3850 furnace short

[dunrovin1955]

I'm a new Montana owner and some ,including ME give Keystone the devil from time to time. Turned the furnace on the other day and nothing. Blown fuse. Had a direct short. Rv repair man I had do some repairs for me last year was in the park, flagged him down and he had time to check it out. From my experience with him last year, very competent. I had already talked with a Montana dealer 10 mile away and told me it would be a week to get me in. The man found the problem which was an ether conection to the thermostat. He did his thing and paid him $120 and I'm HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY! Didnt think to call Keystone to get an OK. But called them yesterday they told me as courtesy to me he would pay for the repair. I said OK but wait a minute, it's a 2014 and had I taken it to a Montana dealer it could have been 2 or even 3 times that price and he agreed. Yes I should have got pre approval BUT. OK I'm finished and happy. THANKS Keystone

[bncinwv]

Good deal!!! Good report!! And hopefully no future furnace problems!! The interesting thing about warranty work is Keystone has set prices depending on what needs done. They do not pay the dealer their standard shop rates. The dealer may have actually received less than $120 from Keystone. This is why it is so difficult to get warranty work from a dealer that did not sell you the rig.
Bingo

[K0LCB]

I am glad to hear things worked out for you. I had an issue with mine with a propane leak. I replaced a faulty hose, and then asked for reimbursement. Keystone settled up

[dunrovin1955]

Bingo, that makes it rough running around the country, have trouble and then can't get something repaired by a Montana dealer. Makes me want to lean towards an independent rv service. They want the work!!! Brent

[dunrovin1955]

Leonard, did you tell me you will be at the Fort Sam park in Dec.? If thats true we will be in lot 17 till Dec 28. Brent

[bncinwv]

quote:Originally posted by dunrovin1955

Bingo, that makes it rough running around the country, have trouble and then can't get something repaired by a Montana dealer. Makes me want to lean towards an independent rv service. They want the work!!! Brent

If it is an emergency situation, I would call Keystone immediately. I usually just keep a list of the minor items and have them addressed in one visit to dealer at my convenience.
Bingo

[Jay Bird]

Glad to hear things turned out ok on this Brent. Enjoy your trip.

[HOOK]

Good going Brent! Glad it all worked out!

[DQDick]

Glad it worked for you. Keystone paid the bill for a mobile RV repair person for us under warranty once and came thru promptly with the check. Good to hear they're still the same.

[Irlpguy]

quote:Originally posted by bncinwv

If it is an emergency situation, I would call Keystone immediately. I usually just keep a list of the minor items and have them addressed in one visit to dealer at my convenience.
Bingo

Let us say the "Emergency" situation happens Friday afternoon after the "Customer Service" department has closed, how are you going to get any satisfaction from Keystone until Monday morning at the earliest.

While I am glad Brent was looked after, let us not forget this was a 2014 model and the problem existed because the factory and the dealer did not confirm the operation of the furnace. In my mind that makes them responsible whether you call them prior to getting it fixed or not.

Our fridge packed it in the first few months of ownership while in Arizona with 90 degree temps and both freezers full of meat, the last thing I thought of was calling Keystone, I called the local dealer only to be told to make an appointment they could look at it in 3 weeks time. When I did call keystone just to see what I would be told to do, I was advised to take it to the local dealer who could not look at it for 3 weeks. I contacted a local mobile repairman who came right to the park within a couple of hours, repaired the fridge and informed me it was a fridge warranty issue and it cost me a Corona. No hassles with Keystone or a dealer that was not interested in helping me anyway. If I cannot fix it myself, guess where my first call will be in an "emergency".

[dunrovin1955]

Ed, I'm with you. I don't want to be set up in camp, pack up and take my coach to a local dealer and then maybe have to motel it over night. There are good mobil rv repairmen who usually do the job quicker and cheaper. Just saying, Brent

[richfaa]

Ditto IRL guy. Had the same issue on our fridge in the 2013 big sky. Cooling coils failed the the first 5 months. Local Rv repair had it up and running in three days. OEM warranty paid. Repair facility took care of it they know how to handle these issues with warranty.

[Phil P]

Hi

I have made this statement before.

Keystone is a sales oriented company.

Consequently their dealers are sales oriented as well.

For this reason the contracted Keystone dealer looks at their service department as a cost division of the company instead of a profit center.

This is not limited to Keystone but more or less to all of the high production manufacturers.

For this reason you will find on the average the independent shop or mobile repair service to be better qualified to do the work and has more incentive to do it correctly and in a timely manner. The reason for this is all of their business is repairs. Their profit center is repairs. You will commonly find the independent repair company will be very “up front” about their qualifications and will recommend a different company to do work they are not an expert or experienced in doing.

I have now found only two RV repair companies that I consider competent. One for the house and one for the chassis. Too bad they are located 1,000 miles apart. LOL

I am still looking for one that is good at electrical work.


Phil P

[Irlpguy]

quote:Originally posted by Phil P

Hi

I am still looking for one that is good at electrical work.

Phil P

Phil at some point in the design and development of Montana's and any RV there has to be a layout for the electrical. If every same year same model Montana is not wired the same using the same color coded wires then they should be.

Like a lot of things in the RV industry making even a "block" diagram available for the electrical would be most helpful, however this might add to their cost so it is not done. Not having access to this makes diagnosing electrical problems very difficult indeed for anyone including repair shops.

