New 36' 1996 wide body, diesel owner. 65,500 miles

[Razor1974]

Hello, we just purchased a 1996 loan yacht wide body 35'6". It only has 65 k miles on the Diesel engine and Allison trans. The previous owners kept it up nicely. I was very surprised to see minimal issues with leaks. We only found one place that the coach had leaked and it was caught quickly. Very impressed with the ride and layout of this coach. We chose this model due to the high caliber of construction. It will be very easy for us to update the interior with very minor changes. Surprisingly everything works mostly.
Things it needs:
Oil press Gauge worked on the way home and now it is pegged to past high pressure.
Tires are 5 years old but still good with plenty of tread and have had tire covers on them during storage.
New flat screen tvs.
Docking lights don't work.
Things that I have fixed already
Air horn
New faucet in kitchen
New shower nozzle
Gas water heater electric element upgrade
Repaired, replaced hose to fresh water tank
Fixed curtain guide in front of coach
Replaced beauty ring along air vent in kitchen
Replaced air vent cap top and added dog house

It only has 257 hours on the propane generator. I wish it were diesel because we could afford to use it more. It cost us $82.00 to fill our propane tank and it only took 12 hours of gen use to get to a 1/4 tank. I thought this would last for three days or so.
I do know generally tires are recommended to be changed at least every 7 years? We have read if they have been stored out of the sun that they could last 10 years? I don't want to chance it and will be replacing them to a g model tire in pairs in the next year.

I do hope to keep this rig for at least 4 years. Any tips would be appreciated. Pictures coming soon.

[Mike1997]

Hi..I have the same model diesel AS only its a 1997. Bought it from the estate of original owner who kept it in a tobacco warehouse for years. Had 45k miles and propane generator.

Depending on how often its driven, I would recommend replacing the tires because the sidewalls can dry rot from exposure and non use. The generator is using more gas than usual, highly recommend doing all the required maintenance to keep it tip top. Of course if its running under heavy load with both AC's, frig, TV, and other stuff, that can be a factor in why its using more propane.

The docking light issue is something to look at with the wire diagrams in the owners manual. Its probably a bad switch or relay someplace.

2 items on mine that were recently found during the yearly service were an old fuel filter (2006) and a huge rat nest in my air filter. Mechanically it runs great and on a recent 400 mile trip in Montana it got 12.5mpg. Will be going cross country with it later this summer pulling a Jeep so it should remain steady as long as I am out of the mountains.

Also, mine came with washer dryer and its a ventless model. Washer is okay, dryer is useless. Takes over 4 hours to drive some shirts. All newer models now have vented dryers so plan to upgrade mine this year.

[Razor1974]

That's great info. We did run our gen for 20 hours and it uses 25.7 gallons. That's not efficient at all! As for the diesel it is also getting great mpg. I watch the gauge on the fuel indicator bounce on the full mark until 160 miles on odometer. We're really happy with the coach and can't express our joy that we have it. We've already done some great things to the coach.
New kitchen faucet
New bath faucet
We have only found one very small leak at the front windshield which I will cauck and re seal.
Can you tell me about how much run time you get on your gen using lp?

[Mike1997]

Honestly I have not used my generator more than about an hour at one time and that was on a boondock trip. Only needed it for the microwave cause the batteries ran everything else including furnace.

Going on a cross country trip in July so might have more reason to use generator. If so will pay more attention to how its running. Planning to live on it for about 6 months in Florida but it will be in a campground with hookups.

I had to replace the guts on the bath faucet and may need to do same to kitchen. Its a Moen and the bath was a Delta fixture.

[Razor1974]

That would be great info. That way I can track down if it's a tuning issue and needs to be adjusted. All in all propane doesn't last long on our coach.

[xrvr]

A front blowout on a class A can be deadly. Don't skimp on tires.

[pago cruiser]

Based upon what we have found with our 96 LY Gas 30, check closely and re-seal your seams. Especially the curved ones over the drivers door and passenger window. Followed by the passenger side-to-front joint. Our passenger side upper was just starting to leak adjacent to the awning mount; would not have known it by just an inspection. I posted some picks in a recent thread. But pulling off the trim piece and pulling out discontinuous sections of sealant was a real eye opener.

The vent seals were also dodgy on ours. At least 3 layers of Dicor, with each successive layer trying to plug the holes in the previous layer. The result was dirt washed there by water between each layer... From an engineering perspective, this methodology of water proofing is rather crude.

The southwest sun is hard on sealants; and the state of the art to just pile it up and leave it exposed is not conducive to long term reliability.

[Mike1997]

As of today, I have been on the road almost a month crossing the country from Montana to Florida. While in Michigan my buddy who is a local Generac dealer came out and serviced my Onan generator. All it needed was an oil change and it runs excellent.

2 things he shared with me I am passing along. He said because its a propane gen, its not unusual for water to come from the exhaust if its not been used much. Second, the usage of fuel is based on whether its under load or not. While packing for the trip, I ran both AC units on the gen and the fuel level dropped fast. Later used it a few times while at rest areas running only 1 AC and the frig. Saw almost no change. Just had it refilled but in campgrounds all I am using is the water heater. Gage has not moved in a week.

Hot as heck in the south and leaving for Ft. Lauderdale this week.

[Razor1974]

Thank you for sharing that with me. We usually run both AC when cruising but I think I may run only one and close the door to the rear section and see what it does. I do know it drops for us quite fast if both AC and everything is running. Our consumption has been better and we have gotten better at economizing the propane.
No if I can only find out what's wrong with my docking lights. I have no power to any of them and it does not show which fuse it is on the panel. There is one 30 amp breaker fuse and I think it may be that?

[xrvr]

I had a mh that had a switch for the docking lights, don't remember where it was.

[Paul Dobbin]

Razor1974
I highly recommend that you get your dash air charged and made operational. When the dash air is working we never drive with the generator running. I think the key is to keep the A/C running on shore power until the last minute before blast off, plus we start the coach and turn on the dash air before I un-plug. This has worked well for the 12 years we've had our Land Yacht (Most of that time in the hot tropic's of Florida)
We only fill the Propane tank every couple years! (Water heater and Refrigerator don't take much and who needs heat that often?)
Welcome to the Forum and the Land Yacht world.

[Mike1997]

Razor1974
Paul is correct about using the dash air while driving. I did not realize you were using the roof units while on the road. I do exactly what Paul does by starting up the diesel before pulling out with dash air on and sometimes the rotating fans above the driver and passenger seats. On mine those are operated by the dash switch call DEF FANS. I suppose they are to supplement the windshield defrost at times but I keep them aim on me when driving.

My dash air works best when on the road at cruise speed. Sometimes I notice in traffic it is not as cool which may be due to my electric cooling fan not working. Just discovered this about 2 weeks ago while crossing on the Cape May Ferry. Had everything idling and went out to check and never did see the fan come on. Its a 12v unit so should be operating.

Anyway, its much much cheaper to use dash air vs roof air when driving. Good luck, hope your going someplace fun this summer. Btw.....so far have driving 2700 miles since July 3, with the Jeep in tow am getting about 11.5mpg using dash AC too.