There have been a number of threads regarding what the recurring maintenance costs are for a diesel motor home. Here is what I went through yesterday performing the normal maintenance process on my 2006 Journey with the CAT C7 (350hp) and Allison six-speed transmission with four inch deep sump (which came filled with Transyn) which was purchased in March of this year. The chassis was produced on March 14, 2005 and the RV itself was manufactured in late May of 2005. It had sat on the dealer’s lot for 270 days prior to my purchasing it. As a result of it sitting for that time period and the poor battery maintenance that happens on a dealer’s lot, all of the batteries were replaced during the purchase process as none would hold a charge for more than a day or so. I have driven the Journey approximately 5,400 miles since purchase, so it now has a total of 6,032 miles now.

I wanted to do the first round of service myself for two reasons. One, I have never owned a motor home before, much less a diesel one, and wanted to make sure I would know how to do it if I was stuck some where with a clogged fuel filter, or leaking oil filter. Second, I wanted to see what all the parts would cost me so I could compare the time and cost if I did the work myself, versus what a dealer would charge me to do the same.

The first surprise was that I had to go to the different dealers to get all the parts and filters, no one guy had them all. Here are the parts and tools I purchased:

Oil filter CAT 1R-1807 $12.21 at CAT dealer

Secondary fuel filter CAT 1R-0751 $15.63 at CAT dealer
$17.41 at Freightliner dealer

Fuel/water filter Alliance FL02 $23.96 at CAT dealer
$19.02 at Freightliner dealer

Transmission filter Allison 4” sump $40.00 at Allison dealer
Contained two filters and gaskets, was not able to buy just the one I needed for
the initial change.

1 gallon Transyn $32.77 at Allison dealer
(used about a quart)
6 gallons of Rotella T 15w – 40w $52.92 at Walmart
unused balance kept to use to top off
as required.

To make it easier replacing the fuel/water separator, I also purchased an extra bowl that mounts on the bottom of the fuel water separator for $28.67 plus the wrench to use to take the bowl off the old filter and put one on the new filter for $5.22 at my local Freightliner dealer. I did this so I could have a complete assembly ready to replace as soon as I took the old one off. I will use the old bowl for the next cycle.

Since I had no strap wrenches to put on or take off the large size of the filters, I went to Harbour Freight and bought a set of two, one large and one medium sized, for $14.97 for both.

It was also just about the time to change the oil and filter on the generator again at 188 hours on the generator, as I had performed the initial change out at 50 hours as required. Since I would be parking for the winter after these services, I went ahead and did the normal service on the generator as well. In the interest of not having any warranty issues should a problem arise, I purchased an Onan oil filter at my local dealer for $15.44 for the filter, and had previously purchased the Onan oil at Camping World for $3.33 per quart (local dealer was $5.20 per quart.) I believe that these filters are obtained cheaper from some on-line sources.

In order to lube the chassis, I also purchased a grease gun with flexible hose and two tubes of grease at my local auto parts store for $22.00. (I actually purchased these earlier in the summer and lubed the chassis about a month ago.)

So before starting work, I had spent a total of $268.84, of which $197.98 would be recurring costs.

I started with changing the oil first, with the motor home parked out in front of the house in the street, I got my drain pans (two so as to hold the 20+ quarts of used oil) and socket wrench and crawled under the motor home with it aired up, jacks not down to give me more room underneath. No problem with getting to the drain plug on the oil pan, however, I was not too prepared for the velocity with which the oil would exit the oil pan, and as a result got about a quart or two (probably more!) on the card board I had placed under the drain pans. The oil comes out so fast, you really need drain pans that are totally open, not the ones that drain the oil down through a small hole like I have. I ended up having to slide the pans back and forth while the oil was draining out, so you can imagine the mess that resulted. Lesson learned there. This was the easiest step of the day.

Next I tackled removing the oil filter. With the strap wrench I purchased from Harbour Freight, I went after the oil filter. It took me at least ten minutes of trying to loosen it before I could get the thing to move even a little bit. Finally success!! Took it off and let both it and oil pan drain some more, till the oil finally stopped draining out. Put new filter on by hand and then tightened it a bit with the strap wrench and put drain plug back in and cleaned up oily mess I made as best I could and pulled all the stuff out from under the motor home. Next step was to add the new oil. I had been warned that due to the angle of the oil filler tube that this would be a slow process. It was. It took over an hour and a half to add the 5 gallons of oil. You could only add about a ½ pint or less at a time as it took that much time to drain down the filler hose, primarily because there is very little downward angle to the filler tube near its opening and it was about 60 degrees here in Indiana yesterday. I used a funnel with about an 18 inch hose on it to try to get more of it further down the tube.

