Power steering fluid leak repair, engine bracket replacements, underside of coach

I need to get better at checking the fluids of our coach.

We heard some weird noises coming from around the front wheels while driving, and couldn’t figure out what was causing it for a while. Since we were heading towards Red Bay at the time, I contacted Bay Diesel and made an appointment for them to investigate.

We eventually guessed that it was related to power steering. When I looked in the power steering reservoir in the engine compartment, it was completely dry:

Empty power steering reservoir

Oops.

I refilled it with Dexron III (as required) and kept an eye on it; sure enough, the level dropped during drives:

Dexron III

When we arrived at Bay Diesel, they wasted no time lifting up the coach:

Coach on lift

They found and repaired the power steering leak, from a hose under the rig:

Power steering leak

They also inspected the entire underside of the coach, with special attention on the engine, and found cracked clutch and tensioner brackets; common issues with this vintage of coach:

Cracked bracket

Cracked bracket

So they replaced them with better, stronger brackets. Here’s a comparison of old and new brackets:

Old and new brackets

Rebuilding the clutch assembly:

Rebuilding the clutch assembly

They also lubed the various lube points:

Lubing

A nice thing about Bay Diesel is that they were happy for owners to hang out in the shop. I wandered around under our coach and took lots of photos. Here are a bunch of pictures, starting at the front and working my way backwards:

Front with the generator partially out:

Front with generator partially out

Entry step:

Entry step

Entry step

Entry step

From in front of the front wheels:

From in front of front wheels

Independent front suspension:

Independent front suspension

Independent front suspension

Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer:

Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer

Back of the generator:

Back of generator

A small void behind a front mudguard, with a junction box for the ground effect light strip:

A small void behind a front mudguard

Behind the front wheels, with air horns and generator exhaust:

Behind the front wheels, with air horns and generator exhaust

Under the basement storage bays:

Under basement storage bays

Under the wet bay, with hot and cold low point drains, Aqua-Hot coolant overflow, and Aqua-Hot exhaust:

Under wet bay, with hot and cold low point drains, Aqua-Hot coolant overflow, and Aqua-Hot exhaust

Under the wet bay, with my sewer outlet and the fresh water drain:

Under wet bay, with sewer outlet and fresh water drain

Rear wheels and engine area:

Rear wheels and engine area

A couple of techs inspecting the engine:

A couple of techs inspecting the engine

Oil pan, with a non-concerning minor leak:

Oil pan, with a non-concerning minor leak

Oil pan

The engine:

Engine

Engine

Allison transmission:

Allison transmission

Allison transmission

Allison transmission

Drive shaft; this piece was removed when our coach was towed back in 2023:

Transmission linkage

Other side of the transmission:

Other side of transmission

More engine bits:

More engine bits

More engine bits

More engine bits

More engine bits

More engine bits

Side radiator gearbox and fan:

Radiator gearbox

Radiator gearbox and fan

More engine bits

Rear of the engine:

Rear of engine

Finally, the rear of the coach:

Rear of coach

Fascinating!