on mine as well )

[skigramp]

Ben ...

It may not be your turbo ... in 2006 a Vectra on the WIT Maritime Caravan suddenly lost all power ... the initial diagnosis was the turbo-charger ...

It was a broken hose ... a short chunk of new hose and 2 new hose clamps and they rejoined the caravan the next noon ...

P. S. Make sure you visit at least one of the slot canyons while you are in Page ...

[Ronnie Bledsoe 2006 Dutchstar 43']

Cummins warranty covered replacement of my turbo in Feb. Replaced with a new Cummins turbo that was in stock at Cummins in Phoenix Az. Replacement was due to failure of a turbo seal allowing oil to get into the plumjbing for the after cooler. Have the repair shop call Cummins to get location of nearest replacement part and authority to proceed.

Ronnie

[jimandsue60]

I suggest that you make the extra effort and speak to cummins personally. They may offer other options for the repair.

Jim

[Lucchese1]

Well, finally after 2 weeks here is the update on the turbo fiasco with my coach. It was in the shop on Monday but took till Thursday before a replacement turbo could be located and delivered, in the mean time the Manifold, Intercooler, lines and what ever else that needed it were boiled out and cleaned plus new filters for oil and air were all ready. Finally late Friday the coach is all back together And life was about to get back to normal with a trip home. After idoling for a while everything sounded good and the tech said let me make sure with a test drive! So he heads out for a 5 minute test run and after about 20 minutes is not back, I walk in the shop and find out it broke down after just 3 miles and the tech shut it off and was calling for a tow` .
So once again it shows up on the wrecker and the tech (whom was a great guy) was very disappointed said that he was sure the turbo blew again and we would not know until late Monday if it was a defective turbo or a valve in the engine came apart or what!! Needless to say we were devistated and since it was already after 5m on Friday we decided to head home in our car because if it was the engine god only knows how long that would take. Tech is sick on Monday, late Tuesday Cummin's is giving grief about the second blown turbo, Wednesday it is determined that it was defective Turbo, Thursday Cummin's approves replacement, forth of July Friday so a short week. I get A call today and it is supposed to be ready on Thursday so up north I go again tommorow! As far as the warranty goes I had to pay the towing bill plus all the stuff not covered under warranty Oil, Air filter, partial labor, air freight for the Turbo, etc.!! etc. all in total almost $1600.00 and I am back to ground Zero looking at a new Bill for the new Repair! What to do!!!

I will keep you informed!

Ben!

[Richard 34A]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Lucchese1:
As far as the warranty goes I had to pay the towing bill plus all the stuff not covered under warranty Oil, Air filter, partial labor, air freight for the Turbo, etc.!! etc. all in total almost $1600.00 and I am back to ground Zero looking at a new Bill for the new Repair!

Ben! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The repair is covered under warranty and you're paying $1,600 out-of-pocket expenses, along with maybe an additional bill for another turbo that was under warranty? You're a nicer guy than me!

[John_Canfield]

Gosh Ben - that's terrible! I wonder if the original problem was properly diagnosed - makes you wonder.

I'm with Richard.. the towing bill is one thing and I can see maybe paying for oil and filters, but paying for freight on the turbo -

[Izzyblueye]

NO WAY HOZAY: That is too much jacking around. I would have an attorney review the contract for repair and pay him $200.00 to write a letter stating you will not stand any additional expense.

[Ronnie Bledsoe 2006 Dutchstar 43']

I would call Cummins and work my way up the chain of command ending with their legal department if a satisfactory resolution is not forthcoming.
I have found them to be reasonable. I sent an Email to Cummins regarding the replacement of my engine block after I was told by the service writer that new oil and filters, coolant, etc would be my responsibility. The reply from Cummins stated that those items would be covered by the warranty. I copied the Email and provided it to the service writer who has attached it to my work order. I should get my coach back next week.

