I bought a 1973 D18 Brave at the end of last summer, sort of on a whim, for a great deal at $2k. The interior had been repainted white and the most of the old rug/floor in the coach had been replaced or covered with linoleum. The roof had been painted with some kind of sealant and the RV seem like it was structurally in good shape, had no “funky old RV smell†to it and the engine worked. The brakes were massively ‘iffy’ and the steering seemed loose, but those were thing I could get fixed. Before putting it up for the winter I did get $2,500 in work done (in two places, but that’s a rant for another day!) on the brakes and other things that make it safe to drive. I’d have to pull the receipt out to itemize it all, but suffice it to say, by the time I parked it for the winter the RV “started and and stopped†without me fearing about playing bumper cars on the highway.
The previous owner was using it as a “driveable tent†but has said that all the things worked (propane, stove, fridge, water, etc) except the shower when he bought it, but they never used those amenities and I neglected to ask about how to use them so now I’m fumbling trying to figure out how to get my RV ready for summer use.
I’ve got some awesome help already from folks here at the forum. So far in just a week I’ve figured out how to:
1) turn on the propane
2) light the stove burners and the oven pilot
3) light the fridge pilot
4) light the furnace pilot and make the furnace work when there is shore* power to the coach
5) make the interior light work (understanding how to switch from AUX/Generator/shore power)
* shore power refers to plugging the RV into city electricity. I still need to figure out AUX battery power for boon-docking as well as generator power for limited use during boon-docking
I’m in the process of replacing the propane regulator and hoses as well as fixing the battery bay since there is some funky stuff going on there.
]Here are a few photos of the RV as it stands now. Also, I’ve got a paint scheme cooked up once I fix the window screens (and then come up with the extra funds for something as frivolous as paint themes) to make the RV looks like a R2-D2, hence the Winn-E-D2 (or R2-bago?)
Interior, while working on power and furnace stuff.
Dining area, while working on power and furnace stuff. One of the things I’m planning to do is cut the backrest on the seat close to the steps and install a piano hinge so that this “bed†will accommodate a full-grown person since right now it only fits someone who is about five feet tall.
Previous owner recovered all coach upholstery and re-did the floors (just dirty due to leaves!)
Bathroom in pretty good condition. No idea if water runs or toilet works yet though….No shower-floor liner, but that’s okay since I’ll likely just use this space for storage anyway!
This area has the most original stuff in it. The dash has some broken elements I need to track down, including dash heat. Driving this thing back and forth from Fairbanks to North Pole to store at my friend house then bring it home, without heat was brutal. It took over an hour for my toes to get feeling again!
I am sure that on one of those trips to or from the north pole you could easily track down eight reindeer who are not too busy to haul your bago for you. Just a thought. Thinking of your toes here. W%
I think it's fantastic. You have the initiative and a lot of us as your support team.
The heating systems on these old rigs are pretty simple. A push-pull cable controlling a heater valve. Cable frozen, valve or heater core clogged. Or if the heater was leaking they might have bypassed it.
Ha! Many forms of success today!!
I figured out how to connect the AUX / coach battery ....
AND I put in the new regulator with a new hose .....
AND tested the propane lines with soapy water....
AND got my husband to fix the furnace wiring so that it's crimped correctly and I had him add more wire to extend the length of each wire so that we can run them around the furnace on the interior wall instead of just leaving them lying on top of the furnace (which gets pretty hot!).
Once I get new vent hoses (that come from the furnace) I'll be done with three of the four major systems in the RV (cooking, fridge and heating).
Next week I'll look at water systems. Then I'll tackle that dash heat!
You go girl :)ThmbUp
:)rotflmao :)rotflmao :)rotflmao :)rotflmao WOW! Not that's a sweet ride. Well done. Plus your doing a grate job figuring every thing out. Way to go kiddo. The fun is just beginning :)ThmbUp .
I spent most of the weekend on a project to turn the table/bed into a full-sized grownup bed instead of one for short people / children. As it was, Iit was barely 5'7" and I'm nearly 5'8" so for me to sleep there I would have had to curl up and not stretch out and I did not like that idea at all.
