We got up this morning at 6:00 and after a quick cup of coffee, we got the motor home ready to drive down to Camping World in Garner which is 36 miles south of the campground. We left our portable satellite dish out and I put our orange cones across our campsite driveway so people would know that the campsite was occupied. Then we hitched up the car to the RV and headed out of the campground.
The entrance gate to the campground was open when we got there at 7:20. We arrived at Camping World a little after 8:30 and unhitched the car. Mike checked in with the service department and one of the techs came out to look at our awning. We were told that they should have the new awning material and roller tube installed by noon. We put Tinker in a
Showing posts with label RV repair. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RV repair. Show all posts
Friday, June 15, 2012
Monday, October 3, 2011
We got up this morning at 6:00 and after a quick breakfast, we put the slides in, raised the jacks and disconnected the electric to prepare the RV for its move to the service area here at the Winnebago factory.
Mike walked over to the Customer Service Center at 7:00 to check-in for our service appointment for today. He took our extended warranty paperwork and the serial number for the RV and the current mileage. Winnebago has to call our extended warranty company and get authorization before they can start the work.
We had made our appointment in mid-August and Winnebago e-mailed us letter comfirming our appointment along with a map of Forest City, a map of the Winnebago complex with camping sites marked and a sign to put in the RV window with the dates for our appointment.
While Mike was checking-in, I made sure we had everything that we would need for today since we won't have access to the RV until after 3:30 when it is returned to the Customer Service Center. We had packed up Tinker's food, treats and water along with his bowls and we're taking a laptop so we use the free wi-fi in the waiting room at the Customer Service Center. We also needed our jackets this morning, since it was 35° when we got up this morning.
After Mike returned from the Service Center, we waited in the RV for the technician to come out to the RV and go over our work order for the repairs. A little while later, Mike (a technician), came and we showed him our problem areas.
We have a leak above the passenger side windshield and whenever it rains (even a light rain) the bedroom slide leaks on the sides and the water runs out on to the hall rug. The Energy Management System panel doesn't always indicate that we are connected to 50 amp electric when we are and it shows 30 amp. The last thing on our list is the slide topper for the living room slide. It is binding when we put the slide out and in. The last few days it has gotten worse and the slide isn't going out as smoothly as it should.
After going over our work order, Mike (the technician) drove the RV over to the service area and we walked over to the waiting room in the Service Center.
Last Tuesay we had called American Home Base to have our mail sent to General Delivery here in Forest City. So while Mike and Tinker stayed at Winnebago, I drove to the post office and picked up our mail. We spent the rest of the morning going through our mail and watching TV in the waiting room.
We decided to go to the Pizza Hut here for lunch for their buffet. We took Tinker with us and left him in the car while we ate lunch. Since it was still in the upper 60's, we just left the windows cracked for him. After lunch we returned to the Winnebago factory and waited until our RV was finished.
When Mike talked with the technician this afternoon he was told that after contacting our extended warranty company they pressurized the RV and located the leak above the windshield. The rain is coming in from the clearance lights above the windshield and they will repair that tomorrow along with the other items on our list.
Mike drove the RV back over to our campsite while Tinker and I walked back over so I could guide Mike as he backed in to our spot. After we got the RV set up again, Mike took a photo of the camping area here.
Tomorrow we will have another early wake up and spend another day in the service waiting room.
Mike walked over to the Customer Service Center at 7:00 to check-in for our service appointment for today. He took our extended warranty paperwork and the serial number for the RV and the current mileage. Winnebago has to call our extended warranty company and get authorization before they can start the work.
We had made our appointment in mid-August and Winnebago e-mailed us letter comfirming our appointment along with a map of Forest City, a map of the Winnebago complex with camping sites marked and a sign to put in the RV window with the dates for our appointment.
While Mike was checking-in, I made sure we had everything that we would need for today since we won't have access to the RV until after 3:30 when it is returned to the Customer Service Center. We had packed up Tinker's food, treats and water along with his bowls and we're taking a laptop so we use the free wi-fi in the waiting room at the Customer Service Center. We also needed our jackets this morning, since it was 35° when we got up this morning.
After Mike returned from the Service Center, we waited in the RV for the technician to come out to the RV and go over our work order for the repairs. A little while later, Mike (a technician), came and we showed him our problem areas.
