RE: Norcold seems to be dead
+ on contacting Norcold re: recalls.
I purchased a 1993 Four Winds 5er last year; and had leakage/'boom' issue when attempting to run on gas (original owner only ran it on 120v). Did a little googling, found Norcold Recall info. Contacted Norcold via phone, they verified gas valve recall on that unit was never done. Was told to contact a service center/etc. for immediate recall work. Replacement unit was shipped asap and work was completed at no cost to me. Everything works great, now.
Did they just replace the gas valve or the whole refrigerator? Seems the recall is just for the gas valve.
RE: New Dodge with 342 rear
My biggest concern would be available replacements in years to come. I had one of the old 91 Dodge W250 CTD with 3.07 gears. Special carrier and differential. You can't find them now. If that set of gears goes out, it is a major ordeal to get it going again. Would hate to see you in that situation in 6-10 years
RE: Norcold seems to be dead
Well, hours later, it has died again. Guess I will be ordering a Summit SS874 to replace it. That is the only one I can find with the same dimensions.
RE: Norcold seems to be dead
UPDATE-CPR worked
Pulled the fridge and rolled it a few times. Could hear the liquid sloshing in the cooling unit. Took it to the shop and plugged it in. Working great now. For how long, noone knows. Only took about 10-15 minutes to remove it though, so I am thinking about putting it back in if it continues to cool through the weekend. I will keep perishables out of it from now on and we take a cooler of ice everywhere we go anyway so if it goes out while we are on a trip, it's no big deal.
Really was not looking forward to spending 600 bucks, although a nice new refrigerator that actually keeps drinks ice cold on a hot summer day sure would be awesome.
RE: Onan 4k BGE runs rough after oil change?
20w50 is pretty thick for small engine. 10-30 or 10-40 is what I have always run. This sounds more like a carb problem to me though. Maybe fuel pressure related or slow speed jet related
RE: residential refer and existing rear vents
What about using a Summit FF 874?
That is very close to what the haier 10.3 cubic foot is. Haier is taller which is fine with me and is a little bigger. I can pick it up 3 miles from my house at Lowe's for 359.00.
I also have a Lowes much closer than Home Depot. Will measure to see if this will work for me too.
RE: Norcold seems to be dead
A partial repair on an 18-year old refrigerator is like tossing your wallet out the window.
Shop hard and choose the size refrigerator that will fit with the high EER you can get your hands on. Forget the lowest price. A really high EER means better insulation, food will stay colder longer. You might have to really dig to find something noteworthy but it'll be worth it. I have used dorm refrigerators that eat more kWh than a 14 cubic foot regular refrigerator, so there is a difference.
X2
When I bought my current TT (a 1980s vintage) it had a blown cooling unit. It had rusty doors, rusty cabinet and badly yellowed plastic interior. It was just plain done.
To me tossing any money it the fridge (20+ yr old fridge) was going to be a futile effort, what next, the control board? Gas valve? Just way too much gambling on a relic from the past.
I put in a 10 cu ft apartment size fridge and love it, it keeps the food cool like it is supposed to and the freezer well keeps thing frozen. No fuss for leveling, no worry about flames going out (first TT would do that), no spoiled food (no more fridge of death)..
Run it on a inverter which has a AC load sense option which turns the inverter on/off with the fridge demand. Saves big time on battery capacity.
One thing to be careful about, many home fridges have the coils built into the SIDES of the fridge. While this type can be made to work you must allow 3"-4" of open air space on the sides to allow for proper operation.
You need to look for the ones with the coils on the back (best for no fan) or underneath the fridge (these use a fan to force air across the coils and tend to use more energy).
Many folk have done this and only a FEW have ever reported that they regretted it..
Thanks. The unit was run on gas for four hours. Temp actually went up 2 degrees
Norcold seems to be dead
I have a 1995 Four Winns with a Norcold 462 fridge. The temp control has not worked for several years, but the unit always kept cold, until recently. I have no idea when it failed, but it was really bad when my wife opened the fridge door, so I would guess at least a month ago. Anyway, that was on 120v, so I swapped over to gas to see if I could get a response and diagnose cooling unit or electric heater. After 3 hours this am, no change in the interior temps. I guess the cooling unit is out.
