Last Updated on July 3, 2023
I’ve purchased a 2018 Coachmen Orion T24CB unit in October of 2017. I thought it’s a good idea to share my experiences with you. In this post, you will find a log that I am planning updating whenever some new issue or problem arises.
I purchased the RV today, the PDI (Pre-Delivery-Inspection) happened today. These are not really my issues yet because the dealer caught it before they gave the new RV to me. They had to change the AC unit because it was not blowing cold air. Also, the inside TV did not work. They had to change that one too. I am glad they caught these. It is wise to go over everything with your dealer before you take possession of your RV but honestly, you will most likely find more issues when you are already using it.
I took the RV to the park in Arizona where I stayed for the night. Set up was easy, everything seemed to be working. There are some things I noticed. Some I really liked and some I disliked. I put together a blog post with all the Good, Bad, and Ugly things that I’ve noticed so far.
I hardly had any walk-through, I was so overwhelmed that I didn’t really have the attention to ask all the questions. I am the kind who figures things out. The guys at the dealership were also nice enough to move my stuff to the new RV and that got me really busy. I couldn’t drive anywhere until my stuff was all over the place.
Another most likely warranty work. This noise is coming when I go slow, each turn of the wheel. When I go faster I cannot hear it anymore but each turn of the front left wheel I hear it. It’s like something stuck to the wheel and touches something at each turn. I have no clue.
Set up an appointment with Ford but when I got there, they told me they will figure it out the next day and it can take 1-2 days until they diagnose the problem. What a bs! Why is it sitting there when nobody touches it? I explained that I live in it and that cannot work for me unless Ford is willing to pay for my Hotel. I was promised a call-back from a manager, to set up another appointment but they never called.
I went to a different RV place that accepts warranty repairs and set up an appointment two weeks from now. The guy looked at my RV and said, that I will probably have issues with it in the next two years until I fix all the bugs. It’s a new model and most likely full of issues. Great!!! It seems like warranty repairs are pain to get.
************* UPDATE 11/8/2017 **************
The noise is coming from the hubcaps. I found out that this is a very common issue. Some people take them off, adjust it, clean it or tighten it and that seems to help. I had the two front hubcaps taken off and I might clean them and put them back myself later.
************* UPDATE 11/21/2017 **************
I am taking all my hubcaps off. Now my rear hubcaps are making noises. I don’t want my brand new RV to sound like an old crappy one and let everyone know at the entrance of the park that Viki is here! The wheel frame is painted white, doesn’t even look bad.
When I drove it from AZ to CA, I’ve noticed a noise coming from the Ford Chassis. When I am going around 50ish and press the gas pedal it makes a sound that sounds like a grinding machine. It can be really loud when the engine is working harder, accelerating, and going uphills.
Set up an appointment with Ford but when I got there, they told me they will figure it out the next day and it can take 1-2 days until they diagnose the problem. What a bs! Why is it sitting there when nobody touches it? I explained that I live in it and that cannot work for me unless Ford is willing to pay for my Hotel. I was promised a call-back from a manager, to set up another appointment but they never called.
I went to a different RV place that accepts Ford warranty repairs and set up an appointment two weeks from now. The guy looked at my RV and said, that I will probably have issues with it in the next two years until I fix all the bugs. It’s a new model and most likely full of issues. Great!!! It seems like warranty repairs are a pain to get.
************* UPDATE 11/8/2017 **************
The noise is coming from the muffler. They have to order parts and replace them under warranty. The sound is resonation, doesn’t do any damage while driving it, just annoying. I will have to do this at a later date.
************* UPDATE 1/6/2018 **************
I keep calling the RV place but they say it can take 6 months to get a new muffler since it is a new 2017 Chassis and were told to go to Ford. So now I have an appointment with Ford where they won’t fix my issue because they have to diagnose it themselves to order parts. It is really difficult to get all this done when you are full-timing in your RV. These places wanna take your RV and take days till they diagnose it.
************* UPDATE 1/24/2018 **************
It is still not fixed. I took it to Ford and they told me they need to replace the muffler and will call me when they have it. It’s been almost two weeks and still nothing. I will have to call them to follow up shortly.
************* UPDATE 3/26/2018 **************
Today finally my RV got fixed. Ford in Thousand Oaks CA ordered the broken part for me and changed it. Now finally it doesn’t make the annoying sound anymore.
************* UPDATE 5/28/2018 **************
The same problem came back. So I took it to Ford again. It turns out that my issue is most likely that the catalytic converter is falling apart and its debris falling into the muffler which is causing the noise. This Ford dealership is not able to handle the issue since the RV is too large. After calling Ford’s customer service, they gave me some places I can call to have this fixed. This will be a little bit more difficult since I live full-time in the RV. I will update this thread if this is taken care of.
