What can break next?

[CrowCross]

Hi Folks,
I have a 2016 Jayco Grayhawk DS 31.
I currently have just over 17,000 miles on it.

I Love my RV so this post isn't meant to blast Jayco. I wanted to present some of the problems I have had with hopes some of you can see if your RV is failing in the same way so you can catch it before it completely fails.

Some of the list is minor or nitpickey while some a bigger deal.

My mircrowave started to come loose from the wall. I had to refasten it.

My kitchen sink faucet drips if you don't shut it off just right. I need to replace it.

Connection on back of toilet was tight but not real tight and leaked at sites with higher pressure. Tightened connection and leak fixed.

Water fill connection to water tank vibrated off. Reconnected fitting.

Bedroom TV speaker has static. Not bad, but I can hear it.

This one was my fault...Drawer in bedroom came open during travel. When I went to put out my slider the trim caught the side of the drawer. I replaced the trim and now check the drawer before putting out the slider.

Sofa window bumps awning support when opened. I wish they mounted the awning about 1/4 inch more towards the front.

A mouse or some other critter ate my stove propane line between the manifold and stove. That wasn't Jayco's fault....but this was..the fitting was so tight connecting to the manifold I rounded off the flats and had to drill it out, re-tap threads and install new fitting. They also didn't use any tape or dope on the threads.

There was a hole leading to the outside of my water/filter compartment in the basement. Mice were coming in. I filled it with expansion foam.

Where ladder attaches to roof sealant has developed a hole and leaked slightly onto bedroom wall. I had to apply more sealant.

Tankless hot water heater stopped working. Did you know there's a reset button you can push in the outside heater compartment?

This really isn't a problem but I thought it was. Tankless hotwater heater would cycle betwen hot and cold while taking a shower. I learned that if you keep the cold water off and just use the hot water...with the proper setting on the wall temperature setting the water stays one temperature.

Speaking of showers, when I open the shower door the plastic edge trim often comes off. I'll have to glue it on someday.

This also really isn't a problem but I thought it was. I turned heat pump on when temperature outside was about 30 deg and and thermostat was set to 70. After a half hour or so the heat pump stopped. I tried to start it back up and it wouldn't run. Furnace seemed to be OK. What I didn't know is if the system trys to run 3 times it lock out for 2 hours. I thought it was broken. I learned if the temperature doesn't get to within 6 deg of set point it trys the furnace. If furnace doesn't get temperature up..it shuts down. After the 2 hour wait period I walked the temperature up to 70 by increasing the setpoint 5 deg's at a time until I reached 70.

I also learned the fridge doesn't like to be started in the cold. I had to wait for it to warm up outside before it started.

Clear door window has no curtain. My wife made one. Later at a RV show I noticed some Jaycos have curtains installed in the entry door window.

I think that's all for now. If anyone has other "problems" can you let us know...such as an electrical connector coming loose, bad light fixture, pex connector failing etc., this way I can check them out in my RV to prevent future issues.

[pconroy]

I feel your pain. Our 2016 31FK seems to be relatively problem free. Looks like we got a "good one". But I too hold my breath every time we pull it out of storage: "What the #$%^ will be broken this time?"

We are stuffing a lot of appliances and complicated gear into a vehicle that gets hammered as it bumps and bangs down the road.

But you're right, you need to stay on top of things. And be somewhat handy.

On our 31FK:
- most of the LEDs died early. Jayco and the Supplier sent me free replacements. But I had to do the rewire
- Kwikee steps motor died, I replaced it
- Furnace stopped working. Mobile RV tech replaced the sail switch, about $100 total bill
- Hit something on the road and it blew the black tank valve off. That was fun working on that.
- Levelers have been acting funny but haven't died yet
- Fridge too has acted up a few times but seems to right itself
- The water pump filter housing likes to work itself loose and spray water all around. Fortunately, that's in the basement on the 31FK
- The Jensen JRV215N head unit has flaked out on me a few times
- Window valance in the master has worked itself loose from the wall/
- Big shade by the dinette won't retract


The big killer was the Cummins Generator blowing up. Only 300 hours.
That wasn't under warranty and a HUGE hit to the budget.

Tons of little stuff, rattling loose.
Went around the whole RV sealing holes with urethane foam, zip-tying loose wires, resealing gaps with Dicor.


On the tankless water heater, Yeah - that Undocumented Reset Button has been pressed, by me, many times. Sure as heck wish it had been documented.

We've come to work around the quirks of the Girard.
We like it now. I like it much better than the 6 gallon tanked Atwood we had before.


But, you're right.
Every time I get in the thing, I wonder "What now???"

