The Verdict Is In........

After our sticker shock of $899 for a new front load washer, we decided that maybe we should see if the old Kenmore was fixable. Also we learned the LG washer that Sandy really liked was about an inch to deep to fit in the cabinet.

Earlier in the week we borrowed BIL James truck, loaded the old Kenmore and took it to a repair shop in Dangerfield. The repair man said he would look at it and give us a call for a fee of $25. We felt if it could be repaired it should be cheaper than buying a new washer.
Yesterday we got our verdict. The repair man said the machine was beyond fixing.

So, back to square one. We looked on the Internet and called our RV dealer in Carthage, Mo and found a front load Maytag 2.3 cu. ft. washer that will fit in the cabinet. It was about $100 cheaper but the freight would put it back near the $899 price. Now it's just a matter of Sandy deciding whether she wants to get the new washer or continue for awhile doing laundry at her Moms. In the meantime she's enjoying the added storage space in the cabinet where the washer use to reside.

Friday BIL James and his crew did some tractor work, moving tree limbs to the burn pit and a general cleanup of the area. Sandy and I policed the area picking up small limbs and boulders that were in the area dropping them into his front loader on his tractor. Before the day was out we had us quite a bon fire going in the pit.

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travelers.

Where Did That Water Come From??

Last week Sandy did a load of laundry in the motorhome. We noticed the spin cycle of the washer was a lot louder than what we were use to hearing. Sounded like a plane was taking off. Didn't give it much thought until when Sandy went to remove the clothes I hear....."Where did this water come from"? Uh oh what happened and it had to be coming from the washer.

My first thoughts were maybe one of the water hoses let go and that was the problem. Or, perhaps the drain hose had come out of the drain pipe. The washer is ten years old and perhaps it's water pump was leaking. Being in the tight quarters there is no way one can tell until they pull it out from its cabinet. I understand most service techs won't work on an appliance when mounted in RV cabinets.
I told Sandy that I thought we could pull it out of the cabinet but doubted we could move it out of the motorhome where we could check things out. So, we decided to wait tell maybe we could get BIL James to help us. To be on the safe side I shut off both water faucets.

Yesterday we were over in the shop doing some work. BIL James and is work crew drove by the shop. They had being working on one of his large trailers they use to haul scrap metal from the oil fields to a salvage yard. Sandy told him about our little problem and asked the next time they had some free time could they come over to look at the washer. Before you knew it he said........" pile in and let's go see".

So, off we go to the motorhome. The three of them went in and looked at the situation. The next thing one of his workers asked for a screw driver and some channel lock pliers. Within minutes they had the washer outside and hooked up to our water hose. As water begin to run into the tub we noticed no leaks coming from the water hoses. We let the tub fill up and go through its cycles. During the spin and drain cycle we noticed the tub was real loose and making that very loud noise again. That's when we noticed water was leaving the tub and going down the inside wall of the washer to the ground. They suspect the bearings on the tub where probably shot.

I told Sandy maybe it was time for a new washer. It being ten years old and I just felt we would be throwing good after bad. I told her we needed to look at a front load washer instead of top load. We have very little room for opening the lid on top due to the dryer that's mounted on a shelf above the washer. Not having to look for appliances in a while I could not believe how much more expensive a front load washer was than a top load....about $300-$400 more.
In our search so far we've found the compact top load Kenmore is no longer available at Sears. LG makes a 2.3 Compact Front Load Washer that will fit. They are only asking $899.......Ouch!

In the mean time until we decide what she wants, Sandy cleaned the area where the washer was and now has a small four drawer cabinet in there for storing kitchen things and towels. I said I couldn't believe this as I know you are not going to go without a washer. She said your absolutely right but right now this will work for me. She can do laundry at her Moms until such time she decides enough is enough. All I can say is look at the money we're saving. Yea! I know since I don't do this chore I have not earned the right to be so jubilant.

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.

A Pleasant Speedco Experience

One of the things that really puts me on edge is getting the motorhomes' oil and filters changed and the chassis lubed. I've had some a bad experiences over the years of service techs telling me one thing and only to find out later they did not follow through.
One example is when I get the MH chassis greased is.......do they grease all the fittings.

They always assure me they did but when we had our 2000 Newmar Dutch Star we lost our u-joints on a trip into California and Arizona. We limped into a repair facility in Phoenix where we learned all of our u-joints where bad due to the lack of not being greased even though each time we were assured that all fittings were greased. The service manager showed me the u-joints and they all were powdery and dry as a bone.

Because of this bad experience I started greasing the chassis my self. This way I knew all were properly greased. Now that I'm a little older it is very difficult to do this myself so I must depend on the service tech doing the correct job again. So when the time comes for this service I naturally get a little antsy.

That time came around again and for most of our services lately we've relied upon Speedco for our maintenance. There is a Speedco facility in Greenwood, La about 90 miles east of us. So, I called them Monday to make sure they had all my filters and to make sure they used Fleetguard. They gave me an affirmative and did jobs on a first come first serve bases. I also got a tentative quote that for 28 quarts of oil and all filters it would cost me about $295.

Upon our arrival I checked in at the service counter and was informed we would be next and to drive into Bay 2 when told to do so. We waited for about 20 minutes before the Mayflower eighteen wheeler pulled out of the service bay after his service was completed.
Once in the bay I was greeted by the shop foreman who discussed what they were going to do as well pull all the right filters. One of the things I discussed with him was how difficult it was to replace the fuel filer on the engine block. For some reason this filter being located where it is on the engine and the Spartan chassis it's very difficult to remove. Something to do with respect to it been located near the starter and just not having the room to manipulate the removal tool. He assured me they would get it changed as well as grease the fittings properly. I was allowed to stay on the shop floor during this servicing.

As anticipated they had a bugger of a time removing that fuel filter. Even to the point the shop foreman going below himself and after about twenty minutes was able to git-r-done. He questioned if this filter had ever been replaced in prior servicing....hummm?
Prior to my paying the shop foreman did a walk through and reassured me all service was done to their specifications and yes all fittings were greased.

When I went in to pay the young lady behind the counter said you are not heavy duty but a medium duty service and the fee was around $245. Now that is a savings of $50 and i left there with the assurance that all service was done correctly.

Oh, I had an appointment with VA Shreveport at 2pm and asked would it be okay to park the MH behind their facility as we drove over in the Jeep. She said sure and told us where to park so we wouldn't be in the way. Now how nice is that. If you are near Greenwood and need your diesel motorhome serviced I highly recommend this facility.

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.