************* UPDATE 9/05/2018 **************
I was able to fix this again, it took a while but the muffler was replaced a second time under warranty. There is no noise anymore but I really hope it won’t come back after driving 1500 miles again.
The door was just really difficult to open and close, it needed serious force to open and close it. After using some lubricant spray, fixed the problem for a little while. Just use some WD-40 if you have this problem and it should be ok.
************* UPDATE **************
This issue is still there, it’s hard to open and close the door. I will take care of it when I take it to a Forest River service when needed.
Yesterday I used the hot water heater and it was just fine. Today, it’s not igniting. The light comes on, you hear some sound, and you hear the propane (the propane burners work) but won’t ignite. It tries three times then the light is just staying on and won’t do anything. Ok, so this is a Coach problem, not a Ford problem. I have an appointment scheduled with a Ford Warranty Service place on Monday, 11/6, but I cannot ask them to take a look at the water heater because that is not a Ford issue unless I want to pay for it out of pocket. The closest Forest River is about 2 hours away from me. The water heater is Atwood and it comes with a 2-year warranty. There are Atwood service centers in my area, so I believe I will take my RV there to fix it. I wish there was one place that would fix it all and would be covered under warranty. But no, unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.
I contacted Ron from Coachmen and he called me back, and offered his help.
************* UPDATE 11/8/2017 **************
The circuit board needs replacement. Parts ordered. Coachmen advised me to send them the broken circuit board and send it back to them to get a warranty reimbursement. I cannot wait for this, I need hot water.
************* UPDATE 11/21/2017 **************
I had the circuit board changed and since then it works. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that it won’t be a recurring issue. Ron from Coachmen asked me to send him the broken circuit board with a receipt and will reimburse me for this warranty work.
I filled up my water tank yesterday and noticed hours later that water is dripping from under the tank. I climbed under and saw two blue pipes and a red one coming out from the tank, and one of them is dripping. So after doing some research, I found out that other RVers have issues, called siphoning, and it is caused by overfilling the freshwater tank; pressure is collecting and it is causing to push the water out of the overflow pipe. The water drip slowed down but I lost half my water tank. I was wondering if it is correctly designed, the pipe should be only to prevent water to overflow and should be placed on the top of the fresh water tank, not halfway down. I decided to find the low point drains to drain some water that might stop this issue because I didn’t want to fill my water tank each day.
*************UPDATE*************
So it turns out one of the overflow water drains was not closed properly. I wrote a separate article about this, you can find it HERE
Basically, you will have to locate your low-point drains and see if everything is closed properly. My low point drains are accessible from the back storage compartment and it is very difficult to reach. Now when I fill up my tank it is not dripping anymore.
I got a recall notification from Ford today
What is the issue?
On your vehicle, it may be possible for water to collect and splash in the driver’s side footwell area of the vehicle where the Trailer Module that controls trailer lighting is located. Water intrusion may cause corrosion and damage to the wiring and Trailer Module.
What is the risk?
Trailer Module water intrusion may result in the rapid flashing of the turn signals, loss of instrument cluster display, loss of heater and air conditioning controls, and loss of multimedia. Wiring corrosion from prolonged water intrusion could also result in an electrical short, which could cause an uncommanded seatbelt pre-tensioner deployment, a burning smell, and/or an increased risk of fire, including when the vehicle is parked and the ignition is off.
How long will it take?
The time needed for this repair is less than one-half day. However, due to service scheduling requirements, your dealer may need your vehicle for a longer period of time.
************* UPDATE 9/06/2018 **************
I had this taken care of.
My water pump broke. I always heard the noise from the bathroom area but I never cared where it is until this day. The motor started giving up a little while ago but always got better until it didn’t. No sound, no movement, no nothing. I needed to replace it.
************* UPDATE 12/13/2022 **************
You must be wondering why there are no updates. I traded the RV in to buy myself a new RV in January of 2021. There was no more issue with the old one, I just wanted a slightly bigger RV with more towing power.
I have a 2018 Orion. The heater every year won’t start. The blower works but the heat doesn’t go on. Any one else have that problem? I do like the unit.
I would do a search in forums, maybe someone has a similar experience. Here is a link to a video that is talking about this issue.
