aknavy

Sounds good, makes sense. Let me know if/when you want to get rid of the door panels, mine are a mess.

Any update on selling parts, or not selling parts?

Not a bad looking setup, but my bed would turn that in to a big project.

I think I'm going to go ahead and do it at our next stop. When I paid the have the exhaust converted, I assumed it would have some type of muffler, and realized later that it did not. Now, after two years of running around the country we're tired of the noise.

Looking at the Walker Mega Flow on their site now. Any experience with specific models?

Yeah, ours is pretty loud, especially if there's a Jersey barrier close by. It's bearable on short travel days, but long ones get annoying.

Had my exhaust converted to a weed burner to accommodate a big drom box a couple years ago. In the conversion, no real muffler was put on. Not that big of a deal till you do multiple long travel days in a row, and the wife gets tired of listening to the truck. So - any recommendations for a muffler to add to it? There's alot of room under the passenger side. Anyone run a muffler on a weed burner, and does it make a noticeable noise difference? Would I be better off taking the seats out and running Dynomat on the floor?

Over the weekend, I had the alternator belt break while in heavy traffic. The belt runs AC and alternator. Made it to a service plaza on the turnpike right as a big storm rolled thru. Voltage on the truck was dropping, so fired up the generator and ran and extension cord to the inverter charger. All involved pulleys spun free, so tracked down a belt...one belt found in a 30 mile radius. Unhooked the toad from the trailer, picked up the belt, replaced.....and the alternator pulley froze as soon as it spun under tension. So, took belt off and limped down the road to a campground. Tracked down alternator - got a Volvo OEM replacement for about $400. Much bigger/heavier duty than the original one on a 2001. Had to drive an hour to get it. Also replaced the other fan belt on the truck and got back on the road the next day. Belts were on my list to get spares for - I could only find one of each, so need to get another set for spares. We got lucky and were able to get back on the road with only a one full day delay. Had I not been able to get the parts, the plan was to run the generator thru the inverter charger to power the truck and suck it up and drive without AC.

Yeah, once I got it out of gear, it started but still wouldn't go into gear. Just sat there and gave me the "N". I tested it, and left drive selected when I turned it off. When the RPM's dropped as it was shutting down, the transmission dropped into gear - which is what got me stuck in gear originally, I just didn't catch it.

It drips right on the starter. I have had an issue starting while snow was melting and draining there. Quickly resolved, but not a great design.

I just have them for insurance, not for roadside.

I just used my Coachnet policy. There was an initial hiccup that was resolved when I escalated to a supervisor. They didn't want to tow the truck if it was not with the RV, but they ended up doing it. Insurance is thru State Farm now, previously Nat General.

Yeah, I checked the price for the repair at the dealer and the private shop. The dealer would have sold me the parts cheaper, but the labor was more expensive. And, as you said, bringing your own parts runs the risk of missing something and delaying the repair. I crunched the numbers and it came out to about the same. Only difference was that the dealer was busy and had only average reviews. The private shop got it in and repaired in a timely manner, and I didn't have to screw with it. Parts all came from the dealer. Sometimes convenience is worth it. There was another truck in there for repair when I picked mine up, and the mechanic had given the owner a list of parts to pick up from the dealer, so it seemed like he was ok with it. Next time - I hope there isn't a next time - I'll probably do the same. The parts prices for the IShift transmission were more expensive than my full repair bill, so I guess there's a positive for having to push the clutch.

Ah, forgot you have a newer truck...so no idea why the red button would cause problems. Maybe because it's sensing something wrong with the connection, as it's not supplying air to a trailer? Pure speculation. My truck is old, it doesn't care one way or the other about the trailer brake - on/off, makes no difference. I release it due to the speculation that the brakes are better if the truck "thinks" it has a trailer.

Yeah, I can see that...but, I needed a heavier wrecker to move the truck, and if I had not described the truck accurately, I'd have gotten a rollback or lightweight wrecker.

I don't know about the air supply, but the TS regulator only needs electricity for the light. I left mine out and only plumbed the air to it. I'm using the air for my inter axle lock, as I'm singled. My simple mind says that if you splice into the rear bags before the leveling valve, you should have full pressure available. If you splice in after, you'll get whatever pressure is required to level the rear end and is in the bags. But I'm no expert, by any means.

Yeah, he put an EZ pedal in. Huge difference in the clutch.