[WinnieView]

We have owned many motorhomes and it is said that you need either a big toolbox or a big wallet.

[CrowCross]

pconroy, I noticed you said "- Levelers have been acting funny but haven't died yet"

I forgot to mention that one...At home I raised the levelers and noticed one didn't retract. I put them down then back up and they all retracted.

We were leaving a campground and before I pulled out I remembered the incident back home where the levelers didn't retract one of the levels. I got out and looked and sure enough one was left down. Cycled it and it retracted.
I am sooooooooo glad I looked. Can you imagine if I drove off with the leveler down?

That is now something I check every time.

[Jopopsy]

Originally Posted by pconroy

On our 31FK:
- most of the LEDs died early. Jayco and the Supplier sent me free replacements. But I had to do the rewire
- Kwikee steps motor died, I replaced it

I've got some flickering on my LEDs. Of course the dealer couldn't duplicate. I put a new house battery in the coach; this weekend I'm going to trace the ground under the coach and see if its loose. I might venture into the rats nest of wiring likely to be found under my bed, but I'm wary.

As to your steps, did you grease them yearly? I just did mine 2 weekends ago, and aside from being messy the steps work a lot smoother now.

[pconroy]

Steps. Yeah - hit 'em with white lithium. They just died one day.

LEDs - it was clear that Jayco and the supplier got a bad batch from China. When I emailed Jayco, he just asked "How many shall I send?" and nothing else.

A year later when more died, I emailed the supplier in Indiana and got the same response ("How many do you need?")

Replacing them was more work than it should have been.
They were hard wired into the circuits.
Clearly Jayco wasn't anticipating replacements.

[Jopopsy]

I greased my stairs up w/ the Grease in a Can stuff that I found on the manual front page.

Grease in a Can

Not sure how it was different then what you used, but I did go out of my way to order what they told me to use. I wonder if it will keep my steps working longer? Who knows - if they take a dump I'll let you know !

[pconroy]

One more fun thing on the Girard. Twice now, the water heater has started knocking. A loud knock every 5 or 8 seconds.

Flip the switch off - still knocks.

I haven't figured out the cause.
The cure seems to be firing it up and running quite a bit of hot water thru the system.

Anyone else have a knocking Girard?

[Jopopsy]

I don't miss the Girard from my 15 29MV. I've found w/ a Oxygenics head I've had plenty of water for a hot shower running my 6 gallon tank on gas + electric.

Plus it irritated the heck out of me when somebody would open a faucet and the Girard would kick over even if the faucet called for warm or hot water for 1 second. My kids were great for that - we ended up w/ the family water song "To the right to the right, not the left not the left" when washing hands, etc.

[NC Roamer]

We were so fed up with the Gerard in our 2014 Greyhawk that the dealer replaced it with a 6-gallon Suburban under warranty. Perhaps the newer models aren’t as persnickety. Our kitchen sink faucet also dripped. Dealer cleaned out some debris and it’s been fine. We also had mice that first winter. Sealed every opening I could find with foam. I think newer Greyhawks use a different leveler. Our has the Bigfoot brand. When they retract an “All Up” light on the control panel illuminates. Plus, if I start the engine and even one is slightly down, an alarm sounds that cannot fail to get your attention. No way I could drive off with that screeching.

Other issues that the dealer fixed included rust on the chassis, visible debris beneath vinyl flooring, slide-out not square with wall and leaked in the rain, dead converter, Onan generator fuel pump went bad, shower light worked intermittently, vinyl on dinette seat was torn, etc. And this was a pre-Thor unit. But we’ve worked all the kinks out and it is much more reliable now.

[pconroy]

I think the Model 3 is less persnickety. But still a heater you have to work around, rather than just use. Full hookups with the proper water pressure, with ambient temps neither too low nor too hot. And with enough propane, it works great.

But that's a lot of conditions.

[jd99336]

I too have a 2016 31 DS so this is kind of a fun thread.
See my comments below.

Originally Posted by CrowCross

Hi Folks,
I have a 2016 Jayco Grayhawk DS 31.
I currently have just over 17,000 miles on it.

I Love my RV so this post isn't meant to blast Jayco. I wanted to present some of the problems I have had with hopes some of you can see if your RV is failing in the same way so you can catch it before it completely fails.

Some of the list is minor or nitpickey while some a bigger deal.

My mircrowave started to come loose from the wall. I had to refasten it.Have not had this happen yet....YIKES

My kitchen sink faucet drips if you don't shut it off just right. I need to replace it.Mine has been leaking out the top. They are a relatively good quality faucet (the documents should be with your paperwork) and I found in my case that it was not installed correctly with the handle pointed at an angle. Mine also leaked out of the top of the faucet.
I tightened the ring on top (which stopped the top leak) and intend to reorient the faucent so the handle is pointed correctly when I get home.