We purchased a brand new 2018 Coachmen Orion RB 24 footer. From the day we picked it up something was broke. We are very good to our vehicles and always make sure we treat them well. This RV has been a nightmare. First and far-most we love the size of the RV and what it offers. The interior design is nothing but crap. The interior is so cheaply put together that falling apart as you drive is expected. We picked our new RV up in 2018 and headed out on the road with it for 6 weeks coving 8500 miles. In that maiden voyage we spent over $2500 in repairs along the way. And all at our expense because coachmen doe not care about you after you buy their products, and the RV service industry well that needs some repair itself. I have had RV’s all my life , we traded out Fleetwood Bounder for this Orion and my experience with RV repair is intense and has gotten even more in-depth. When we got home form our 8500 mile trip the raised Euro bed fell off the ceiling, the brackets broke off the wall and pinned me face down on the floor in the RV. With the help of my neighbor I was able to get out from under the broken ceiling bed. The bed was then wedged in the RV with zero way to straighten out to even try to repair. The only thing I could do, because the coachmen service places said they could look at it in 2 to 3 months, was to cut the broken bed out of the RV and we did. This naturally left us with a RV with no bed, we were in contact with coachmen for months, like 9 months to be exact and still no hope of getting the bed replaced. Then I got a call from someone in Indiana from coachmen telling us to drive the RV to Indiana, we live in Arizona so that drive and no time to make this long trip was possible. So they sent us another jackknife sofa and we removed the 2 chairs and the table to install the second sofa which then opened up into a large king size bed. Its a great concept but now we had no table. We used the RV this way for about a year, then I began to notice the framing for the cabinets was pulling apart amongst other things. WE contemplated buying a new RV but honestly it does not matter what you buy this poor quality is in all of them, some a but better than others but mainly all the same overall. But we hanged our minds to buy new and I decided since we love the size of the RV and the Chassis fromFord is a great ride and very easy to drive, That I would completely gut the RV and we did. WE now have twin bed custom beds that are at couch height to be used as sofa as well, I ordered 2 31″ wide x 72″ long 10″ thick memory foam mattresses and under the mattress I made the bases useable for storage on both sides. One side under the bed has the water tank and pump under it but I did frame out some storage under it as well, the other side is all storage, I put hydraulic lid hinges on the bed top allowing with ease access to items stored under bed. I pulled out ver piece of coachmen crap that was inferior. I kept the cabinet doors, rounded fronted cabinets above galley area and a few other things. The shower where the faucets and shower head mounts was loose and falling off. I opened up the wall on the kitchen side of the rv by the stove and supported the shower wall from the kitchen side. I used ¾ plywood which made the shower wall nice and solid. Before I began this rebuild I weighed all the items I took out to make sure we did not add more weight putting back in and so far we are 150 pounds lighter. After I repaired the shower wall I decided that the wall in the kitchen by the stove had better storage potential so I framed out the cavity of the wall with some shelving to accommodate some cooking supplies like spices and etc. I also took the stove top off as it always made huge rattling noise when driving..I found that after removing the stove top all the screws the manufacturer put in from the router top edge were not screwed into anything except that ultra thin crap wall board, so the weight of the stove top wasn’t supported . I added a piece of plywood to the side and reattached the countertop securely (LIKE IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN) This made the stove top level and secure..no more noise there. We do not drink the water from the fresh tank, we normally carry bottled water. In our Fleetwood bounder we had an RO system for purifying water, so I added another Sureflo pump and a inline water filter under the kitchen but I went a step further- we live in HOT HOT HOT Arizona and in the summer having ice cold water while camping is a dream…not anymore–I bought a 3 gallon igloo drinking water cooler…I rigged the top cover with some PVC items to create a port to feed through the tube connected to the pump…and now we fill cup the water cooler with water and ice and it stays cold for up to 5 days. The 3 gallon water cooler is removable from under the sink so it is easy to refill and return. I put a regular RO water facet on the top of the counter along with a switch to control the power on the pump and now we have clear, cold good tasting water where ever we go. I was also having trouble keeping out fridge cold because again its hot in Arizona so I installed 2 twin fans behind the fridge, one is at the bottom of the fridge just inside the fridge vent and the other I installed on the top behind the fridge close to the roof fridge vent. When I had the cabinet over the fridge ripped apart I reframed it so that I could access the fan about the fridge ifI needed. I build frame work that the fan slides in and out from and put a separate access panel in the back of the cabinet. The fan I installed has a thermostat so the fan comes on when it gets horrible hot behind the fridge helping the heat escape through the roof vent. My fridge use to take 2 days to fully cool now it cools and is ready to put food in in 6 hours. I also install a three trio fan with separate switches inside the