State Your Engine Problem Areas

[Henry Jay Hannigan]

---DON:
Never had DD or Cummins engines. Had three birds; 77FC33 with a
3208NA, 165,000 miles..nice engine but used a bit of
oil......currently have the 90SP36 with the 3208 Turbo, only 41,000
miles on it and it runs great!...my third BIRD was a 1980 FC31 with
a professionaly rebuilt 3208NA with 3 ring pistons in it..wow..what
an engine..built tight, never used oil and had plenty of power...when
I sold it reluctantly last year, Naughty & I drove it from VEGAS to
Birhmingham AND it honestly did not use oil!! The engine was
powerful and tight.....loved that 80FC31..drove it like a pickup
truck.....highly recommend a 31FC to anyone looking for an old
bird...it is all we needed......had to part with it though because
nobody wanted to pay me anything for my beautiful 90SP...and shippers
wanted $15,000 to ship the 80FC31 to Australia.......
well that's it from here...We are in Sydney, Australia this week
heading up NORTH to warmer weather in our "new" Campervan waiting for
the next Texas Holdem Tourney in late October...LOL
Regards to all at RIV.
Hank & Naty
90SP36...Stored in VEGAS













In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Don Bradner"
wrote:
>
> It probably matters a great deal which Cat, which Cummins, which
DD. In my last three coaches I've had Cat (3126B), Cummins (ISL), and
DD (8V92TA). The Cat had been abused/poorly maintained by the
previous owner, and had its share of troubles including oil leaks, a
seized idler pulley that disintegrated and caused a lot of grief,
etc. The Cummins was far and away the highest power/weight ratio I've
experienced - 370HP on 30K including toad. It ran well for 63,000
miles, but did experience a cracked exhaust manifold, turbo that was
discovered to be coming apart when the manifold was removed, and fuel
leaks from the pump accumulator (twice). It got the best mileage of
the 3, at 8.3MPG average for the 63K miles.
>
> I worried most about the DD before getting it, because there are a
lot of negatives written about the 2-stroke engines. I suspect it is
actually the most rugged engine I've had so far, with the most
significant difffernece being that the much more modern computers in
the Cummins, with the Allison 3000, would keep the vehicle owner from
doing overly bad things that are possible with an older engine.
Includes over-revving and over-heating. So far through 4K miles this
one has been trouble-free, and is averaging about 5.2MPG.
>
> Don Bradner
> 90 PT40 "Blue Thunder"
> Posting today by Satellite from Golden, Colorado
>
> On 9/21/2007 at 6:15 PM bingomaster05 wrote:
>
> >Hi All,
> >
> > I could easily ask which of the big three engines is the best,
Cat.,
> >Cummins or DD..but I won't. Naturally each owner will speak of
the
> >virtues of their particular engine. Therefore, I would like to
know
> >the problem areas with each engine. You as owners know what they
are;
> >pesky leaks, hard to work on, uses oil ect... By getting info on
the
> >weaknesses of each motor, helps me to decide which is really the
best
> >powerplant. I know that I will get a ton of response to this
post,
> >you guys have the best forum with the most knowledgable members.
Also,
> >does the MPG change with the powerplant? Thanks till next time.
> >
> >Dan Thomas
> >Central PA
> >Really Wannabe
>