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Topic: Help! Locked in car and can't get out. :-) (Read 1039 times) previous topic - next topic

Help! Locked in car and can't get out. :-)

Okay - I felt like the drunk woman who called the police with the cry that she was locked in her car and couldn't get out.  His response, "Unlock the door from the inside and open it, before he picked her up for drunk driving." True story, if you can believe newspapers. :-)

This has happened to me TWICE, now - No, NOT the drunk driving, but getting locked in my FT and not being able to get the door open.  I previously posted about the first time when we went camping on Memorial Day weekend.  As my DW was returning to RV after paying the entrance fee, a gust of wind slammed the door out of her hands, breaking the internal linkage to the locking mechanism.  I took the internal plate off and the "guts" out, thinking that would resolve the issue and open the door, but it did not.

While I am locked inside with my dismantled locking mechanism, we had very helpful advice from the other campers including one well intentioned person who - with a hammer and screwdriver tried to "drive the pin out of the door."  My wife was away in the only location with cell coverage as I tried to persuade the good Samaritan to stop while visions of damage circulated in my head.  When Good Sam heard I was still inside RV, they refused to send a locksmith. ? I didn't think a locksmith could help because I had dismantled the locking mechanism to no avail.  So for 3 days, DW and I and dog, Gator, climbed in and out of the window.  On the trip home, we stopped by a small shop and the service person was able to open the door and "fix" the mechanism.  But not permanently.  We had previously scheduled upgrades with Premier in OR, about 320 miles away, so added the door to the list.  Yes, this Premier is the same one whose storage facility burned 3 days after we retrieved our FT from the service department.  Premier fixed the door and did very good work on the other work we wanted.  They were overloaded with work and the only issue was the time required.  Pricing was fair and work is great quality.

This weekend, when I went to recharge batteries with generator in storage, an issue developed. When I manually started the generator (didn't have auto start/stop engaged), the line voltage showed on my Magnum display for a couple of minutes, and then dropped off-line, BUT, the Powertech generator did not stop and was still running.  I manually stopped it, waited a few minutes and restarted, to have same situation happen.  After I shut it down, I looked at generator and there was a small "puddle" of oil that could be wiped up by a couple of rags, and a couple of tablespoons of coolant on the generator deck floor.  I checked oil level and it was fine and although low, the coolant level was okay.  Puzzled, I wanted to have it checked by Powertech folks in Yakima - about an hour away - after our local shop - "We fix problem's others can't" - advised that "only the service manager" from their entire group of technicians had ever seen a Powertech generator - and he had only seen one, so they didn't want to look at my issue.

When I pulled away from indoor storage parking space at 7:00 AM to go to Yakima, I stopped and was going to get out and examine concrete for any liquid drips.  However, the door would not open.  Premier had fixed the door during other shop work as an insurance claim, so, I drove the 320 miles and they took me right into their shop and resolved the door issue (this time permanently, I hope) within about 1/2 hour.  First guy to work on it on our way back from camping had installed a washer on the locking pin and while his "fix" let us get in/out, this eliminated the "float" available when door "sags" a little.  So, Premier made adjustments, and door works fine.

BTW, just as going to a doctor, the original issue of the generator "dropped load" did not reappear.  I had previously had Premier check electrical since we have had so many battery/electrical issues and install a Progressive EMS in the shore power, recheck connection tightness, check batteries, etc.  So, this "dropped load" was a little disappointing.

As to the non-reoccurring "dropped electrical," it did not reoccur while in Premier shop, although we started/stopped generator and ran under loads.  The Premier technician - logically advised that this might be the first sign of rotor or brush wear inside the generator or a one-time only signal interference.  I don't believe in one-time occurrences, so have another item to research, and any forum suggestions are appreciated.  :help:  I kept generator on for trip back and watched Magnum.  Fear is, what happens if generator drops load while remaining running while driving and I have something turned on that would be affected or if we didn't see and generator remains running without a load?

Came straight back home because - although weather looked okay - 47 degrees - it was rainy and the trip trough the Columbia Gorge is icy in cold weather with a lot of road work and the route to Premier is a snow chains required route - as are ALL routes to the rest of the world from Tri-Cities (Richland, Pasco, Kennewick), WA. Wanted to get back in case of unexpected weather shift to even worse but got back a little after midnight.  Long miserable day. :-( 

Premier was great to re-check/correct the work immediately upon my arrival even though their shop is overloaded - (was previously) and now they are correcting any minor fire/smoke damages in some beautiful and expensive coaches.  They had to move some coaches to get me in. Only their indoor long term storage facility was destroyed - not their maintenance and sales facility.  We had chosen them over Oregon Motorcoach (or MOT) simply because of the beautiful cabinet work on the TV upgrade they had done for a friend who bought a Country Coach, their "specialty," from them. 
hugh n & judy taylor
and Gator - Australian Red Heeler
36 ft - 1999 U320 Build # 5536
Motorcader # 16907  Richland, WA 99352

Re: Help! Locked in car and can't get out. :-)

Reply #1 –
Hugh,
Sounds like quite an adventure. I am curious why you were so concerned about running the genset with no load. I have run lots of gensets that carried no load until you turned on the system it was to power (talking about light towers here).

Glad everything has worked out, and hope you find your gremlin.

Len
Len and Deb Speiser
1999 U270 36'
2017 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
You're either on the bus, or you're off the bus!--Ken Kesey
If you're lucky enough to live in a bus, you're lucky enough!

