Does anyone happen to have contact information for Bernd - the diesel mechanic in Lufkin?
Larry
Nacogdoches
World Line Motors
Approach with caution mixed reviews Bernd Ramspeck
(936) 707-1584
Tim Fiedler
Gen-Pro.biz
630 240-9139
Thank you very much, Tim. I understand that he can get cranky, but that he is THE best diesel mechanic to be found. FOT told me to use him, but gave me incorrect contact info.
Dont think the crankiness was the issue..
You are on a forum for foretravels only... Advice is given freely here... take it for what its worth as most of what is suggested has already been done.. So take it for what its worth
We took our coach to FOT for a complete chassis service. We got it back with the 'check engine' light on. We were advised that FOT was not responsible - even though the light came on while in their care - and that our only remedy for us was to use either Bernd or Cummins. They gave me a little sticky with Bernd's number, but it was incorrect.
Use Cummins for sure. I think the closest Cummins shop is in Houston. Others may have additional suggestions.
George
Would you be willing to drive from Nacogdoches to Houston with a 'check engine' light on?
Is you coach running ok? Before going to a shop you might try removing the negative cable on the chassis battery for about 5 minutes. That should remove any not hard fault codes that may have been stored.
It would depend on the code that caused that check engine light, and there are ways to get that yourself using either VMSpc or, more basic, the momentary switches you can find in the dash secret? switches inside dash (https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=37565.msg361576#msg361576)
I've been out of the Nac loop for a couple of years, but is Beau Reece still an option in the area? He was mobile and we were very pleased with his service.
Would avoid Southern Plains Cummins in Houston. Called them and asked how much to read any stored codes on my ecm? [pre vmspec days] They said $225, seemed expensive for 30 mins work but I said okay, got the readout, and the Service Manager said that would be $450. Luckily the service advisor who quoted me the $225 price was there, so the price was lowered to $225. I asked why, and he said RV's are harder to work on. I said the diagnostic port is under the dash just like a regular truck. He just gave me a dirty look and said it would be $450 next time.
Most shops have the software to plug into and read codes , doesn't have to be a Cummins Cat or Detroit shop.. Half the trucks I ever owned kept a check engine light on half the time.. Not saying it doesn't need looking at but you shouldn't have to drive to Houston to get it plugged into.. Check oil, coolant and the usual and if ok drive it to a shop.. I can't find where you post year model and that makes a big difference in advise.
I'm not in sales for them but several times over the years we have had a code come up that was minor and it was so easy to diagnose with the Silverleaf. I wouldn't be without one. If you had a Silverleaf you'd know immediately what the code was. It sure beats doing the trick with the blinking lights like we used to.
I'm on my way back to Oklahoma in our kids' U320 and stopped right outside Memphis now for the night. This morning when I started out in Virginia I saw that the coolant temp didn't look right to me on the readout. A call to my son-in-law verified that it always ran about 180 like our coaches have. It continued to climb as I looked for a place to pull over. I found a place to pull over and unplugged the fan controller and watched the temp go right back to normal where it has run all day. It is so much easier to see minor changes on the digital display than trying to interpret the analog gauges.
I doubt I would have spotted and temporarily solved the problem so quickly without the Silverleaf.
Reese went to work full time, I believe in construction, according to Rance at Xtreme.
Check with any heavy duty truck shop to see if they can pull the codes. They should have a heavy duty scanner that will work on the Cummins.
If Silverleaf can read the codes - and I'm totally ignorant of computer applications and usage - wouldn't FOT be able to read these codes and determine their level of severity?
Question #2: since a number of you feel that Bernd is NOT the solution, whom would you recommend in the Nacogdoches / Lufkin region?
beaureece@yahoo.com
936-221-2055 (https://www.foreforums.com/tel:936-221-2055)
I don't think MOT or FOT do any engine work other than basic maintenance. We have a Cummins Coach Care near us (45 miles). They are a major engine service center as well. They do trucks, RVs, busses, locomotive engines, tow boat engines. Huge stuff. They are not the cheapest place in town but have earned my trust.
Have driven hundreds of miles with check engine light but I would not depend on silverleaf for codes as I have had dozens of times the code came up but Cummins could not fi d any on their computer to match. I now drive using silverleaf just for the gauges set up but not codes. I do not have 19 or 20 injectors like it tells me.. emailing silverleaf the last few times with the codes has not got me a return answer.
JohnH
Red lights on dash, stop. Check with Cummings, but I believe OK to drive to service center with yellow check engine on Let us know what they say. Also might be in your documentation
What engine do you have???
From his profile:
1995 Foretravel U295C Specifications (http://beamalarm.com/foretravel-links/models/1995_foretravel_u295c_specifications.html)
Will look at mine in the morning but I did'nt realize the mechanical 8.3 had any engine codes,give it fuel and air and open the fuel solenoid and go,how are your fluid levels?
Can you expand on what "complete chassis service" was.
Did this include new fuel filter?
Did this include flush and fill of the cooling system?
IIRC on your age coach the check engine light is triggered by the water in fuel sensor and the low water sensor on the cooling system. If they worked on either one of these systems it could be a loose wire that wasn't plugged back in. If the cooling system wasn't filled properly it could be just low on coolant. Both of these things are simple to check as there are few things that trigger that light on a mechanical 8.3 engine.
Mike
U295,
Bernd is an excellent diesel mechanic. He is in the process of finishing up our coach. Yes, I am sure Mr Hatfield will say it took him almost two years, but considering the immense amount of problems that our ISX had, it has been well worth the wait. Nothing Bernd could do about a fan that had to travel to England to be fixed. He kept us in the loop on everything. Our engine runs smoother than it ever did before and it had no leaks of any kind. So not sure what happened with Mr. Hatfield's lines. I do know that as long as we have our coach, Bernd is going to work on the engine.
