Problem #1...& 2...& 3...

Sweet, I keep finding problems to fix. It's like I own an RV or something! Most are pretty straight forward things but I could use some advice from the RV community on how to deal with the exhaust manifold (See below).

The prep work for this weekend's first camping trip has created plenty of opportunities to know where small issues are likely hiding within Fandango. The water line to the brooken pump was easy enough to cap and the water lines around that area are not showing any leaks.

What that did do was allow for the pressure to hold and locate a second leak. The good news is that while I consider Fandango to be very structurally sound, there is always some small hole somewhere that will allow water to pass through and you will just see it dripping on the ground. I was in the middle of testing the hot water heater when I saw water dripping on the rear tire. I crawled under and there was water seeping from a small opening on the underbelly. It looked like it may be something pretty serious since it was underneath the hot water tank but that just gave me a chance to go inside the rear closet that holds the hot water tank and notice it was actually coming from a pipe which ran past the tank and up into the bathroom sink. I will take some pictures later but removing just a few screws from the inside of the hall closet allows access to the underside of the bathroom sink. The problem was just a loose fitting connecting the water line to the sink. It is a tight fit in there so it was probably not installed with enough patience. It also confirmed my thought about how relatively easy it would be to replace the bathroom sink. The knob to turn on the shower head is really tight and not easy to use so I figured that would be a future project. Now I know the degree of difficulty which is no worse than my sink in my bathroom at home.

OK, time for the rookie mistake. The shower drain clogged and started to fill the floor of the bathroom while I was working on Fandango this week. I had been turning the water on in the sinks a couple of times but how that would clog the shower drain seemed really strange to me. I could easily see the holding tank was empty and the drain plumbing is a very short path. There is a trap there too and nothing has gone down it other than a very small amount of water. I started to look at putting a snake down it but I crawled underneath first to see if it was an easy connection to just remove and clean out. That is when I realized the kitchen sink, bathroom sink and shower drain (everything but the toilet) is upstream to the sewage tank shutoff valve. Yes, I only have one tank, not gray and black. I stared at that a bit, wondering why you would want that configuration and I realized this keeps the oder from the tank from drifting back up into the cabin. So I just pulled the valve and everything flushed into the tank. OK, I hope you veterans got a kick outta that one. I know I felt a bit silly but the good news is I did not start ripping things apart and did a proper flow of troubleshooting.

Now the really frustrating and fairly concerning part. As I kinda expected, the exhaust manifold installation is going to be a challenge. I am still waiting on a gasket for the manifold to arrive at my auto parts store but even they are not sure if it is the right part. I went ahead and stopped by my mechanic's shop to see if they had tips. I say my mechanic but it is actually the same company as my mechanic but they have a separate heavy truck shop. My regular mechanic is absolutely great but he said the truck shop needs to work on it. So I walk up to the front desk at the truck shop, holding my replacement exhaust manifold. I told him what I had going on and the first words out of the truck shop's mouth was, "We no longer do any exhaust work on RV's." I knew this can be a tricky job since the bolts rust and things can snap off when trying to replace old exhaust manifolds. Apparently that has happened a lot at this shop and some customers were shocked when it cracked a head or required more labor than they thought. So, unless I suck it up and spend way too much money at an RV maintenance facility (I guess they'll do it), I will get to take a shot at replacing the manifold...IF I ever find the gaskets. Like I mentioned above, I am open to suggestions from the community.

The hot water heater is not lighting either but I have not had a chance to really look at it. The stove does light so there is propane in my tanks. I just cannot hear, see or smell anything coming out of the gas line in the hot water heater. I will take another crack at that when it is dusk and I may be able to see the pilot a bit better.

Well, all of those things aside, we are still looking on track to have a fun weekend camping. The family is getting excited.