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Old 04-23-2017, 07:11 PM   #1
bhplumber
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Default Get my new 6331SN home today

I tried to post a pic but it says my pic is to big.

Thurs. We landed in Houston and after some confusion on what airport we were at and got a shuttle to our Hotel. Just a FYI for future PPL customers, America's Inn that is a about 1.5 blocks from PPL is not as it appears in the pics in their ad.

Fri.. We got to PPL just as they were opening. All went good and we closed the deal only a couple hours later then planned. We drove to Sealy TX about 40 minutes away to Riverside tire for 6 new shoes for the girl. Riverside tire is GREAT, very friendly, best prices I could find in the area and easy in and out of their shop, I would recommend them to anyone needing any kind of tires in the Houston area. Then we headed NW and made it to Stephensville TX. We got a nice room and had some excellent food at the Peacock grill right next to our hotel.

Sat. morning I went out checked the fluids and went to start the RV to warm up (temp was 51) and it wouldn't start. I cycled the glow plugs a few times and it finally popped off. Needless to say being over 1K miles from home on a weekend we didn't shut her of until we reached our destination for the night. We made it from Stephensville to Colby KS pushing wind ALL THE WAY in 11 hours. We purchased a cord in case we had to plug in the block heater. The low was 36 in Colby. We ate at Montana Mikes steakhouse and had an excellent steak dinner. A must if your in the area.

Sun. I woke up about 6am worried about the RV starting so I tossed on some clothes and went out to try it, 2 cycles of the glow plugs and she fired right up. I'm not sure what the issue in Stephensville was we sure were happy to hear it fire. We made from Colby KS to home in just about 7 hours.

Now for a few questions to the other SN owners.

It has an occasional ding (doorbell sound or maybe a door open dinger sound) Its very faint and only dings once each time. It seems to happen more at slow speed when turning. It sounds like it's coming from the dash area. Any ideas?

When I take off and get up to about 35mph and let of it has a blowby (whoosh) sound in the engine compartment. Wastegate maybe? It seemed to do it more as we got closer to home but saying that we did mostly highway driving until then so maybe I just didn't notice it.

When I step on the brakes some sort of pump runs for a few seconds. The brakes work awesome I'm just curious what the pump noise is.

It needs the large slide topper awning adjusted as it hangs up on the corner of the slide and binds the slide. The main awning also needs adjusted as it doesn't retract completely without some manual persuasion

Either way I will make an appointment at IH on Monday for them to give it a full look over from nose to tail. Once that is done it will go to a local RV dealer to get the roof resealed and the awning adjustments. Then it will be game on or the camping season.

All in all the trip was great, the RV ran great, drove great ( Id take it over my National DP any day), and I got to have a wonderful 4 day trip with my Dad and my Son. Just a note about PPL. They are a consignment dealer and deal in volume. They really just want to show the unit and have you buy it. They don't really try to sell it to you, Take it or leave it kind of attitude. Having said that their prices average around low retail so if you do your homework and stand your ground with them it will work out. We were lucky and had a guy from the shop come out that was a lot of help. Yes I would buy from them again. If you are looking at a unit they have don't plan on getting red carpet treatment and a bunch of freebees but you can get a good deal.
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Old 05-02-2017, 11:10 PM   #2
SlimTim
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Default Re: Get my new 6331SN home today

Hello bhplumber,

Sounds like you had a fun trip.

I can't help you on the ding sound as I don't think my Supernova dose this.

The whoosh sound you describe sounds a little bit like the engine fan engaging and disengaging. It makes a distinct sound and if you look at your water temp gauge you can tell when it turns on and off. Just as an FYI the VT365 dose not have a waste gate. The VT in VT365 stands for Variable Turbo and the exhaust veins open and close to control turbo pressure.

The pump sound you are hearing when you step on the brakes is a pump. The pump is building up hydraulic pressure (in the brake system) so when you step on the brake peddle the built up pressure can apply the brakes. You will also hear the pump when you first start the RV after it has been sitting overnight.

What year is your Supernova? The 2007 - 2009 Supernovas used a different wall slide mechanism than the 2010 and up Supernovas. I would be happy to talk to you about the 2010 and up system but I do no know anything about the 2009 and earlier systems.

Best Regards Tim
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Old 05-05-2017, 07:42 AM   #3
bhplumber
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Default Re: Get my new 6331SN home today

Thanks SlimTim, After some more reading I think the whoosh sound is the infamous turbo fludder or fart. I haven't found where anyone has come up with a fix but if it doesn't affect the performance and wont leave me stranded because of it I'm not going to worry about it.

