Service center visit - Page 3 - Montana Owners Club

Okie Guy · 05-01-2007, 04:05 PM

I am just glad to hear they have addressed and fixed your meltdown list. This is reassuring to me.

richfaa · 05-02-2007, 03:41 AM

I want to make it absolutely clear that the service center corrected ALL of our problems both large and small to our complete satisfaction. The trailer dis connect issue is something that they may or may not have induced..but it started less that 5 miles from the service center, we had never seen that before and they worked in that area. Lots of circumstantial evidence.

richfaa · 05-04-2007, 05:24 AM

E-mailed Darrell Turner at the service center about the dis connect errors( no he did not reply overnight, but did reply in a timely manner) And they are thinking that the most probable cause is a intermittent problem in the area they worked in. I was not sure exactly what wiring they changed so they are sending me some information and troubleshooting tips..
Another update. One of our listed problems was poor tv reception (TVI) on the low TV channels. the service center could not check this out as there is no channel 2,3,4 in the area.Through some trouble shooting we eliminated everything but the antenna itself and when we by passed the antenna. the signal was perfect. We called Winegard (no we did not call Keystone) although the camper is still under warranty. Winegard warranty is two years parts, 1 year labor.
Spoke to Kieth Tech services after we explained our troubleshooting results he agreed that the Amplified antenna head, part # RV 2005 was defective.Faxed them proof of purchase (the RV) and they will send out the entire antenna head, under Warranty. Not a single problem. The listed cost of the head is 82.13

My apologies to the old world craftsmen as they were my prime suspect in poor workmanship causing the problem .

mobilrvn · 05-05-2007, 08:42 AM

Rich, sorry I didn't think about this before regarding our visit to the repair facility, but maybe something to consider. I was concerned with the massive amount of work they had done and would it be warranted. I accepted Keystone's word that they would warrant their work for an additional 90 period. I should have gotten it writing. Spent a day at the dealer trying to get Keystone's errors corrected--had had also emailed them for the necessary parts to be sent to the dealer--totally ignored. Was told by the dealer there was no extension to our warranty and after a day a argueing, Keystone agreed we did have an extension--maybe a situation of the left and right hands not knowing what the other was doing. This made for another trip back to the dealer at a later date which turn out to be worthless because now Keystone want to "survey" the problems. That done, it would be a 6-8 week wait for parts (two pieces of wood). Long story short, we were on the road and could never get any dealer to accept us for repairs. Keystone won when the 90 days expired. Get any extension of warranty in writing from Keystone.

richfaa · 05-05-2007, 10:08 AM

The paperwork from the service center says nothing about a warranty but they are copies of the front pages.If there is anything on the reverse we would not see it. I will ask them if there is a warranty on the service centers work. It would appear the the service center folks are less than perfect however we have thus far had no problem in our dealings with Darrell at the service center regarding the work they did or possible problems they may have induced..They are very cooperative.I would advise everyone to do a complete system check on the order of a PDI after repairs have been done and BEFORE you leave the service center. We had been there 3 days, had a commitment 300 miles away the next day and DID NOT check out all systems..our fault and we payed the price.

richfaa · 05-09-2007, 02:21 AM

We are doing fairly good..There was a problem with the galley sensors reading alway 2/3 full. We asked them to check the sensors and they did find a couple of wires loose but the sensors were OK. Thought we had fouled tanks but that is not the case as we swapped out the sensor indicator with another Montana 3400 and it works perfect..now to get another indicator. we are still getting intermittent trailer disconnects but am working by E mail with the service center to troubleshoot that problem as it MAY have been induced by them working it that area..We are making progress..Oh, all of our slides are whisper quiet going in and out.. The bedroom slide sounded like in was rolling over gravel before the service center visit now I have to look to see that it is moving...

campbud · 05-09-2007, 03:33 PM

Rich what did they do to make the slides so quite? Ours can make some noise.

