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Broken Down in N. California..north of Eureka

jimx200
Explorer
Explorer
GF was driving our Class C, 1999, E350, V10, 22' and as we were headed downhill, she apparently pulled the shift lever down into first instead of second and the engine made a loud screaming bang. We coasted to the side and after numerous attempts at restarting, it would barely run rough and not at idle. Tow truck took us off the hill to a RV park. Any ideas as to the possibility of a toasted engine or would this be transmission? No leaks under RV.

Also does anyone know of a reputable repair shop in Eureka? We have Good Sam premium coverage
23 REPLIES 23

jimx200
Explorer
Explorer
The RV campground we were towed to is called the Golden Bear RV Campground in Klamath, CA. Linda and her husband Denny (I think that's his name) were very helpful camp hosts..good people for sure. THe campground is right on the river and very quiet. If you like to fish and relax, this is your beautiful spot. We left the keys with Linda and she found us a ride from one of their regulars who took us (gf and two dogs) to Eureka some 60 miles away (thanks again Patrick). A shout out to Leon's Automotive in Eureka for their honest work. Hindsight says we should have called someone for a roadside evaluation, but we had no cell signal and the rv was only a foot off the busy 101 on a winding curve..not safe. The weekend played against us too as everyone was closed. I had to be back Monday for a delayed freight shipment of equipment and Monday was the last day before them sending freight back. It all worked out and happy as heck with our 1999 Sprite with that beast of a V10 engine. Looking back, it's possible she went into neutral with foot to the floor and thus the high revs and then hit the brakes since headed into a downhill curve. What ever happened it's done without damage to engine or trans. It's all just a bump in the road that went from lemons to lemonade.

klutchdust
Explorer II
Explorer II
camperdave wrote:
I think all these roadside programs use the same towing companies anyway, I doubt one service is really much better than another. I've got RV towing coverage through the AMA (American Motorcyclist Assn) but haven't needed to use it yet. My expectation is that they will get me out of harms way and into the nearest town. The rest is probably up to me...

Sounds like you were in a pretty remote area, sometimes it just takes a while to get it taken care of, and navigate the phone run-arounds. Good work getting it done!

I remember my sister accidentally threw the family car into reverse on the freeway (this was in 1986 or so, in a mid 70's Dodge wagon). It just went into neutral, no damage. Sometimes technology improvements are not so much lol.


A man was broken down on the side of the road, we watched from our picnic area as he waited for a tire to be changed. A service showed up, a man in a van with a jack and 4 way lug wrench showed up but could not remove the lug nuts, away he drove.

Hours later another pick up showed up, unmarked as well. The tire was being changed. we passed by and spoke to the man as he was near the access road we were using to get on our way out of the park. This man waited 4.5 hours. He said this service was one that was offered from the dealership, at no extra cost, for as long as he owned the car. The truck drove 30 miles to get there.

This is in a populated S California town where there are AAA and other service trucks everywhere. Service to my home in no less than 30 minutes.

I say this because I would hope that before you sign these warranties you ask questions relating to what,who,where will provide service. Get a list of tow companies affiliated with them and check out their availability before you make your travels. They don't have a list? Keep your money in your pocket then.

Be safe and prepared and wear clean underwear, my mom used to say that.

camperdave
Explorer
Explorer
I think all these roadside programs use the same towing companies anyway, I doubt one service is really much better than another. I've got RV towing coverage through the AMA (American Motorcyclist Assn) but haven't needed to use it yet. My expectation is that they will get me out of harms way and into the nearest town. The rest is probably up to me...

Sounds like you were in a pretty remote area, sometimes it just takes a while to get it taken care of, and navigate the phone run-arounds. Good work getting it done!

I remember my sister accidentally threw the family car into reverse on the freeway (this was in 1986 or so, in a mid 70's Dodge wagon). It just went into neutral, no damage. Sometimes technology improvements are not so much lol.
2004 Fleetwood Tioga 29v

klutchdust
Explorer II
Explorer II
This may be something to consider when purchasing extended warranties, who and where can I get service when needed. Towing also, sounds good as you are signing contracts and handing over payments.

My first thought would be to get to a safe place, like a campground, then call a mobile mechanic to have a look. To the original poster I ask, were there any mobile units available, did you call any. Just curious. I would think a campground would accommodate a disabled unit even if on the sidelines to allow for a diagnosis to be done.

I carry a code scanner with me, it can give you a general idea and they are basically just a plug in unit then get the code description off the internet.

