PDI Inspection question - Montana Owners Club

Montana_5429 · 03-10-2006, 02:11 PM

Is there a list of things to look for when I do my PDI walkthru? I searched the forum and couldn't find one.

patodonn · 03-10-2006, 02:28 PM

Try to vary the search terms, use ther archives and go back longer...here is one I found via "Search" using "PDI Inspection" and 1 year

http://www.bitware.com/5er/PDI.htm

Should work fine..if not, I'm sure there are others in there.

Best

Trailer Trash 2 · 03-10-2006, 02:45 PM

Here is anothe PDI check list for ya.

http://users3.ev1.net/~crossstitch/PDI/pdi.html

TT2

CountryGuy · 03-10-2006, 02:58 PM

Doesn't Glenn have at least one PDI list on his pages?? Try HOME above.??????

yepper, or try this:

http://geocities.com/montanaowners/RVRelatedLinks.html

richfaa · 03-10-2006, 03:14 PM

I found a nice short one on www.fifthwheelliving.com it is short, sweet and to the point...I got the best items from this forum,Example..Shower drain leaks, loose plumbing.

Montana_5429 · 03-10-2006, 03:33 PM

WOW! Thanks for the info. There are alot of items to check. I scheduled my appointment for 3 PM so I wouldn't miss much work, but I can see I better allow for more time. Thanks alot for the help!

Glenn and Lorraine · 03-11-2006, 12:30 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

I found a nice short one on www.fifthwheelliving.com it is short, sweet and to the point...I got the best items from this forum,Example..Shower drain leaks, loose plumbing.

Rich, As thorough as you seemed to be on the pruchase of your Monty your choice of a PDI that is "short, sweet and to the point" surprises me. I would have thought this one would be more to your liking.

BTW-Thanks Carol (CountryGuy) for the plug.

CountryGuy · 03-11-2006, 01:29 AM

No problem Glenn,

To the moderators, "HOME", seems to be a weak description of what is linked there now. Wonder if we could come up with a better one word description?? A thought BEFORE I have my coffee, so, maybe it is not a good one!

richfaa · 03-11-2006, 02:02 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Glenn and Lorraine

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

I found a nice short one on www.fifthwheelliving.com it is short, sweet and to the point...I got the best items from this forum,Example..Shower drain leaks, loose plumbing.

Rich, As thorough as you seemed to be on the purchase of your Monty your choice of a PDI that is "short, sweet and to the point" surprises me. I would have thought this one would be more to your liking.

BTW-Thanks Carol (CountryGuy) for the plug.

We have that one in our PDI folder also and it is a good one. It is a very long one and I thought at times went overboard or included items that did not apply.The most valuable source for inspection items was the real life experiences of folks on this forum .There are several good PDI checklist out there.I think that if you were to take what applies to your PDI out of them and add what you can learn from this forum , you will not miss much.We have the "short and sweet PDI" the one you mention and one that is 19 pages long Plus the items from this forum.We are "selecting" items from all of them for our final PDI..However I give the greatest value to the items reported on this forum.. I think another important factor is that our Dealer KNOWS we will be doing this and will have the PDI listings long before we get there to do the PDI..sort of a "incentive to quality" We are seriously thinking of going over to the factory when we get our build date and If we can find out when it will actually be on the line..Going to query Mark Krol about that.

Wouldn't you like to be able to do your own quality control.

CountryGuy · 03-11-2006, 02:37 AM

Our understanding, is that they will not allow you in the plant while they are working, especially those whose unit is running down the line at that time. One time when we were on the plant tour, there was a guy there trying to do that, they would not let him in the plant during working ours, but, he was allowed to go on the tour. Have no idea if he found his unit on the floor or not.

richfaa · 03-11-2006, 03:31 AM

Yes..but at the same time you can tour the sprinter factory when it is full operation .Different divisions I guess...we will try anyhow...nothing to lose..

Montana_5429 · 03-11-2006, 04:21 AM

The answer to this question may be obvious, but this will be my 1st 5th wheel unit. I've been reading about the potential for shower leaks. I'm assuming this is at the drain fitting. Since the drain is in an enclosed area, how do you know if you have a small leak?

dsprik · 03-11-2006, 07:17 AM

... And how can you tell on the PDI... Since everything (I believe) coming off the line seems to currently have this defect, you might as well just call your dealer the day before the PDI is scheduled and tell them to just pull it and install a proper rubber gasket... we don't even need to do a PDI on that - we already know it's bad...