richfaa · 05-09-2007, 03:36 PM

Campbud..I have no idea.They did have the bedroom slide out for repair and that one was the nosiest. They also had the main slide out to repair the sag. My guess is a super proper adjustment and alignment.

richfaa · 05-13-2007, 09:45 AM

Contrary to popular belief I do like to report good news.. We got our Counter top repair kit from keystone today.It did not come overnight, there were no sworn affidavits, Signed statements or secret handshakes..The service center said they would send one out to us and they did. We also found the new Wineguard antenna head on our door step when we returned from a weekend camping trip. Mutual troubleshooting indicated a bad head. No fuss, no questions asked. no problems...Both Warranty items. The system can work.

richfaa · 05-14-2007, 05:43 AM

Update on the new Wineguard ant head..It did solve the interference problem..a couple of things of note.. the part numbers came out of the Wineguard manual but it is not exactly the same as the head on the camper. First the OEM ant had metal arms with sharp edges that will cut into the roof. the new one does not, it is covered in a vinyl material, Next the OEM ant does not fit in the box the new one came it. The new one is not as wide..hummm. Either wineguard improved the design or the OEM ant is built to "keystone specs" in a "cost effective " measure.

cmp-shooter · 05-14-2007, 08:45 AM

RICHFAA.....Is the reason you are haveing so many problems with your Montana is cause you use it so much traveling all the time.??Makes me think that if WE all used ours alot we would have the same troubles??

I don't have many issues with mine but due to working all the time mine gets used "backyard" camping most of the time.
I saw a note on the paperwork for the owners manual referenceing NOT LIVEING IN THE MONTANA ALL THE TIME OR WARRENTY WILL VOID.. I wonder if this is the reason why?..You know what I mean "the more you use it(or anything) the more It will fall apart??"

richfaa · 05-14-2007, 10:22 AM

It is my opinion and observation that the more we use these things the higher the probability is that we will see failures.Our previous camper was 10 years old, used as a weekend camper unit and maybe once a year vacation and we had more problems with the 3400 in 112 days on the road than 10 years with the other camper.Many folks use these and other brands as full time units and we have never head of a warranty being voided because you live in them full time. I do not think the issues we had in our one year of ownership are out of the ordinary. What Is out of the ordinary is that we revealed that we had them and talked about them.

bigmurf · 05-14-2007, 06:50 PM

Lived in ours for last 1700+ days. Never used showers at parks (NEVER). Lots of rough roads. Stress crack and replaced axles (both warranty). No major problems.

richfaa · 05-15-2007, 04:21 AM

Humm Bigmurf..Stress crack and replaced axles sounds like major problems to me???All of our issues were also replaced under Warranty..but problems just the same..We have the feeling that we are good now..all the initial bugs worked out.

richfaa · 06-07-2007, 03:51 AM

It has been over a month since our service center visit and we have pulled over 2K miles without a additional problem.Our 1 year bumper to bumper Keystone warranty is over and we, along with our extended Warranty are on our own. It was our choice to hold Keystones feet to the fire during the 1 year warranty period and we have no complaints about the service provided by all concerned at Keystone/Montana. We took 26 issues into the service center all corrected. We did during the year correct issues on our own,,, replace all valve stems, tighten loose plumbing, stop leaks as they occurred, re route brake wiring , check for stripped cabinet screws and replace cabinet doors as they fell off, etc. I did have a complete listing of all the issues large and small that occurred during the year but they died along with my hard drive awhile back. As I recall, including the 26 service center issues there were 52 what I considered,, should not have occurred issues..just about all of them quality/workmanship related.

we have no regrets in our purchase of the 3400.We purchase based on all the available data we could collect and consider and have no doubt we made the correct choice.Both our dealer and the Keystone support system came through for us as the data indicated. We feel confident that our future travels will be "better' We are also confident that our extended warranty and vendor warranties will cover any"issues" that might occur.

We report issues large and small as informational to give others a "heads up" If it could happen to us ..it could happen to you.
We are..contary to the" opinions" of some, satisfied and happy Montana owners and would and do recommend them to others..after doing the homework of course....

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