Repairing a Leaking Diesel Motorhome Fuel Tank
Monaco Diplomat Fuel Tank
By Jon Crowley, DuneGuide.com
I purchased a 2008 Monaco Diplomat SE back in the spring of 2007. Since that time, the motorhome has taken us on trips to Moab, St. Anthony Sand Dunes, the Oregon Dunes, Dumont Dunes, Sand Mountain and more trips to the Imperial Sand Dunes than I can remember. Most of these trips aren’t too close to home so I have racked up a few miles on the coach.
After a recent trip to Glamis for Halloween, I returned home to find that I had developed a leak in my diesel fuel tank. I looked quickly under the tank and saw a fitting for the drain plug and figured the fitting must need some new teflon or something like that.
Monaco Diplomat
It was time for my annual lube, oil and filter and so I figured that I could ask Doug over at Jet Air if they could take a look at the tank while they did the other work. A few hours later, he called back and said that that the tank was cracked where the drain plug was welded onto the tank. Boy that didn’t sound good.
I figured that a call to Monaco Technical Support should be my first call. They have always been real helpful on the phone and I thought they would be able to point me in the right direction for a repair or replacement. Well, this is where the bad news came into play. What I heard was that Monaco had filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March of 2009 and then sold its factories, inventory, brands and intellectual property to Navistar International Corporation in June. There would be no warranty coverage for my Diplomat. Well isn’t that just peachy?!
Fuel Tank Repair
I called Jet Air back and talked to Doug about options. He said they had already made the same repair to a few other Monaco coaches and they could take care of it. Wow. I was expecting to have to hunt for someone who would be willing to take on the job of off-loading all of the diesel, extracting the tank from the coach, flushing it out and welding it up. Jet Air couldn’t handle the job that day, but if I brought it back on Monday it would be no problem.
Monday came and I dropped the coach off bright and early. Although Doug had told me that barring anything unexpected, the coach would be done by the end of business. I half expected that it would take a few days and thousands of dollars as I left, but I was pleasantly surprised when Doug called just after 4pm saying that they were just wrapping things up. Nice!
I picked it up and paid the bill. Based on the amount of work involved, which included extracting 75 gallons of diesel from the tank, I felt I was treated very fair. I was extremely happy with the timing and service. Thanks Jet Air.
Monaco Diplomat
Jet Air
4231 Sunset Lane, Building E
Shingle Springs, CA 95682
Phone: 530-676-2640
Website: www.jetairac.com
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Category: How Tos, Motor Home
We own a 2007 Holiday Rambler Endeavor which we purchased new in May of 07.
Had the same identical problem with fuel tank leak.
Took coach to Coach Care in Normal, Ill. and they did the same procedure for repair.
We did purchase an extended warranty which I don’t normally do, but they paid for all except $100.00 deductible
Ken Lybarger
Davenport, Iowa