RV Is Back And It’s A Happy Camper!

We picked up the RV yesterday from Scott’s RV & Truck Repair and everything looked to be completed. I started the engine, it sounded fine, oil looked fine, and when I went to start the generator something unexpected happened, it started the second I pushed “start” (after  normal 10 second priming). That has NEVER happened! All I had them do was change the genny oil, that was it but it’s as if they found something and adjusted it and didn’t charge me for it. The owner says they didn’t do anything else, either way, it seems happy.

Collier RV quoted me $175.00 to change the genny oil, Scott’s RV Repair charged me $33.00, Collier wanted $150.00 to change the engine oil, Scott’s RV charged me $85.00, both are expensive considering I could go to Ford and it would be $45.00 for the engine if I could get this beast into their driveway and service center (I tried, I can’t) so $85.00 is a bargain and I’m sure the higher cost is due to the extra cost in greasing the chassis points (it’s what I’m telling myself), I just spoke to the owner and he confirmed there are grease points. I remember in the ‘70’s and early ‘80’s when we used to grease the fittings in our cars you would feel an immediate difference in how the car felt on the road. This could have been in my head but it did feel like it rode better.

They also replaced the water pump (for the water system, not the engine) at their cost and winterized the water system. I found all of the drains in the sewer compartment open again like they were last year, I just spoke to the owner, his preference is to leave them open. I closed them, that’s my preference, I don’t want bugs to climb up into the water system, I know it’s going to be winter but I get images in my head of something crawling into the system from these openings.

I pretty much have a standing appointment with the body shop to repaint the door handle (been repainted 3 times since we bought it) since each shop it goes to ends up scratching the door handle pretty bad. I don’t know if it’s wedding rings or they just mash the keys against it, I dunno but once again I’ll have to get the handle repainted because of scratches. We manage to use the rig the whole season without scratching it, one trip in the shop, scratched. I like the handle to look good, what can I say? (no scratch in this pic)

To be frank, I can be frank right?   As long as the repairs are done properly, the $35.00 to repaint the door handle is worth it. The generator runs better than ever and our water system is now 100% functional so it’s a good day me thinks.

Scott liked the fact that I exercise the systems 1 to 2 times per month in the winter time. It uses up gas but long term the RV should have less mechanical issues. My brother did nothing last year and even though we had to manually get the genny running, recharge his batteries and do a lot of other work, everything worked so he believes he can just leave it and it will be fine. We’ll see this Spring won’t we!

That’s all for now! Have a great week!