And if I see even ONE drop of plummer's putty...

richfaa · 03-11-2006, 07:29 AM

Dave..what a great idea...I will do that..That will be item # 28 on our MOC hit list.

dsprik · 03-11-2006, 07:40 AM

Now that I've read, that, I guess that really isn't a bad idea.

It's amazing what caffeine in the afternoon can do to you... and if you're ADD anyway, you don't need much of a boost... AND YOU'RE OFF!!! Or at least your mind is... Anyone feel sorry for my wife, yet?

I'm sending you a PM, Rich.

Go Pokes · 03-12-2006, 01:39 AM

The shower only leaks after it has been used for a while. The problem is that the shower floor flexes and moves when someone stands in it, but the drain pipe is rigid and does not flex. Therefore, after use the shower begins to leak. There is an old (early 2005?) post on how we solved the "leaking shower".

Wrenchtraveller · 03-12-2006, 02:57 AM

I will be removing the plumbers putty and using a good silicone calking which IMO is far superior to a rubber gasket. The silicone is a very strong adhesive and still will take a small amount of movement. I plumbed my house 28 years ago and even back then silicone was replacing plumbers putty and rubber gaskets so the term old world craftsmen is not all myth.

The lists above are all great but remember to check the air pressure on the coaches tires before you pull away. I was told my tires had been checked but I drove 70 miles with only 18 pounds in one front tire on the Coach. They do not look that flat because the other tire will hold up the coach. That tire had a big plug put in it and has been replaced by the dealer but the whole Chinese Mission tire issue is unsettling to me and I just may replace these tires before my first long trip. They were very hard to balance and seem so flimsey when unmounted. How they get a 10 ply rating is a mystery to me. Sorry, I'm rambling.......... take care.

dsprik · 03-12-2006, 08:07 AM

That's right, we're were going to have the trailer tires balanced, weren't we. Our dealer is a good guy, I don't think there would be any problem with him having one of his guys pulling that drain,scraping off the plumber's putty, then recaulking with silicone.

Will silicone flex enough to cover the flex of the floor of the shower? I'm 250#. If 175# guys are flexing and causing leaks, just wondering if that silicone will stretch enough to stay with MY flex?

Can the bottom of that shower be braced, I wonder? Wood framing or such?

Wrenchtraveller · 03-12-2006, 09:35 AM

I guess every model is different but on my 2955RL there is an aluminum floor joist right beside the shower drain and my shower floor is very strong at the drain. In fact the drain is so close to that joist that is is difficult to get at the plumbing from underneath. I think I will see if my shower leaks before I pull the drain basket as it will not be a quick easy fix like it would be if the drain was easily accessable. I was just out there checking it out and all my trap connections needed to be tighter than they were. These are made to be hand tight but they were done up by someone with a limp wrist as I was able to get a full half turn on all of them without exerting my full strength. I still pull wrenches for a living so I have good strength for an old guy.

Dave, if your shower drain floor is flexing too much, you may have other problems besides a plumbing leak and the shower floor itself may crack so if you find your shower floor flexing too much you should be able to brace it up from below. Maybe the problem has been addressed by Keystone and maybe that floor joist is there by design.

The reason silicone out performs plumbers putty on sink strainer baskets and bath drains is because it makes a flexible bond between the two surfaces and will stop a connection from working loose, putty and rubber gaskets rely on the squeeze from the threaded parts to hold a seal. When the thread backs off due to movement, then the connection can leak.

Removing plumbing that was put together with silicone can be difficult but it rarely gives trouble and that is why so many plumbers are using silicone for the applications I just mentioned.

I just put a new kitchen faucet that pulls out for a sprayer and has a soap dispencer. I will start a new thread for that. Take care.

dsprik · 03-12-2006, 10:11 AM

I've used silicone for years. On everything. Stops flooring from squeeking due to the nails starting to pullout from the wood curing - if you can get to them.

I need to be somewhat careful on a PDI, as I do not have the ability to be laying on my back under the basement or underbelly, working with my arms up in the air. I don't have that ability at all with my right shoulder, and my left, will eventually get to where I can hold that one over my head, but that sure won't happen for a while yet, the way it feels now. I need my dealer to do as much of this stuff as possible up front. I am not in a position to let anything slide now on a PDI, with the idea that if anything that happens later, I'll just fix it myself. Would have done that a few years ago, but I don't have that ability now.

I do have two son-in-laws, though... Both are very handy, and even if I had two good shoulders, they should be doing this stuff for me anyway... They must not have read the fine print in that liitle piece of paper they signed when they came to me to ask my permission for them to marry my daughters.

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