Next step was to change the fuel filters. I decided to tackle the fuel water separator first. On the Journey there isn’t a lot of room in the back to get to the filter. I wasn’t sure if the fuel system was under pressure or not, so I decided to hook up a piece of tubing I had to the drain petcock on the separator and drain off what fuel would drain out, about which a quart or so did into the container I was using. After having completed that, I had to use the larger strap wrench through the engine grill to get the filter off. It took a lot of force and the strap wrench actually dented the old filter in getting it off. It took about 20 minutes of working around the grill and frame parts to finally get it off. I used the drained fuel to partly refill the new filter, making sure to only pour the fuel through the outside holes. I put the new filter and new bowl on by hand, and then using the same through the grill technique I used the strap wrench to tighten the new one on. I then ran the engine for a few minutes to make sure all the air passed through before moving on.

Next up was to tackle the secondary fuel filter. No way was it accessible from underneath the motor home. That meant going in and lifting up the bed and removing the engine cover under the bed. Fortunately, Winnebago only used four bolts to tighten the cover on, so removal wasn’t that bad. However, the cover was heavier than I anticipated and it was a little bit of a chore to remove by myself. Now getting to the secondary fuel filter was by far the toughest part of the project so far. You find yourself leaning over the edge of the bed box up against your chest, twisting down and around so as to get the strap wrench on the filter and then trying to get it to turn and catch, all at odd angles and not really being able to get a lot of force on it. It took me at least six or seven tries to get it to finally move and then another 5 minutes to finally get it off and figure a way to get it out and get the new one in. Then once you get the new one started, you have to repeat your contortionist act to tighten the new one on. This whole process of removal and replacement took at least 30 – 45 minutes.

Then I went and ran the engine for about 5 minutes to make sure all the filters were on tight, no leaks, and make sure all the air passed through the system. You could tell by the sound of the engine when the air passed through, but after about 20 – 30 seconds it was back to its normal sound. At this point, with everything working I had a good sense of accomplishment, thinking not too bad for a first timer, working by myself. I was ready for a beer, but then remembered, still had the generator to do.

I had previously changed the oil and filter on the generator earlier in the year after the first 50 hours. When I did it the first time, you need the strength of a gorilla to get the filter off. This time it was much easier. First I drained the oil, not a difficult step, second was to open the access door and reach in and loosen the filter a bit by hand (it was possible to take it off by hand since I had previously put it on by hand), then hold the wires out of the way and let the oil partially drain prior to completely removing it. At this point it is helpful to make sure the drain pan is located under the filter. Since mine was off by about an inch, I created oily mess number two (only about a pint of oil this time) before I realized my error. After it drained a bit, removed the filter completely and then opened the drain plug again to let any more oil drain out as well. When both had stopped draining, replaced the drain plug, put the new oil filter on by hand, hand tightening only, and then put in the three quarts of new oil using a long funnel to make it easier. All told, it took about 30 minutes for the whole thing.

Normally at this time you would also lube the chassis, but I did that about a month ago. That process took me about an hour, of which a good deal of the time was searching for all the lube points, and cleaning them prior to lubing them.

So after cleaning everything up, putting things away, cleaning up the oil drain pans, etc., it took me about 5 hours to do everything. Remember, I had never done this before, and was doing everything by myself, and I took extra time to check and recheck things. So all in all, a great learning experience. Is it for everyone? Not sure, but as a first time owner, at least now I know what it takes and can do it if I want to. That cold beer tasted pretty good at the end.

Clayton,

excellent recap of what an owner who chooses to self perform routine maintenance is faced with. I've never been energetic enough to perform it all in one day like you did. my aging back limits me to 2-3 hrs of maint work per day before I switch to the beer drinking mode.

The one routine item you didnt mention is all the knuckle busting fun of removing and replacing the air filter, from where its positioned between the frame, exhaust and rear compartment access on most freightliner chassis. that air filter price adds another $90 - $100 to the total parts costs.

Jim

Clayton:

You might want to read my re-cap of a similar process in the Winnebago forum. It is messy work, for sure, and I've decided to let my mechanic do it from now on.

You are correct it is a good thing to do to get to know your rig. I especially enjoyed finding several places under the rig to bang my head!!!

Clayton, I didn't see in your initial process where you installed jack stands under the axles. Please keep in mind that at any time, the air could let go and you know there's no room under there then ! Keith

Clayton, have you checked with your local Cat dealers about the PM service ? I have spoken to 2 Cat dealers here and both tell me they charge about $200 for lube, oil, and fuel filters. Where did you get rid of the old oil ?

Many of the auto parts stores in our area will recycle oil. I save it back into in gallon containers. In addition to our MH, we change the oil in 5 passenger vehicles and a number of mowers, edgers, etc. The guys at O'Reilly's are used to seeing me, oil jugs in hand.

Here in the city of Carmel, IN the local government has a recycling center that you can take the oil to. In fact, they even gave me one of the catch pans to use. They had a stack of them that people brought in and left behind due to moving on and the movers not willing to take them in the moving van. It is a pretty well run operation. They basically accept most toxic type items, and on some of them they keep an inventory on hand to give to anyone who needs that item to use rather than have to buy it. They use the used oil to heat a number of the city garages and maintenance shops. So in theory I am helping reduce my property taxes somewhat!