Connection on back of toilet was tight but not real tight and leaked at sites with higher pressure. Tightened connection and leak fixed.

Water fill connection to water tank vibrated off. Reconnected fitting.

Bedroom TV speaker has static. Not bad, but I can hear it. Replaced both of my TV's with smart TV's I had around the house as freebies, so no issues there.

This one was my fault...Drawer in bedroom came open during travel. When I went to put out my slider the trim caught the side of the drawer. I replaced the trim and now check the drawer before putting out the slider. Ouch...note to self...check the drawer

Sofa window bumps awning support when opened. I wish they mounted the awning about 1/4 inch more towards the front.You made me run and look. Mine has about a 1/4" clearance. Thanks for calling it out.

A mouse or some other critter ate my stove propane line between the manifold and stove. That wasn't Jayco's fault....but this was..the fitting was so tight connecting to the manifold I rounded off the flats and had to drill it out, re-tap threads and install new fitting. They also didn't use any tape or dope on the threads.

There was a hole leading to the outside of my water/filter compartment in the basement. Mice were coming in. I filled it with expansion foam. I found that too and did the same

Where ladder attaches to roof sealant has developed a hole and leaked slightly onto bedroom wall. I had to apply more sealant. Same here

Tankless hot water heater stopped working. Did you know there's a reset button you can push in the outside heater compartment?

This really isn't a problem but I thought it was. Tankless hotwater heater would cycle betwen hot and cold while taking a shower. I learned that if you keep the cold water off and just use the hot water...with the proper setting on the wall temperature setting the water stays one temperature. Ours has been fine as long as we run hot only as you note. We generally have been ok with our Girard and when I have called them, they were really good on the phone.

Speaking of showers, when I open the shower door the plastic edge trim often comes off. I'll have to glue it on someday.Silconed mine last year.

This also really isn't a problem but I thought it was. I turned heat pump on when temperature outside was about 30 deg and and thermostat was set to 70. After a half hour or so the heat pump stopped. I tried to start it back up and it wouldn't run. Furnace seemed to be OK. What I didn't know is if the system trys to run 3 times it lock out for 2 hours. I thought it was broken. I learned if the temperature doesn't get to within 6 deg of set point it trys the furnace. If furnace doesn't get temperature up..it shuts down. After the 2 hour wait period I walked the temperature up to 70 by increasing the setpoint 5 deg's at a time until I reached 70.Good point out. I know that the furnace kicks in with the heat pump and found they were linked, so you confirmed that.

I also learned the fridge doesn't like to be started in the cold. I had to wait for it to warm up outside before it started. I found the biggest issue is getting the gas purged so it takes a couple restarts before it catches.

Clear door window has no curtain. My wife made one. Later at a RV show I noticed some Jaycos have curtains installed in the entry door window. I just flash everyone with my fat old body.

I think that's all for now. If anyone has other "problems" can you let us know...such as an electrical connector coming loose, bad light fixture, pex connector failing etc., this way I can check them out in my RV to prevent future issues.

I was looking at my tablet and had numerous problems my first year (biggest was trim pieces falling off, and a fuel leak and electrical short in the generator compartment . Right now the jacks are acting wonky so I pulled all of the connectors and reseated them after cleaning with contact cleaner. Will see if that is the issue. At first I thought it was the contactor, but after relecting, I don't think it is.

[bababooey]

Not to be disappointed, i bought with the following assumptions:
1. I will loose 30% driving off the lot
2. RVs are all built crappy and ill have to fix a bunch of shnits.

Live is easier if you can come to accept 1 and 2 before buying.

[jd99336]

Originally Posted by pconroy

Steps. Yeah - hit 'em with white lithium. They just died one day.

When I replaced my motor on the steps, I spoke with the tech at Lippert to see what grease to use on the gear between the motor and gearbox. He didn't really want to recommend anything, but I said I had Lucas Red sticky grease he said "...yeah...to be honest that is what is on my work bench when I reassemble these".

It takes 3 bolts to drop the motor, so I intend to retouch the gears every year or so as it is pretty easy to do.

[norty1]

As WinneView mentioned, you need a big tool box cause many times help is not available and you just have to make do until you get somewhere else. Ever had a boat. Mine averaged $100 bucks for something every time I took it out.

Getting familiar with the rig, no matter what kind is important and being vigilant has already been covered. Dragging so many systems and moving parts down the road is always going to be a fun thing for the owner to deal with.

