RV headaches

[Rich Thomas]

Well after having the Palace for right at 2 years with very little problems we had our first big hick up today. Last time out she picked up a vibration in the steering wheel,and floor. I felt like it was a wheel bearing so I in my investigation I found the right front had been hot and probably the cotter pin head floating around in the grease wasn't helping either the bearings looked good.and the spindle looked fantastic but the races showed heat. Feeling I had found the problem I R&R'ed  the bearings and races, repacked and reinstalled the hub and replaced the not quite worn out pads; just because I was there and that's how I tend to do things. I took her down the road and no more vibration in the steering wheel; problem solved...or was it? Nope, I was all set up to do a weekend with my youngest son and pulled the Palace out of the garage. I decided to take it out on the road again just to satisfy my self that all was good and when I got to about 35-40 I could feel a shudder not in the steering wheel but all over and as time went on the problem got worse. She only has 21-k on the clock but 39 years on the calendar. I was suspect of a bad torque converter but wanted to rule out other things because the fluid was still bright pink and no burnt smell or flecking. My next suspect was the carrier bearing for the split drive shaft but it turns out to be as good as the replacement I bought and, all the U Joints are tight and true so at this point I am back to thinking the torque converter gave up the ghost; any thoughts greatly appreciated. Oh and boy am I glad I kept a hold of my little pop up cause I already booked our site and I don't get to spend time with my youngest son much anymore so the weekend won't be a total loss. My goal now is to have her up and running in time for our annual Thanks Giving camp in November. My plan is to just change out the torque converter for now as well as the tranny filter, flush and refill with new fluid and hope that takes care of it the tranny never seamed to slip and it shifts just fine as well so I'm hoping I was proactive enough that it hasn't damaged it. 

[Russell E Johnson]

Rich, you have finally entered my world, LOL. You may have to nick-name the Palace to the MMP also, just kidding. Enjoy your time camping with your youngest son. Time with family is ever so important.

[Jack Wasmuth]

Rich as a general rule of guess work, if the shaking is in the steering wheel it is from the front end of the vehicle, if in the seat of your pants it is in the rear of the vehicle. Have you ruled out the idler arm and the tie rod ends?

Most of the time the torque converter is under power. Get moving at the speed that you feel the shudder and then put the transmission in neutral, if the shutter stops it may be the torque converter of something past the transmission.

Before replacing the TC try a can of Trans Medic additive to the transmission and see if you just have some glazing going on.

Hope this helps.

Jack 

[Rich Thomas]

Hello Jack, looks like we was on the same page, the very first thing I done was put Lucas oil transmission fix in the tranny. I failed to mention that the bearing change cleared up the shake felt in the steering wheel sorry for that! good solid advice from all of you and I do appreciate it.  

[Jimco_W001]

Hi Rich, looks like its time to put a jack stand under each corner of your chassis's suspension. Get those tires unloaded. Then pull on them up and down and front and back. Then spin the tires around and try to see if one of them out of true. Also I have found bad rear drive shaft U joints that where too tight after taking them apart. Are all of your rear drive shaft U joints taking lube?

[Lakota Wolf]

Sounds like a torque converter,,,, but before you tear into that,,, check the stabalizer link and sway bar  I would also check the engine to trans mounting bolts and torque converter bolts,,, You had just put that engine in and things do come loose. When driving,, get to the speed where the wobble begins and kick into nuetral, and see if the wobble continues,, if not,, then the torque coverter is more then likely the issue.

