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Bob Vinson & OMC save us again!

Yahoo Message Number: 75225
Beware the hydraulic system for your slides! This past Friday, we were returning to our northern California home after picking up our coach from Oregon Motor Coach (OMC) where we had a residential refrigerator installed (love it!) and power awnings (awesome!). We stopped in Yreka, CA to break the trip into smaller bites. As we attempted to extend the slides, NOTHING HAPPENED. With sinking hearts we went outside and noticed hydraulic fluid streaming from behind the passenger side tag. Not a good day. In a panic, we called a local mechanic (hey that rhymes!). Once we had the mechanic coming out to us, we immediately called Bob Vinson, OMC's service manager for advise (of course, this happened on a Friday at about 4pm!). He told us to call him when the mechanic got there and he would give him some direction regarding the repair, and that hopefully the guy could splice the hydraulic lines, refill the fluid, and we'd be good to go. When the mechanic finally accessed the hydraulic lines to the ram for the rear passenger slide, he found that the tubes had actually popped off the couplers. The local guy did not have the supplies or equipment to complete the repair. In tears (this is DW talking!) I called Bob (by now it was past 6pm) who immediately told me not to worry, that we could return to him Saturday morning and he would take care of everything and get us on our way.
After a not-so-comfortable night without slides (Did anyone else learn the hard way that the shower doors in the 2006 Intrigue do NOT open without the slides extended? Who knew?!), we left the park at 6:20 in the morning . . . it was dark (we'd never driven this coach in the dark), foggy (great), and then of course once we reached Medford we encountered a herd (I'm not kidding) of elk on the road. When we finally made it to OMC, Bob whipped the coach into the bay, and set to work. After a huge amount of work, some of which involved Bob contorting himself to squeeze into small spaces (he's not a short guy!), our slides worked, and he proceeded to also fix a nagging rear camera problem that we had been having. Bob gave up his Saturday for us, yet all the while that he was working, he could not have been more cheerful, kind, and helpful. John learned a lot from him as he explained what he was doing every step of the way. He absolutely achieved hero status with us!
Apparently, this is a common problem because these lines are in an area that gets extremely hot. Anyone reading this with a similar coach might seriously want to take heed and do some preventative maintenance on those lines, and there's nowhere better to get it done than at OMC. It is not pretty to be stranded with no slides in the middle of nowhere! Bob put higher grade lines in, and then put "firesleeves" on them to protect them from the heat. In retrospect, we are so glad that this occurred a mere 4 hours away from OMC and not here at home!

John & Cathy Lamb

2006 Country Coach Intrigue

Re: Bob Vinson & OMC save us again!

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 75227
Boy, did your story bring back memories. I had a similar thing happen to me, twice. However, in my situation when the hydraulic line failed my slide extended. The mechanic told me the lack of hydraulic pressure allowed the slide to extend. The first time it happened I was on I-5 on the Grapevine. Sat alongside the road for over 4 hours waiting for road service. He was able to fix it well enough for me to get home. The second time was on Highway 50 on Spooner coming into lake Tahoe. That time I drove it into south shore with my slide out and stayed at an RV Park until the next day when my friend came up and fixed me good enough to get home. Took it to OMC later in the year and they put new lines on and some kind of heat shield to prevent it from happening again. Apparently it was a design problem with the Intrigues. Those of you with an Intrigue around 06 should have it checked out. It's not fun looking in your mirror and seeing your slide extended.

Dan 06 Intrigue 11936

Re: Bob Vinson & OMC save us again!

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 75229
We have gone to Oregon Motorcoach Center for our coach service since shortly after it opened. We were among the lucky ones, because last spring when we went in for service after a cross country trip, Bob checked the hydraulic lines for our slides and did the fix before we had a problem. This is an example of the quality of service we have always received and come to expect from Oregon Motorchoach Center.
By the way, in our 40' '06 Intrigue, the shower door does open when the slides are in.

S. Brandt, '06 Intrigue #11964

Re: Bob Vinson & OMC save us again!

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 75230
Does your intrigue have the Cat engine? I was told that this heat problem was a Cat installation design issue Bob 06 intrigue 12047

Re: Bob Vinson & OMC save us again!

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 75233
I recently noticed hydraulic fluid on the passenger side tag tire and tried to get it fixed (locally, in Lincoln, NE) but no one would work on it. I knew HWH was "only" 300 miles away so called them. They installed new hoses. I never had a slide not open or close but I'm sure I would have eventually. I have the 525 Cat.

-Dennis Holmes

2006 Intrigue #12055

Re: Bob Vinson & OMC save us again!

