2015 interstate grand tour problems plus!

[zingara]

Originally Posted by Ron_CA

1 post wonder?

No, just still working alot and then trying to get the hang of how to use the forum!

[Ron_CA]

Glad you're back.

Sounds like a trip to your dealer for service is in order. Sounds like you have been back at least once? Did they not fix everything or have new issues cropped up? Don't give up, keep going back until everything is resolved.

[73shark]

Another way to flood the van is to close the lid over the sink without first ensuring that the water faucet valve is pushed down as closing the lid will turn it on otherwise and drain the freshwater tank.

[remphoto]

Sounds like you might have recourse under the lemon laws, which depending on the state, may apply to all motorized vehicles (but not travel trailers -- at least in Ohio.)

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by remphoto

Sounds like you might have recourse under the lemon laws, which depending on the state, may apply to all motorized vehicles (but not travel trailers -- at least in Ohio.)

In many states, that would only apply if the Sprinter systems are defective, not the Airstream-installed systems. Van conversions can be tricky when it comes to lemon laws.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by zingara

Thanks for the "Monday van" humor- we need a good laugh about now!

Unfortunately that wasn't humor. The "Monday product" phenomenon applies mostly to trailers— because they make more of them— but it's a real thing.

Water pump failed, flooded coach (fixed now); leaks in roof, did serious damage to interior; solar panel issues; electrical problems- lights, tv, cam/gps system/ plugs, etc; refrigerator doesn't stay cold (freezer's good, though!);serious generator total failure; and other stuff that seems minor at the moment.

The engineering term for that is "cascade failure" meaning that one thing going wrong causes another to go wrong. For example, for a water pump failure to cause flooding, the outlet hose might have come loose, causing the pump to run constantly until it pumped the fresh tank dry. All that water inside the galley cabinets caused electrical failures to any circuits that can be damaged by water intrusion. Starting the generator while you've got an active short-circuit can cause the generator's voltage regulator to fry itself, which kills the generator. Not saying that's exactly how it happened; just saying that while you've had many problems, that doesn't necessarily mean that all of those problems existed when you bought it, only some of them.

As for the fridge not staying cold, you're not the first Grand Tour owner with that complaint. Nova Kool fridges and freezers are 12vDC/120vAC models. It's possible that the 12vDC connection wasn't wired up, so when you have no 120vAC power, the fridge shuts down.

[Suru]

We have a 2013 Interstate and have had a few problems with fuses blowing, the refrigerator going out ( and the dealer then telling me we had a marine refrigerator installed...only to replace it with the same one) it probably is a marine "fridge". Now, having issues with the Kenwood Stereo, will turn on, but not working at all. Think will have to replace and don't know who to go to ? Any ideas?

[NOLA_russ]

Originally Posted by Suru

Now, having issues with the Kenwood Stereo, will turn on, but not working at all. Think will have to replace and don't know who to go to ? Any ideas?

I'm not sure what problem you're having, but in case it's related to the one I had:

My unit wouldn't display the home page at all, just a blurred wavy blue background. If I hit the nav button after powering up the map would display. If I used the remote I could get to some sources. On some of the screens I could get to some of the setup screens. If I hit the wrong thing nothing worked until I powered the unit off and on.

My system was running version 1.2 of the software. I installed the 1.3 update from Kenwood's web site, and now everything seems to work as described in the manual. (I also installed a bluetooth update.)

The Kenwood web site also has a document describing how to apply the update. It's hard to follow the directions with the system barely limping, but it's possible.

Happy to provide more detail if it's useful.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by Suru

We have a 2013 Interstate and have had a few problems with fuses blowing, the refrigerator going out ( and the dealer then telling me we had a marine refrigerator installed...only to replace it with the same one) it probably is a marine "fridge". Now, having issues with the Kenwood Stereo, will turn on, but not working at all. Think will have to replace and don't know who to go to ? Any ideas?

I agree that getting the Kenwood to work better by updating the software will help. Go to the Kenwood web site and follow links to the software update for your model. I've updated mine twice since I bought my Interstate in 2012 and everything is working including Bluetooth. If you still have warranty coverage take it to the dealer. If not any good automotive stereo shop should be able to help. I think some Best Buys have installation shops that might be able to help.


- - Mike
2013 Lounge EXT on 2012 Sprinter

[xrvr]

Never have the water pump on unless you are in the trailer or van. Floods occur. Jim

[Bobsprinter]

We pick up a new Grand Tourer in a few weeks. How long camping close to dealer to find and fix bugs should we schedule? thanks

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Bobsprinter

We pick up a new Grand Tourer in a few weeks. How long camping close to dealer to find and fix bugs should we schedule? thanks

That's a judgment call. My first trip was four days and three nights.