Re: Help! Locked in car and can't get out. :-)

Reply #2 –
Congrats on getting your issues fixed.  "We had chosen them over Oregon Motorcoach (or MOT) simply because of the beautiful cabinet work"  MOT is not Oregon Motorcoach, it is Motorhomes of Texas http://motorhomesoftexas.com  Over the years I've also had difficulty with these abbreviations, they sometimes require research.  One was when my customers starting talking about their SOB motorhome years ago.  I was a little taken back, imagine my surprise when I finally asked someone after hearing it from some quite proper customers.  They laughed when I asked them if that really meant what I thought.  I still have not asked what all the references to the DW are about on this forum.
97 U295 40, Build #5040, 6C8.3 325 HP
Oregon Continuous Traveler
Samsung Residential #RF20HFENBSR,
Xantrex SW2012, (3)AGM8D Hse, (2)AGM Grp24 Eng, Victron BMV-712, 1800w Solar 4 LG & 2 Sunpower
Extreme Full Body Pt w/hdlmps, new furn/floor, 4 down Lexus 2004 GX470 AWD curb weight 4,740 lbs
Prev: 1990 Barth, 10L 300 2 yrs; 91&92 Monaco Signature, 10 yrs, 10L C 300 &  6C8.3 300; 1997 ForeT 6C8.3 325 since May 2017.  Employed by Guaranty RV 14+ yrs.  Former VW New Car Dlr/Service Dlr, Sales Mgr, Rv Sales, and Service Adviser from 1968-2017
"Don't criticize what you can't understand" Bob Dylan

Re: Help! Locked in car and can't get out. :-)

Reply #3 –
Jack,
 
Usually DW = Darling Wife, or something to that affect.
 
Trent
Trent and Jean Eyler
2000  U295  4003  WTFE  ISC  350
Build#5603 MC#17385

Re: Help! Locked in car and can't get out. :-)

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Jack Lewis –
Over the years I've also had difficulty with these abbreviations, they sometimes require research.  One was when my customers starting talking about their SOB motorhome years ago.  I was a little taken back, imagine my surprise when I finally asked someone after hearing it from some quite proper customers.  They laughed when I asked them if that really meant what I thought.  I still have not asked what all the references to the DW are about on this forum.
Here's the official "What The Heck Does That Mean?" reference list:

RV Abbreviations, Acronyms and Initialisms
1993 U280 SE 40' WTBI, Build: 4359
C8.3 300hp, 6-Speed, Exhaust Brake
960 watts on the roof (6 x 160)
Sorento (or BOLT) on a Kar Kaddy SS
"Nature abhors a vacuum"

Re: Help! Locked in car and can't get out. :-)

Reply #5 –
yep... to some of us ..... DW = Dear Wife    ;D

To some DW = Dish Washer, Dedicated Waitress.......

To others maybe Disgruntled Wife.... :o

It's all in fun tho' ........... We love them no matter the acronym  8)
Justin & Cathy Byrd
1995 U280 "Old Faithful"
36' Build #4673
C8.3 Cummins
Allison MD3060R 6 speed - retarder
Powertech 10KW  4cyl Kubota

Re: Help! Locked in car and can't get out. 3rd Time

Reply #6 –
  My DW went Dear Wife to Disgruntled Wife QUICKLY.

When locked in RV after repair, I drove 320 miles to facility that repaired locking mechanism, and they finally opened door from outside and spent about an hour working to resolve door "locking" issue, again.  Door opened and closed with no issue, so thinking it was fixed, drove home.  (Long day - 7AM - 1AM)  Working on another issue, a mechanic pushed the open door closed and it LOCKED by itself - again.  My keys were in RV.  Called my wife and when she arrived, her keys would NOT unlock the door.  Windows were closed and locked, so we could NOT climb through window like we did initially at campground for three days.

So, my DW, climbed through diesel compartment into bedroom - fearful that bed would fall on her head - and attacked the door locks from inside while mechanic and I tried from outside.  Finally, we were able to open.  So, RV is NOW in enclosed storage facility with OPEN Door (and Open windows in case guard closes door, and it locks again).  Plan is now to take to FOT or MOT this summer and do something - maybe replace door as well as locking mechanism?  In interim, I will try to remove manual locking mechanism and see if relying only on electronic lock will do okay.  Will still leave window unlatched, just in case, because DW was NOT pleased about climbing through diesel compartment and does not want to do again.
hugh n & judy taylor
and Gator - Australian Red Heeler
36 ft - 1999 U320 Build # 5536
Motorcader # 16907  Richland, WA 99352
 

Re: Help! Locked in car and can't get out. genset

Reply #7 –
In answer to query regarding my concern in running genset with no load:

Last year, had my local mechanic shop service genset - change oil/filter.  Drove RV to storage without running genset.  Shortly thereafter, we were preparing to go on a trip, so I wanted to top off batteries and check systems, so turned on genset as we were loading RV in storage.  Did not have any appliances turned on.  Genset overheated and shut off.  While I usually check Magnum to ensure voltage is visible before turning on HVAC, this time I was slow because I was working on something else loading RV, so had waited 5-6 minutes before getting back to Magnum display to confirm voltage.  When I saw that there wasn't any voltage display, I was puzzled but before I could do anything, the genset overheated and shut down under no load condition.  Drove back to mechanic shop who - upon checking - said the issue was a loose wire?  No subsequent problems.
hugh n & judy taylor
and Gator - Australian Red Heeler
36 ft - 1999 U320 Build # 5536
Motorcader # 16907  Richland, WA 99352