2008 Destination--underpowered?

Cloudrnnr · 08-21-2013, 07:39 AM

My wife and I have just started looking at DPs, and have been looking more at older Eagles that Winnies, but we have very little DP experience. Yesterday we had our first drive in a motorcoach, a 2008 Destination. We like the floorplan a lot, but the coach seemed very underpowered to me (it is the Cummins 340hp 6.7). Most of the time, my foot was flat on the floor to hold 65mph, forget about anything faster--and this was on flat ground.

The concern is the mountain passes in the West. One disclaimer is that the coach had a check engine light showing (one of several issues that would need to be addressed if we considered purchasing). It seemed to be running fine, but there is a chance this may have been affecting the coach.

Is this our inexperience, and a common thing with all coaches, or is the Destination a little undergunned for the fight?

pablo77rv · 08-21-2013, 08:37 AM

Something is amiss. With a GVWR under 28,000 pounds, the Cummins ISB should perform much better than that. Lots of things COULD be wrong, most of them simple to correct.
Were you locked in 5th gear? Dirty fuel filters? Dirty air filter?
Since you have little experience driving a diesel motor home I suggest you drive others to compare. Diesels will not accelerate like a car. As the saying goes "deisels don't accelerate, they gain momentum".

Cloudrnnr · 08-21-2013, 09:28 AM

Pablo, thanks. I am familiar with diesels--I have a 2006 3/4 Ram with the 5.9. Even with the long bed and 4x4, with a fully loaded 13000 lb trailer, the acceleration and power was considerably greater. I will be driving some other coaches to compare.

Jim

Journey39n · 08-21-2013, 07:35 PM

My 40' 2010 model with the Cummins 340 seems to have enough power for our needs. We travel fully loaded to the limit, we tow a 3500 pound vehicle, and have no particular problems.
Yes, it would be nice to have more power, but we have set the cruise control at various points from 55 to 65 and on more-or-less level ground, it holds its speed in 5th and 6th gear. On the mountain passes, on steep climbs, speed drops to 40-45 as it shifts between 3rd and 4th. And we pass lots of trucks and other RV's on the way up it seems.
And on a few occasions, passing a slow vehicle, we have gone way faster than comfortable.
It sounds like this Destination needs some engine attention.

Bryan H · 08-21-2013, 11:00 PM

I have a diesel Destination. It's not a rocket, but my guess is the CEL was resulting in reduced power output. I have no problem holding 65 mph with a 4500 lb toad. Don't get me wrong, if I had my choice, I'd prefer a larger engine. But the 6.7 is adequate and we love the unique floor plan offered by this one year model (discontinued bc the UFO chassis was dropped and that was the rear gas engine option, at least that's what I've heard).

kjburns · 08-22-2013, 12:08 AM

That's not too different from the Tour 40TD I had. It had more power, but weighed more. Like the others have said, it wasn't a dragster, but it wasn't necessary to mat it to maintain speed. Something's definitely up with the one you drove. 340 HP at that weight should be adequate.

Wayne M · 08-22-2013, 10:09 PM

I don't have my spec sheets with me but I believe the 39W weighs just over 27,000 pounds.

As for not getting it over 65 mph there is something definitely wrong. When I was towing my older TOAD (2007 Saturn), on a flat stretch if I had to go by an 18 wheeler just doing a little slower than I was doing, I could step it up to 75 mph in no time. I have been to the West Coast twice, through the hills on I-8 once, then I-10 and although I slowed down on I-8 I did not have a problem. I had to slow down to keep the coolant system within my comfort range, which is below 212 degrees. Yes I know it can go higher.

I would venture to say that the check engine light was originally an EGR problem that let so some other fouling. Caveat Emptor!

mickey53usa · 08-26-2013, 12:48 PM

Do not know which model you are looking at - We have the 2009 Destination 37G. The 340 is not fast off the line, but it travels the road just fine. We tow a Grand Cherokee at 5K Lbs and I can keep up with most of the truckers just fine.

rrambeau · 09-02-2013, 12:18 AM

Our problem was the turbo sensor. we had started on a trip and the turbo would lose power then get it back. No smoke, no engine light. stopped after 150 miles and they changed the filter. There was one on board from previous owner so saved $50 but labor $137 and still had problem. Limped home and took to Camping World that quoted $4200 to replace turbo. Part was $2800. We declined that and brought it home as we didnt have that kind of money. Took to another place who ran diagnostics but nothing showed. $89.00 labor. Took to a private repair guy supposed to be a guru deisel repair. Again no computer readout replaced something to the tune of a $400 part. Still didnt fix it. %th place was a Cummings repair place with a lot of trucks, schoolbusses and RV in their lot. Cost less than $500. including LABOR and a day to repair. Turbo was fine. glad we didnt let Camping World put in turbo !! We are packing to go full time and it freaked me out it took a month to find the problem and fix it - what if we were thousands of miles away? Hopefully all good for now !! We will do a short trip to test it out.

forest · 09-02-2013, 08:33 PM

Sounds like the VGT turbo is not going through its full range of motion. Not a real common problem, but not unheard of either. Once they put the scanner to it, the code with show the problem. Turbo is supposedly not rebuildable, but the right shop can do it.

Ray,IN · 09-02-2013, 09:24 PM

The check engine light may very well be the result of a dirty fuel filter and/or contaminated fuel. It will get worse quickly if that is the cause. The bigger problem is a result of continued driving with a dirty fuel filter. The injector pump pulls fuel from the tank and through the filter, a dirty fuel filter can cause the injector pump($$$$) to fail because of the lack of fuel to keep it cool. The injector pump returns excess fuel to the tank, this fuel is normally hot-the result of cooling the pump.
That Cummins may not be quick in a MH application, but with proper maintenance it will be running long after the coach needs replacement. Around 300,000 miles is not unusual.
IMO it is worth an hours labor bill to take the coach to an authorized Cummins engine repair center and have it checked out.

Although this website: dodgeram.org is for the Dodge pickup application, it is a wealth of information about the Cummins 6.7.