Vince Maffei
Via e-mail
Check out the products available from EAZ-Lift (800-334-2004, www.eaz-lift.com). Take a look at the Web site to find what you need. An equalizer hitch, with the amount of potential tongue weight your horse trailer might exert on the rear of your coach, is a much safer way to go; it’ll also help a great deal in stabilizing the combination in side winds.
Water Injection?
I’ve been reading all kinds of articles on water injection for diesels (and I’ve found a few Web sites). They’re claiming increased fuel mileage, longer engine life, cooler engine temperatures, etc. Is there any truth to these claims? The companies in the articles are selling booklets, kits, etc., telling you how to build a system.
Harold Mallet, F145515
Las Vegas, Nevada
In today’s economy, if water injection worked as advertised, the engine manufacturers would certainly use it to improve their products. However, I contacted representatives from Caterpillar, Cummins, and Detroit Diesel for their opinions on these products. I think the following from Cummins pretty much sums up the comments from all three. I also think it is excellent advice.
“We cannot comment on these types of devices or claims, given our official position is Cummins neither approves nor disapproves any product not manufactured or sold by Cummins Inc. But, if I were a consumer considering the device described in your e-mail, I would be asking for the manufacturer’s test data supporting their claims, data showing that the device does not affect the reliability or durability of the engine, and a copy of the EPA emissions compliance certification for the device. The combination of these three pieces of information should help a potential consumer evaluate the product. I would think a creditable manufacturer would have at a minimum this information.”
Taurus Towing
I recently purchased a 2008 Ford Taurus X wagon to tow behind my motorhome. The owner’s manual allows four-wheel-down towing of both the front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive versions with the following restrictions: do not exceed 65 mph, and start the engine and allow it to run five minutes at the beginning of each day, and at each fuel stop.
Though very unlikely, a diesel motorhome with a large fuel tank could run more than 700 miles before refueling. Would it be possible to determine exactly what Ford really means between engine runs “” 250, 500, or 750 miles? Hours or miles driven between engine runs would be better understood and complied with.
Thomas E. Gillis, F395113
Seymour, Tennessee
How long can you drive without a break? I don’t know about you, but I need to stretch my legs about every four hours or so. Even if you don’t need to refuel this often, you probably will stop two or three times a day for rest, food, etc. Simply start the engine at these times and allow the fluids to circulate in the vehicle for the recommended time.
Don’t Idle Them Diesels!
FMC magazine is great, and “Tech Talk” is the first section I turn to each issue. Honest! Most of your advice is strictly top-notch. However, as a former diesel generator program manager and truck operator, diesel motorhome owner, and a driver for many decades with a Class A license beginning in 1973, I’d like to offer a few comments in the interest of diesel engine longevity and fuel efficiency, to say nothing of pollution and maintenance costs.
I believe your recent advice concerning the letter sent in by Vernon Pratt in the May 2008 issue (“Inverter And Storage,” page 22) may cause some unforeseen damage in certain situations. Your advice to get stabilized fuel to fill the fuel lines and engine intakes is excellent. I run a diesel now and can’t see “going back” to gas.
Where diesel novices could go wrong is by following the advice that says it may take “approximately an hour of idling.” Engine on, but no work? This could be harmful due to diesel engine coking or wet-stacking without a load. You rightly point out that stabilizer dispersal will take less time if the gen set and engine are “loaded.”
While newer engines such as Mr. Pratt’s may not suffer as much as older diesels might be expected to, it is rarely recommended by anyone in my experience to idle a diesel for an hour just to get the fuel stabilizer into the fuel lines and intake. Have I missed something? Experts I know always have recommended that people add their stabilizer of choice to the fuel about 50 or 100 miles before shutdown and run their diesel’s water heater, Aqua-Hot or Hydro-Hot, and diesel gen sets and engines under load (such as using the air conditioner) during that last one to two operational hours before you know storage is imminent “” even if that time is still a week or two or more away.
Hey, why not add a bit more stabilizer at last fill-up? Just don’t carbon up your oil burners and trash your turbos or exhaust brake for lack of heat in the cylinders, which is why we load them down so they blow off that carbon and fuel residue. Remember, controlled heat is the friend of your diesel and the reason it fires (runs) clean. No joke; my diesels start almost as quickly as any gas engine, every time, as long as there is clean fuel and enough battery voltage.
Please keep up your superb work informing our ever-expanding RV family tree. And remember to change the oil and filters, especially if you are putting your motorhome in the barn after running it hard, since most extended drain interval suggestions are from engineers, not operators (I once had the audacity to call myself an engineer, tsk, tsk!). Ask what severe service fleet owners/operators do “” they are always changing “” based on oil and other fluid analyses as well as time and mileage guidelines. I think you’d agree that having the fluids analyzed for $10 or $20 is cheap on a $10,000 to $20,000 engine.
Charles “Doc” Meiselman, F338976
Tucson, Arizona
My thanks to a fellow Arizonian for your comments; that’s good advice.
Propane Or Butane?
I have a 28-foot 2004 Winnebago Minnie Winnie with two slideouts. It is built on a Ford chassis. The problem I am experiencing is that when the temperature is 35 degrees or lower, the gas furnace will not run.
I spend half my winters in south Texas. I have had the furnace repaired for this condition, and the repair performed did not resolve the problem. The technician said the issue was caused by one of two items/parts in the controls for the furnace. He replaced the less expensive of the two for $120. My next option is to replace the other part, but that’s going to cost more dollars!
I have read that in the South, when buying propane, you may be getting butane instead. I have filled the propane tank two or three times in Harlingen, Texas. Is there any way to determine whether I have propane or butane?
Walter A. Szczepanik, F356185
Madisonville, Tennessee
I do not know of any easy way to tell the difference between propane and butane. You should start by asking the seller whether it is butane, a blend of propane and butane, or pure propane. I don’t think there would be any reason for the retailer not to provide this information. Borrow a tank from a friend who bought the gas up north and see whether the problem persists. There is a weight difference between the two gases. Propane weighs 4.24 pounds per gallon, while butane is heavier at 4.81 pounds per gallon, but you would have to know the exact volume of the LP-gas tank to do any meaningful calculations.
VIN Question
I purchased a 2008 Georgetown 378 TSF and was wondering whether it’s possible to get a duplicate copy of the vehicle’s VIN and rating? The one in my motorhome was affixed in a cabinet over the kitchen sink, and you have to extend the slideout and remove everything in the cabinet to read it. Putting one behind the driver’s seat would be a lot more convenient, since every time I get it inspected, they have to see the VIN from the manufacturer.
Joe Dickson, F363950
National Park, New Jersey
Forest River may be able to supply you with another VIN label. If not, take a digital picture of the label, print it out, have it laminated at an office supply store, and mount it in a convenient location.
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