I have priced the pros and cons of replacement, and at the end of about 5 hours, $500 and probably a few choice words, I will still have a nearly 20 year old refrigerator with bad controls. What are the options for changing it out to an apartment size refrigerator? We have only used the gas on a couple of trips anyway, as most all of our trips are within 5 hours away and with proper precooling and limited door opening, a regular fridge should hold temps good for that long, right? How would it hold up to traveling?
Really not interested in spending 1500+ on a new fridge. I can do the labor myself.
Thanks
RE: Choice of Truck
My current truck is a GM diesel powered one. If I was going to buy a gas powered 1/2 ton I know without a doubt it would be a Toyota pickup. I have put more than 800k miles on my 4WD Toyota trucks over the years and never had to do anything more than the scheduled maintenance to any of them. All worked perfectly the day I sold them and they all have more than 175K on the odometer. All had tight steering and gearboxes with no whine. All had all the interior lights, switches, radio, power windows, etc. working perfectly.
And my experience is fairly typical. JD Powers has ranked the Toyota pickups number one in reliability for the past 6 years in a row. When I am out on the road hundreds or thousands of miles from home the reliability of the truck and freedom from worries about it breaking down are truly priceless. Being able to plan and schedule my next visit to the dealer for servicing is also something I appreciate.
I have also had several Chevy, Dodge, Ford, and Willys trucks and nothing is a bigger pain then dealing with failed wiper motors and power window motors and defrost fans not working and clocks that don't work and power mirrors that cease to function, and lights with shorts that drain the battery overnight and leaking seals and faulty emissions components and failed fuel pumps. It is the hassle factor I hate along with the many trips to the dealer.
There is also from my experience a difference in how problems are handled. When my Chevy Blazer had the engine's rear seal fail at 12k miles I had to engage an attorney to get GM to fix it properly. The head gasket on my Chevy truck failed at 72K miles and it was my problem to find aftermarket gaskets and get the repairs done. When my brother's truck at 120k had a head gasket failure, Toyota rebuilt the engine completely and gave him a 50k mile warranty on it. He now has more than 300k miles on the truck with that engine.
Did I write this? Sounds like my lie perience over last twenty years.
RE: Headed to Pigeon Forge in three weeks
We have stayed at Rivers Edge several times. Folks there very nice. They have five or six log cabins there with large living room, kitchen, and upstairs loft bedroom. Always stay there when we need a cabin...
The mountain pass into Cherokee sometimes closes when the weather gets bad - I got caught on that one winter and to drive around the long way to get from NC to Pigeon Forge.
Be sure to check out Cades Cove and dont forget to go thru the COLEMAN CAMPING STORE as well... The is also the Smoky Mtn Knife place out towards I40 that is a must see place as well...
You will love the cabins. They have lots of photos on their web page of it. Notice the hill that goes up to more camping spots above the park. I always would drag my OFF-ROAD POPUP up to those spots and had to back-in a long ways to get my trailer to spot on the end where I always wanted to be hehe...
Certainly my pick of the places to stay down there both camping and cabins.... My other love is staying at ELKMONT inside the Natl Park. No hook ups -just bath house and water available...
Roy Ken
Hehe. Yea we go caught in a blizzard on the wrong side of the Gap in 93. Had to drive a looong way around.
Been to Knifeworks, very cool place. I really like the muscle car museum too. Appreciate the comments. Will probably make the reservations tomorrow for a cabin.
Headed to Pigeon Forge in three weeks
Hey,
The family is headed to Pigeon Forge the week before Christmas. First time my 5 year old daughter has ever been to the Smokies and it has been 6 years since we have been. We went every year for about 10 years prior. Only camped a couple of times due to cost and short stay times. Mostly stayed in cabins or, eek, motels. This year, I am debating whether to pull the fifth wheel or stay at a log cabin. I picked River's Edge to stay at, just not sure I want to pull the fifth wheel 700miles with diesel at 4.00 gallon here and who knows what in TN. We can stay in a cabin at the campground for roughly the same overall cost and not have to worry about having enough LP and freezing pipes. Has anyone ever stayed in the 1 BR cabins here? Thanks
RE: captain, I think we're going to need a bigger boat
No cat on that year, 2004.5 was the first year for a cat. I agree with the rest but would have the trans rebuilt by someone that knows how to build a bullet prof 47RE. I would look on line for a set of 3:93 gears if it were me.
Don
Are we talking about the same truck?
The op's truck is a 96 12V Cummins and yes it did have a Cat on it from the factory. Why would you go from 3:55 to an even higher 3:93?
