Water Tank Removal

[rick Kirchner]

I've had a number of fuel/hydraulic line issues with my '99 Monterey.  Right now the main diesel lines travel under the coach in a piece of EMT for protection, and another piece carries the lines for the genset.  This was after a huge fuel leak off the top of the tank, necessitating removal of the front suspension and tank to get to it (I've considered a nice hatch in the front floor....)  The tech replaced the lines on top of the tank with the proper material (evidently SMC did not use lines rated for Diesel, they were for gas) and connected them to the original lines going through the basement with push-locks.  Unfortunately, the lines were starting to blister and leak in the basement, thus the EMT solution. 

Now I have leaking hydraulic lines.  Started with a real numbskull install at the distro block by the pump.  Lines should have gone to a 90 deg connector and instead they bent them 90 deg right after the block, resultant pressure on the sharp bend caused the line to leak at the fitting and start pumping fluid under the top layer.  I put 90 deg connectors on the block and attempted a cheesy fix at the connectors hoping to chop them off and do an in-line repair but now the problem has spread to the length of the line all the way to the cylinder.

I'd consider running everything external as before, but it's getting to be too mickey mouse for me.  I'm thinking of removing the water tank and getting at all of this stuff, most likely replacing all of it with stainless hard line through the basement so no more leaks, and just terminating the hoses at the end of the hard lines.

It looks like on this coach I need to remove a metal shield and plywood hatch off the bottom of the coach, remove the sensor wires and various lines with the vent being the tough one, remove the bottom support braces and lower the tank out.  It looks like they carpeted over the hole, so that will need to be cut.  Then I'll have a hatch I can poke up through to do the work. 

Sound right?  Surely someone else has done this.

[rick Kirchner]

Buehler, Buehler?

[Gerald Farris]

Rick,
Since nobody else has chimed in here, I will give you my opinion, and that is that you are needlessly complicating a simple, straight forward repair. I would venture to say that no one else has even seriously considered a hydraulic repair like you described, much less completed one. Running the replacement hose in an accessible area is much cheaper and easier, and nobody will ever see it except you. On a 20 year old coach, I could find a better way to spend the time any money when it comes to maintenance and upgrades.

Gerald

[rick Kirchner]

Well, okay.  Just seems that every couple of years I have a problem with something in that area with no access, so to some extent I wanted to get in there and make sure I don't have any other issues.  The wiring and god knows what-all have now been exposed to weeping diesel and hydraulic lines and it would be a good idea to check it all out and clean it up.  And, as I add more work-arounds I just get more clutter in already cluttered areas - it seems like there's a lot of extra harness tied up behind the bed hatch bulkhead, so it's just a rats nest I'm adding to.  I've already moved and simplified as much of the wiring I can back there and it's still a mess. 

But I'm a pretty skilled fabricator.  I built the yellow car from a total basket case - the hard lines there passed through 5 bulkheads and had multiple complex curves at each end, they had to be formed at one end, fed through the structure and finished on the other end.

The orange car is a real packaging challenge.  I re-designed the entire cooling system, the electrical system, and dozens of whizzy bits.

Also made this 3x6 tube bumper for the Beav, can be filled with rebar for ballast, and above it is a 25 gal ag sprayer that provides ballast as well as cooling spray into the radiator for those long hot Mojave climbs in the summer.

Made this relay panel that controls cornering lights, extra backup flood lights, and docking lights all around the coach

Designed this surge tank.

And these nifty devices for securing RV covers in windy areas - the tie downs don't beat up the coach and it's secured by the coach weight.

And of course, the hydraulic brake fix.

I like to take care of problems once and for all, just don't like surprises in getting things to come apart where I have to do plan b, and then plan c, and on and on. 

[Mike Shumack]

You have the skill set Rick.
Take some photos along the way as you tackle the water tank - hydraulic hose project.
Have fun.

[rick Kirchner]

And just like that I walk outside and find a radiator leak - having just re-filled it with fresh SLC.

Where's the banging head against the wall emoji.

[Daniel McShane]

Rick,
I have the same coach as you and have been following your adventures as I have share in some of the same problems. I usually keep 2 electric heaters in my coach one in the basement and one inside, this has prevented freezing in the past but the other day I forgot to turn the heaters on and came out in the morning to ice sickles formed under the water bay. My question is have you removed the manifold cover from your water bay panel and if so what is the best approach.

Regarding the fuel and hydraulic hoses I plan on replacing them starting with the brake lines sometime soon as well. I had my fuel fill and vent lines replaced at a Cat dealer a few years ago as I couldn't fill without leaking fuel. I recently noticed my fuel return line was severely cracked and deteriorated.

Sorry about the radiator I would hate to take that on. Look forward to reading your progress.

Good Luck
Dan

[rick Kirchner]

Dan - I have not tackled the water bay panel yet.  I don't plan on going after the tank until mid-summer now that I have to deal with the radiator. In one of my previous threads I asked about a post a guy made regarding re-building the water bay with different materials.  It's actually on another site, and someone found it and posted the link as an answer to my question.

I'll need to replace the water bay floor soon, as it delaminated and buckled.  I'll likely use 1/2" thick abs sheet or something equivalent, like pvc. 

by the way, I usually use a couple of cube heaters in cold weather because they don't wake yo up in the middle of the night like the noisy furnace.  I could do a long post on intake noise suppression techniques.....

Te half-power setting will run us out of the bedroom if we keep a bathroom door closed.  However, I tried running one in the front of the coach which has more heat loss so I ran it on high - and tripped the input breaker to the inverter.  Took me a while to figure that out (and we were on shore power at the time).

PM me on another topic I want to chat with you about.