mrschwarz
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2009
- Posts
- 875
I got our new motor home at the end of March. Some time in June, I noticed oil streaking on the right rear wheel. A quick phone call to Tiffin and I learned that this is usually not something to worry about and I should get it taken care of when I had the coach in for service. A streaked wheel turned into a puddle of oil in the wheel. We were touring the Canadian maritimes and I found a repair shop in North Sydney, Nova Scotia to get the repair done. The technician removed the right rear axle, cleaned up the hub and the axle flange, pronounced the OEM gasket that was used as 'crap' and proceeded to put a new, heavier gasket in its place. He cleaned the wheel and center dress 'can' of all the residue oil. He checked the rear end oil level. It was so full, that oil leaked out when he pulled the plug to check it.
With a week or so I noticed some oil streaking on the wheel. A lot of it came from the lug nut covers, which were not removed and cleaned. After a while, I noticed that some of the oil streaking appeared to come from the center can. I was headed to Red Bay and figured I would get it inspected by a factory tech. At the beginning of September, we arrived in Red Bay and the tech pulled the can and didn't find any issues with the repair. He did break off a piece of some of the gasket sealant that had oozed out from between the axle flange and hub, though. When all repairs were finished, we headed to Dallas to visit with family and friends. Imagine my surprise when we backed into our site and I noticed oil puddling in the wheel again.
Because of other issues encountered during the warranty repairs, we ended up going back to Red Bay. The mechanical tech that had inspected the seal got to be the guy to look at it again. When he and another tech removed the axle, they could find no evidence of the gasket that had been installed by the Nova Scotia tech. Even when I showed them a photo of the gasket on the hub while the repair was being done, they were rather dismissive of it. As far as they were concerned, the factory didn't install the gasket correctly. Neither did the tech in Nova Scotia. They put a new gasket and sealant and cleaned the can and wheel again. I accepted their pronouncement and headed back to Dallas. While there, I washed the coach and cleaned any residual oil left of the wheel that may have seeped out of the dress items during the trip.
We headed out from Dallas to Grand Junction, CO. I inspected the wheel again and imagine my surprise when I discovered more oil streaking on the wheel, some of it coming from the center can again. I called chassis support in Red Bay. The tech there said he would check with some more seniour techs and with Eaton, the axle manufacturer. He called back the next day and gave me a step by step procedure on how to replace the axle seal. (i know the Nova Scotia tech did it the way it was described to me, other than the torque on the nuts because he gave me a higher torque value than was in the service manual, 190 vs. 170 ft. pounds). Eaton also said to use new nuts and washers, which the Nova Scotia guy did. I wasn't present when the Red Bay techs installed the nuts, so I don't know if they used a torque wrench or new nuts.
During my conversation, I said to the tech on the phone, 'So, the manufacturer performed a faulty installation, the first repair shop in Nova Scotia performed a faulty installation, and the factory guys in Red Bay also performed a faulty installation. Does that seem reasonable to you, because it doesn't seem reasonable to me'. He sort of agreed with me, but that was the end of it.
I have diagnosed many items in my time. Experience has taught me that if you have a problem and repair it the same way three times, you are fixing a symptom, not the problem. If I replace the gasket a fourth time, I have no doubt that it's going to fail again. My problem is that I don't know enough about heavy duty trucks to know what to check for. A couple of people I spoke to that have experience with this type of repair told me that they usually don't even bother with a gasket. They clean up the mating surfaces and use some RTV to seal them.
Can anyone offer any suggestions for what could be causing these failures?
With a week or so I noticed some oil streaking on the wheel. A lot of it came from the lug nut covers, which were not removed and cleaned. After a while, I noticed that some of the oil streaking appeared to come from the center can. I was headed to Red Bay and figured I would get it inspected by a factory tech. At the beginning of September, we arrived in Red Bay and the tech pulled the can and didn't find any issues with the repair. He did break off a piece of some of the gasket sealant that had oozed out from between the axle flange and hub, though. When all repairs were finished, we headed to Dallas to visit with family and friends. Imagine my surprise when we backed into our site and I noticed oil puddling in the wheel again.
Because of other issues encountered during the warranty repairs, we ended up going back to Red Bay. The mechanical tech that had inspected the seal got to be the guy to look at it again. When he and another tech removed the axle, they could find no evidence of the gasket that had been installed by the Nova Scotia tech. Even when I showed them a photo of the gasket on the hub while the repair was being done, they were rather dismissive of it. As far as they were concerned, the factory didn't install the gasket correctly. Neither did the tech in Nova Scotia. They put a new gasket and sealant and cleaned the can and wheel again. I accepted their pronouncement and headed back to Dallas. While there, I washed the coach and cleaned any residual oil left of the wheel that may have seeped out of the dress items during the trip.
We headed out from Dallas to Grand Junction, CO. I inspected the wheel again and imagine my surprise when I discovered more oil streaking on the wheel, some of it coming from the center can again. I called chassis support in Red Bay. The tech there said he would check with some more seniour techs and with Eaton, the axle manufacturer. He called back the next day and gave me a step by step procedure on how to replace the axle seal. (i know the Nova Scotia tech did it the way it was described to me, other than the torque on the nuts because he gave me a higher torque value than was in the service manual, 190 vs. 170 ft. pounds). Eaton also said to use new nuts and washers, which the Nova Scotia guy did. I wasn't present when the Red Bay techs installed the nuts, so I don't know if they used a torque wrench or new nuts.
During my conversation, I said to the tech on the phone, 'So, the manufacturer performed a faulty installation, the first repair shop in Nova Scotia performed a faulty installation, and the factory guys in Red Bay also performed a faulty installation. Does that seem reasonable to you, because it doesn't seem reasonable to me'. He sort of agreed with me, but that was the end of it.
I have diagnosed many items in my time. Experience has taught me that if you have a problem and repair it the same way three times, you are fixing a symptom, not the problem. If I replace the gasket a fourth time, I have no doubt that it's going to fail again. My problem is that I don't know enough about heavy duty trucks to know what to check for. A couple of people I spoke to that have experience with this type of repair told me that they usually don't even bother with a gasket. They clean up the mating surfaces and use some RTV to seal them.
Can anyone offer any suggestions for what could be causing these failures?