I was climbing the foothills in Texas in my Fleetwood MH (Ford F53) pulling a VW Beetle, on a dolly, when I experienced a very noticeable drop in power. There was no indication, from the dash, of any problem and I pulled over immediately. She got a li'l warmer than usual but no sign of overheating, and all fluids were normal and clean.

I let her rest and cool down, dropped the Beetle off and continued the climb to the closest town. She drove much better into the closest RV park but there was still some power loss.

I've discovered a blown exhaust manifold gasket and two of the spark plug covers had crumbled exposing the plug connection. The exhaust manifold is also slightly discolored like the plug was arching to it.

Any thoughts on these two issues being the cause?

 

If the spark is arcing to the manifold then yes you will have reduced power.
You need to replace the bad wires and manifold gasket.
Also check for a clear exhaust system.

 

You've come through for me once again . . . thanks!

I replaced this gasket, myself, prior to leaving Florida and made it about 1500 miles before this issue. I'm fairly certain that it was done correctly and torqued properly (you answered that one too!). I've read on-line that using the cheaper gasket would result in another blow-out . . . any truth to that? I replace the gasket with an $8 Fel-Pro.

 

I am NOT a mechanic but I didn't think changing the exhaust gasket was rocket science. You think I should have a PRO replace it this time?

 

Most guys say on those that they take the old gasket off and do not use a gasket at all and just use a thin bead of hi-temp RTV sealant (the red or orange stuff) around the face of each exhaust port on the header flanges. Bolt the headers down just "snug only". Let them sit overnight then tighten the bolts all the way.