RV Repairs

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
It's all about accessibility to the oil pressure sensor. I'm not familiar with the sensor location on your ISC, but some coach bodies make it extremely difficult to get at most anything. Especially on rear-radiator configurations (which is most all ISC installations).

Typically a Cummins oil pressure sensor is at the top-rear of the engine. Does your coach have access through the floor? Even if it does, the shop will have to take measures to keep thee coach interior clean plus do whatever is needed to open the floor and do the actual part replacement. That could easily add a couple hours to the job.

You can view engine components layouts on the free Cummins Quickserve website (but you need to sign up for an account).
 
Last edited:
Its a side rad model the sensor is above the starter easily accessible I would have done it myself but they said it had to be programmed into computer cause it was new style so 1/2 hour to repl sensor 5 1/2 to program Oh well only $1056
 
Typical for auto repair work to have a set number of hours it will typically take and they charge this, which is a nation-wide collective set of info. If they do it faster or slower then that is on them.
So, an oil change that should take 20 mins they will charge you for 20 mins plus parts. If it takes them an hour then you still pay the 20 min rate. Fast mechanics can make more money than slow ones for this reason.
Goofey RVs might not be common enough to be put into the book of repairs though. 6 hours is not a huge charge for doing anything under the bonnet though. Most auto repair places would refuse an RV just because they will waste a lot of time figuring out how to work on it or get to it , where they are used to cars n trucks and know the end before they even pop the hood bc they do it so often.
 
Installing the sensor $100. Programming the sensor $100. Learning how to use the machine to program the sensor $800.

Having the machine to program the sensor... priceless...

My divorce lawyer was a great lady. My divorce was complicated by expatriate benefits. "If I have to learn about expat benefits I won't charge you for that. It's my job to know how to represent you."

I hope she lives long enough to represent me in my next one - LOL...
 
For less than $500 you could have bought a Chinese clone on eBay of the diagnostic link used to program your Cummins. You'd have saved a few hundred dollars and you'd own the computer you need to diagnose the engine for the rest of it's life.
 
HollyRambler said:
Its a side rad model the sensor is above the starter easily accessible I would have done it myself but they said it had to be programmed into computer cause it was new style so 1/2 hour to repl sensor 5 1/2 to program Oh well only $1056
Click to expand...
New style? The oil pressure sensor on a Cummins ISC is a simple electrinic switch - it reports pressure as OK or Not OK. Not a value.
 
Alontheway said:
Typical for auto repair work to have a set number of hours it will typically take and they charge this, which is a nation-wide collective set of info. If they do it faster or slower then that is on them.
So, an oil change that should take 20 mins they will charge you for 20 mins plus parts. If it takes them an hour then you still pay the 20 min rate. Fast mechanics can make more money than slow ones for this reason.
Goofey RVs might not be common enough to be put into the book of repairs though. 6 hours is not a huge charge for doing anything under the bonnet though. Most auto repair places would refuse an RV just because they will waste a lot of time figuring out how to work on it or get to it , where they are used to cars n trucks and know the end before they even pop the hood bc they do it so often.
Click to expand...
The rig the OP has is a diesel, and he/she obviously went to a Cummins service shop. The one we go to for routine things is a Freightliner Oasis shop with extra training in motorhomes. They always have a few in the place plus lots and lots of trucks. One of the advantages of a DP is that there are an awful lot of Freightliner and Cummins shops who are quite comfortable working on them and have the facilities to accommodate large heavy vehicles.
 
UTTransplant said:
The rig the OP has is a diesel, and he/she obviously went to a Cummins service shop.
Click to expand...
It's not at all obvious to me that the OP went to a "Cummins service shop". Unless perhaps you define that as any shop that will work on a Cummins engine. Larger RV dealers may do chassis work, but that doesn't make them Cummins experts or mean they use the same flat rate manual that a Cummins service center or a Freightliner Oasis dealer might use. Especially on a motorhome, which is more often serviced on a time & materials basis.

Guessing from the name and the side radiator, I'm willing to bet the coach is on a Roadmaster chassis, so not a Freightliner chassis either. Or a Spartan.
 
UTTransplant said:
So why did you spend time talking about automobile repair places not taking RVs? It doesn’t apply to the situation at all.
Click to expand...
Hmm, well, to ponder this, I guess I assumed it was obvious that auto repair and truck repair and anything in between would have a similar flat rate hourly billing system. Im not sure if this answers your question or not.
I'm glad, however, that all this got solved for the OP.
 
Class A coaches are harder to do most any sort of mechanical work on, so truck/chassis shops frequently have ways to deal with that. A common one is to charge a higher hourly rate while still using the medium/heavy truck flat rate manual. Another is to assess a flat charge for service prep, e.g. covering carpets, opening floor access, or whatever. Yet another is to do all motorhome work on time & materials rather than flat rate. Or some combination of those things.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 1,102 (members: 16, guests: 1,086)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,972
Posts
1,388,443
Members
137,721
Latest member
Dmac3003
Back
Top Bottom