The ONLY 12V Cummins that did not have a Cat was the 94's that were made in 93.
Yea a built trans would be a great option. With that many miles I would assume he has an aftermarket trans already, don't know for sure.
Please correct me if I am wrong.
You are backwards on your gears. A numerically higher gear is lower in reality.
Not sure about the cat. I am pretty sure though the 2003 or 04 was first for a cat. Earlier models had a resonator. That does not hold true for California models though. Who knows what the emissions stuff is on them. ...
RE: captain, I think we're going to need a bigger boat
You've got a great truck setup. Very easy to add power. Go ahead and upgrade the valve body in tranny to prevent the added power from destroying factory torque converter. It WILL happen. Cheaper to upgrade the valve body now than to be 300 miles away from home and the tranny go out.
The 10 plate is an excellent choice. It would be good to get a boost and EGT gauge mounted before towing after improvements. I have a 97 with a 6 plate and governed tranny. It pulls really good. I have an older Four Winns 29 super slide.
RE: Ram wins again
Brand loyalty. I have never seen it anywhere like this place....Funny.
I am Loyal to Toyota, but drive an older Ram because I can't afford a Toyota that is capable of doing what my Ram does. I do own two FourRunners and one day I will have a Tundra. Will never own another GM, as long as my last name is still the same. Would consider a Ford.
I can't say anything about the Tundras, having never owned one. But, in the midsize, I had a Ranger and the Tacoma was 10 times the truck the Ranger was. In fact, the Tacoma towed a camper better than a same period 1500 Chevrolet with a 350. Of course, that was in the 90's when GM was designing stuff like the Aztek.
Bottom line is, truck owners are very reluctant to change brands on trade unless there are huge problems with the current truck. Sometimes even then, truck owners blame it on, "just one of those things, it was covered under warranty". Myself, if I have to take a vehicle back within the warranty period, I am looking to see just how many others are having the same problem. If it is a consistent problem, I expect to see a major change in design. No design change on problem areas and I will not own the vehicle. Hence my refusal to own a GM. Dodge has a history of long term problems as well, along with slow change in design. Take there mid 90's frontends. It takes an aftermarket to design a change to get one to last and drive right. At least Ford recognizes when they have a problem and makes appropriate changes. I respect Ford for what they have done since the 6.0NO problems. I still love the TUNDRAs and think they get an underestimated reputation.
RE: Tundra with Auto LSD
The ALSD in the Tundra's isn't up to par with a true LSD. That being said, about a month after I bought my 2010 4WD, we got his with 2 snow storms of about 20" each, a couple days apart. My Tundra handled both storms very well, but obviously needed 4wd.
The ATRAC system is "different" and as such requires a different way of driving. It is every bit as good as any mechanical LSD, and seamless when driving in conditions that are dangerous and tricky with mechanical lockers. The problem is most people do not understand how to drive it to get the full benefit. It requires steady throttle input constantly to do its job. Most people want to blip the throttle and that will not allow it to work. I have a truck with mechanical lockers and love ATRAC much better.
RE: How many of us towing 5th wheel with a 1/2 ton truck?
Ford F150 4 door sitting next to me with a 29' Silverback 4 slide unit. Didn't see it all hooked up, but sure looks to be the 1700 lb pin weight unit to me.
RE: 7.3 vs 6.0
After the issues we have had with a company truck you couldn't give me a 6.0.
Less than 140K and we have had to buy:
radiator
2 turbos
exhaust manifold
new long block
new injectors
and just this week another turbo.
So. In 40K miles, you had to pay for all those components?
The Power Stroke warranty is good for 5 years 100K miles. Those items should have been covered.
And, somehow, that makes the failures ok? Everyone of those failures is a sideliner.
RE: Dodge w/Cummins
The added horsepower came from improvements in torque through adding fuel. The increased horsepower was reflected mathematically by increasing the RPM of the engine. The formula for HP is HP=Tq x RPM / 5250. Take that 400ft/lbs, keep it flat and still fueling at 2800 RPM with a governor spring kit, and you now have 213 HP. Still low compared to modern engines, but add a fuel plate that will take that same engine to 650 ft/lbs of torque, maintain fuel at 2800 RPM (low by modern standards) and now you have right at 350 HP. Getting close now right? Haven't really done much to the engine just played around with some tuning.
