Trouble-Free GMC's

[Ken H.]

I'm repeating this because I pirated a more important thread; to correct an
error I published; and, to report updated information:

To counteract the predominance of "doom & gloom" here, I now wish we'd
posted all the trip reports here that we have gotten on our
"Save-the-GA-Sun-17" Google Group. Of 14 GMC's from all over at Dillard
GA, most have now made it home without incident. One had a fan clutch fail
(and quickly replaced) on the way down from NJ. Another, with 3 small kids
aboard, had Onan, and consequent A/C, failure on the way from Birmingham.
AFAIK, no one else had any trouble at all.

I automatically posted "Onan" as a generic Auxiliary Power Unit (APU)
nomenclature -- the actual failure was of a HONDA 4010/6010. That's not a
typo; it seems that there are only minor differences between the two models
and the one under discussion is a hybrid of the two. And the source of
endless troubles. The owner may tell us all more about it, but he swore to
me that after this trip, in AL & GA heat, with a wife, 3 small kids ( who
all gave up their bike training wheels at Dillard), and a dog with NO A/C,
the Honda is coming OUT.

Since the original posting, I think I've heard from all the others who were
at Dillard with us -- all home without problems. So much for unreliable
GMC's.

Ken H.

 

[kstockwell]

I'm probably jinxing myself for my upcoming 400 mile round trip to Brunswick Maine

I bought the coach last June, have driven 2500 miles with 0 trouble

Feeling like I should mail my PO a check for another $1000.

-kelly
--
1978 Kingsley
Putney VT

 

[jeremy]

That Honda is coming out Ken. One way or another. To be fair, the Honda does have a backstory. It was clearly ridden hard, put away wet, and I bought
it for $200 off Craigslist. Sometimes you get what you pay for, and while for about a half dozen trips it worked like a charm after I did a pretty
good service to it, the last half dozen trips have been nothing but one different trouble after another. Frankly it now completely reminds me of my
Onan, which I battled for about 8 years and had very intermittent success keeping running.

I'm currently looking for an Emerald to shove in the hole. It's getting to the point where if we can't get reliable AC when going down the road, my
wife and kids aren't going to have any interest in the GMC. It's just not optional in Alabama summer heat. I'm half tempted to buy a cheap contractor
unit and throw it on the platform on the back. Sure it'll be ugly, but at least it will be new, cheap, and easily worked on.

On the upside, the rest of the coach ran great, although my fan clutch is coming on much too frequently and is now starting to squeal, so I'll be
investigating that problem before it gets any worse.
--
Thanks,
Jeremy Knezek
1976 Glenbrook
Birmingham, AL

 

[DetroitDan]

Ken, thank you for the news! It gives me hope to carry on!

Soon camping! Maybe this year yet!
--
Dan Wallace
Detroit Metro
1974 Canyon Lands 260
Headers, 3.55, 16"
Floor plan 26-9

 

[Rdenney]

Ken, I've been keeping track: You've been towed more than your share of
times, but you have also used your coach much more than most of us do.

I really like the way Jerry Work puts it: It takes some amount of money
spent every year to maintain a GMC in a state of good repair. If that money
has not been spent in the past, there are likely some remedial steps that
need to be taken to restore the coach to that state of good repair.

I teach the concept of "state of good repair" to public agencies, and I use
my GMC as an example in my classes. The objective is to be able to jump in
the coach and drive anywhere without hesitation or fear, just like we do
with our daily-drive cars. If our "infrastructure" is allowed to decline,
then we have to spend more to catch it back up.

This is part of my reasoning for replacing my good-running (as it seemed)
engine with a freshly rebuilt engine this year. I was just fearful about
the old engine--it was making a noise that upset one of the nerves at the
base of my spine. That would have kept me from jumping in the coach for an
extended trip. I replaced the transmission, too, and the old one, as it
turned out, had a worn-out drive chain with too much play. And now I'm
changing the final drive because the old one had too much axial play in the
input shaft. I've already experienced a trip canceled because of a
front-end failure--a cracked CV joint boot, the repair of which exposed a
broken ball joint on one side and a spun front wheel bearing on the other
side--the side I might not have touched. Both of those might have affected
trips on the road. Tie-rod ends with damaged boots are another sign of
need, even though they demonstrated no play (except for one I had already
replaced).

