Here we go again

I've posted here a few times before about the problems we've had and are still having with our 2010 Winnebago Itasca Reyo on a Dodge/Sprinter chassis with a Mercedes diesel engine.  Well, our visit with our kids in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area was over on Saturday.  We were on our way to San Antonio, TX. to meet up with friends for our trip together to Arizona for the winter.  We got as far as a little south of Waco, TX. when the engine light came on AGAIN, we lost power as before and the engine shut down.  Thank God we were close to an exit and we were able to get the Reyo off I-35. We had to wait on the tow truck for over 2 hours.  It was such a miserable day, rain and cold.  When the wrecker finally showed up we were towed to Austin, TX. to a Dodge dealer.  Nobody works in service on Saturdays or Sundays, so we had to go to a hotel.  They wouldn't let us stay in the Reyo.  Anyway... today is Monday and first thing this morning we went to the Dodge dealer.  They did the diagnostics's  and told us the fuel regulator was bad.  They would have to order one from Dallas.  It should be in tomorrow.  So now we are stuck in a hotel room for another day or two. 
If you remember I posted about the same problem before. Freightliner in Ft.Worth just reset the code charged us right at $200.00 and sent us on our way.  Since then we drove the Reyo about 200 miles when it happend again on Saturday.  It will be a miracle if my 76 year old husband with heart disease will not have a heart attack, that's how stressed out he is.  We are just so unhappy with this motor home, we don't know what to do.
We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Babette,
Sorry to hear about your latest problem Hopefully you'll be on your way tomorrow and the rest of the trip will go fine. It can definitely be stressful when you are afraid that your MH is going to break down at anytime.
How is the Trik L Start working for you? Any more problems with the chassis battery?

Wow - what a hassle 

Unless there is a hard code set that won't reset, the dealer will not change out any parts on a suspicion even though there is a good chance they know what part might be at fault.  That kind of stinks for the owner - they will probably be inconvenienced again or even placed in a dangerous situation when the problem reoccurs.  We have been up and down I-35 between Austin and DFW a hundred times and it is no place to have vehicle trouble.

We had some slide damage (caused by a technician) that wasn't obvious until all the techs went home on a Friday afternoon.  We had to spend the weekend at the dealer with our main slide retracted.  Sometimes it's a thrill a minute  :  Hang in there. 

Island Guy, so far so good with the Trik-L-Starter.  After the Winnebago factory installed it ( at a cost to us for $250.00 ) the engine started every time we got ready to go.  That's about the only thing that has really been fixed.  But who knows....the Reyo hasn't been plugged into power since we broke down on Saturday, so the Battery will probably be dead in the next few days.
John, can you explain about the hard code you mentioned and that this could happen again? 

Thanks to both of you for responding to my post.  So glad that I'm able to vent our frustration here.

Babette said:

John, can you explain about the hard code you mentioned and that this could happen again? 

Click to expand...

Sure - I'll explain as I understand it.  Sometimes the sensors will tell the computer that "I had a transient problem" but the information stored in the vehicle memory will reset when the power is cycled (start/stop).  A  problem that is consistent and persistent, can be read by the code reader and the tech can look the code up in a book to tell them what the problem could be.

I really can't speculate if you will have the problem again.

I think it is time to investigate your states Lemon Laws.  Should you consider this drastic step be sure you contact a lawyer that is familiar with the system.  A friend of mine got absolutely no where until he got the right one. Although not a big fan of the Better Business Bureau I have been told that big corporations do not like to be reported to them as it requires a written answer to your complaints.  Be sure and keep your receipts and a journal.

I feel the same about my 2005, everyday it is something new.

Don WIT 70041

Update...... Well, this morning we finally got to pick up our Reyo from the Dodge dealer in Austin.  They got the fuel regulator in yesterday and hopefully fixed our problem for good.  We also had them change the fuel filter to the tune of $ 225.00.  I guess we're paying the price for having a Mercedes diesel engine.  So this morning we drove to San Antonio to meet up with our friends that had been waiting on us since Saturday.  We're staying at Lackland AFB at the Fam camp for about a week ( my husband is retired from the Air Force and so is our friend that's why we stay mostly at military RV parks ).  Then we'll set out on our trip to Arizona.  I hope and pray that we won't have any more problems with the Reyo along the way. 
Hope the next time I post something, it will be that we're having fun in AZ.

Thanks for the update...and good luck and hopefully you''l enjoy your visit in AZ!

Thanks Jim for the good wishes.  BTW my husbands name is Jim too.

It has been so cold and windy today here in San Antonio and tonight it is suppose to get in the low 30's, brrrr.  Hate it!  We wish now that we would be in Key West this winter instead Arizona.  After 13 winters in Key West, we wanted to see other parts of the US, so we and our friends decided to go to AZ.  Hope we don't regret it.....not just because of the weather, but we'll be farther away from home ( NC ) and we'll be constantly worried if the Reyo will give us problems again.

We enjoy the Southwest in the winter time - it will be so much different than anything you have seen (unless of course you have been out there before.)  There is a certain beauty of the desert and the vistas that can stretch for a hundred miles.

We have had many problems with our Reyo as well. Call the Service Administrator for Winnebago if the engine problem seems to be related to rain getting into the engine. They are putting in a thicker gasket under the hood to keep the rain out which has been a cause of the EGR shortening out as well as other computer issues. I wish I could get my money back for mine.