We have a leak above the passenger side windshield and whenever it rains (even a light rain) the bedroom slide leaks on the sides and the water runs out on to the hall rug. The Energy Management System panel doesn't always indicate that we are connected to 50 amp electric when we are and it shows 30 amp. The last thing on our list is the slide topper for the living room slide. It is binding when we put the slide out and in. The last few days it has gotten worse and the slide isn't going out as smoothly as it should.
After going over our work order, Mike (the technician) drove the RV over to the service area and we walked over to the waiting room in the Service Center.
Last Tuesay we had called American Home Base to have our mail sent to General Delivery here in Forest City. So while Mike and Tinker stayed at Winnebago, I drove to the post office and picked up our mail. We spent the rest of the morning going through our mail and watching TV in the waiting room.
We decided to go to the Pizza Hut here for lunch for their buffet. We took Tinker with us and left him in the car while we ate lunch. Since it was still in the upper 60's, we just left the windows cracked for him. After lunch we returned to the Winnebago factory and waited until our RV was finished.
When Mike talked with the technician this afternoon he was told that after contacting our extended warranty company they pressurized the RV and located the leak above the windshield. The rain is coming in from the clearance lights above the windshield and they will repair that tomorrow along with the other items on our list.
Mike drove the RV back over to our campsite while Tinker and I walked back over so I could guide Mike as he backed in to our spot. After we got the RV set up again, Mike took a photo of the camping area here.
 |
| From Winnebago & Forest City, Iowa |
Tomorrow we will have another early wake up and spend another day in the service waiting room.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
New Tires on RV
We were up at 7 a.m. and broke camp to head over to Les Schwab Tires here in Ferndale. Wouldn’t you know it would start raining just as we were getting ready to leave.
We arrived at Les Schwab about 8:30 and they were working on 2 trucks and it would be a while before they could get to us. Mike had a tech unload the RV flat tire from inside the Vue. We looked at the flat tire and found that it had a 2½" cut in the sidewall which caused it to go flat. We had just under 55,000 miles on the old tires.
Since we replaced the flat tire with our new tire we had as a spare, we're only having to buy 5 tires today. We're going to keep one of the old tires to have as a spare.
Mike asked where a good place to eat breakfast was and we were directed to the Hilltop Restaurant near Bellingham. The rain had quit while we were at Les Schwab’s, but we rain into some heavy rain on our way to the Hilltop Restaurant.
Mike ordered pancakes with sausage and a biscuit and gravy. I had the Denver Omelet with bacon and toast and we both had coffee to drink. The folks at Les Schwab were right when they recommended the Hilltop for breakfast.
It had quit raining by the time we finished breakfast and since we were so close to Bellingham, we decided to go back to Wal-Mart to get a couple of things we forgot when we were there a few days ago.
We also stopped at Petco to buy K9 Advantix for Tinker. It was on sale there for $10 off and I had a $2 coupon because I had completed one of Petco’s surveys from the last time we had shopped there.
We returned to Les Schwab a little after 10:30 and they were finished with mounting the new tires. We had a tech load one of the old RV tires that we're going to use as a spare into the Vue. Our bill for the new tires (Michelin XRV 235/80R X 22.5) and installation came to $2780.
I stopped at Costcutter grocery to pick up a couple of things we needed and Mike headed on back to the campground with the RV.
We set up the RV and discovered that our Energy Management panel is now registering the 50 amp service correctly!
After lunch I washed a couple of loads of clothes and spent the rest of the afternoon organizing our photos. Mike cleaned the new RV tires and put 303 Aerospace Protectant on them.
Tomorrow we leave here and head south to McChord AFB and the Holiday Park FamCamp there. From what we’ve heard there are so many trees in the section of the campground with hook-ups that it isn’t possible to get satellite TV reception. We’re considering staying in the dry camping section where satellite TV reception is possible.
We arrived at Les Schwab about 8:30 and they were working on 2 trucks and it would be a while before they could get to us. Mike had a tech unload the RV flat tire from inside the Vue. We looked at the flat tire and found that it had a 2½" cut in the sidewall which caused it to go flat. We had just under 55,000 miles on the old tires.
Since we replaced the flat tire with our new tire we had as a spare, we're only having to buy 5 tires today. We're going to keep one of the old tires to have as a spare.