The coach had parked the PO and myself by the side of the road several
times for plugged up fuel lines. The tanks were rusty--I replaced them.
Before this year, that was the most expensive single repair I have made--my
experience with rusty fuel tanks is that they don't stop rusting. To
correct for potential cracking of the iron intake, I replaced it with an
aluminum intake when Gary Rockwell first undertook the challenge of making
it--and that took a couple of tries to get it right. In order to rectify a
previously ignored exhaust leak, I replaced the cracked manifolds with
headers. Both of those things meant that when I changed the engine, the
bolt-ons didn't need to be replaced. I replaced the radiator of unknown
quality with an aluminum radiator from Gene Dotson. That reset the age
pointer on that item, and blown radiators are common and damaging enough to
be a risk worth controlling.

On several occasions, I've had to make big repairs at rallies. I would
prefer to sit in a folding chair and chat with old friends, or help others
with their crises the way old friends have helped me with mine. Thank God I
have not had to be towed yet, but in some ways I've been lucky.

The point is that I have and continue to see the effects of years of
neglect, both before and during my ownership. Those are the things that
will interrupt trips. Maintaining a state of good repair means replacing or
servicing those components frequently enough so that pending failures are
avoided. If we do those things, we minimize the risk of trip interruptions.

In maintenance theory, there are three classes of maintenance: Capital
asset value retention (and we may measure "value" in terms of enjoyment),
preventive maintenance, and emergency maintenance. The first category is
what I was doing with installing a fresh engine. Oil changes and chassis
lube at proper intervals fall into the second category. And the third
category is the one we hope to avoid as much as possible by doing the other
two.

The good news is that if we focus on safety and reliability first, we can
use the coach with confidence while we work on convenience and aesthetics.
I'm living that principle--my coach may never get painted and the rate I'm
going. But if the current paint gets any worse, I might have to break out
the rattle cans!

Rick "we earn the privilege of trouble-free trips" Denney

On Wed, Aug 23, 2017 at 9:47 PM, Ken Henderson
wrote:

> ...
> Since the original posting, I think I've heard from all the others who were
> at Dillard with us -- all home without problems. So much for unreliable
> GMC's.
>
> Ken H.
>
>

--
'73 X-Glacier 230 "Jaws"
Northern Virginia
Offlist email: rick at rickdenney dot com

 

[Ken H.]

Jeremy,

It shouldn't be necessary to put a contractor unit on the back -- many
would fit into the APU compartment:
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/g5330-troybilt-generator-installation.html

You should have looked at, and listened to, my Troy-Bilt generator at
Dillard. It is, admittedly, noisy, but not bad inside. Better mufflers,
or perhaps a Gen-Turi-type tailpipe, would improve that. It's a very
reasonably priced option (

 

[jerry work]

Hi all from beautiful Budapest, Hungary

We are on back to back river trips with a bunch of West coast GMCers. Just landed in Budapest after boarding in Bucharest, Romania on the Danube a bit over a week ago with Nick and Donna Roenick and Donald and Billie Guttman. We will be joined on the next segment by a whole bunch of GMCers including Jim and Judy Hupy and Manny and Deo Trovao.

If anyone you know is attracted by the siren song of socialism I recommend a trip to the former Soviet countries in Eastern Europe to see how well that worked out for them.

Even a continent away I would like to recommend to everyone struggling with an Onan to purchase a Pertronics magnetic ignition system to eliminate spark issues and a propane conversion to eliminate fuel issues. I know a bunch of the "conventional" wisdom is that we don't carry enough propane (not true from my testing) so the kit I designed and discussed at GMCWS last October (download the presentation from their web site) allows you to switch between propane and gasoline at the flip of one toggle switch.

Once you do those two things, unless your Onan has a rod sticking out the side, it will almost certainly start quickly, run smoothly no matter the load and outlast you and the next dozen owners combined.

Our vendors sell the Gary Bovee Pertronics kit for a bit over $100 and the special GMC kit that allows it to run off propane or gasoline is available from uscarb.com. Some of our GMC vendors may also carry that kit. Sells for around $250 to $300 depending on whether you use 1/2" or 3/4" hose from the tank to the Onan. All my testing and design work was done using 1/2" hose and that seems to work well in our application even though the design books say you should use 3/4" hose for a run of that length and that load.

No, I get no kickback or payment on any kind from anyone from either of these.

It doesn't matter how your Onan is wired or whether your board works or not. If you can get 12vdc to the positive post on the coil it will likely work unless you have a bad coil (rare). That or a bad Pertronics module (rarer still) is about the only thing that will stop you.

These two easy to install kits are way cheaper and way easier than trying to buy and fit in another brand or model generator.

Now back to the great Hungarian beer........