I hear you when it comes to issues with your coach. I wish i could tell you something that could help your situation. I have had major problems from the day i pick up my 2009 adv. It has been in the shop for a total of 9 months and still having same issue. I am at the point were i will not take my family in it nor will i drive it. This looks like it will go the legal route. I am very unhappy with winne and they acted like i am asking for something that i am not owed. All i want is what i paid for a NEW COACH. Good luck with your issues on your coach!

Thanks Alan. It's bad when you can't trust your RV to get you where you want to go without worrying about breaking down.
On Wed. we're leaving San Antonio for our drive to Arizona.  Sure hope we won't have anymore trouble with the Reyo.

Alan, Going the legal route myself. I have sent emails to Winnebago that are completely ignored. Recently I had a question about the air filter and have yet to receive an answer. I didn't read the whole post, but if you have rain coming into your rig and the kids are getting stuffy, it may be mold. I know someone who this happened to. Be cause it presented a health hazard, the company, NOT WINNEBAGO by the way, took the unit back and reimbursed the owners. I have owned a trailer, 5th wheel and truck camper. I have never had the number of problems with all of them combined that I have had with my Reyo. Until I bought my Reyo, and started digging for information, I never realized how many unhappy Winnebago owners there are. The Reyo is my first and last Winnebago product that I will purchase. I feel your pain! At least Mercedes got the ball rolling the last time I had my Reyo at the mechanic, and Winnebago sort a admitted to a design flaw. Now if only they own up to letting lemons off the factory floor, we will have more happy campers. Considering how many people got laid off a few years ago due to the recession, one would think the owners of the company would do all they could to produce a great product and have a minion of happy customers. Good luck,

Have a 2010 Via on a 2009 chasis.  Been reading alot about this water problem and I have to say that I have not experienced this.  Not to say that I won't but just wondering where this water is coming in from?  Is it coming down the windshiled and into the engine compartment or is coming in thru the front and into the air box thru the inlet hose of where the air comes in to the airbox?

Alan and everyone else, My emails were not ignored. My system for some reason suddenly recognized return emails from Winnebago as spam and they were blocked. This has been resolved. My apologies to our service rep. We had problems with our engine battery holding a charge. We have been advised to take it to a dealer to see if something is draining it, possibly the slider. If so, this can be bypassed and hopefully help with the draining battery problem. We have bought a Trik-L. and know how to disconnect the battery.

Now that we are recharged, we still have the check engine light on. Again, we will take the Reyo to a dealer to have this addressed. After a drive of 20 minutes in soft rain, we noticed water on the air filter, again. We have a new gasket on. There is a possibility there is a problem with the actual hood itself. Our Service Rep. is checking ones on the floor at Winnebago to see if others have the same issue, or just ours.

Winnebago does read our posts in this forum. We were told we need to go on a nice trip somewhere. Would love to, but I still don't trust this unit. There are still issues that need to be addressed, at a dealer an hour or so away. Winnebago regrets the problems we are having, will take care of warranty issues, wish us well, but won't by back our unit. So, I am beginning to lose count how many times this unit has gone in for repairs for the same issue, 6 times? If this was a car.... lemon law....thoroughly disgusted that this is what my golden years will be like, dealing with this company and the lemon they made and we unfortunately purchased. What a mistake!!!! Buyer Beware and don't listen to the rumors. Winnebago products have not gotten all that better since a few years ago. Our certainly hasn't.

To all,

A hard code is one that returns ie....The first step in diagnostics with a check engine light is get the codes, 2nd clear the codes, 3rd drive the vehicle trying to simulate the condition that caused the check engine light. I f the check engine light returns, that code is considered a hard code as it is current. If the check engine light did not return, tech will let the vehicle go as no problem found. What it boils down to is you cannot fix something that is not broke.  Codes are set for many different reasons. Some codes will go away by cycling the key off and on  again. Some codes may require so many cycles of the key for them to disappear. Newer diesels go intgo derate with some codes. Most codes really need further testing to really determine the real problem. Most techs do not want to do the further testing so they assume a part is bad and replace the partt and then you see the same code show up down the road. Water in a connector to sensor may set a code as a bad sensor when in reality the problem is water in a connector. I use this illustration because it was a common problem on a particular brand of automobile in the Oxygen sensor circuit. Hope this helps to explain the codes and what happens at times.

reyo owner said:

We have had many problems with our Reyo as well. Call the Service Administrator for Winnebago if the engine problem seems to be related to rain getting into the engine. They are putting in a thicker gasket under the hood to keep the rain out which has been a cause of the EGR shortening out as well as other computer issues. I wish I could get my money back for mine.

Click to expand...

Actually Winnebago has issued a recall that supplies a cover and a gasket to solve the EGR problem.

Parts are available and any Winnebago dealer can order them for you and install in about an hour.

PHE

magrati said:

Have a 2010 Via on a 2009 chasis.  Been reading alot about this water problem and I have to say that I have not experienced this.  Not to say that I won't but just wondering where this water is coming in from?  Is it coming down the windshiled and into the engine compartment or is coming in thru the front and into the air box thru the inlet hose of where the air comes in to the airbox ?

Click to expand...

The problem seems to be water getting into the Exhaust Gas Recirculating Valve by running down the hood (the part of the hood below the windshield) and running into the gap where the lift-up part of the hood mates into the front cap.

It's really a MB engine design problem - things on the engine that are not water-proof - but Winnebago is supplying some parts to fix it. They have issued a recall and parts are available - have your dealer order them for you - install is abut an hour.

We had sooo much trouble with our unit that Winnebago covered our car rental and hotel fees. Call Serv Adm and talk with someone there. You shouldn't have to pay like this anymore then we should.