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Ready to begin for “First Hunt” to solve the Leans
Good Sunday Morning! I may be a bit over-confident, yet because of the wealth of shared knowledge on this incredible forum, I am now ready and actually excited to begin my first hunt for air leaks to solve “the leans” on the rear driver side of this new-to-me H3. I have read so many posts regarding air leaks (then copied & pasted them into Mac Notes for further review and study) that it seems my leans can be discovered and corrected fairly easily since I have concluded from all the past posts the leans in a specific area concern a relatively small number of Norgren valves, solenoids valves and air bags.
To get ready, yesterday, I built wooden fender stands and removed the fender to access the rear driver side Norgren valves – and, there they were so easy to see and will be super easy to get my hands on them.
Today, I will check them for leaks using a homemade solution of windex and dawn. I will also check the air bags themselves (all appear to be nearly new) and I will also be sure the nuts on the bottom of the air bags are still tight and not bent.
I assume all checks, including the five solenoid manifold on the wall in the electrical bay beneath the driver seat is done with the engine off since the leak occurs after the engine off…correct? Any over-all advice?
I think I successfully eliminated the tag axle valves and bag(s) as I tested them by fully raising the coach, then dumping the tag axle and it still leaned…?? Thank you!
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11 Replies
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For the driver’s side rear, is there just ONE 5-port Norgren & ONE 3-port Norgren?
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I have an X chassis so I am not sure where your H Norgrens are placed, specifically the 3rd 3 port Norgren in the rear. One side will have a single 3 port kind of between the tag and drive but the other 3 port could be on either side of the coach. On my previous X the 3rd 3 port was on the passenger side, on my XLII it is on the driver’s side.
It does have to be checked however.
The thing to remember is when the key is off the air in the air bags on the entire coach is supposed to be locked in. The 5 port Norgren in the rear is where it is sealed. From that point back, including the 5 port valve the system has to be leak free.
I start with soapy water, and then my ultrasonic leak detector. If no results I go to the most tedious way to check.
I made a device with DOT hose, a quick connect fitting I use to supply air pressure, a shut off valve, a sensitive pressure gauge, and air hose with a fitting on the end that I can adapt to any other size compression fitting and I know it to be leak free. I connect the air line with the correct compression fitting on the end to either the beginning or the end of the air system I am checking. I pressurize the line, shut it off at a certain pressure and look for a pressure drop. I may have to leave it pressurized over night to see a pressure drop. Then I move forward or backward until I am at the point where air leaks or it does not leak, thus isolating which component is the problem.
Because leak detection is only slightly more fun than root canal work that is why my aux compressor runs for a minute every 2 hours or so. I reached the point where I am done trying to create a leak free coach.
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Jon, if you got your share of the dues money you could afford to spend more time buying fittings and spending more time on the coach instead of the garden and canning operations you and Di undertake every year.
I’ll be the first to donate to your GoFundMe page.
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I don’t know which is worse. chasing air leaks or now chasing moles and voles from ruining my garden. I’m ready to hire some minions to take care of both if I could just shake a few pennies from Tom’s pockets.
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I don’t know if your newer H is different from my older XL? Also, our old “Classic” came to us with all DOT fittings? and, DON’T GET UNDER A BUS WITHOUT HAVING IT PROPERLY SUPPORTED!!
Now those are my disclaimers, so here goes nothing.If I had to guess which Norgren spool valve is causing your bus to lean, it would be the K910058 5 port/3 way spool valve(see pic). There are two of these(left and right) mounted on the east/west bulkhead just forward of the drive axle on an XL.
This # K910058 is a special Prevost only # that Prevost has Norgren put on it. The same can be said of the other spool valves too. Rumor has it that Prevost has Norgren do something special to all the spool valves, that’s why it has a one off #. The rest of the world gets a K81EA00KACKAC to do the same job.
I often replace things before they fail. This is what I did with these Norgrens. There are three K81EA00KACKAC or K910058 on my bus. The third is next to the 5 stack in the steer compartment. I keep my old working valves just in case.
Below is a pic of one of my old working K910058 that I replaced with a new K81EA00KACKAC. 3 yrs later and all is well.
A Norgren K81EA00KACKAC can be purchased new for about $140 from Norgren on amazon. I don’t know what a K910058 cost from Prevost?
Sure would be easy to change it and see if the leans went away. Our bus has never had the leans, but many here on PC have had their leans cured this way. -
Jeff, I never have gotten around to doing it that way. Good way of doing it though.
Here is what I use to air my whole bus(right) or aux(left) air system with an external source. -
I found quick connect fittings at a truck repair shop with a sleeve that went into the tube as I pushed it into the quick lock. I am curious that the fittings on accessory side have no internal tubing to go into the tubing are inferior to the ones on the brake side. have not removed any brake fittings yet to determine their makeup. Does your accessory fitting have a insert going into the tubing as you push it into the quicklock?
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UPDATE:
SUCCESS! No More Leaning 🙂
I waited more than 48 hours to post this update to ensure my bus did not resume leaning.
Leaks were found:
1. At both compression fittings at the driver side air bag forward of the drive axle. Specifically, I had to tighten the compression fitting going into the airbag from the ping tank; and, the compression fitting going from this air bag into its ping tank
2. The ping tank drain valve located on the tank located outside and above the area between the rear axles. Having no replacement drain valve on-hand, I simply plugged this tank.
Observations: I initially attempted to locate leaks with a spray bottle filled with water and a HEAVY concentration of Dawn brand dish washing soap. This mixture did not detect anything, so I Amazon ordered an 8 ounce bottle of Rectorseal leak detector which came with a “dabber”. The dabber and Rectorseal proved invaluable. Never again will I try to make my own liquid leak detector. A final observation, I had to be patient and wait for bubbles to appear. The leaks were obviously not large, therefore, after applying leak detector, I checked and re-checked each area multiple times to ensure no small leaks were missed.
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Awesome. I like it when the problems get solved. It is especially nice when there are no parts needed.
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Yes. It’s especially nice when the poster that first posts his/her issue lets us know the whys where’s and the final outcome.
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I just ordered a case of it!! Air leaks take up 90% of my maintance time. I learn something new every day!!! Thanks! Bob
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