Obviously you won't get to use everything— if you're in weather where you can try out the air conditioner, you won't be in weather to try out the furnace— but you can check out most things.

Check out the generator at home, running it for at least an hour under about a 50% to 75% load— running the air conditioner to load up the generator is just about right.

Then when you go camping, go someplace with full hookups, but don't use the water and sewer hookups right away. Instead, fill the fresh tank, and use water from it to get a handle on your water consumption. I'm not sure about tank capacities on the Grand Tour models, but on mine, when my fresh tank is empty, the gray tank is getting pretty close to full so I know it's time to dump the waste tanks.

If you have full hookups, then if your water consumption is higher than expected you've got more water close at hand. And with a sewer hookup, you don't have people waiting in line behind you at the dump station while you figure out how to work the macerator pump and electric-powered hose reel.

By the way, get an assortment of blade-type automotive fuses, and take them with you, even if you don't carry any other tools or spare parts. A blown fuse on the hose reel is a pain in the keester if you don't have a spare handy to pop in; the alternative would be to crawl underneath and disconnect the hose from the reel so you can drive home.

[Suru]

Thanks for your response. I'll try the remote...didn't even know we had one! Hopefully I can update the software.
I appreciate the response, I may have to install a new unit, do you think I'll have any issues with another system interfacing with the rest of the van?
Suru

[NOLA_russ]

Our bathroom sink drains fine. Our kitchen sink drains fine. The shower floor drain doesn't. And yes, we pulled the plug. The gray tank is less than 1/3 full. The vehicle is mostly level, slight tilt towards the driver's side. Thoughts?

thanks/r

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by NOLA_russ

Our bathroom sink drains fine. Our kitchen sink drains fine. The shower floor drain doesn't. And yes, we pulled the plug. The gray tank is less than 1/3 full. The vehicle is mostly level, slight tilt towards the driver's side. Thoughts?

Airstream Interstates don't have P-traps like a trailer. Instead they have Hepvo check valves (Hepvo Waterless Valve). This has one important consequence. In a trailer, if the gray tank is overfilled the lowest drain will back up, no matter which drain was in use when the tank overflowed. In an Interstate, the drain that is in use at the time will be the one to overflow, even if it's not the lowest one.

I see three possibilities for your shower drain to not be working:
1 - the drain is clogged, with hair, construction debris, whatever;
2 - the gray tank is full even though your tank gauge says it's not, and the shower was the only drain that was in use when the tank reached its limit;
3 - If (and only if) the shower has never drained when you pulled the plug, the Hepvo check valve might have been installed backwards. If the shower has drained even once, then this is not the problem.

I've listed the possibilities in order easiest to hardest. Verify that the drain isn't clogged by probing with your finger to see if you can pull up a clump of hair or something. If you look at my avatar picture, you can see that I've never had this problem!

Dump the gray tank. If the tank was full, then as soon as it begins to drain so will the shower.

Look at the Hepvo web page to see a picture of the valve and see which direction is which, then crawl underneath the van to look at the drain lines and see if the Hepvo valve is installed right way around.

[NOLA_russ]

Thanks. First shower use, so not our hair (though we're both far on the other end of that scale from you). I cleaned out some excess pipe sealant, but that wasn't it. The Hepvo valve appears to be installed correctly. One quick pop with a plunger and all is well--reinforcing the house on wheels theme. In the future I'll try to attempt the obvious before posting....

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by NOLA_russ

I cleaned out some excess pipe sealant, but that wasn't it. The Hepvo valve appears to be installed correctly. One quick pop with a plunger and all is well--reinforcing the house on wheels theme.

That's actually NOT so obvious. Wish I'd have thought of it! Kudos to you. I've never needed a plunger in my Interstate before, but it might help to have one.

If the plunger pushed more of that excess sealant into the gray tank, watch out when you operate the macerator pump; I don't know how well the grinder in the pump will chew up sealant. Read up on what to do if the pump jams, just in case.

[73shark]

Hey, solutions are always welcome here even if they seem obvious after you do them. Most solutions that work do seem obvious after you use them.

[gmillerok1]

If it is anything like my 2011, I'd say about 3 years should do it.

Originally Posted by Bobsprinter

We pick up a new Grand Tourer in a few weeks. How long camping close to dealer to find and fix bugs should we schedule? thanks

[Ron_CA]

Originally Posted by gmillerok1

If it is anything like my 2011, I'd say about 3 years should do it.