[LoveLife]

BOAT = “Break Out Another Thousand” we basically drive land boats

[StevWb]

About the Girard water heater button....
After numerous resets of that button in heater compartment outside....called Girard told them the problem...they sent me a new reset button unit, free of charge, installed it...it has worked perfect ever since...
On our 2015 Greyhawk 29mv, it was over a year old at that time...

[grandjim]

I had a Jayco Precept 31UL 2017.

What was going to break next was part of our everyday dialogue. I just figure you spend $100k on an RV that everything should work properly. It's like they put it together and then expect the dealerships to fix everything that should have been done right in first place...at the manufacture. Jayco quality has diminished significantly since Thor bought them.

The first motor home I bought was a Jayco back in 1998. I never had one problem with it, not one.

Anyway, I'm not going to go into it as there are too many things. Many were minor, some major. It just got old. We got rid of it and will use hotels. That way I don't have to clean up afterwards.

Good luck and happy RV'ing to all of you.

[Liveoutloud]

Replace the Shower doors with bendable curtain rod and curtain from walmart. Levelers Control box always goes bad. Put a fuel shut off switch on Generator. Alcohol will damage your carb. Replace with ebay version.(cheaper, Same carb). I have a 2017 26Y and have had a few of the same problems. Dealer service wait is crazy long. Maintenance is the key.

[Doug6386]

Originally Posted by CrowCross

Hi Folks,
I have a 2016 Jayco Grayhawk DS 31.
I currently have just over 17,000 miles on it.

I Love my RV so this post isn't meant to blast Jayco. I wanted to present some of the problems I have had with hopes some of you can see if your RV is failing in the same way so you can catch it before it completely fails.

Some of the list is minor or nitpickey while some a bigger deal.

My mircrowave started to come loose from the wall. I had to refasten it.

My kitchen sink faucet drips if you don't shut it off just right. I need to replace it.

Connection on back of toilet was tight but not real tight and leaked at sites with higher pressure. Tightened connection and leak fixed.

Water fill connection to water tank vibrated off. Reconnected fitting.

Bedroom TV speaker has static. Not bad, but I can hear it.

This one was my fault...Drawer in bedroom came open during travel. When I went to put out my slider the trim caught the side of the drawer. I replaced the trim and now check the drawer before putting out the slider.

Sofa window bumps awning support when opened. I wish they mounted the awning about 1/4 inch more towards the front.

A mouse or some other critter ate my stove propane line between the manifold and stove. That wasn't Jayco's fault....but this was..the fitting was so tight connecting to the manifold I rounded off the flats and had to drill it out, re-tap threads and install new fitting. They also didn't use any tape or dope on the threads.

There was a hole leading to the outside of my water/filter compartment in the basement. Mice were coming in. I filled it with expansion foam.

Where ladder attaches to roof sealant has developed a hole and leaked slightly onto bedroom wall. I had to apply more sealant.

Tankless hot water heater stopped working. Did you know there's a reset button you can push in the outside heater compartment?

This really isn't a problem but I thought it was. Tankless hotwater heater would cycle betwen hot and cold while taking a shower. I learned that if you keep the cold water off and just use the hot water...with the proper setting on the wall temperature setting the water stays one temperature.

Speaking of showers, when I open the shower door the plastic edge trim often comes off. I'll have to glue it on someday.

This also really isn't a problem but I thought it was. I turned heat pump on when temperature outside was about 30 deg and and thermostat was set to 70. After a half hour or so the heat pump stopped. I tried to start it back up and it wouldn't run. Furnace seemed to be OK. What I didn't know is if the system trys to run 3 times it lock out for 2 hours. I thought it was broken. I learned if the temperature doesn't get to within 6 deg of set point it trys the furnace. If furnace doesn't get temperature up..it shuts down. After the 2 hour wait period I walked the temperature up to 70 by increasing the setpoint 5 deg's at a time until I reached 70.

I also learned the fridge doesn't like to be started in the cold. I had to wait for it to warm up outside before it started.

Clear door window has no curtain. My wife made one. Later at a RV show I noticed some Jaycos have curtains installed in the entry door window.

I think that's all for now. If anyone has other "problems" can you let us know...such as an electrical connector coming loose, bad light fixture, pex connector failing etc., this way I can check them out in my RV to prevent future issues.

Had the same problem with the tankless water heater and when I complained to Jayco about the reset button no one knows about the sent me a PDF of a proper user manual
I lowered my Bigfoot jacks in my driveway and couldn’t get them up. Dealership was as usual zero help but the tech support at Bigfoot was fantastic. It took a while but he helped me work through a bare wire short and a loose connection at the circuit breaker. Love Bigfoot