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Cooperative Motor Works

Vintage RV & Motorhome restorations - "The GMC Coop"

You are here: Home / MOTORHOME REHAB RANCH / Mechanical Tips

Mechanical Tips

Noises and Vibrations

Suspension

Fuel System

Dash AC

Alternator

Transmission

Here’s a tip, whenever you have a transmission rebuilt, they usually do not replace the governor gear, it’s a plastic gear designed to eat itself in the event of a bind in the speedo cable or governor itself   The dark area where the steel gear rides will wear over time then here you go rebuilding the tranny and still have that worn plastic gear– They are cheap and I think good insurance.  We replace this gear on every transmission we build.  This is Jim G. new gov gear.  When this gear strips out, the tranny does not know to shift– and you know it won’t!  Dead giveaway for a stripped gov gear is your speedometer will stop.  If the speedo stops but the tranny still shifts, that would be a stripped speedo gear, it also is plastic and runs off of the gov.  Hope this helps.

Wipers

Man, I’ve heard of slow wipers, but this is ridiculous!

Do your windshield wipers run slow or stop for no apparent reason?   The filter screen on the input side of the wiper pump could be clogged up.   Actually, the screen wasn’t a good design, not enough filter area.  I would suggest removing the pipe looking filter threaded into the inlet of the wiper motor and remove the plug & filter.  Add a new filter on the output line (the other line) coming from the wiper motor.  ATP model JX160 works well and there is a Fram in line power steering filter that will also do a good job.  While you’re at it, replace the 2′ or so outlet hose coming from the wiper motor, every one that I have worked on was hard and weathered too badly to leave in.  Take a look at yours, it’s not hard to replace and could cause major trouble if it were to burst or leak.

Another tip on your wiper motor for those who have slow movement, the control cable should pull the speed control arm on the wiper motor hard against the body of the motor in the “max on” position.  Over the years, the cable has stretched and may no longer pull the control arm to the full on position.  Loosen the adjuster set screw on the bottom of the motor and set the cable to full on the control arm.  We found this situation on a customers coach that had had his coach checked for slow wipers several times.

Do your wipers work on their own sometimes?  Over the years, I have found that the hydraulic wiper control seems to allow the wipers to turn on slowly.  In the past, my only solution was to adjust the cable or replace the motor itself.  Eureka— I’ve found a new solution, one that involves a slight modification the the control assembly that looks like it may have been a slight design flaw, go to Wiper mod for the details.

Why does my generator shut off after about 10 seconds of running.

The Onan unit has a low oil shut off circuit which will allow the unit to run briefly then shut it down.  Hey, go check your oil!

What is the “Boost” switch on the dash for?

A great feature, one that may save a tow.  The switch temporarily ties the living area 12 volt electrical system and the chassis electrical system together.  During engine starting, you can have more current to spin the starter by holding this button in during start.  If either battery is low in the living area or chassis, you can “jump” the circuit by holding this button in to say start the generator start the motor.  I always recommend using the boost switch while starting the motor.   If your boost switch is spring loaded and returns to off when you release it, great.  If yours does not, be careful to always flip the switch to the up or off position when you are not using it.  The boost solenoid pulls current and given time will draw down both batteries if left on long enough.

Why doesn’t my system monitor panel only work on voltage?

Because the rest of the panel is old, broken and would cost a fortune to get fixed!  Yank it out by the roots and replace it with a new monitor system that does not use floats in the tanks as senders  Complete.jpg (47711 bytes)  The whole kit cost $75 which is less than the replacement cost of one of the old senders.  Hey, get with it and dump that old relic hanging on the wall! Go to System Monitor

Why does my fresh water pump keep turning on and off?

Put on your flotation device located under your seat!  There is a leak in the fresh water system that is dropping the pressure causing the pump to cycle.  Go outside the coach and look for water leaking from the coach, go inside and try and locate the leak.   If there are no leaks (for sure) and the pump continues to cycle, replace the pump, its regulator is bad.

 

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