Ronnie

[Lucchese1]

Thanks for all the reply's, I am positive the work that was done was correct because the tech described to me what he was doing as a Cummins Shop and if it was not an authorized shop they might cut corners. I want to see what comes of the next repair before I go into action, I am hoping that because it was a defective turbo that they will cover the next repair in full 100%. The shop said that the warranty stays in effect for the remainder of the time and should something else go wrong it would be considered progressive damage from the first problem!

Ronnie do you happen to have the email address to Cummin's that you used!

Thanks in Advance!

Ben!

[Ronnie Bledsoe 2006 Dutchstar 43']

Ben, the email address I used was [email protected] phone number is 1-800-343-7357

Ronnie

[Lucchese1]

Thanks Ronnie!

Ben!

[cb5300]

I'm wondering if the shop might be trying to make a little extra money. I find it hard to believe that if the motor was still under warranty that you would have to pay anything...I know I would be talking directly to Cummins and I wouldn't be shy about how I felt.

[Lucchese1]

Well the drama continues, I was told the coach was going to be done on Thursday so I head to Saint George, Utah From Los Angeles on Wednesday , when I get there the coach is on a 20 minute test run with no problems They had to button everything back up so we go to lunch and come back around 3:00 to head home. We arrive back and clear up all the paper work, warranty covered everything 100% this time no questions, life is good at this point. Hook up the cargo get some fuel, shop for some supplies make arrangment for a RV park around Vegas for the night then on the 15 south headed home.

After only about 8 miles we start into the virgin river gorge and the coach starts feeling funny, were heading up a long uphill curving grade and the stop engine light starts blinking and buzzing and the coaches is loosing power fast I finally got to a narrow shoulder just big enough to fit the coach and the engine shuts down and no power steering thank goodness I had enough momentum to get off the side of the road. We are horrified with semis flying by only 2 feet away, no cell phone service, the coach won't even crank it is just dead. I go outside to unhook the car to get some help, it's also 115 outside. I realize the coach is just to Darn close to the highway for any tow truck to work or any wide load flying by and since we are on a slope and there is about 40 yards to work with I decide to back it down with no engine running to give more wiggle room. The air is real low in the system but the brakes still work enough to stop it, if not it's going into the side of the mountain to stop it, but it all works out and there is now 6 feet between us and the highway and your brakes do work with coach off but you have to dig deep to turn that darn wheel. I head back to town to call the mechanic but of course they are closed after 5:00 so I call my trusty AAA to once again tow me out! and since I am not sitting level and in a tight spot they can not use the flatbed and have to use a wrecker and disconnect the drive line to make the tow, so $1250.00 and 6 hours later we are back at the mech shop.

The next morning of course they are shocked to see it there, they start testing and determine that is was a crank bearing that went out and seized the engine. We were all amazed how this happened since it was running fine for the test run but the 2 blown turbos must have been the culprete. Now the Cummins battle starts all over again, the tech pulled the codes and nothing was out of ordinary and everything should be covered but I am holding my breath for whats next. They said 3 weeks to a month for completion and they have to determine how to remove the rear cap to get the engine out.
On the bright side maybe I can have someone check the A/C duct when it is off to assure me that there is no leaks Another bummer is that it was just about broken in and finally getting a solid 7 miles per gallon!!! I will keep you informed!

Ben!

[SCVJeff]

I just have to say that your patience in this post is amazing. I would have been bouncing off the walls looking for a bottle of Xanex after this ordeal. Good luck!!!!!!!!!

[John_Canfield]

Ben Ben Ben Ben

Oh my gosh pal!

Last summer we were up to 7.8 mpg at about 36,500 pounds GCVW after about 35,000 miles.

On the bright side, your machine is going to get a heart transplant

[RustyJC]

If it has indeed chewed up two turbos and now has failed a main bearing, I'd strongly suspect a lubrication problem that they didn't identify. Hopefully the engine change (with yet another turbo??) will take care of it. I'm sure Cummins will want to see the removed engine!

Rusty

[RCtime]

My heart goes out for you. I just can not fathom the total frustration you must feel.
I hope somehow that you come out on top of this.
I live in the Los Angeles area also.
Please contact me if I can help in any way.
Ron