Mike asked where a good place to eat breakfast was and we were directed to the Hilltop Restaurant near Bellingham. The rain had quit while we were at Les Schwab’s, but we rain into some heavy rain on our way to the Hilltop Restaurant.
Mike ordered pancakes with sausage and a biscuit and gravy. I had the Denver Omelet with bacon and toast and we both had coffee to drink. The folks at Les Schwab were right when they recommended the Hilltop for breakfast.
 |
| From Ferndale |
It had quit raining by the time we finished breakfast and since we were so close to Bellingham, we decided to go back to Wal-Mart to get a couple of things we forgot when we were there a few days ago.
We also stopped at Petco to buy K9 Advantix for Tinker. It was on sale there for $10 off and I had a $2 coupon because I had completed one of Petco’s surveys from the last time we had shopped there.
We returned to Les Schwab a little after 10:30 and they were finished with mounting the new tires. We had a tech load one of the old RV tires that we're going to use as a spare into the Vue. Our bill for the new tires (Michelin XRV 235/80R X 22.5) and installation came to $2780.
I stopped at Costcutter grocery to pick up a couple of things we needed and Mike headed on back to the campground with the RV.
We set up the RV and discovered that our Energy Management panel is now registering the 50 amp service correctly!
After lunch I washed a couple of loads of clothes and spent the rest of the afternoon organizing our photos. Mike cleaned the new RV tires and put 303 Aerospace Protectant on them.
Tomorrow we leave here and head south to McChord AFB and the Holiday Park FamCamp there. From what we’ve heard there are so many trees in the section of the campground with hook-ups that it isn’t possible to get satellite TV reception. We’re considering staying in the dry camping section where satellite TV reception is possible.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Flat Tire on Cassiar Highway
It was cloudy but not raining when we got up this morning. We left Baby Nugget RV Park at 9:30 and stopped long enough to take photos of the entrance and office and restaurant at the campground.
We headed east on the Alaska Highway for about ½ mile before turning south on the Cassiar Highway and after driving for 2 miles we crossed into British Columbia.
The Cassiar Highway is a 2 lane paved road with no shoulder and is narrow is some places. This section looked more like a roller coaster
and then there were long almost straight sections.
We had driven about 21 miles on the Cassiar Highway when I heard a “pop” and then “whoosh”. I told Mike that we “have a flat tire” and it sounded like it came from the right rear tires. Mike pulled over to the left lane and put the left wheels just off the road – remember, there are no shoulders to pull off on.
We got out and checked the rear tires and it was the inside right rear tire that had blown. Mike put out our orange cones and road hazard flashers. Of course, there is no cell phone service here and no OnStar service either – we have OnStar in the Vue. We disconnected the Vue and I put a sign in one of the windows saying we had a flat tire and had gone back to Watson Lake.
We hadn’t seen much traffic on the road but a couple of RVs came by and stopped to see if we needed any help and a couple of cars also stopped to offer help.
We drove the car back north to Watson Lake which is 34 miles from where we had the flat. It was 11:30 when we got into Watson Lake and we decided to eat lunch at Kathy’s Kitchen and call our roadside service. We both had the bacon cheeseburger and fries and it was really good.
We had had cell phone service when we stayed in Watson Lake on our trip north and now we couldn’t make a call! We had added the Canadian calling plan on our Verizon phones on the trip up and decided to save the extra cost this time – bad choice!
We drove over the Visitor Center and told Rena about our problem and she used the Visitor Center phone to call our roadside service (we have a calling card, but went off without it). When Mike tried to explain to the girl at Coach-Net that we were calling from the Yukon and the RV was in British Columbia, she had a hard time understanding it. Then she couldn’t locate Watson Lake on her map & finally Rena got on the phone to see if she could help and gave the girl the phone numbers of 3 tire businesses in Watson Lake. This was Saturday just before 1 p.m. and Rena said some of the businesses were closed on Saturday afternoon.
The girl from Coach-Net was supposed to call us back on the Visitor Center phone, but when it was 12:45 and we hadn’t heard from her, we called her back. She hadn’t had any success in getting hold of any of the businesses and then told Mike that changing a flat tire was labor and they don’t pay for labor. Mike told her the contract said they would pay for changing our mounted spare tire, but she was adamant about it being labor.
We drove across the street from the Visitor Center to Watson Lake Motors and spoke with Pat about sending someone out to change our tire. His truck was out on a call and wouldn’t be back until late tonight. Pat said the only solution would be for us to drive the RV slowly back up to Watson Lake and have it changed there.