Very pleased you are on the road again.

ronfisherman
Moderator
Moderator
Like to see threads that have a happy ending. :C
2004 Gulf Stream Endura 6340 D/A SOLD
2012 Chevy Captiva Toad SOLD

bobndot
Explorer II
Explorer II
Good deal Jim, glad to hear that and tnx for the update. I hear you re GS .
Many people are happy using coach-net for rv help, research that. They cover you in any vehicle that you travel in.

Scottiemom
Nomad
Nomad
Yep, everyone likes a happy ending. Glad you got it fixed and that it was actually a minor problem. Thanks for updating.

Happy Trails!

Dale
Dale Pace
Widow of Terry (Teacher's Pet)

Traveling with Brendon, my Scottish Terrier

2022 Honda Odyssey
2011 Mazda Miata MX-5

2021 Coach House Platinum III 250DT
Fulltimed for 15 years, now living in Florida

http://www.skoolzoutforever.blogspot.com/

T18skyguy
Explorer
Explorer
I like the happy ending.
Retired Anesthetist. LTP. Pilot with mechanic/inspection ratings. Between rigs right now.. Wife and daughter. Four cats which we must obey.

time2roll
Explorer II
Explorer II
Great to hear you are back on the road with minimal repair ๐Ÿ™‚


carringb wrote:
Unfortunately your '99 may have been built on a ''98 chassis, which would mean it has an E4OD transmission which had a conventional valve-body, so over-revving on a manual downshift is possible (not so with the 4r100 which came out in '99.
Even the regular valve body transmissions of old had a mechanical governor to prevent downshift that would over-rev the engine.

jimx200
Explorer
Explorer
Update: RV is fine!! What happened is that a PCV hose came off and likely due to the high revs of hitting the low gear or maybe just coincidence. We got towed after a 4 hour wait with Good Sam's premium service. We had to deal with multiple reps from GS who kept giving us shops who could not handle a RV. Finally got it to a shop in Eureka (3 days after they towed us to RV park) and they quickly found the hose issue. Without the hose connected, it would not run unless it was revved to guessing 3-4,000rpm. It appears no damage done to engine or trans. I don't think we will stick with Good Sam as they were just too frustrating to deal with and them obviously trying to cut corners.

Scottiemom
Nomad
Nomad
Any update to this topic? Wondering if the OP got his rig fixed and what the diagnosis was.

Dale
Dale Pace
Widow of Terry (Teacher's Pet)

Traveling with Brendon, my Scottish Terrier

2022 Honda Odyssey
2011 Mazda Miata MX-5

2021 Coach House Platinum III 250DT
Fulltimed for 15 years, now living in Florida

http://www.skoolzoutforever.blogspot.com/

bobndot
Explorer II
Explorer II
after numerous attempts at restarting, it would barely run rough and not at idle


This has me thinking 'valves' . Sudden high revs caused relatively weak valve springs to jump the cam lobe ? just my guess .

carringb
Explorer
Explorer
Also check to see it there's any plastic shrapnel on top of the motor. It's also possible you blew up the intake plenum. This would also cause very poor running because the throttle would be bypassed to atmosphere. This would be a far less expensive repair, although also much less likely. But police officers had this happen occasionally during pursuits in their Crown Vic's, whose 4.6L is the same basic architecture as the V10.
2000 Ford E450 V10 VAN! 450,000+ miles
2014 ORV really big trailer
2015 Ford Focus ST

carringb
Explorer
Explorer
It is very possible you locked em up when that happened. Also very possible is you jumped some teeth on the timing chain, hence the very poor running. If it doesn't sound like a blender full of rocks and there's no lake of oil on the ground, you probably escaped catastrophic engine failure.

The timing chain can jump in this situation because at cruise RPM the timing chain tensioner isn't holdings very much pressure (it's hydraulic from the engine oil). Under high RPMs the chain needs much more pressure to hold it tight, especially with normal wear on the chain guides. A sudden extreme change in RPMs means the chain is flailing outward but the chain tensioner needs a second or so to build more pressure (especially on an older motor with oil deposits making all the teeny passages even smaller).

Re-timing the motor isn't hard, but it's a lot of labor to pull everything off the front of the motor to get to the chain. And you'll want to have a leak down test first to make sure no valves were damaged. A compression test might give a false fail result if the timing is too far off. It also requires a special balance-shaft removal tool which few shops have, since v10s rarely have to be opened up. (I had my timing chain replaced preventativey around 400,000 miles because it had some cold start chain slap from loosening up with age)
2000 Ford E450 V10 VAN! 450,000+ miles
2014 ORV really big trailer
2015 Ford Focus ST