So I cut the back support of the seat closest to the steps, put in a piano hinge, a support leg on a hinge and now I just need to install a slide lock to keep the back up when we want to use it as a table. I'm not sure these photos do justice to what we accomplished, but I'm taking the RV out for my first overnight this weekend and I'll get better ACTION photos then :)
First photo here the bed before, at just 5'7"
Second photo is the back of the seat before we installed the piano hinge.
These are in-between photos. I still have some touch up to do to the paint on the back since that plywood splintered like crazy, but I want to be sure this will work out the way I hope and plan to test it this weekend.
First picture is the back of the seat with the modifications.
Second photo is the bed with the extra 11 inches to stretch out (feet only on this end).
Third photo shows the leg support.
I also got a CO alarm, fire alarm, fire extinguisher and a thermometer/humidity gauge installed. I'm wondering how cold it will be in Denali this weekend and if we need to use the furnace.
Safety first!
That's a great idea little lady. And yes, safety first please.
I would add another drop leg on the inside top corner, if someone sits on that corner it will fold. Other than that, damn good idea. :)clap Yea, I'm 6'3" W%
Oh! And I fixed the window that was flapping open which had been taped shut with the metal ducting tape that cuts you. All the sticky had come off and I found the original bracket that was just missing the screw to hold it in place so now this window stays shut when I drive!
I've got some cleanup to do to get the sticky residue off and need to replace the screen, but we are still in the 20-30F temps at night so it's not a rush to get that screen replaced just yet.
No more flapping window! This is the before pic. I forgot to get an after pic and the RV is at the shop getting a tuneup before I take her out this weekend so the after pic will have to wait :)
Quote from: Rickf1985 on April 18, 2016, 09:11 PM
I would add another drop leg on the inside top corner, if someone sits on that corner it will fold. Other than that, damn good idea. :)clap Yea, I'm 6'3" W%
Good thought. I think it will be fine since the plan is that it will only be down when we are sleeping (and it's hard to tell but it is placed dead center of that support), but that's why I want to test it this weekend to see if we do end up sitting on it on accident.
Also since that backrest was just two pieces of very, very thin plywood on a frame of what I think were 2x4, I had to put a piece of much thicker plywood (3/4") in between the two pieces of plywood to have something structural to screw the piano hinge into as well as to attach the leg hinge.
I finally got out in my RV for an overnight adventure. I had a feeling I would have some kinks to work out and there were some for sure. Some are minor, but the one thing that I put so much time into, that being the furnace, didn’t work! So frustrating.
I’m going to post an excerpt from my blog entry that is relevant to the RV. If you want to read the whole adventure, please go here: http://www.perlgurl.net/blog/?p=1587 (http://www.perlgurl.net/blog/?p=1587)
“This is where testing the functionality of the RV came into play. The first test of the stove was great. We made dinner, even using the oven to warm up some naan to have with our Tasty Bites Indian food meal. It was a chilly night and looked like we might be in for some rain, so we thought we would turn on the furnace to ensure we did not sleep cold. As I had spent lots of time prepping, cleaning and testing the furnace at home, I did not anticipate any trouble with the furnace and at first glance everything seemed fine. I turned on the pilot valve, lit the pilot and then we turned on the thermostat. However we both experienced some smell of propane (something that was not an issue with I tested the system at home) and the only thing that would blow was cold air. We waited, thinking maybe the furnace just needed to warm up, but decided eventually we had good enough sleeping bags so we turned off the furnace instead of chancing something bad happening. (Side note, I do have a fire alarm and a CO2 detector, but it’s better to be safe than sorry).
Next step was bed. I folded down my newly converted table-bed and put out my sleeping bags with the fleece-liner inside it and Caroline took her place on the couch bed. I had an older sleeping bag under my new 20F bag which helped prevent me from slipping off the cushions until I got cold in the middle of the night and pulled the sleeping bag on top of me. At that point my bed became a bit of a slip-and-slide, due to the slick fabric of my sleeping bag on the cushions that were slipping on the wood platform combined with the fact that we were also parked at a bit of an incline. I lost one of my cushions near my feet in the night as well, so I’ve already come up with a plan to ensure the cushions stay on the platform and that they don’t fall off since they are the bench cushions and there are four of them that want to go their own way especially since I toss and turn.â€
;) WOW, good stuff. Well done. Welcome to the first timers club. Sounded like a lot of fun.
