[Fixed] Bad news - FW tank is leaking

SD75mac said:

My FW tank dropped to the hiway a couple of weeks ago. After dragging it approx 40 miles (before noticing it), the entire front panel was grounded off. Winnebago will only replace the tank since it fell off warranty 10 months ago. The reason it fell was due to the fact the rear tank brace was never secured to the frame, thus allowing the tank to fall to the road.

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Good grief. The lunch whistle must have blown before that brace was installed. So Winnie is replacing the tank but not paying for labor? I'm not sure what you mean.

2dalake said:

John, glad it was as simple as a leaking valve.

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Thanks Gary, I'm not sure my body will ever be the same  . The replacement valve arrives today and I need to brush the flaking rust/paint off and prime. Should wrap this up tomorrow. One benefit of this situation is these bays haven't been completely cleaned since the coach was brand new so I vacuumed it out and got rid of some junk.

John Canfield said:

Good grief. The lunch whistle must have blown before that brace was installed. So Winnie is replacing the tank but not paying for labor? I'm not sure what you mean.

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Replacing the tank, meaning they will ship a replacement tank but will not cover the installation or replace the underbelly material. I have to install myself or pay for installation.

Wow, that is ridiculous! I can't believe that with a manufacturing defect like that they wouldn't step up and pay for the labor as well.  Winnebago has slipped in their customer service area a bit. I think I would call and start screaming up the line until I got to someone that would make a better decision. 

SargeW said:

Wow, that is ridiculous! I can't believe that with a manufacturing defect like that they wouldn't step up and pay for the labor as well.  Winnebago has slipped in their customer service area a bit. I think I would call and start screaming up the line until I got to someone that would make a better decision.

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I'm a bit surprised as well but since you have a towable and not a motorized unit customer service might be handled a bit differently. When I'm in Forest City for the GNR I'll try to find out more about the towable side of the business. AFAIK, towable units customer service is completely separate from motorized.

I am making progress on my project. The rust on the panel that covers the tank drain plumbing was significant in one area about the size of a dollar bill, lots of pitting. I had to break out my angle grinder with flap disc to get rid of the rust. The Ospho did a good job of penetrating the pits, so the deep rust should be stabilized. After sanding and cleaning with MEK, I sprayed zinc chromate primer and then some semi-gloss black paint.

Dealing with the area on the bulkhead wall where the valve lives was a chore due to the access. I used my air powered right angle die grinder with a 4" Scotchbrite disc which did a good job of cleaning the area up. Cleaned up the area with MEK and I thought I was going to pass out from the fumes. Dummy me should have been wearing a respirator (I did when I primed and painted.)

The brown Santa delivered the valve a while ago so I'll let the paint dry for 24 hours and then finish up the job tomorrow. It will be a great feeling to get this one behind me.

I was told Winnebago manufactures their own tanks, and most for the other RV FW tanks.

I would count up the actual number of camping days that you have used the unit. That may help your argument that it is still not that far out of warranty to be covered under a "good will" repair.

SD75mac said:

I was told Winnebago manufactures their own tanks, and most for the other RV FW tanks.

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They do manufacture their tanks, I believe they call that unit Rotocast. For years Winnie has tried (and has) been a manufacturing source for other companies and the Federal government.

Yea! It's all put back together  8)    8) . I filled the tank about 75% full and I'll let it sit for 24 hours before I add the cover plate to make certain there are no leaks. I'm a happy camper (as long as it doesn't leak!)

Congrats for you. Now hit the road.

Yes sir, trip planned for next month.

Me also, FW tank or not.

And after 24 hours we are still leak free  Time to button it back up and reload the 500 pounds of stuff I removed for access.

Good news John, well done!

Glad you got it fixed.  Could have been a lot worse.

Outstanding John! I love it when you finish a job and everything turns out like you planned!

Thanks guys! Now I need to take the coach to our local truck tire shop and get the slow air leak on an inside dual fixed. It only loses about 5 pounds a day so that might be hard to find  : .

5 lbs a day ought to show up with soap bubbles pretty easy. 

Hope so. I had a trailer tire with a slow leak that took a tire guy a long time to find - the sealing rubber gasket for the metal valve stem was folded over on installation. The weirdest one was a Goodrich (Goodyear?) All Terrain AT on my truck, they never could find the leak and surmised the tread had become separated somehow internally. Didn't make a lot of sense to me but this is a good local tire shop. They work on anything from a wheelbarrow tire to heavy equipment tires.

John Canfield said:

Hope so. I had a trailer tire with a slow leak that took a tire guy a long time to find - the sealing rubber gasket for the metal valve stem was folded over on installation. The weirdest one was a Goodrich (Goodyear?) All Terrain AT on my truck, they never could find the leak and surmised the tread had become separated somehow internally. Didn't make a lot of sense to me but this is a good local tire shop. They work on anything from a wheelbarrow tire to heavy equipment tires.

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In 1995 I bought a new 1994 Dodge Dakota pickup.  It one of those with Mark III spiffying - fender flares, low profile tires and mag wheels.  We moved to Chicago later and shortly afterwards I came out from work to find a flat tire.  I thought it was vandalism as the valve stem was missing.  I changed the tire then headed for a tire shop.  What they found was surprising, the tire had a tube in it!  The tire shop could find no reason for it.  They put in a new valve stem, aired it up and tested and tested.  No leaks.  So, off I went, still puzzled.  As time passed, I noticed that tire continued to leak down, very slowly, maybe 5 lbs a week or even less.  I had it examined a couple of times, but no one ever found a problem.  I just put up with it as it was approaching time for new tires.  I had new tires installed eventually.  Lo and behold, it still leaked!  Finally, I read somewhere about the mag wheels I had and where on occasion they would leak at the weld around the center of the wheel.  By now I'm approaching 100K miles.  I found an exact replacement on eBay, bought it had it installed.  I still have the truck.  No leak.  My guess is Mark III or the Dodge dealer had the same trouble I had.  Probably the dealer since the truck had sat on his lot for a year and they just put a tube in it so they could quit worrying about it.  I would have gone back to the dealer to raise hell, but the owner had since committed suicide.  I guess he knew I was coming.

Molaker said:

.. I would have gone back to the dealer to raise hell, but the owner had since committed suicide.  I guess he knew I was coming.

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That's quite a story! I still have my F-250, bought it new in 2000, the plan is to keep it forever.