Have build #4810,we do not have a low coolant sensor or the water in fuel sensor.
You know what is sad about this thread? It is not the difference of opinions on the only "dedicated" diesel engine repair shop in NAC. There will always be different opinions. What is SAD is the fact that there IS only ONE shop in NAC that works on RV diesel engines. With all the big diesel coaches that are built, bought and sold there, and two major dealers (FOT and MOT) that attract hundreds of coaches to the town every year, you'd think there would be several places that would offer quality diesel engine service and repair.
Instead, we have the 'choice" of ONE shop and one "sometimes" mobile mechanic who may or may not be available. Doesn't exactly give you a warm fuzzy feeling if you have a engine problem. True, most diesel engines are fairly robust and reliable, but stuff happens. When it does, and you are stuck in the HEART of the diesel motorhome community in Texas, it would be nice to have at least a few choices of repair facility. I don't know what the solution is, but I sincerely hope the situation changes (for the better) some day...
Very few 270's of that age did. Lot of the 295's of that age did but not all.
Mike
So let me understand this situation. The original poster is asking about Bernd so he can have the check engine light from the engine computer checked on his RV that has a mechanical Cummins engine that does not have a computer?
May be an opportunity for MOT and FOT to jointly open an engine/transmission shop in Nacogdoches. Maybe not a full service shop at first but one that could address ( seems like there is always a bad connection somewhere) the problems that these electronic engine/transmission coaches have.
They certainly could send some business to that shop and keep some dollars in Nacogdoches. And keep Foretravel owners from having to drive some additional miles to address a problem.
Never give dollars an opportunity to leave the community. Maybe Nacogdoches would give some kind of financial break to add another business to the neighborhood.
I would go to Bernd to have the codes read. I do not know him or have had any dealing with him but if I was in your shoes I would take it to him first. It is possible that the check engine light will go out before you even get there.
As stated above FOT & MOT can do maintenance but when it comes to check engine and other engine issues they are not the company to go to.
Not arguing but the 295 may have more sensors but it does not have a computer,if his has the coolant and water in fuel sensors
make sure they are not tripping the light.On that engine it is not a code it is a sensor tripping,something you can check yourself.
The shop is not going to hook a scanner up and extract a code to tell you what is wrong,they will do the things we are telling you to do yourself.
That is what I was trying to relay.
Mike
Understand that Bernd is a good engine man but the mechanical diesel engines are super simple engines easy to figure out.
Later model engines ie the ones with def and the earlier ceramic muffler exhaust cleaner.... The "check engine" light is more crucial.. Not so much with mechanical engines.. I've had them that Have been on so long that if it went off I would wonder if something was wrong.
295
Did your service included a transmission fluid and filter change?
Mike
Here's my story. I previously revealed that my computer skills are null, and I cannot change my profile without an email account - and I don't have one anymore.
In late March - remember we had the transmission fiasco on our U295 in Gilbert AZ at the Freightliner shop - we bought a 2002 42' U320 from Premium Coach Group in Gilbert (my advice is NOT to patronize them). It has a 450 HP ISM in it. That is the engine that I have been talking about in my previous posts.
Larry
Tim, I can't pull up anything on the alternative mechanic whose website you posted.
Free gmail account
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBZPRjxtK4k
Larry,
Now this is a hog of a different color. There is a whole list of things that can drop the check engine light on this engine. It could be any number of sensors. You sure need to pull the flags that are down on the ECM. We sure need to get your profile page up to date as that 295 is the coach I thought you were talking about.
Mike
Any shop that works on Diesel engines in trucks should have a scan tool to read codes. Our coach has a habit of throwing a BS code that says "road speed doesn't match engine speed", long story but by turning the key on and waiting 30-40 seconds before cranking clears this code. May take up to 3 clean starts to get it cleared.
Worth a try to see if your code clears by waiting 40 seconds or so with the ignition on before cranking. I try and give a pause every time before starting and rarely get the code.
Driving with the engine light on is worry some, if the dinger is dinging it'll drive you nuts but thats easy to fix by disconnecting it.
Silverleaf codes are not always correct but that's another story.
Was his email address, try his phone, great guy might have went to work in the oil fields - was great mobile diesel mechanic In NAC
To all:
My DW got in the face of the service writer at FOT and pointed out him that since we brought the coach in to FOT without a 'service engine' light, they best come up with a solution. They eventually decided it might be best to do so.
We had the entry carpet replaced, which caused them to remove the seats and some other stuff. Well, they forget to plug in the accelerator petal after completing the carpet work, and that was driving the 'check engine' light. They plugged it in and all was well (with the engine, that is).
We had FOT do a headlight conversion - instead of XTREME - and FOT was unable to match the grey color shade to the front cap. That looks a bit odd (to us).
We had a bunch of other issues, also. But won't bore you with our difficulties...except to say that after the headlight conversion, the passenger-side fog lamp was just dangling there because FOT mechanic forgot to 'install' it.
Larry
Good for her!
Also sorry to hear about your other issues. Those are unacceptable and hopefully she also gets in the face of whoever is the service manager these days and that you are
#1 made whole
#2 compensated for your aggravation.
The FOT shop is not a happy place right now. Employee turnover is rampant.
Larry
My last experience at FOT was not up to par either. I think there is a new service manager. Attention to detail not what it used to be. Thinking of trying MOT in the future.
When you can please change your handle to another name so we don't go thru this next time.
We have used Bernd and he did some good changes to increase our turbo pressure about +10psi. Changes were made years ago and we still operate fine without exhaust color with max boost about 30 psi.