Worked on the RV a bit this weekend in anticipation of some upcoming weekend travels:
Finished up the bed-to-table conversion, which meant glueing non-stick drawer liner to the bench surfaces so that cushions would not slide, installed the slide lock to keep the bench back up, and replacing the screen on the door since Alaska's state bird should be our ginormous mosquitoes. I still need to make a "sheet sack" for my cushions, to ensure they don't
Also discovered on my last trip that my fridge does not cool. The pilot light works, but the fridge does not get cold. I've tried plugging it into shore power and still it doesn't get cold. I've spent some time watching youtube videos and plan to test the heating element with help from my husband (electricity is my greatest fear and therefore my weakest point). Hopefully it is just the heating element. Or maybe I can get away with replacing just the cooling element. However this is probably the lowest priority item for me to fix since I can camp for a week with non-perishables :)
Ah....
Yes, I met your State Bird when I was driving a truck up there in the 70's, BEFORE the Alcan was paved! D:oH! Try changing flat tires on a tractor trailer with one hand while batting away, not swatting, BATTING mosquitoes the size of starlings!
I took a 400 mile and two night trip this past weekend. Lots of learning happened and I’m really glad to have planned these shorter trips before the big trip to Denali. Once I finish processing my photos from the trip and updating my blog I’ll post a blog link for those that might want to read all about it. Here are some of the highlights that are RV specific:
RV note #1: I need to make new dark-colored and/or blackout curtains before the next trip! Easy enough since I can sew straight lines and have my own sewing machine. I’ll post photos once I get this done.
RV note #2: I need to install the water tank and pump before the next trip. It is a pain in the neck to try to get the water out of the large water jugs (7 gallon aqua-tainers) for washing hands in the tiny sinks or for any other usage. Even putting some water into one gallon jugs didn’t really solve the problem. I need water to come out of my faucets.
RV note #3: The bathroom is tiny. I need to find out if I can trim the doorway to the side by the stove since there is barely room even with just my curtain-for-a-door! I’ll start a topic on this issue for feedback.
Also, I did manage to get the wipers changed out with the adapter that arrived just a few hours before I hit road. It didn’t help with all the bugs and my wiper fluid motor does not seem to work, but I was glad to have wipers with the bit of rain we got while driving!
Link to my RV photos from this weekend: http://www.perlgurl.net/blog/?p=1642 (http://www.perlgurl.net/blog/?p=1642) or on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1573077402992886.1073741876.1429261130707848&type=3 (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1573077402992886.1073741876.1429261130707848&type=3)
Still working on the motorcycle racing photos and the big blog entry, but that will get you to the RV specific photos :)
Quote from: perlgurl on May 25, 2016, 04:51 PM
Link to my RV photos from this weekend: http://www.perlgurl.net/blog/?p=1642 or on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1573077402992886.1073741876.1429261130707848&type=3
Still working on the motorcycle racing photos and the big glog entry, but that will get you to the RV specific photos :)
Guts! I just get scared going somewhere within 20 miles of my house with spotty cell service in my rig. You go!
Very nice. The curtains would be nice considering this time of year you are getting very little dark time. What, about 4 1/2 hours?
Quote from: Rickf1985 on May 25, 2016, 07:24 PM
Very nice. The curtains would be nice considering this time of year you are getting very little dark time. What, about 4 1/2 hours?
According to the scientists we have 19+ hours of daylight right now, but the other time is more twilight/dusk than actual nighttime darkness. IMHO there is no real darkness at this point and I twitch due to the lack of darkness until about August when the lovely darkness comes back.
I'll be making curtains in the next week so that my next trip out it will be far more dark inside the RV while I am sleeping :)
Project summary: RV floor water damage repairs in prep for a new water tank
I knew I had a soft spot in my RV floor next to my water tank / couch/bed; this issue was discovered when I was looking at my RV prior to purchase but I figured it seemed to be a small spot that could be easily repaired. I also recently decided to install a new water tank and pump so in the process of pulling out the old steel tank and compressor, I realized the water damage was a much bigger issue than I thought so we decided to repair the floor first.