fridge, this helps much as well. You would think an RV manufacturer would have done this in the first place..BUT NOPE~ I custom designed the pantry cabinet with adding instant on inside cabinet lighting and utilized all the space in cabinet. I added a easy close pull out bin in the pantry as well. I rebuild the entire framework on the above the fridge cabinet as well as the pantry. On the pantry door on the backside of the door I added some framed shelving cubbies for lighter food items-I replaced the three door hinges with a stainless steel piano hinge to support the extra door weight. I carpeted both insides of the cabinets to reduce noise when traveling. I added two very cool tables (Lagon Table) to the bed/sofa area. These tables are marine grade table, they are pricey as hell but they work like a dream in the RV. The table moves in all directions allowing you to adjust the height as well. I used a butcher block cutting board which I bought at IKEA for table tops. I stained them to match all the other wood times and sealed them with a marine grade poly. Worked out beautifully, and when we are done with the tables and want to stow they slip right off a “v” groove mounting bracket to stow. I made built in designated stow areas for these tables so they are easy to access and yet tucked away to keep the clutter out of RV. On the wall coming into the RV the bathroom side that held all the controllers for the Rv and the generator switch I rebuilt and supported better. This was was a joke, before being rebuilt these controllers would pop out of the wall and be dangling when we stopped. NOT ANYMORE~now they are securely supported in heavier plywood. I sanded and stained the plywood to match the other wood tones in RV I also added an addition a grab bar on this side to aid with getting into RV. When I opened up this wall I laughed the amount of screws and staples that were used by the manufacturer that were not hitting anything were nuts. bathroom cabinet was just being held up by that thin wall board crap again…amazing the cabinet didn’t fall off. I naturally reattached all that were in this condition before putting the wall back together again. since I had the wall open I ran the wiring needed to install a 300 watt Renogy solar system in the RV. I am running 2 200 amp Gel Renogy batteries with a 4000watt pure sin inverter, this runs everything in the RV except for AC. and we mostly camp off grid so we are never without power anymore. The last thing I did was replace the flooring with a more heavier duty vinyl wood plank tile. All in all this project took almost 2 months to complete. BUT NOW~ we have an RV built the way they should be for the $$$$ that they charge you for them. We plan on keeping this RV forever so if you are a person that switches often this is not cost efficient for you to rebuild. This rebuild cost roughly $7500. I would so love to now drive this to INDIANA where they said we would have had to go for service and show them what just a little skill and A LOT MORE quality in materials could do for their product. There are lots of little things I did to upgrade that I did not list as well, more usb plugs , more 120/USB/Plug combo outlets, extra power control for Onan generator which now allow us to turn generator on/off from the cab of the RV instead of having to run to the back anymore. I insulated around the RV entry door, after removing that beautiful paper crap molding I discovered you could see right outside on the side of the door, just the molding was covering this. I used rope caulk backer and some butle marine rubber sealant to create a waterproof area~ if this was left unseen eventually the water would have rotted out the RV side walls…Idiots I say! I changed out all the TV inside and outside to 12volt, now we can watch TV without having to run the Genny. I put 2 fantastic fans in as well replaced the original fans with these. we run one with incoming air and one with exiting air this keeps the RV super cool all the time even when its ARIZONA HOT. My advice to all that may be in this same situation with their new RV as we were. If you handy and can tackle this rebuild DO IT! don’t keep buying a new RV thinking it will be better…its get worse! I finally feel a sense of COMPLETE EASE AGAIN about using my RV.
Wow, I am sorry that you were having so many issues with your ORION. I had some issues and I agree that it was cheaply made, the cabinets and screws were all starting to fall out. But I didn’t have as many issues as you had. It was working fine for me for three years. I am not that handy, but there are many people who are handy in the RV community and I had things fixed by friends. Now I own a Leprechaun and I feel it is way better quality, better built than the Orion. Unfortunately, the RV industry is not going for quality but quantity and they don’t have much of quality control on new RVs. My RV now was a rental for a year which is good, because rental companies fix all the initial bugs and they take care of the RVs well so people will come back renting from them. A new RV can be a hit or miss. I agree it is way better to be handy or learn to be if you own one.
Hi there, I have a 2018 Coachmen 24 TB and it has severe roof water damage. My RV repair guy said it’s the poor design of the roof. The tight side moldings cut off the rubber membrane all over the place. I have water coming in everywhere. Coachmen don’t take responsibility for the poor design of the roof pointing to a lack of maintenance, but it’s the design of the roof. You can’t see anything on the inside yet, which makes it difficult to notice the humidity.
Looking for people having the same roof problems with the Orion and maybe trying to give notice to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the US. I am from Canada. If you suspect your roof to have water damage, please write to Putzka.manfred At gmail