Possible PleasureWay Fuel Pump problem

[Jenise]

If my husband's diagnosis is correct we have a Fuel Pump problem. The van developed this odd 'whirring' noise last time we took it into town. It whirrs whenever the ignition is on, and while the sound has gaps in it it's the same whether moving or idling in Park. Also, we noticed an additional strange noise twice that, on reflection, we realized occurred both times when going up a slight incline when exiting our neighborhood. Looking at the diagrams that show what's where, and finding that the source of the sound appeared to be originating from the vicinity of what would specifically be the fuel lift pump.

Does this sound right, and if so, where do we go for further diagnosis and repair? Because of the bastard parentage of the van, a problem like this has us scratching our head about who to take it to. It's not a Mercedes issue we don't think, so is it a Dodge problem or a PleasureWay problem?

It's not under warranty so we can take it anywhere. We live in Birch Bay, Washington at the WA/British Columbia border, and could take it to anyone from Vancouver BC to Seattle. Anyone have any specific reccomendations in our area for RV mechanics, dealerships, or other problem-solvers we can trust?

[Mike]

Just to make sure I understand this, you're driving a Sprinter chassis that was built during the
brief marriage of Daimler AG and Chrysler, and has the Ram badge on the grill? I think that's
about right, since you list it as a 2007 Pleasure Way TS Plateau.
The marriage broke up with a fair degree of acrimony, and you might be hard pressed to find
an existing Chrysler dealer who will look at it. Roadtrek owners with Dodge Sprinter chassis have
had similar problems.
Unless there's a local independent repair shop that does Sprinter vans, your choices for chassis
service may be limited to a Mercedes shop/dealer, or a Freightliner shop/dealer.
You could contact Pleasure Way and ask them what they would suggest? They may have a list
of Chrysler dealers, that will still try to service the Dodge Sprinters. Maybe there's one near
you.

Sorry, I can't be more help, but I think that's just the way it is. Maybe another Dodge Sprinter
owner can suggest another option?
I just had a similar problem with mine, thinking the fuel pump was failing. I had to check with
Roadtrek to make sure they hadn't done any major mods that would prevent GM from doing the
repairs as if my van were just a Chevy van, and not a conversion motorhome.
I can still get GM to service the chassis on mine for almost all Chev related issues, fuel pump and
sender assembly included.

[Jenise]

Mike, you've got it exactly right.

We did find a friend at the local Toyota-Mercedes dealership. He runs the parts shop, but he started working on Sprinter vans in 2002 and has some degree of familiarity with the breed. He suggested it could be the turbo resignator issue this model is famous for. It's actually been replaced once by the prior owner, but the second one could have cracked and be just on the brink of going into that limping state that tells you it's the resignator for sure. They're willing to take a look at it.

Otherwise we're going to hope it's a clogged fuel filter because that's the cheapest thing to fix.

We've already talked to the Dodge/Chrysler people in town, who were only slightly less deaf-mute about it than the Pleasureway Dealer in Abbotsford, or is it Chilliwack, Canada. I've called them about three different issues and you'd think they'd never repaired one. Which sounds more rude than I mean it to, they did talk to me and seemed to want to be helpful, but at the same time they seem surprised by my questions on both occasions, and not so much what I asked by that I asked a question at all and my questions aren't that unusual, and couldn't answer any of them. Surely I'm not the only Pleasureway owner who ever asked to buy the grip bar over the passenger side that there are two obvious holes (covered with gray plastic plugs) for? That part per everybody else is part of the van conversion, so a Pleasureway dealer should know where to find the solution. But they didn't. (The Mercedes guy figured it out for me.)

I'm going to have to make a buddy out of someone in Saskatoon--good idea getting their recco on a Chrsyler/Dodge dealer who has some experience. We're in kind of a backwater place, though. The Chrysler dealer is also Dodge, Plymouth and Volvo, I think. They don't seem to have seen a lot of these.

[Mike]

The other suggestion I would offer might be to join some online Pleasure Way Owners
forums and ask them your specific questions. I would imagine there are a few online forums
for Pleasure Way owners. I think the manufacturer's website has links to a couple.

It's always a tough situation when something like the Daimler Chrysler thing happens, and no one
seems to want to help. As I said, you're not the only class B owner to get caught by the demise
of the relationship between these two chassis manufacturers/servicers.
It seems like it's the customer/owner that takes the hit.

Here's a link to that resonator problem discussion from this forum with some possibly useful
info for you, if it is that and not the fuel pump or something else. If you haven't already found it.
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=566&p=4843&hilit=sprinter+limp +mode#p4843

Good luck.
If I have to replace my fuel system components, it is supposedly a fairly straight forward
procedure, so I'll be prepared for the financial hit. Eeeesh!

[Jenise]

Mike, good news and bad news. The good news is that the local Mercedes dealership was willing to work out the problem for us. The bad news is that they confirmed our diagnosis, and it WAS the fuel pump. The good new, however, was that it was only the lifter pump and not the ultra-expensive injector pump, so it will cost us about ten times what fixing a clogged fuel filter would but only one fifth what replacing the injector pump would cost!

Re Pleasureway forums, I didn't actually find any. Or perhaps I didn't look far enough down the list, that if they're there they're not very busy. Google turned up this forum for Class B's, which seemed to be about as close to a narrow field as I could find.

[Mike]

Any time it's not the most costly fix, that's good news.
If they can get at or see the more expensive part, while you're getting the lifter pump serviced,
you might ask them what kind of shape it's in? Sometimes these things go at around the same
time, and it might be worth getting them to evaluate it.
I generally wouldn't go looking for trouble, but if preventative maintenance can save me some
money, I'll sometimes choose proactive.

[LesM]

Hi, Jenise. Here's the URL for a PleasureWay owners' forum. There seems to be a lot of specific PWay knowledge in some of the members. To join, they ask that you provide your VIN number so they're reasonably sure only PWay owners join.

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Ple ... nersgroup/

Les

[Mike]

Provide your VIN number? Hmm, that's a new one.
How times have changed?
The RV specific forums are often great for sharing info on problems and repair knowledge and
anecdotal experiences with others who may eventually run into the same issues.

[markopolo]

I wish more of the Pleasure-Way and Roadtrek members on the Yahoo groups would participate here on Class B Forum