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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Update from Freightliner Facility in Fontana

We got in to the facility and nothing happened over the weekend.  We came out to the Roadrunner twice a day to fire up the generator and charge the batteries for the refrigerator.

On Monday morning we were there about 7:30 AM and got the "give me some time while I plan out the work for the day" response.
About an hour later we came back to the service counter to check where we were in the queue and was told, "I will check with the foreman".

30 minutes later we went back and were told, "I will go check right now".  He came back and the foreman said he would get in, "As soon as possible".

Our theory at this point was that we want to be visible but not irritating.  And we wanted them to know we were staying with the coach, not waiting in some hotel room.

But who knows if that is the way to handle it?  Sometimes you just have to go with your gut and be as patient and understanding as you know how....

So after another hour, we went back and he said someone was on their way out now to look at it.
About twenty minutes after that, a mechanic showed up and reattached the drive shaft.
He also put a plug in the air system that the wrecker driver tapped into while he towed us in.

Right about 2:00 PM a foreman came out with our computer readout.  I started up the engine for him.  Hmm.  All the gauges were now working.  What...?

The foreman instructed the mechanic to take a look for some loose connections, hose issues...

After another 30 minutes I went back and found out from the foreman he was assigning the issue to 'the electrical guy'.  He come in about 10 PM.  So we charged up the batteries some more and left for our very comfortable quarters at Bob and Sue's.  (They are probably thinking, "When are these people going to leave...)

We had a great dinner of Chinese carry-out and watched some TV before hitting the hay.  Then this morning we were up early, showered and left before 6:30 AM.

We grabbed a biscuit and coffee at Carl's Jr. and went over to the Freightliner facility.  It had moved from our parking space so that was good...Whomever drove it carefully put down paper floor mats and plastic.

But then I saw this:
Even though my printer slide off onto the floor and the table was turned, I don't think there was any damage.  But I hate the notion that more care wasn't taken in driving this.  The guy took it for a test drive and obviously is not used to driving motor homes.

When a company hangs the sign:
I'd expect them to be a little more careful handling motor homes.  Hmm....
The jury is still out on this episode, and I am still trying to be objective.

We checked in and found that the 'electrical guy' indeed looked at it last night but could not find the problem.  Even with the test drive, no error codes or abnormalities were present.  So the next step is to take it for an another test drive, not just around the block.

But that will take a driver.  And they have drivers bringing in fleet vehicles during the morning and one of those guys will be taking the Roadrunner for a longer test drive.  'Check back about 12:00 PM or 1:00 PM.  Hmmm...

If they don't have a driver they don't have a driver.  What are you going to do?  I will finish this blog, we'll charge up the batteries, get some online work done and then we'll probably go over to the mall.  We'll need to update our friends later on and check on the possibility there of another night's stay and let the RV Park know we probably won't be in today and see if we can change our reservation yet again.

So more to come on getting back on the road.  (My guess is that after the test drive, he will not be able to recreate the fault error codes and declare us OK. But that is just me.  I hope they find something, otherwise we will be waiting for this to occur next time.  Or until we can take it to another  repair facility?)

All in all, its OK -- we are just a little inconvenienced.  Its not like we have an due date or deadline hanging over our heads, or some compelling urgent situation we need to attend to.  It is part of the deal and we'll see what happens in the next few days.

Thanks for checking in on us and seeing this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...

21 comments:

  1. We hope you get a clear resolution. It is negligent to test drive your coach without first securing everything. The company could have asked you to secure everything in advance.

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    1. Yes - my thoughts too. Or at least set the table back up. I can understand not being familiar with turning radius of our MH and all -- but that along with the big greasy hand marks under the rig just point to the fact that they weren't too concerned about things...

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  2. Wow, Randy, this place is not looking good to me. I sure hope you get the problem resolved (or at least detected)! It makes Red Bay look pretty good, doesn't it. (For all of those who complain about the slowness at Red Bay).

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    1. Didn't look good to me either. (You should see the Men's Room on the weekend...trashed and a mess). Sadly, the problem did not get fixed, it just went away. Red Bay is slow at times but the rates are better and it isn't as slow as here.

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  3. Your episode sounds a bit like ours. We are at the Tiffin Factory to, for one thing, have the problem with our microwave repaired. Guess what, it worked when he service coordinator looked at it. This was after we had it looked at in Michigan and they could not find the answer.

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    1. Ugh--then what do you do? replace it anyway knowing something isn't right?

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  4. Oh wow, been there, done that. It's not fun. Spent a week in Arkansas when it was 104 outside having my transmission rebuilt. I will say the mechanic was very nice to let me plug in to use my a/c, let me stay on their lot for the week & gave me free water as well.

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  5. Oops, hit send to fast, I hope ya'll get back on the road real soon & the issues are resolved!

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  6. My thoughts are that someone dropped the ball here..and it looks like it landed on your table..THAT negligence says a lot about their service...Perhaps a second opinion, if they cannot find the problem...That is too nice a rig to let obvious amateurs handle it...Hang in there, but don't let 'em BS you!

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    1. They didn't find the problem. Not sure about the BS because one gets the sense they really don't have much to say when they can't find the problem. But I think some times they say about anything they can think of so you will move along...

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  7. You have a great deal of patience. It's so frustrating when something goes wrong but then it works when you take it in to get it fixed. Happened to me all the time with cars. But I sure hope everything gets fixed and you can head down the road. Not sure I would ever go back to this place.

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    1. So they didn't fix it and it hasn't happened again. So we left knowing it may rear its ugly head in the future....

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  8. Gotta love these intermittent problems that never recur when you have them in for diagnosis.

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    1. ugh... I am trying, but not sure I am to the 'love' place yet... :)

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  9. Intermittent problems ... the bane of every RVer. While you want everything to be OK, if there is a problem you want it to be found and fixed and not linger on until another time.

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    1. Bane -- love that word. Don't know why, I just like the way it sounds. But you are right. And since they didn't find it, 'it lingers for another time'. Well said.

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  10. Intermittent electrical problems are the worst. It does not sound like they are really prepared to deal with motorhomes. I must say that I have been to several regular Frtliner places and they were pretty good, but never needed a test drive. Hope they actually find the problem.

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    1. Yes - you are exactly right. Don't think this facility has was it takes to fix motor homes. Either the expertise or the equipment or both. They should not be listed in the Oasis Network in my opinion.

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  11. I had high hopes this problem would not get listed CND ( can not duplicate ). Hope you do not loose confidence in your coach.

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    1. CND - yep - that is what happened. While it doesn't make us real happy with Freightliner, we have had a few problems over the 4.5 years we have had our coach, it is not in that (Lose Confidence) category yet. Thanks!

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