[Dick]

I agree 100% with Jon. BTDT.

Its probably too late, but do you have a vapor barrier under the concrete? If the soil is moist, concrete without a vapor barrier is porous and the moisture will migrate through it and condense on your coach.

[Dick]

Lifeline AGM’s all the way. Tom Chilcote can help you make a good decision on them or the alternatives that are available.

[Dick]

Alex:

I just looked at the map for a trip from Los Angeles to Greenwich Conn. There certainly are lots of options!

I don’t want to discourage you from visiting Rudy or anyone else on the PC Forum along a southern route. But take a good look at the various routes and their distances.

We’ve typically leave Wisconsin right after Christmas for Florida and have returned direct from Florida as well as traveling along the Gulf coast and then west to Phoenix and LA returning to Wisconsin through Vegas, SLC, and Cheyenne WY in late March and early April. I’ve driven the coach in the snow (up to three inches, both dry and wet), I don’t like it, but I can do it if I have to. I found the coach more stable in snow than my FrWD daily driver.

If your mission is a direct run SOCAL to CT with no compelling reason to stop along the way, I would recommend to watch the weather forecasts and consider the more direct routes to save you miles and going through the Atlanta area.

You’ll find that your Prevost coach is truly an all weather coach. We have a Liberty, you have a Marathon, but I think they are both are very capable winter weather coaches. You’ll be surprised at how warm the water bay will be in cold weather, especially if you’re set up to run coolant from big Detroit through the water bay and the water heater. There have been a number of posts about the “pressure relief valve” getting “soft”, then when the engine coolant is routed through the water heater and the water pump is on the relief valve opens and fresh water is pumped out the PRV overflow. I think this can be mitigated by leaving the water pump OFF while running the Detroit or implementing Jon W’s solution of putting a thermostatically controlled valve on the coolant line into the water heater.

We’ve stayed in our coach down to 0*F, the adult kids to -15*F in relative comfort considering the outside air temps. If you have heated floors (which we don’t have) and multiple electric toe kick heaters (which we don’t have, only one) your comfort level will go up dramatically in cold weather.

Having traveled in winter weather through the route you need to take and having lived in NYC for three years, you could have great weather for traveling or it could get rough. If you’re faced with material to heavy snow or freezing rain, just park the coach and sit it out … the conditions will improve in a day or so. As you travel north be forewarned that some campground turn off their water. Others have water systems plumbed for very cold weather. Plan ahead. We were surprised to find lots of construction, railroad, and oil field workers living in RVs in Cheyenne WY over the winter.

Good luck with your trip and keep us posted!

[Dick]

I too am excited. The company has been around in the marine industry for years and more then competent to complete this goal.

They are looking to cover all the bases for an easy swap. I expect there will be a few obstacles in the first few installations, but the company is committed to making this happen.

Chuck

[Dick]

Bill-

Glad it worked out well. I want to do the same thing. Found the one you mentioned.

Do you have any photos of the install?

[Dick]

Clearwater coach is tops on my list. They have went overboard to help many times !!

[Dick]

I’m ROTFL!!!!!!

The outside air temps got down down to 24*F; which isn’t cold. I’ve started the coach in the past at -3*F. I had the generator on, the 120volt block heater running, and the Webasto running. IIRC I saw 120* to 130* engine temp on the engine temp gauge on the dash.

We’ll see how things go when its time to take the coach out of storage.

Thanks again for the concerns.

[Dick]

we plan on being there!

[Dick]

Any chance you changed the position of the engine bay mechanic kill toggle switch ?

AL

[Dick]

You said chassis batts were 12.1. That’s not good. They are half dead.

I’m certain you know this but: Our Detroits don’t have a grid heater our glow plugs to heat up the air, they rely on compression heat to ignite the fires. With cold ambient temps and weak chassis batts it may not spin over fast enough to get enough compression/heat to light the fires?

[Dick]

I think DDEC 3. Tech should be arriving at 4pm and I’ll confirm.

I tried the paper clip trick already. I ha read that on another “won’t start” post.

Thanks for the responses!

[Dick]

mine is ddec IV. for test purpose only. Jump coolant level sensor wire connector with paper clip. I it starts you have found problem. One other simple test–do any of your batteries show below 12V (engine not running) .We can make a list simple to awe crap.

[Dick]

The first things downstream from my 120vac aux system air compressor are 2 SMC brand, model AMG-150C-N02BC, water air separators. They do a good job keeping moisture out of the aux air system. They each have a sight glass, a float type automatic drain, and a mechanical drain. Here’s a SMC pdf link: http://www.smcpneumatics.com/pdfs/AM_AFF.pdf

Its been yrs since I’ve been inside of one of the SMC separators to check tem out. Recently I opened them up and can report that all is well. Filters didn’t need changing. Minimal signs of ever having much moisture in them.

I minimize aux compressor use. The only item we need it for is to keep the gen minbags aired up when dry camping and to air the belt tensioiners a little before starting the Detroit to travel. My aux system leak rate is about 10 psi/hr.

3 yrs ago I removed the little Norgren air/water separator that Liberty had installed downstream of all the air suspension components. The Norgren never caught an moisture. So out of curiosity I installed in its place a Wix ACK10 spin on water filter kit.

Recently I cut it open and after 3 yrs of use it looks like new. So that was a waste.

I drain the 4 air tanks (wet, primary, secondary, and aux) at least annually. The only moisture I’ve ever seen is a drop or 2 of oil out of the wet tank.

[Dick]

I’ll provide the hose, the water, the ladder to reach the top, the towels to dry it, and the California duster to get the lint from the towels off of it.

When you are done with mine, you can use all of the above on yours.

[Dick]

Jon: As long as I can drag the hose to your coach, the offer stands.