I just had a wake-up call, telling me to check the hoses in the engine compartment for possible wear, rubbing against each other and against other objects.
I had a new mechanic do my yearly service this week, and he found two hoses that were worn to the point where they had to be replaced, and an a hole in the forming stages in the oil pan where one of the now replaced hoses was rubbing. These wear points should have been found and corrected by the (different) mechanic last year.
My mechanic this year checked every hose, and used nylon ties to prevent them from rubbing in the future. I feel very lucky to have changed mechanics and not had an engine oil or power steering oil leak while on the road.
I also had some hoses rubbing near the hydraulic tank. MOT found these and placed pads in place to solve the issue. They found these on my last oil change. DAN
Good advice! The Poole's had one of their large hydraulic hoses fail due to a rub spot while they were pulling into Xtreme this past spring. Rance was kind enough to check ours over to make sure we didn't have the same issue (same era coach - '02/'03). Luckily we didn't.
Same here - one of the lines to the tank itself was rubbing on the engine door in our coach. MOT was able to rotate the tank/canister so there was clearance. I recall others with our generation having this same issue (IIRC, Barry B. posted some photos of his).
Michelle
Any rubber coated objects - hoses, wire insulation, air lines . Anything where the rubber can rub off and cause something to leak or short out.
And Tom, you need to take care of your mechanic well!!! A nice tip or gift near the holidays. Something to show him how much you appreciate him going the extra mile for you. Those guys are valuable!!!
I had a similar experience earlier this summer. Before we hit the road, I always look over the engine compartment to see if there is anything leaking or odd. I even dust the engine (front mainly) each time so I can see anything new in the way of a leak. While looking under the engine, I noticed that the hydraulic hose that runs from the reservoir to the fans was "wet" with oil. It sure looked like a leak. After inspecting the hose I found that the oil was coming from the breather tube just above the hose. But I did find a warn spot on the hose where it had been rubbing on the bottom of the engine oil pan. I put some more of that plastic flexible cable cover on the hose to provide more protection and I keep an eye on it too. Given the amount of wear on the hose, it could have worn through with time. Would hate to loose those cooling fans!
The photo below shows what it looked like before I worked on it. It really needs to be rerouted such that it is not resting on the bottom of the engine. I will leave that to FOT or MOT.
The main air supply hose from the compressor to the dryer, which is rubber inside a braided stainless steel sheath, failed on our coach. Brakes had to be caged, since the air tap the tow truck operator would normally use to presurize the system is in the same loop. It had chafed thru where it was tied to another hose going across the rear frame rail behind the engine.
Several years while in the Yukon on the way to Alaska we had a hydraulic line rub through and we lost all hydraulics (oil). Steering and Fans. We were able, with some help and a borrowed wrench, to get the old line off and had another, slightly shorter line made. There was lumber town about 50 miles away with a shop which could make one. We were able to continue after installing it and replacing all the oil. The line had been resting on a bracket and rubbed through. We wrapped the new one with some protective wrapping. In addition to looking at your lines, I suggest checking to see if you have a wrench big enough for your hydraulic lines. I also now carry some metal sleeves that in a pinch might be able to be used splice a line.
Eric