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Back From Reno, Nevada - Printable Version +- Wanderlodge Gurus - The Member Funded Wanderlodge Forum (http://www.wanderlodgegurus.com) +-- Forum: Yahoo Groups Archive (/forumdisplay.php?fid=61) +--- Forum: WanderlodgeForum (/forumdisplay.php?fid=63) +--- Thread: Back From Reno, Nevada (/showthread.php?tid=5962) |
Back From Reno, Nevada - Andy Coleman - 11-09-2007 19:07 Dear Friends, Returned home to NJ last week with my 83' bird. I flew back to Reno, NV and drove it home. It spent 5 weeks in Reno after its 3208 blew a head gasket. Many of you provided me with much needed advice when I wrote to this list 2 months ago in a panic! My bird was repaired at Sierra Freightliner - a certified CAT dealership in Reno. They pulled the motor and fixed the head gasket. With the motor out, I also had them fix the other head gasket and send both heads out for a rebuild. Also had them replace the rear main seal. Many of you advised me to replace the entire engine with a new rebuild. I would have done that if my bank account allowed. I took the chance that the bottom end of the 3208 was fine - the engine only has 105K miles now, never burned any oil made any unusual noises. Also, an oil analysis I ran before my trip showed no coolant, and all other parameters as normal. The total cost came out to $9,300. Ouch! A new motor would have cost me another $11,000 more. Well, I'm happy to announce that the motor ran great for the 3K mile journey home. Looks like Sierra Freightliner did a really good job putting everything back together. In total, I put 8,500 miles on my bird for this trip, taking me as far away as British Columbia, Seattle and Portland. Had to fix many things along the way, and learned a lot about my bird. This was its first real roadtrip. I really enjoyed the experience - and have finally lost my Wanderlodge virginity! And of course, I now have many things to fix from the trip itself. The generator does not slide back in, and it is leaking fuel. Drove through 4 days of rain on the way home (I'll never drive the PA Turnpike ever again) and discovered several leaks in the ceiling, and my underbelly storage boxes were quite wet. Luckily, the coach is home and I can work on it at my leasure, without paying somebody $95 per hour! Glad to be back on the list, and hope you guys don't mind me throwing out a bunch more questions in the coming weeks... Thanks again for all your advice and support when things got rough. It definitely made it much easier! Andy Coleman 83' FC-35, 250HP 3208 Spring Lake Heights, NJ Back From Reno, Nevada - erniecarpet@... - 11-09-2007 19:50 Andy- glad you made it home finally. Thank you for your update. Ernie Ekberg 83PT40 Weatherford, Tx ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Back From Reno, Nevada - david edwards - 11-10-2007 08:34 Andy: Glad to hear you made it home. Sounds to me as if you got a lot of good work done for your $9k. Regarding storage compartment leaks. My bluebox shows a record of storage compartment leaks from new. The original owner took it back repeatedly yet they still leak. Bluebird was also never capable of solving the power steering leak which I resolved on mine last year. If you figure out how to stop the storage compartment leaks, I'll be interested in the solution. Kerry 82 FC 35 Denver __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com |