Fuel Leak Repaired, Bad News Good News, HWH and Plans

Sioux Falls, SD

71 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms. Highs around 89. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph becoming 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon.


It was 8:35 when we pulled out of the CG and headed North on I-29. When we got up to I-90, we turned East and followed it for about 2 miles to the 1st exit. Then we took that street South for just a short distance to Cummins Central Power on 54th Street North.

It was only about 9 miles over there, so it only took us about 15 minutes to get there.

Once there, Jim went into the office and in just a short while, he came back out, unhooked CLT (Cute Little Truck) from the back of me and drove me around to the other side of the building. Once parked next to the building, (They couldn't get me into a bay because they were all full), Denny came out and started checking my generator for the fuel leak.

It didn't take too long before he found a fuel line fitting at the filter leaking, took it apart, repositioned the line so that it was aligned properly, put everything back together, wiped out the tray under the generator and fired up the generator to check the fitting for leaks.

Then his attention moved to my alternator. The first thing he did was hook a meter to my starting batteries and have Jim start my engine to check for output.

Well, there's bad news and good news. The bad news is that the alternator is only charging at a very low rate. The good news is that since it's still charging some and my batteries get charged whenever I'm plugged in or the generator is running, it was decided not to do anything with the alternator at this time.

You see, there were a couple reasons why not to do anything right now. First, this shop works mostly on trucks and the trucks don't use the same alternator that MHs use. (ours are bigger), Second, the price of the alternator, which can only be determined once the alternator is removed and the model determined, will run anywhere between $500 and $1200!!!!

So, for that kind of money, Jim can run my generator once in a while to keep the batteries charged when I'm not plugged in, (if needed), and the work can be done when I'm going to be someplace where the proper alternator is more readily available, so we won't have to wait so long for the part.

After checking the alternator, Denny again checked the generator for leaks, found that all leaks were stopped and put everything back together again.

Then, after paying the bill, (and it wasn't excessive), Jim hooked CLT back up to me and we headed back here to the Tower CG and back into my site.

A note here about Cummins Centeral Power. Even though they were very busy, they got me in for repairs when Jim told them that we were only here for a short time. The price for repairs was fair for the work done, and everyone from the recepionest, (Debby), to the mechanic, (Denny), to the service manager, (Chad) were very friendly and very professional. They all answered any questions that Jim had and Denny also gave Jim some tips about the 12.5 KW generator that I have. All in all, it was a pleasant experiance and Jim says he would definatley take me back there again for repairs when in this area.

It was about 11:15 when Jim backed me into my site so we were back in less that 3 hours. Not bad considering I was thinking it would be more like an all day thing. : )

After I was settled back into my site and hooked up to the utilities, Jim and Linda took CLT and headed over to a Perkins Restaurant to have breakfast for lunch.

When they came back, Jim got on the phone and called HWH Corporation in Moscow IA. to see about stopping by there on our way back to Illinois to have some problems with my hydraulic jack leveling system checked out.

Yeah, I know, more problems, but Jim kind of expected some problems because I had sat for awhile at the dealer without being used and, I am a 2000 model.

Anyway, he called HWH and now has an appointment for me next Monday. Oh! What's wrong with my leveling system? Well, my right rear jack is starting to leak hydraulic oil, once in awhile that jack doesn't want to extend automatically, and when I'm leveled automatically, my rear end is higher than my front end.

So, we'll be leaving here on Saturday and will start working our way to Moscow, IA for my 11:00 appointment on Monday. Then, unless Jim and Linda decide to stop somewhere to just "kick back" for a few days, we'll head back to Rantoul.

Did you know that today is Linda's birthday?

Happy Birthday Linda. ; )