I am not prepared to pay someone for trial and error troubleshooting, for that reason I attempt to find the problem myself. Only as a last resort will I trust a dealer who may employ young folks that are even less familiar with electrical or other workings than I am.

[Phil P]

quote:

I am not prepared to pay someone for trial and error troubleshooting, for that reason I attempt to find the problem myself. Only as a last resort will I trust a dealer who may employ young folks that are even less familiar with electrical or other workings than I am.

Hi

I have formal training in both electronics and distribution electrical (house wiring) and some very special use electric used in aircraft and ships.

However trying to trouble shoot wiring issues without any type of wiring diagrams is very difficult. At least with a new house you get a wiring diagram while not exact at least gives you some idea where they put them, a plumbing riser again not exact but not difficult to use because the building codes commonly require certain locations for certain piping in relation to major fixtures like toilets and a structures drawing that is very accurate.

Then on top of this I have had the selling dealer and CW just off I10 near the Alabama / Florida border tell me Keystone will not allow then to contact the manufacturer of items like the tires, awing and waste tank level indicators etc to get technical information .

Then when I get one of these manufacturers on the phone while the selling dealers electrical technician is standing there and the adviser wants some items check with a VOM and the company didn’t have one and when I produced one the electrical technician didn’t know how to use it I gave up trying to get anything done on the electrical by any company that was a trailer dealer. Then the selling dealer damaged the trailer while changing a tire.

I think you get the idea. The selling dealer didn’t have a RVIA trained technician on staff.

As for Keystone not providing the electrical wiring drawings it is defiantly a cost factor. If the owner had what Keystone has they would go broke defending law suits because they don’t follow their own drawings. This I got from keystone quote “we don’t use drawings we just have people working here that know how to do wiring” end quote.

Someone else here ask me to keep them advised as to how I make out with an SOB.

Well a fellow that looked at my trailer before he purchased a 5th wheel, you know the ones that will walk up to you in a parking lot and ask how you like a 5th wheel not necessarily a Montana they just haven’t made up their minds yet as to a class A or trailer.

I parked next to him at a place we go to a couple of times a year that isn’t an RV park but has 15 amps plugs so you can keep your batteries up. He has a nice SOB from one of the mass producers not owned by Thor and it is just 13 months old. So I ask him how the trailer had been. He informed me that he and his wife moved in and are full timers. He has had some warranty issues.

So I sat down to hear about his problems. He was just rubbing it in. He had taken the trailer back to the selling dealer last month (12 months old)and politely informed me that they did all of the warranty items and washed the trailer. Then the zinger… it took them longer to wash the trailer than to fix the 3 warranty items.

Well so be it.

Phil P

[bncinwv]

I must be blessed, because I have never had a problem getting warranty items addressed (including electrical) in the previous two dealers that I have had dealings with. Knowing the competency of the service techs at the current dealer (yes, a Camping World), I do not foresee problems there either. I do know which techs to request to work on the unit since I observed two very competent techs at work for more than a day while we were waiting to pick up the rig. I do not dispute that some have problems with service departments, however, not everyone does, myself included.
Bingo

[richfaa]

Then on top of this I have had the selling dealer and CW just off I10 near the Alabama / Florida border tell me Keystone will not allow then to contact the manufacturer of items like the tires, awing and waste tank level indicators etc to get technical information ."

We did not find this to be the case. I was standing beside the dealer parts guy when he was talking to the holding tank manufacturer about specs for the proper holding tank when my first tank failed on my 06 3400.Keystone has referred me to vendors for information.

When we had the "meltdown" in "Q" the Keystone dealer had to do extensive wiring and I know they were in contact with Keystone.

We have had many problems with our Keystone Montana's but never a problem with Keystone or the vendors on warranty repairs.

I would have rather have not had the problems but that is the nature of the RV industry that we accept. In our case we have the experience that we can depend on Keystone and the vendors and our Extended warranty for needed repairs.

[Phil P]

Richfaa

In you post the key word is “Keystone” the dealer was communicating with Keystone.

Every Keystone dealer I have tried to use when I show them the wiring and troubleshooting procedures sent to me by the waste tank level indicator manufacturer without exception I was ask if they could keep them because they could not get them. The technician at CW acted like a dog dying of thirst being presented a tub of water when I show him the drawings. When we found the sidewalls in all 4 tires bubbled up so they had to be changed the selling dealer told me at that time they were not allowed to contact Goodyear they had to go thru Keystone and Keystone was closed Friday afternoon until Monday morning. This equates to keystone requires their contracted dealer to go thru them and doesn’t allow the dealer to contact the vendor directly except on Keystones instructions.

Now when it comes to the selling dealer I would believe just about anything someone told me about their being wrong. While they maybe Cracker Jack sales people they are absolute incompetents when it come to maintenance and warranty. Some of my problems I have had with Keystone are generated by the selling dealer not filing some of the warranty claims.

But my exposure to the CW technician working on my trailer indicated he was much more qualified than the technicians at the selling dealer. He had no reason to request copies of the documents if he had access to them thru CW / Keystone. This CW location is a Keystone seller.

I had one other Keystone dealer in north Florida request a copy of the trouble shooting chart and associated documentation for my electric awning. I find this odd because those documents are available on the Internet.

Every independent RV service organization I used from Seattle to Ft Lauderdale when I ask if they have those manuals they always answered yes.

Phil P