Jerry Work
The Dovetail Joint
Fine furniture designed & hand crafted
in the 1907 former Masonic Temple building
in historic Kerby, OR
http://jerrywork.com

 

[jeremy]

> Jeremy,
>
> It shouldn't be necessary to put a contractor unit on the back -- many
> would fit into the APU compartment:
> http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/g5330-troybilt-generator-installation.html
>
> You should have looked at, and listened to, my Troy-Bilt generator at
> Dillard. It is, admittedly, noisy, but not bad inside. Better mufflers,
> or perhaps a Gen-Turi-type tailpipe, would improve that. It's a very
> reasonably priced option (

I've thought about it Ken, but I'm just not that good of a mechanic to figure it out.
--
Thanks,
Jeremy Knezek
1976 Glenbrook
Birmingham, AL

 

[Jim Hupy]

Hey Jerry, save some of that Hungarian beer for us. We will be there on
Sunday. You guys missed a great experience with the eclipse. The digital
cameras don't capture the effects very well. I have some 35 milimeter black
and white shots from the 1979 eclipse that were spectacular. Not so much
this time. But the "wow factor" of this one was fantastic. See you guys
soon.
Jim and Judy

Hi all from beautiful Budapest, Hungary

We are on back to back river trips with a bunch of West coast GMCers. Just
landed in Budapest after boarding in Bucharest, Romania on the Danube a bit
over a week ago with Nick and Donna Roenick and Donald and Billie Guttman.
We will be joined on the next segment by a whole bunch of GMCers including
Jim and Judy Hupy and Manny and Deo Trovao.

If anyone you know is attracted by the siren song of socialism I recommend
a trip to the former Soviet countries in Eastern Europe to see how well
that worked out for them.

Even a continent away I would like to recommend to everyone struggling with
an Onan to purchase a Pertronics magnetic ignition system to eliminate
spark issues and a propane conversion to eliminate fuel issues. I know a
bunch of the "conventional" wisdom is that we don't carry enough propane
(not true from my testing) so the kit I designed and discussed at GMCWS
last October (download the presentation from their web site) allows you to
switch between propane and gasoline at the flip of one toggle switch.

Once you do those two things, unless your Onan has a rod sticking out the
side, it will almost certainly start quickly, run smoothly no matter the
load and outlast you and the next dozen owners combined.

Our vendors sell the Gary Bovee Pertronics kit for a bit over $100 and the
special GMC kit that allows it to run off propane or gasoline is available
from uscarb.com. Some of our GMC vendors may also carry that kit. Sells
for around $250 to $300 depending on whether you use 1/2" or 3/4" hose from
the tank to the Onan. All my testing and design work was done using 1/2"
hose and that seems to work well in our application even though the design
books say you should use 3/4" hose for a run of that length and that load.

No, I get no kickback or payment on any kind from anyone from either of
these.

It doesn't matter how your Onan is wired or whether your board works or
not. If you can get 12vdc to the positive post on the coil it will likely
work unless you have a bad coil (rare). That or a bad Pertronics module
(rarer still) is about the only thing that will stop you.

These two easy to install kits are way cheaper and way easier than trying
to buy and fit in another brand or model generator.

Now back to the great Hungarian beer........

Jerry Work
The Dovetail Joint
Fine furniture designed & hand crafted
in the 1907 former Masonic Temple building
in historic Kerby, OR
http://jerrywork.com

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[bdub]

http://gmcws.org/blog/?p=4335

Hi all from beautiful Budapest, Hungary

We are on back to back river trips with a bunch of West coast GMCers. Just
landed in Budapest after boarding in Bucharest, Romania on the Danube a bit
over a week ago with Nick and Donna Roenick and Donald and Billie Guttman.
We will be joined on the next segment by a whole bunch of GMCers including
Jim and Judy Hupy and Manny and Deo Trovao.

If anyone you know is attracted by the siren song of socialism I recommend
a trip to the former Soviet countries in Eastern Europe to see how well
that worked out for them.

Even a continent away I would like to recommend to everyone struggling with
an Onan to purchase a Pertronics magnetic ignition system to eliminate
spark issues and a propane conversion to eliminate fuel issues. I know a
bunch of the "conventional" wisdom is that we don't carry enough propane
(not true from my testing) so the kit I designed and discussed at GMCWS
last October (download the presentation from their web site) allows you to
switch between propane and gasoline at the flip of one toggle switch.

Once you do those two things, unless your Onan has a rod sticking out the
side, it will almost certainly start quickly, run smoothly no matter the
load and outlast you and the next dozen owners combined.

Our vendors sell the Gary Bovee Pertronics kit for a bit over $100 and the
special GMC kit that allows it to run off propane or gasoline is available
from uscarb.com. Some of our GMC vendors may also carry that kit. Sells
for around $250 to $300 depending on whether you use 1/2" or 3/4" hose from
the tank to the Onan. All my testing and design work was done using 1/2"
hose and that seems to work well in our application even though the design
books say you should use 3/4" hose for a run of that length and that load.

