Our 2023-2024 Southern Migration Trip

[Fish]

I hadn’t thought of that. When the flame sensor is bad it only runs for a couple seconds.

@Jim watch this and you’ll be all set to do your own Oasis work:


This is where I’ve always bought service kits:

High-Quality Oasis Annual Service Kits | Hydronic Heating Warehouse

Looking for reliable and high-quality annual service kits for your Oasis heating system? Look no further than Hydronic Heating Warehouse. We offer a wide selection of service kits that include all the necessary replacement parts and components to keep your system running efficiently & reliably...

hydronicheatingwarehouse.com

That's where I finally found the float switch for my hydro hot. Cheapest price I found.
$139 for float switch.
$129 for 1 hour labor to find out I needed float switch.
$129 labor to take out old float switch and install new one.

Mobile repair guy was nice though and explained every aspect of the system to me and how to fix things on the hydro hot so I won't need to hire him for it again.

 

[Fatboy2004]

My rig's been sitting at Ocala Freightliner for the last two days. Wow, what an experience. The girl who answers the phone and also works the front desk, has apparently been to Freightliner school and excels in doing everything possible to be unhelpful.

My coach needed a DEF heating unit, about $1,000 at a dozen other places, but Ocala Freightliner is charging me $1,920.44. Then to install this friggen piece of gold, I have to pay another $1,125.00. Not sure, but I don't think there are more than a handful of bolts to remove/replace, a few hoses to clamp, and then clear the code.

So total out the door cost of doing business with Ocala Freightliner will be $4,147.95. I understand everyone has to make a profit, but this is crap.

service contract ?

 

[Jim]

service contract ?

If you're asking if i have an extended warrantee, then yes. Found out today they will pick up $2,100 of the total bill. Which is better than me having to pay the whole thing. But to expect them to pick up a 120% markup on parts, well that would be a fantasy.

 

[purring along]

That's good news about the warranty. The same thing happened to us at freightliner in Iowa. The parts were so inflated, our warranty company even started laughing on the phone, but they did help with some of the cost.I think they inflate the price when they find out you have a warranty.

 

[Rich W.]

My rig's been sitting at Ocala Freightliner for the last two days. Wow, what an experience. The girl who answers the phone and also works the front desk, has apparently been to Freightliner school and excels in doing everything possible to be unhelpful.

My coach needed a DEF heating unit, about $1,000 at a dozen other places, but Ocala Freightliner is charging me $1,920.44. Then to install this friggen piece of gold, I have to pay another $1,125.00. Not sure, but I don't think there are more than a handful of bolts to remove/replace, a few hoses to clamp, and then clear the code.

So total out the door cost of doing business with Ocala Freightliner will be $4,147.95. I understand everyone has to make a profit, but this is crap.

Jeeze Jim Im sorry I missed this. Have you had the work done yet? If not send me a PM and we’ll discuss alternatives. PM with contact info sent.

 

[Rich W.]

Jeeze Jim Im sorry I missed this. Have you had the work done yet? If not send me a PM and we’ll discuss alternatives.

and yes it is crap! Also question them about what they are actually replacing. The heater itself is just a loop of tubing - what fails is the valve. I’d say they are replacing the entire DEF head(er) at that price and it isnt necessary. You dont even need a DEF heater if you arent driving it in temps under 12°F. What‘s the status of all this?

 

[Rich W.]

Since it appears this all started yesterday afternoon I hope there is time to rescue your coach and perform the DIY repair for a couple $. This has always been the valve failure, not the “heater” (there is no separate heater) and when the valve fails, it does so in the open (on) position, over heating your DEF. This is a common failure and everyone with one of these systems should be prepared for it. FMI 16 confirms it:

The solution is to either install a manual valve or just by-pass the heater all together. You don’t need to heat your DEF and the ECM wont know the difference. Once the DEF is at normal temp and the code is cleared the problem will cease. There is no DEF “heater”, its a component of the DEF header, and essentially all they are replacing for that insane cost is the valve but since its part of the DEF header you’re getting soaked for the whole thing which should be around $1200 not $1900 and its a half hour job, not all day, and its something you don't even need!

 

[Rich W.]

For a little more background, the DEF heating system is there to keep DEF liquid in temps below 12°F when it starts to turn to slush. The “ heater“ (some tubing, a thermostat, and a valve) does this by routing engine coolant, which is at the engine operating temp, through a tube in the tank. If the DEF was really freezing this would keep it liquid. If the valve opens when its not at sub-freezing temps (valve failure) it over-heats the DEF and throws the codes Jim is seeing.

The flow of engine coolant is controlled by a valve that is suppose to hold the coolant back and prevent heating the DEF at any temp above the DEF freezing point (12°F). This component of the DEF header is really only needed for trucks that have to operate in sub-zero temps - we don’t but we are stuck with this nonsense anyway. Unfortunately they engineered the valve to stick in the open position in the case of valve failure, rather than closed, so that it will still heat the DEF in the event of failure, needed or not (dumb!). But of course if it’s not necessary it over-heats the DEF and here we are. Unfortunately they combined the valve and heating loop with the DEF header (DEF head for Spartan and all the others) so if the valve fails, which is common, the only “shop remedy” is to replace the whole unit. Another example poor engineering in these systems.

I don’t recall specifically but the heater hose is either 5/8” or 3/4” and all that is really needed is a simple brass double male barbed fitting and a couple hose clamps and you can by-pass the in-tank heating loop entirely. If you think you’ll ever need to be able to heat your DEF you can install an in-line ball valve on the input side and control it manually. But there is simply no reason to pay what that shop is asking, especially since 90% of what they are replacing doesn't need replacement.

You can literally solve the problem for around $5 and a half hour of minor wrenching. And really for a short term fix a couple locking hose clamps of the variety you use when changing an Oasis pump (I believe @Neal can direct you to the proper Amazon item) would do the trick in a pinch (no pun intended). Clamp off both hoses (since its hard to tell which os supply and which is return), fill the tank with fresh DEF (heat is the enemy of DEF so if its been overheated assume its bad), and since the ECM will no longer get the over-heat signal, the code will clear after five or six ignition cycles.

 

[Jim]

Probably too late, coach is still sitting at Freightliner. As of 4:00 yesterday, they said the part still hasn't arrived (by mail). I asked how long it will take once the part arrives and the fellow said it's an all day job. Maybe more.

 

[Rich W.]

Probably too late, coach is still sitting at Freightliner. As of 4:00 yesterday, they said the part still hasn't arrived (by mail). I asked how long it will take once the part arrives and the fellow said it's an all day job. Maybe more.

well if they said its an all day job they aren't being honest with you. Maybe they think it makes is sound like a more legitimate job. Ask them for the old parts and take a look at where they were mounted and draw your own conclusion.