We drove back out the Cassiar Highway to where we had left the RV and got there about 1:40. Since there is no shoulder and the road is very narrow, we were lucky that a few hundred feet from the RV was a place where we could back up the RV and get it turned around. Mike drove the RV and I followed in the Vue so I could watch the back tires in case the outside tire on the right went flat. We drove the 34 miles to Watson Lake at 20 mph and got there around 3:30.
It cost us $36.75 CAD to have the tire changed and Mike tipped Gordon $5 because he knew to torque the lug nuts at 450 ft. lbs. There is so much mud on the tire that went flat that we haven’t been able to see what the cause was.
We stopped at Watson Lake Tags Gas, Convenience Store and RV Park and got gas in the car (24.974 liters) & RV (93.499 liters) at $1.349 a liter CAD or $5.15 a gallon.
While Mike was getting gas in the RV, I went inside and checked us in for the campground. We are in site #5 with full hook-ups (30 amp) for $26.25 for the night.
It was 5:30 by the time we got to our campsite and we are 14 miles from where we spent last night.
After dinner we went back over to the Visitor Center to use the pay phone (we have our phone card with us now) there to call Verizon to see if we can get our cell phones to work here. After spending about 30 minutes talking with tech support we still can’t make calls on our cell phones.
 |
| From Skagway to Nugget City |
We headed east on the Alaska Highway for about ½ mile before turning south on the Cassiar Highway and after driving for 2 miles we crossed into British Columbia.
 |
| From Nugget City to Watson Lake |
The Cassiar Highway is a 2 lane paved road with no shoulder and is narrow is some places. This section looked more like a roller coaster
 |
| From Nugget City to Watson Lake |
and then there were long almost straight sections.
 |
| From Nugget City to Watson Lake |
We had driven about 21 miles on the Cassiar Highway when I heard a “pop” and then “whoosh”. I told Mike that we “have a flat tire” and it sounded like it came from the right rear tires. Mike pulled over to the left lane and put the left wheels just off the road – remember, there are no shoulders to pull off on.
 |
| From Nugget City to Watson Lake |
We got out and checked the rear tires and it was the inside right rear tire that had blown. Mike put out our orange cones and road hazard flashers. Of course, there is no cell phone service here and no OnStar service either – we have OnStar in the Vue. We disconnected the Vue and I put a sign in one of the windows saying we had a flat tire and had gone back to Watson Lake.
We hadn’t seen much traffic on the road but a couple of RVs came by and stopped to see if we needed any help and a couple of cars also stopped to offer help.
We drove the car back north to Watson Lake which is 34 miles from where we had the flat. It was 11:30 when we got into Watson Lake and we decided to eat lunch at Kathy’s Kitchen and call our roadside service. We both had the bacon cheeseburger and fries and it was really good.
 |
| From Nugget City to Watson Lake |
We had had cell phone service when we stayed in Watson Lake on our trip north and now we couldn’t make a call! We had added the Canadian calling plan on our Verizon phones on the trip up and decided to save the extra cost this time – bad choice!
We drove over the Visitor Center and told Rena about our problem and she used the Visitor Center phone to call our roadside service (we have a calling card, but went off without it). When Mike tried to explain to the girl at Coach-Net that we were calling from the Yukon and the RV was in British Columbia, she had a hard time understanding it. Then she couldn’t locate Watson Lake on her map & finally Rena got on the phone to see if she could help and gave the girl the phone numbers of 3 tire businesses in Watson Lake. This was Saturday just before 1 p.m. and Rena said some of the businesses were closed on Saturday afternoon.
The girl from Coach-Net was supposed to call us back on the Visitor Center phone, but when it was 12:45 and we hadn’t heard from her, we called her back. She hadn’t had any success in getting hold of any of the businesses and then told Mike that changing a flat tire was labor and they don’t pay for labor. Mike told her the contract said they would pay for changing our mounted spare tire, but she was adamant about it being labor.
We drove across the street from the Visitor Center to Watson Lake Motors and spoke with Pat about sending someone out to change our tire. His truck was out on a call and wouldn’t be back until late tonight. Pat said the only solution would be for us to drive the RV slowly back up to Watson Lake and have it changed there.