It was a beautiful day today, temps in the 60's, so I decided to change the oil, filters and lube the chassis in the RV.

Last year when I had it done at the Freightliner Service I had them install a Fumoto valve that has the hose nipple made on it in place of the oil pan drain plug. That made the process of draining the oil clean and no mess. I was able to drain the oil right into the plastic gallon containers. The Fumoto drain valve was well worth the money.

The oil filter was a little messy, but I drained it into a 7 quart pan and I didn't spill a drop.

Was able to get done so fast that I decided to change oil and filter in the ATV/4 wheeler so that I could take all the waste oil at one time to Wal-Mart for proper disposal.

Guess all the Wal-Marts that have a service center take waste oil, at least ours does so I would imagine they all do.

Ron

quote:

Originally posted by CWHTRAINS:
The oil comes out so fast, you really need drain pans that are totally open, not the ones that drain the oil down through a small hole like I have.
It took me at least ten minutes of trying to loosen it before I could get the thing to move even a little bit. Finally success!!
Next step was to add the new oil. I had been warned that due to the angle of the oil filler tube that this would be a slow process. It was. It took over an hour and a half to add the 5 gallons of oil.
That cold beer tasted pretty good at the end.

I should have read this post before I did my 1st ever oil change on a diesel RV motor. Same boat for me! I bought 2 of those covered pans holding 15 qrt each - and that warm oil comes out like fire hose! It was pretty funny thinking about it afterwards as I watched the pan filling knowing that is was about to overflow if I didn't do something fast. I was not able to switch the 2 pans as you did. Instead, I just took the plug and stuck it in as fast as I could and yes I got squirted with oil right across my Indy 500 t-shirt. I should have taken advice from a buddy of mine who told me to 1st to go the farm store a get a big old tub to let the oil pore into and then transfer it for taking to the oil dump! O well - live and learn! But I'm with you, I wanted to do at least my first oil change to just experience the joy of the getting close to my very 1st 3126E. My rig had 62K miles when I bought it and the last maintenance records stopped after 52K from the 1st owner. Now my oil plug was on so tight, I had to use a breaker bar with my 12 inch crescent wrench to get that thing to budge! I think the manual said that plug should be set at 22 ft-lbs. Mine was stuck on like more than 100 ft-lbs! I was glad to see no metal on the plug once off.

And then after the oil was drained, I attacked the filter just like you said. I started with a chain wrench. I strong armed that like mad - and nothin’. The hook on the wrench sunk itself into the filter till the chain would slip off the hook. So switched to the strap wrench using a 1/2 drive ratchet. I'm pushing on that like mad too, and nothing! - that filter is not moving. I worked on it for a number of minutes and then just like you said - I saw it move a tiny bit! Aaaa, so it will move after all! I keep the pressure on and finally after a long while with the pressure on the strap wrench that sucker finally - slowly - came unscrewed! Wow, I've never had a car filter that hard to unscrew. Putting on the new filter was easy.

Then onto the oil fill. For me, I used a big flex funnel and 1 gal jugs of oil. Mine went in much faster than your experience. I think I got it all in in about 15 min. I put in 5 gal, then ran the motor for 2 minutes, shut it down and waited for 10 min. So this is when I had a cold beer and watched nascar on the sat while I let the oil settle to the pan. Of course, I had to clean up from oil before being allowed to sit in the recliner to watch TV. Then I added 1/2 gal, ran for 2 min, let settle for 10 min - checked it shows full (22 qrt on the mark).

I’m NOT looking forward to the fuel filters – they sound just as painful, or worst, than the oil filter. But still got to do it the 1st time. And the gen set too.

Next I started the chassis lube process, but found out quickly that my luber with a fixed metal arm is not going to work. I need the flex line as you recommend. I'm thinking also about using the air compressor for the luber instead of hand pump, it seems that in hunting for some of the zerks that the are in very hard to lube locations. Pumping the luber looks difficult on your back on some of those out of the way lube points! BTW, the manual is not very clear on the diagram exactly where each zerk is. I guess you just have to feel for them.

I feel better now after reading your post that I’m not the only one who pulled that big oil plug and then looking at that ¾ dia of warm oil streaming fast into the pan and now realizing that I’ve slightly miscalculated the capture process here!

BTW, I had my unit on the leveler jacks to get the engine nice and level. And yes, I should have used additional set of jack stands to be on the safe side, but I left those at the house – at least I did chock the wheels before getting under the MY.

quote:

Originally posted by Bassman:
Clayton, I didn't see in your initial process where you installed jack stands under the axles. Please keep in mind that at any time, the air could let go and you know there's no room under there then ! Keith

This safety issue usually comes up whenever DIY maintenance is discussed. I bought some 2x12's and made six six inch thick ramps to drive all wheels/tires up onto. This gives plenty of room for servicing and if in the extremely unlikely event the coach lost air in the suspension system, you would have a safety cushion to help insure you don't get squashed. Yes, the ramps are heavy but they do make the job a lot easier and safer and I don't do it all that often.