No, I get no kickback or payment on any kind from anyone from either of
these.

It doesn't matter how your Onan is wired or whether your board works or
not. If you can get 12vdc to the positive post on the coil it will likely
work unless you have a bad coil (rare). That or a bad Pertronics module
(rarer still) is about the only thing that will stop you.

These two easy to install kits are way cheaper and way easier than trying
to buy and fit in another brand or model generator.

Now back to the great Hungarian beer........

Jerry Work
The Dovetail Joint
Fine furniture designed & hand crafted
in the 1907 former Masonic Temple building
in historic Kerby, OR
http://jerrywork.com

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Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
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[johnny]

Jeremy, the Harbor Freight one I installed on the 23' didn't require much in the way of mechanicing - I simply cut the frame members which held its
shock mounts and bolted them into the genset bay with the genset still attached. Moved the muffler and reconnected it with a length of flexible steel
pipe from Advance Auto. I found out, most of the racket was from the intake, which I had planned to move for better accessibility anyway but sold the
coach. I'd suggest skipping the 'inverter' gensets, you end up paying a fortuna for features that don't make a lot of difference in the GMC
environment where the genset is usually loaded with a couple of air conditioners.

--johnny
--
76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
"I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell" - ol Andy, paraphrased

 

[john phillips]

What are the unused features?
Is the main use to run 2 roof AC units and secondary to charge the house
batteries?

On Thu, Aug 24, 2017 at 2:32 PM, Johnny Bridges via Gmclist <

> Jeremy, the Harbor Freight one I installed on the 23' didn't require much
> in the way of mechanicing - I simply cut the frame members which held its
> shock mounts and bolted them into the genset bay with the genset still
> attached. Moved the muffler and reconnected it with a length of flexible
> steel
> pipe from Advance Auto. I found out, most of the racket was from the
> intake, which I had planned to move for better accessibility anyway but
> sold the
> coach. I'd suggest skipping the 'inverter' gensets, you end up paying a
> fortuna for features that don't make a lot of difference in the GMC
> environment where the genset is usually loaded with a couple of air
> conditioners.
>
> --johnny
> --
> 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
> Braselton, Ga.
> "I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me
> in hell" - ol Andy, paraphrased
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>

--

*John Phillips*

 

[james ernst]

Hi gang, I'd like to add myself to the trouble free travel list. My new
bride, as of August 12th, and I took off the morning of August 16th from
Columbus, NE towards Falcon, CO (Colorado Springs area) to visit my son and
family. This for me was the first long distance (500 miles) voyage in the
coach. Roz followed me out in our car. Everything ran as it should without
a hitch. The A/C fan doesn't blow at any speed, and the steering needs
tweaking yet, but knew that before we left. The only thing that had me a
little nervous is that the PO installed a "blue" electric fuel with the
mechanical pump removed. I would like to install some redundancy for peace
of mind though. all I can say was great first trip and looking forward to
many more and hopefully getting to some rallies too.

We also spotted a 2 tone brown/gold GMC heading Eastbound on I70 between
Colby, KS and Limon, CO, lots of waiving going on as we passed each other.
Anybody have a clue whom that might be?

Take care all,

Jim and Roz Ernst
Columbus, NE/Falcon, CO
1977 Palm Beach

On Thu, Aug 24, 2017 at 11:29 PM, John Phillips
wrote:

> What are the unused features?
> Is the main use to run 2 roof AC units and secondary to charge the house
> batteries?
>
> On Thu, Aug 24, 2017 at 2:32 PM, Johnny Bridges via Gmclist <

>
> > Jeremy, the Harbor Freight one I installed on the 23' didn't require much
> > in the way of mechanicing - I simply cut the frame members which held its
> > shock mounts and bolted them into the genset bay with the genset still
> > attached. Moved the muffler and reconnected it with a length of flexible
> > steel
> > pipe from Advance Auto. I found out, most of the racket was from the
> > intake, which I had planned to move for better accessibility anyway but
> > sold the
> > coach. I'd suggest skipping the 'inverter' gensets, you end up paying a
> > fortuna for features that don't make a lot of difference in the GMC
> > environment where the genset is usually loaded with a couple of air
> > conditioners.
> >
> > --johnny
> > --
> > 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
> > Braselton, Ga.
> > "I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to
> me
> > in hell" - ol Andy, paraphrased
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > GMCnet mailing list
> > Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> > http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
>
> *John Phillips*
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
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>