My local IH dealer didn't offer much help as far as doing a bumper to bumper chassis inspection. They actually suggested I call another local shop as the did not deal with RV's very often. What does it matter if there is a cargo box or a house on the back of the chassis, its still a IH 4200 with VT365? I haven't had a chance to get it to the other shop they recommended.

I did get the slide fixed. I thought the awning was catching and holding the rear of the slide from going out even with the front. After reading some more I discovered the shear bolt on drive gear for the front of the slide had come loose. The rear was just dragging the front out causing the bind. I squared up the slide and tightened the bolt and it works fine now.

I am looking at resealing the roof and am wondering if I should remove all old caulking before installing new or if just removing the loose, cracked caulking is enough. The seams are actually in pretty good shape. I was going to have a local RV shop do it but the quoted $650 which seems high to me. The same shop did my 37' DP 2 years ago for $350.
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Old 05-22-2017, 12:03 AM   #4
SlimTim
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Default Re: Get my new 6331SN home today

Hello bhplumber,

What did you decide to do with your roof? I would like to remove the old sealant on my roof but I am not sure how to get it off easily. Setting on the roof with a scraper for hours does not sound like much fun.


Do you know if the turbo fart is caused by carbon buildup on the exhaust side, or is it the variable mechanism outside the turbo getting gummed up? I like to read the school bus forums as they put lots of miles on the engines and see all types of failures. I don't recall ever seeing this issue in the bus forums so you have peaked my interest. FYI, if anybody tells you the Cummins ISB was a far superior engine than the VT365, just go read a school bus forum or two. You will quickly realize the ISB was far from perfect.
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Old 05-24-2017, 08:00 AM   #5
bhplumber
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Default Re: Get my new 6331SN home today

Hi Slim,
I haven't decided 100% on the roof yet but I'm leaning towards just cleaning up the seams, removing the "loose" material and sealing over the old. From the countless articles I've read and recommendations from the sealant manufactures leaving the old sealant if it is reasonably good shape is better protection then scraping it all off and starting over.

For the turbo noise I haven't had time to research any more. I have been swamped at work so I haven't even been able put the coach to use yet. I have just been doing a few minor tune up things that needed done. I put the table back where it was suppose to be. The PO had attached it to the wall in the corner of the slide so it would only seat 2 people. I also replaced the old yellowed out head lights.

I have to admit I'm a little concerned with the reliability of the VT365 as I've owned 4 Ford 6.0's with VERY bad luck on 3 of them. I do have one tho that has 108K+ that is still running strong. I am considering a BPD egr cooler and upgraded oil cooler. I just hate to mess with something that isn't broke but the more I read the more it sounds like good insurance to keep the engine running cooler and longer.
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Old 05-24-2017, 03:15 PM   #6
SlimTim
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Default Re: Get my new 6331SN home today

Hello bhplumber,

I was also concerned about the VT365. However after doing some significant reading I felt the BPD oil cooler (and EGR) would drastically reduce the chances of a HPOP, turbo, EGR, or injector failure. It just all made sense to me that if the water side of the oil cooler becomes plugged it would affect all four of these items adversely. With the stock cooler the cooling water is what's used to cool the oil so you will see oil temps in excess of you water temp during normal driving. Just imagine the oil temps if there is limited water going through the oil cooler to cool the oil. The already hot oil goes directly from the oil cooler to your turbo and picks up more heat, then into the HPOP and picks up even more heat and then finally into the injectors. Knowing this I thought the best action would be to keep the oil going into the turbo, HPOP, and injectors as cool as operationally possible (don't want it to cool).

If you still have your old yellowed head lights I may be able to tell you how to fix them without buffing or sanding, it only takes about 2 min total. Maybe I should start a post on the headlights as I was ready to replace the ones on my 4400 until a friend showed me how to clean them.
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Old 05-26-2017, 12:22 PM   #7
bhplumber
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Default Re: Get my new 6331SN home today

SlimTim,

I already tossed the old lights.

How many miles have you logged with the BPD EGR and oil coolers? I don't have a lot of miles planned for the coach this season so that upgrade might be a winter one.
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Old 06-01-2017, 11:01 PM   #8
SlimTim
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Default Re: Get my new 6331SN home today

Hello bhplumber,

I have put about 6000 miles on the 6400 after installing the BPD oil cooler and EGR. Prior to purchasing the RV I knew I was going to install both of these items. So after driving the RV home from TX to OR I pulled it apart and installed both the oil cooler and the EGR.

I would not hesitate to run the stock cooler and EGR for a summer or two, as long as your 6331 is like most motorhomes and only has 30k or 40k miles on it. I look at the BPD oil cooler and EGR as a reliability enhancement rather than a must have.
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Old 06-14-2017, 05:50 PM   #9
Dgears02
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Default

That sounds a great first trip. Can't wait to have ours.
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