Well, my dreams of an inexpensive fix were just that....dreams. The clutch had a broken spring in it, so I got a new clutch, clutch brake, input shaft, associated parts, and rear main seal. Total bill came to $3500. In hindsight, had I bought the parts and provided them for the mechanic, I could have saved about $800, as he dinged me on the clutch price vs what the dealer quoted. All in all, not a bad repair bill, I suppose. First time I was stuck with the truck in two years of towing with it. The new clutch is gonna require some getting used to. It shifts like a car - just barely have to push the clutch to disengage, and only have to push about 4-6 inches to get into the clutch brake. Before, I had to press to the firewall to get clutch brake. It's a huge difference. While I'm not really happy with the bill, it's fairly reasonable and I can tell the difference...and it should outlast me. Back on the road tomorrow, only a week delayed.

Mixed reviews on my first use of them. My truck won't go into gear - I suspect it's the clutch adjustment or clutch brake. The first answer from them for a tow was "It's not attached to the trailer, it's not covered." After an hour and a couple calls and escalation to a supervisor, and asking them how it's not covered by the "all personal vehicles" in the policy coverages, they changed their verdict. Then the answer was that we'll tow it to the nearest qualified service center, which is a dealer with poor reviews. They allowed me to change the destination to another shop that was 2 miles further away. So, I'm now awaiting a verdict on the repair - hopefully I'm right about the clutch adjustment and I get an inexpensive repair and get the truck back tomorrow.

I think this might be the issue. Before the no start, the truck was rolling backwards really slow - trying to get it out of driving lane of the parking lot while the gear display was flashing at me. The shift control show neutral, but the dash shows a "-". Locked In Gear If the truck is shut down in gear, the AutoShift may become locked in gear. The transmission will attempt to get to Neutral during the next power up if the shifter is in Neutral. If Neutral is achieved, a solid “N” appears on the Gear Display. If Neutral cannot be achieved, a “DASH” will appear on the display and the engine will not start. If a dash appears during power up and the lever is in Neutral try the following: 1. Select Neutral, “N.” Turn the key OFF and let the transmission power down for a least 2 minutes. 2. Depress the brake pedal. 3. Release the parking brake. 4. Depress the clutch, but do not push in all the way to the floor or you will make contact with the clutch brake. 5. Select Neutral. 6. Turn the key to the ON position. 7. AutoShift will attempt to shift into Neutral once you turn the key ON, but you may have to slightly release the brake pedal to help let the torque off the driveline. 8. Once it reaches Neutral a solid “N” will appear on the Gear Display and the truck will start. If a dash still appears after this procedure, get the vehicle to a service center.

This is what another person on the Volvo FB group said. The shifter (push button) shows neutral, but the dash indicator does not. So I'm guessing there's a wire from transmission to ECU that's damaged somewhere.

Nice, will give that a shot today.

Clutch feels normal, have not checked fluid. Will do so tomorrow.

2001 Volvo 660, D12 Engine, 10 speed Eaton Autoshift. Had the truck plugged in and on battery charger this morning. Last time I started it after sitting for a month, the batteries were low and needed charging - they are at least three years old, and been run down a couple times. Last time, it started after a short charge, and I don't shut down during the driving day, so made it to our destination. This morning, again, fresh off of being plugged into the battery maintainer, it started and ran. Drove it for a couple miles, and shut it off. When I started it again, it would not go into gear. It just blinked like the clutch wasn't pushed in. Tried drive, reverse, manual, and even low multiple times - just blinked at me. Tried shutting the truck down and restarting, and now it won't start. I get the low chime that comes on when the batteries are low, and when turning the key, the gauges all go dead - like a low/dead battery. Put a charger on it, and no change this time. I'm thinking the batteries have finally gave up and don't have the amperage to turn the truck over - they are reading 12.9-13 VDC on the inverter display (didn't have multimeter with me). I also thought that maybe I had a bad connection on the batteries after looking at this mess of corrosion after the winter, so I pulled it all apart and cleaned the big connections and replaced the small connections. No messages in the instrument cluster display. Checked the wires at the starter and they appear good/connected, not loose. Anyways, I'm thinking I need to replace the batteries and go from there. =========================================================================================================================== Update....got a great price on batteries at the dealer up the road - $94 apiece. Replaced the batteries, and still won't turn over. See below for original description. When I turn the key on, I get the normal dash lights and relay clicks - 6 clicks. When that is all done, I have a "-" in the transmission readout, the battery light is on, and the hazard indicator is lit. Slow, steady chime that I've associated with low batteries - am I wrong on that? Turn the key to start, all dash lights go out. Voltage reading for the batteries doesn't change - 12.6/12.7. Transmission shifter reads neutral. To me, this seems like a connection issue or bad starter. Am I wrong on this? Is there a possibility that it's the transmission, as it's a strange coincidence that it wouldn't go into gear before the no start issue? Is it safe for the truck to jump the starter to rule it out?

Sounds good, thanks!