[Robert Daggett]

Rich i dont know what chasis or drive train you have but it sounds like a problem i ran into when i was turning wrenches in a ford truck dealership it was a new 79 LN600 or LN700 it had a bad viberation under load that all the above would not fix and had to have a Factory Rep come out to help diagnose. a team of ten truck mecanics all stummped. Here is a quick easy test you can do if you have the tools connect a timing light inline with your coil and start the unit and look at your harmonic ballancer for  a wobble that is what was wrong with with the LN700 the viberational damper failed and was causeing the vibration when the motor was under strain, I hope your issue is that easy as replacing the harmonic damper it sure drove me nuts till the fact rep came over and showed me that

[Rich Thomas]

Thanks for the reply Robert, Jimco,Lakota,Russ and Jack I have indeed looked at the harmonic balancer and also thought about a bent or broken fan blade all seam to be in good order. I also thought maybe one of the drive shafts through a balance weight but after inspection both shafts are in good order. I dropped the carrier bearing and separated the drive shafts to inspect the universal joints and the carrier bearing all are in great shape. I also removed all my hub caps and checked the torque on all 32 lug nuts. My next move is to reinstall the carrier bearing with out the rear drive shaft. start her up and put it through the gears and see what happens. My rear axle was drained and flushed last fall and there is no leakage around any of the suspect places and when I done the hot to touch test the rear end was as cool as a cucumber while the engine and tranny was hot. ( after a 20 or so mile drive). When I rebuilt the right side front hub it took all of the wobble/shake out of the steering wheel and the engine runs as smoth as a cam-ed up 350 can run. Any other Ideas would be met with appreciation and I'll keep every one up to date. Thanks so much  

[Rick Faunce]

How old are the tires? If they are more than five years old and have been sitting then they need to be replaced. that is probably the source of your vibration. Jack it up on stands and put it in gear and see if they are running true. I just now saw all the other replies including the fact your motor is modified. Are you sure you are not getting a high speed miss, bad plug wire or plug?

[Rich Thomas]

Thanks for the reply Rick and it's solid advise but the tires are new. all seven of them (Firestone Transfoce) I checked the lug nut torque, air pressure and, to see if I threw a balance weight, I plaid that game on the day I bought it. I picked it up drove it 20 miles and blew the inside rear dully. Scared my dog so bad she runs every time I start it up. The motor is not modified per say: it has the factory 350 with the factory cam they put in for motor home use. it's a mild cam over stock for torque but you can hear it at idle, sounds great. The vibration is hard to describe- the closest thing I can match it to is when you turn your wheels all the way to max and hold it there and the power steering pump dumps the relief valve. It's that kind of feel and it increased when I filled the gas tank (32 gallons). I've done a lot of finding things that are not the problem that I'm getting to the point of no return for changing out the Torque Converter but I have the rear drive shaft out and the front mounted thru the carrier bearing ( drive shaft center bearing to you young guys). I plan on starting it up tonight and put the tranny through the pace's and see what shakes out. till then I'm waiting on my mouth to get the feeling back from going to the dentist. anyway thanks again for the advise.. 

[Lakota Wolf]

One very last thing to check before you get really really greasy,,,,

Do you happen to have an air freshener on the mirror? If you do,, quite possibly as your excellerating the air freshener is tilting back and leaning to one side, therefore off setting the balance of the coach. (had to throw some humor atcha to keep your sanity)

.

Ok seriously,,,,, Do you have any lose or broken  motor or transmission mounts?

Hoping you can isolate and correct the problem,,, Things like this are nerve raking to say the least. and with winter fast approaching that cold wind bites...

[Rich Thomas]

When I was up under it Thursday I did a visual on the motor mounts Lakota but I ran out of time to really check them out. I planned on putting a jack under the motor and see if they may have dry rotted today but so far I haven't gotten to far from the recliner. Camping in the rain as it was and a trip to the dentist this morning as part of my Rehab for Rich program. More like Doc. needs a new Stingray program the way money just drains from my checking account when i go in there. Any way, I hope I can get after it tomorrow. I've gotten a lot of advice from every one and that is really cool how every one is on the same page so it helps me realize my own hunches have been in the right direction. Thanks every one!

[Robert Daggett]

just got to say this before I laugh myself to death, my daughter said to tell the kids to stop rocking the van (aka stop having sex when your trying to drive) lol