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maintenance cost on a MB diesel

Yahoo Message Number: 14109
I am trying to get a feel for what the oil, filter changes will be for a 2005 Dynamax Dynaquest M35 250hp. on a freightliner chasis and a MB engine, also will it be difficult to find places to do that service.

Re: maintenance cost on a MB diesel

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 14113
You should be OK with most Freightliner dealers. They don't like DPs because of all the extra effort to get at the engine and the ECU connection. We took our Journey in to the largest CAT dealer in Southern Ontario. They were very good. Our tech told me that when we drove on to their lot ever tech jumped into the pit and hid making like they were busy. They hate dealing with pushers and RVers who often think they can walk in say fix it and leave in an hour. Our tech took us over to a Freightliner truck that they were working on and showed me how much easier it was to do the work. He and I had a hell of a time getting to the engine as their were three trap doors in the floor of the bedroom and it turned out we had to open all three. I could not get under the dash to find the ECU connection and it was a good thing he was much smaller but it still took a half hour.

The problem was isolated to an area that involved both CAT and Freightliner. They told us they would do their part and we'd have to go to a Freighliner dealer to do the Freightliner part (the CAT dealer was not authorized to do warranty work for Freightliner). I phoned a nearby Freighliner dealer and made an appointment. When I got there they had no record of it. The service manager was mad since the person who likely took my call at night should not have been booking appointments.

I told him what my problem was. "We were driving along Hwy 401 and the check engine light came on. I got out and want to the back and took a look. There was an engine there all right [the whole office broker into laughter]. We took it to the CAT dealer and they said the problem has two parts. The air intake heater isn't working and they can fix that but there is a problem between the fuse panel up front and the intake heater in the back at the engine and that, according to them, is a Freightliner problem. I told him I called the Freightliner help desk and they said a totally new wiring unit should be installed if they can't find the problem. I then said if you can fix it we'd really appreciate it." He said they were fully booked but he'd put his top tech on it. Well, that was great. He identified the problem very quickly as the wiring loom ran over a metal part and had worn through from rubbing and the line in the loom for the intake heater was shorting. They fixed it very quickly and we were set to go.

The manager came out and told me that they hated to see an RV come through the gate. He said RV owners want everything done yesterday and don't realize they are in a service que that has over the road trucks that are idle waiting for repair and the owners are losing money. He said the reason he put his guy on it was that I wasn't pushy and they all had a chuckle from my comment about checking the engine after getting the check engine light warning.

There was a recall soon after and it had to be done by Frightener. Some programming of the computer and a part swap. I had it done by them along with the Allison first filter change and a few other things and they were very reasonable. It seems that once you establish a good relationship with them things go smoothly. WHAT WE LEARNED from that ordeal was that you take your unit to a dealer who is authorized to service the engine AND the chassis. In your case if the Dynamax meets your needs with respect to weight, towing capacity, etc., any Freightliner dealer should be fine since they are owned by Daimler so you have the same chassis and engine manufacturer doing the work I'd suggest calling a Freightliner dealer and getting a quote for the service work required.

Don


Re: maintenance cost on a MB diesel

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 14115
thank you so much that was very helpful, first thing in the morning I will do some calling to get the prices.

Re: maintenance cost on a MB diesel

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 14130
Here in Casa Grande, the RV dealers/shops don't do oil changes on diesels. Huh. They all recommend Speedco, I believe a nation wide chain(?). I went by Speedco, and oil & tires is all they do. For my Kodiak Duramax & Onan 5500 they quoted me about $350 for synthetic oil & filters for both.

If anyone has info or opinions on Speedco, please let me know before I go in there.

Re: maintenance cost on a MB diesel

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 14132
Hi:
I have been reading the recent posts regarding maintenance facilities and no one has mentioned Freightliner Oasis service centers. They specialise in RV,s and also offer a 10% discount on parts for freightliner club members. I have my Embark serviced at the Sacramento Truck Center and have always gotten excellent service. The service techs love to work on my rig because it's not a pusher.

Charlie F

Re: maintenance cost on a MB diesel

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 14184

Little late on this. My Haulmark on an M2 106 chassis runs about $275 - 300 for the annual service. One of the drivers will be the cost of filters. The filters spec'd on the Cummins ISC in my rig are about $125 of the cost (two fuel filters and an oil filter).

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