We drove back out the Cassiar Highway to where we had left the RV and got there about 1:40. Since there is no shoulder and the road is very narrow, we were lucky that a few hundred feet from the RV was a place where we could back up the RV and get it turned around. Mike drove the RV and I followed in the Vue so I could watch the back tires in case the outside tire on the right went flat. We drove the 34 miles to Watson Lake at 20 mph and got there around 3:30.
 |
| From Nugget City to Watson Lake |
It cost us $36.75 CAD to have the tire changed and Mike tipped Gordon $5 because he knew to torque the lug nuts at 450 ft. lbs. There is so much mud on the tire that went flat that we haven’t been able to see what the cause was.
 |
| From Nugget City to Watson Lake |
We stopped at Watson Lake Tags Gas, Convenience Store and RV Park and got gas in the car (24.974 liters) & RV (93.499 liters) at $1.349 a liter CAD or $5.15 a gallon.
While Mike was getting gas in the RV, I went inside and checked us in for the campground. We are in site #5 with full hook-ups (30 amp) for $26.25 for the night.
It was 5:30 by the time we got to our campsite and we are 14 miles from where we spent last night.
After dinner we went back over to the Visitor Center to use the pay phone (we have our phone card with us now) there to call Verizon to see if we can get our cell phones to work here. After spending about 30 minutes talking with tech support we still can’t make calls on our cell phones.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
New receiver hitch installed
It was 48° and cloudy when we got up this morning. We were up early this morning since we had a 9:00 appointment at John’s Tires to have a new receiver hitch installed. I drove the Vue and Mike followed in the RV and we arrived at John’s Tires a few minutes before 9:00.
While Mike waited for John to open up, I went to the post office to buy some stamps for our post cards. Before going back to John’s Tires, I stopped at the Bear Den Bakery and got a couple of their huge cinnamon rolls to take back to the RV for a late breakfast.
By 10:00 it had started to rain and the temp was still around 48°. Since the bolt holes on the new hitch didn’t line up with the old ones on the chassis for the old hitch, John had to fabricate a plate and bolt and weld it to the chassis and then mount the new receiver hitch to the plate. Mike helped John with the measuring, alignment and lifting of the new receiver hitch.
In addition to having a new receiver hitch installed, we had John weld a support on our steps that had broken. We had had our steps repaired last year in Fort Myers and the steps broke in the same place again.
Since we have a decreasing deductible on our RV insurance, our insurance company will reimburse us for the full amount of our bill.
We left John’s Tires a little before 3:00 and stopped at the Tesoro station and filled up the tanks in the RV and Vue before returning to the campground. We paid $4.629 a gallon for regular.
When we returned to the campground we saw that most of the RVs staying in the campground had left while we had been gone.
When we plugged back in to the campground’s electric, we discovered a problem with our Energy Management Panel. It’s malfunctioning and not allowing full use of our 50 amp system.
It’s been steadily raining all day and the temp has stayed around 48° all day. Hopefully, it won’t be raining tomorrow when we leave here and go to the ferry terminal.
While Mike waited for John to open up, I went to the post office to buy some stamps for our post cards. Before going back to John’s Tires, I stopped at the Bear Den Bakery and got a couple of their huge cinnamon rolls to take back to the RV for a late breakfast.
By 10:00 it had started to rain and the temp was still around 48°. Since the bolt holes on the new hitch didn’t line up with the old ones on the chassis for the old hitch, John had to fabricate a plate and bolt and weld it to the chassis and then mount the new receiver hitch to the plate. Mike helped John with the measuring, alignment and lifting of the new receiver hitch.
In addition to having a new receiver hitch installed, we had John weld a support on our steps that had broken. We had had our steps repaired last year in Fort Myers and the steps broke in the same place again.
Since we have a decreasing deductible on our RV insurance, our insurance company will reimburse us for the full amount of our bill.
We left John’s Tires a little before 3:00 and stopped at the Tesoro station and filled up the tanks in the RV and Vue before returning to the campground. We paid $4.629 a gallon for regular.
When we returned to the campground we saw that most of the RVs staying in the campground had left while we had been gone.
When we plugged back in to the campground’s electric, we discovered a problem with our Energy Management Panel. It’s malfunctioning and not allowing full use of our 50 amp system.
It’s been steadily raining all day and the temp has stayed around 48° all day. Hopefully, it won’t be raining tomorrow when we leave here and go to the ferry terminal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)