Water Pump not mounted?!?!?!?

While cleaning out the compartment I noticed my water pump is being kept attached by the water lines. What the heck? It's not mounted to anything so when you turn it on, it flops over and vibrates all over the place.

There is a plastic wall that I can attach it to, is this safe? I'm a bit pissed that this was missed by the dealers supposed PDI.

When you fasten the pump to the wall, use large rubber grommets or some form of shock mounting to isolate the pump vibration from the RV.  It should have been  fastened that way from the factory.

I suspect more than a few are not fastened down. Fastening them firmly leads to excessive pump noise, so you have to use shock absorbing mounts to compensate.  The cheap way out is to simply leave them unfastened, sort of a poor mans "floating" mount. It's not going anywhere...

That said, Holiday Rambler is not one to leave the pump unmounted, so do as Ned suggests.

If you thought PDI extended to actually inspecting the construction of the rig and the mounting of fixtures, you will be gravely disappointed. PDI is more like turning on the pump and opening a faucet to see if water comes out. If they checked both hot and cold, that's a bonus.

Take it back to the dealer and make them fix it. 

Ned said:

When you fasten the pump to the wall, use large rubber grommets or some form of shock mounting to isolate the pump vibration from the RV.  It should have been  fastened that way from the factory.

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Agreed, however the wall looks to be one of the tanks, is it ok to fasten it to the tank since I can't move it? I will definately insure it has rubber mounts, however it looks like the pump has them attached already. 

RV Roamer said:

I suspect more than a few are not fastened down. Fastening them firmly leads to excessive pump noise, so you have to use shock absorbing mounts to compensate.  The cheap way out is to simply leave them unfastened, sort of a poor mans "floating" mount. It's not going anywhere...

That said, Holiday Rambler is not one to leave the pump unmounted, so do as Ned suggests.

If you thought PDI extended to actually inspecting the construction of the rig and the mounting of fixtures, you will be gravely disappointed. PDI is more like turning on the pump and opening a faucet to see if water comes out. If they checked both hot and cold, that's a bonus.

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I agree and I don't, if I'm a dealer I'm going to look at anything the motor home has that's mechanical, since they offered a bumper to bumper warranty it's in their best interest to perform this 150 point inspection or however many points it is they brag about. I keep hearing about these extensive PDI inspections from RV dealers, Mercedes Benz, Lincoln whomever and yet when I bought my Lincoln used, it was obviously traded in, washed and put in line, my boss bought a used Mercedes and the same thing, nothing was touched but the basics, clearly nothing was inspected or they wouldn't have missed simple things that I won't go into detail as that would be another thread.

In my view don't brag about 200, 100, whatever inspections if you don't really check anything more than what the customer catches when they hand you their checklist. In my humble view this is an item that should have been checked. I'm beginning to believe that today, we are to expect less because that's what we are given, to expect a dealer to even live up to what they promise a little bit, is just stupid. You shouldn't have to drag a dealer kicking and screaming to do what they said they would do in the first place. I don't think they replaced this pump, possibly the previous owner did, but I believe the dealer should have caught it dangling there when they checked for leaks during their supposed PDI.

I can only imagine how little is done when a customer knows no better what his/her rights are during the purchase process. I imagine nothing at all.

BOHICA.

lostagain said:

Take it back to the dealer and make them fix it. 

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I'll handle it, they're 138 miles from my house, $120.00 in gas to go both ways is more than the pump costs and it's an easy fix, I think. 

I would advise against mounting to the wall of a plastic tank, since the common way to secure the pump to a surface is with screws.  Even with sealant on the screws puncturing the tank would be a recipe for disaster.  Most pumps require at least 12" of flexible water line on each side of the pump to reduce vibration.  You may need to add that line if it is not there already. 

aka Porky said:

BOHICA.

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Yeah I know, what can I tell ya, I guess I just want to be BOHICA as little as possible.    I'm loving that little smiley, fits so many situations.  ;D

SargeW said:

I would advise against mounting to the wall of a plastic tank, since the common way to secure the pump to a surface is with screws.  Even with sealant on the screws puncturing the tank would be a recipe for disaster.  Most pumps require at least 12" of flexible water line on each side of the pump to reduce vibration.  You may need to add that line if it is not there already.

