RV Repair Log Year 2
We have had our motorhome for over a year so it was time to start a new repair log. Our year two repair log includes the 60K Freightliner chassis service, front A/C blower fan replacement, flaky paint on rain gutters, and additional fixes for issues detailed in our Repair Log Year 1 article. Don’t have time to read this now? Pin it for later!
60K Freightliner Chassis Service
We went to Premier Truck Group of Twin Falls, ID to get our 60k Freightliner chassis service. A year ago, we purchased the motorhome with 50k and did the M3 service (details above). As you can imagine, I was hoping this one wouldn’t be so much $$. We dug out the latest Freightliner RV service manual schedule which now has 15/30/45/60k service guidelines instead of M1/M2/M3 services. We printed out the 60k service but crossed out those major things like the air dryer, trans coolant change, and axle service already performed at 50k but added the generator oil/fuel/air filters to be changed with the parts we bought, but never had the chance to do in San Diego ourselves. In the end, it was seven hours with the cats cooped up in the Jeep with us, but we are all good for another 12-18 months and no issues discovered.
Total cost: $900 with it being about 50/50 parts & labor plus tax.
Leaky driver window & entry door update
As we mentioned in the Year 1 article, once we left San Diego and experienced more heavy rains, we began to notice these two leaks more often, but not always when it rained. The first mobile repair guy that took a look didn’t really offer much of a solution and said this was a common problem difficult to repair. The driver window had a drip-drip from the top of the frame that started in anything more than light rain which forced us to tape to the window a plastic cereal container to catch the water. The entry door was clearly something coming in from front end cap seams or rain gutters right above the door (or something else close by). In the case of the entry door, it was clear water was getting into the wall and then coming out where one of the screws holding the entry door swing arm attach plate to the frame had rusted completely out leaving a screw hole where water would pool on the top of the door when it was closed. When we’d open the entry door, water would run off the door and onto us!
We needed to get our front A/C serviced (see below for entry on that) so we opted to have the next mobile repair guy (Sully’s in Eugene, OR) take a shot at fixing this as well. He brought out an compressed air gun and used it in the end cap seams, rain gutters, and also in the empty screw hole to see if he could discover where the leak was coming in from. Nothing was obvious, so he opted to just reseal the front end cap from where it leaves the fiberglass roof to the rain gutter over the door. He did the same on the driver side to hopefully address that window leak. The good news is this seems to have done the job so there must have been a small hole somewhere in the old seals where water could get in. We still need to put out the door awning during heavy rain (but only when the wind is low enough to allow) since water can still find its way on top of the door if it’s not. No water is pooling on top of the door though from the hole in the swing arm attach plate. So we finally consider these issues fixed!
Total cost: $100 in labor and a few $ for the cost of the sealant used.
Flaky paint on rain gutters
On each side of the motorhome, there is a full length rain gutter running from front to back screwed into the side of the motorhome. They are painted black to match the color of the motorhome, but the paint over the sealant used was starting to flake in sections (see Before photo on left) and one section was even coming unscrewed from the wall. John Sullivan from Sully’s in Eugene, OR took maybe an hour to screw them back in and scrape the old flaky paint and sealant, and replace with new black silicone. This was more of an aesthetic repair than anything, and was driving me nuts every time I’d see it when washing the motorhome. I’m happy to have this fixed! At some point, we may opt to have the paint redone up top around the edge of the roof, but that’s a few thousand dollars and not something we really need to do yet.
Front A/C blower fan
Just like the repair we did on the rear A/C for the blower fan replacement in May 2019, the front blower fan broke apart during heat pump operation in Jan 2020. Luckily, we were home when it happened and were able to shut it down in just a few seconds. It did not do any further damage and it was a simple part swap. Hopefully they are both good to go for another five years!
Total cost: $50 for the blower fan part, plus about $100 for labor for the onsite service call.
Interested in our year one repairs? Check out our Repair Log Year 1 article. Want more RV repair and maintenance information? Take a look at our Motorhome articles. What are we doing next? Don’t miss an article, subscribe today.