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 75234
It happened to me this summer driving from the Good Sam Rally at Redmond to Seattle about an hour out my passenger side rear slide popped out. It was a ways before there was a spot I could pull over. Hydraulic fluid everywhere on the tag axle and back.
Lou, Gary and Jake from Premier RV in Junction City talked me through getting the slide in and I took it to there shop where my Good Sam ESP proceeded to shaft me. said it was a preexisting condition. Those guys said it was a known problem and moved the synch cylinder away from the turbo to in front of the tag axle. I had them replace all the hoses while at it.
I am making a list of things to take it back to them to get worked on. I was very happy with them and their support.

07 Intrigue 530 45' 12162
C13 Cat Allison
06 Rubicon LJ

Re: Bob Vinson & OMC save us again!

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 75236
Yes, we have the Cat C13.

S. Brandt, '06 Intrigue, #11964

Re: Bob Vinson & OMC save us again!

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 75241
Bob Vinson is in my opinion one of the most dedicated to the customer service managers in the industry.
Not only does Bob show his dedication dailey at OMC, his crew follows his lead from beginning to end of your project.
After leaving Lane county and The Premier RV Resort this past summer for Florida. We also had our slide extend out 12" in the back and 2" in the front. This happend after leaving Sturgis, SD. Now on route 2 in Nebraska in the middle of, well alot of open land.
I was able to get the pull in strap connected with minor problems. This allowed us to pull in and secure the passanger side slide.
HWH was aprox. 500 miles ahead on I-80 in Moscow, IA. Out of the way but worth the ride. We where on our way to FL. anyway.
They of course where familiar with the failure and had us back on the road in 4 hours with new hoses directed away from heat with minimal cost.
I recommend that every owner with a late model CAT installed have OMCC or HWH make the necessary modification. Eventualy the heat will cause the ends of these high pressure hoses to fail.
It is also a good idea to be familiar with the manual process of pulling in your slides.

James F. 06 MAGNA 6558

Re: Bob Vinson & OMC save us again!

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 75245
It happened to me with the 400 ISL. Twice. I'd recommend anyone with hydraulic slides have the hoses checked out.

Dan 06 Intrigue 11936

Re: Bob Vinson & OMC save us again!

Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 75248
Question? Which side/slides required replacement was heat a factor do you monitor the HWH tank level? What was the approximate miles. Bob 06 intrigue 12047

Re: Bob Vinson & OMC save us again!

Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 75250
Both failures happened on my curbside bedroom slide.

Dan 06 Intrigue 11936

Re: Bob Vinson & OMC save us again!

Reply #11 –
Yahoo Message Number: 75253
Interesting!! That is the problem location for Cat engines I have the Hydralic syns cylinder Behind an angle metal panel in the tag wheel well This cylinder was relocated for the Cat Engines One fire was reported and may be in the file section. Thanks for your input. Bob 06 intrigue 12047

Re: Bob Vinson & OMC save us again!

Reply #12 –
Yahoo Message Number: 75343
NONE of the slides worked once the hydraulic fluid was on the ground! In the 2006 Intrigue, the ram for the rear passenger side bedroom slide is right behind the tag. It gets an enormous amount of heat and it truly is just a matter of time before this "event" happens. It is possible to re-route the hydraulic system, but we're thinking that the fire shielding Bob put on the lines to and from the ram will do the trick for us. The coach only has 22,000 miles on it.

Cathy Lamb 2006 Country Coach Intrigue

Re: Bob Vinson & OMC save us again!

Reply #13 –
Yahoo Message Number: 75345
Cathy, I drilled a large number of holes on the metal protective plate for ventilation. So far so good.

Lee
--

Lee (leozbrowski@...) 2007 Country Coach Intrigue 12153
CAT C-13
 

Re: Bob Vinson & OMC save us again!

Reply #14 –
Yahoo Message Number: 75349
The first time it happened to me, I was repaired alongside the road. The mechanic fixed the hose and I didn't try my other slides. After I brought the slide in, I attached my hand winch cable to it. Since it was a temporary fix I didn't want to take the chance it would extend again. By the way, the winch would not bring my slide in. The angle from the winch to the hook was too sharp. Bad design! The second time I parked at the RV park and extended my other slides with no problem. In hindsight, after what Cathy said, I'm surprised they worked.
OMC also did the heat shield job for me. At the time Ed Read was the manager and he said they were seeing a lot of heat issues on Intrigues for the passenger bedroom slide. I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure they only did the heat shielding on that slide. Mine's a 40'er and he didn't differentiate between the 40's, 42's and 45's as far as problems with hoses.
My first breakdown occured around 25k miles and the second around 35k. I do check my hydraulic fluid around once a year.

Dan 06 Intrigue 11936