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Is it possible it was installed this way on purpose? You should see it kick when the thing is turned on, holy cow. I'll take a closer look tonight when I pick the rig up.

You could easily attach a 2X4 across the length of the tank with JBweld or similar, then attach the pump with screws.>>>Dan

Don't try to screw into a tank.  Either do as suggested above and glue a wooden piece to the tank and screw into that, our change the hoses so you can mount the pump on a solid surface.  Ours is mounted to the floor of the compartment behind the water tank.

The owner/sales manager brags about their wonderful PDI inspection and assures you everything will be perfect. He's selling RVs, right?  But then they tell the service manager he has to manage the cost of the PDI better because the hours of labor he is charging is hurting the profit margin. So, the poor smuck sent out to do it is given maybe 60 minutes to check everything.  Just making sure the wheels are there, the engine runs and all the appliances work takes awhile. Maybe a look at the roof for leak potential, fill the tanks and see if water runs out on the ground, etc. A detailed look at every mechanical item, every mounting screw/bolt, house and chassis both? It ain't gonna happen. Even in a 3-4 hour inspection, and few places do that much, no matter what they claim in the sales ads.

Yeah, the customer should hold their feet to the fire for omissions and errors, but you already said you couldn't be bothered to go back.  Nor will most others, unless there is some major item that mandates it. So the beat goes on... Caveat Emptor Bohica!

RV Roamer said:

The owner/sales manager brags about their wonderful PDI inspection and assures you everything will be perfect. He's selling RVs, right?  But then they tell the service manager he has to manage the cost of the PDI better because the hours of labor he is charging is hurting the profit margin. So, the poor smuck sent out to do it is given maybe 60 minutes to check everything.  Just making sure the wheels are there, the engine runs and all the appliances work takes awhile. Maybe a look at the roof for leak potential, fill the tanks and see if water runs out on the ground, etc. A detailed look at every mechanical item, every mounting screw/bolt, house and chassis both? It ain't gonna happen. Even in a 3-4 hour inspection, and few places do that much, no matter what they claim in the sales ads.

Yeah, the customer should hold their feet to the fire for omissions and errors, but you already said you couldn't be bothered to go back.  Nor will most others, unless there is some major item that mandates it. So the beat goes on... Caveat Emptor Bohica!

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I understand how their system works, my issue is don't advertise something you don't do, I'm honest and expect the same, even if it's naive to do so. I don't expect them to check every nut and bolt, but when you're checking for leaks, and the water pump is hanging right there this is an obvious item no? They forgot to fill the gas tank as well and then their was a disconnect about if we would get a half tank or full tank, I'm not being overly anal, I'm asking for what they say they will deliver, no excuses. To me you create a PDI for the obvious things the customer will center on, the tanks, engine, transmission, brakes, leaks, things that will come back to bite you when you miss them. It seems in my case they only went by MY list, not their own, which is disturbing.

I didn't say I couldn't be bothered to go back, I said it would cost me $120.00 to go back and forth, for just the water pump not worth it, but if the black tank issue isn't resolved this weekend I will have reason to go back.

After complaining, I do want to say they did a lot of good things as well, unfortunately I keep finding things they flat out didn't bother checking and it frustrates me.

Ned said:

Don't try to screw into a tank.  Either do as suggested above and glue a wooden piece to the tank and screw into that, our change the hoses so you can mount the pump on a solid surface.  Ours is mounted to the floor of the compartment behind the water tank.

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Agreed, will check the wall and see if it's a tank, if it is I'll Gorilla Glue a board to the wall and screw into that.

I would completely forget the idea of attaching to the wall of a holding tank in any fashion.  You will most likely be creating a great sounding board (a large bass drum) effect.  lengthen the input and output hoses with flexible tubing, loop the hoses if possible, and attach the pump to the solid floor of the compartment with screws through the rubber grommets. 

aka Porky said:

I would completely forget the idea of attaching to the wall of a holding tank in any fashion.  You will most likely be creating a great sounding board (a large bass drum) effect.  lengthen the input and output hoses with flexible tubing, loop the hoses if possible, and attach the pump to the solid floor of the compartment with screws through the rubber grommets.

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Hmmmmm excellent point, will do just that, thanks.