The damage that went all the way to the aluminum skin ended up being 18â€x16†of the 3/4 “ structural board with the top layer being 23†x 27†of the ¼†board.
It turns out I like demo work! I probably had more fun ripping the floorboards out and finding the edges of the water damage than anything else, all of which needed to be done manually with a hammer and chisel . We were trying to be super careful and not damage the aluminum skin so this took us a couple hours of demo work. After a quick run to the home improvement store to get supplies the next day, the repair itself only took under two hours total. The floor is now very strong.
I’m heading out again this weekend and we didn’t want to rush the modifications that the couch/bed need in order to put the water tank in, so that will be next week. I’ll also have questions I’ll post in the appropriate area since I’m not fully understanding how to plumb the tank. I’ve searched for ‘water†and gone back five pages or results, but so far I’m still a little confused about how the water will get in and out. A topic for another thread though!
This first four photos are the "before" shots:
These are photos of the floor in various stages of demo. It's fairly clean of debris because I also like to use the shop vac as I go :)
Also, we tried to dry fit the bed on the new tank to give us an idea of how much wood we would need to make the couch/bed stick out another 4 inches, so I'm including a photo with the preliminary view of how that will all fit together.
Some caulking to fill in where the aluminum skin had been damaged (not by me!), put in our "not exactly square but fits the space" piece of underlayer with loads of construction glue on top and then cover with the 1/4 inch top board with millions of screws to hold it all together.
Pretty sure that's not going to go anywhere :)rotflmao
I sure hope it never has to go anywhere! Let's see, you are roughly 4000 miles from me......................... Yep, I'm safe. Women do tend to like to be destructive beings. :D :)rotflmao :)rotflmao :)rotflmao :)rotflmao
The hook up is easy, post up in the plumbing section and we will get you hooked right up.
More things achieved today! I made curtains for the two biggest windows in the RV. Still have the little door window and the bathroom to make, but there are things in place that are good enough for this weekend to keep it dark at night so I can sleep in the "Land of the Midnight Sun".
The lighter curtains are the older ones. Too light, too long and too bland for my taste.
The darker curtains are the new curtains I made and the ones by the table are the first set I made of the two sets. Lots of sewing words were said during the making of this set of curtains, especially after I determined the tunnel I made for both curtains was too narrow and I had to rip stitches to make it wider. But they are so pretty!
New curtains to help keep the daylight at night out of my eyes. Might need to get magnets for the bottom edges of the curtains to close them up to the metal frame of the windows though.
I'm heading out tonight but I managed to make one more curtain before I have to leave.
New bathroom curtains, mostly straight! I ran out of the striped fabric so only one side has stripes and I think I want the whole outside to match and have the dark blue on the inside, especially since this is technically a different room from the rest of the coach. I might flip this around to have the stripes inside after the weekend though.
These are the before and after pics. :)
Take some pics at night and show how light it is. I still remember that when I was up there. I was driving a truck and wondering why I was so tired and realized it was close to midnight and still light!
The good news first:
Curtain success! Blocked out most of the light for most of the night, but around 5am my friend noticed the light coming in so I might still do velcro dots at the bottom of the curtains since they are right above were the beds are. I also definitely need to make a cover for the vent in the coach since lights comes through there. And I need a real solution for covering the driving area since the RV came with light colored curtains with do nothing but get in the way so I've been draping a flannel sheet over the area but it's a bit of a pain to deal with so I'll be back on the sewing machine soon to make more curtains!
And now for the not-so-good news on this 400 mile trip:
The RV is bleeding oil. Made it to Delta Junction and even passed a couple of vehicles, but about 20 miles past Delta I noticed it was running weird, seemed to be low on power and making whirring noises if I pushed it too hard (meaning at this point, going past 50mph or going uphill). So we stopped and looked at this mess all over the top of the engine, not fully understanding what type of fluid it was. At least I was caravanning with my friend so I limped the RV to Tanacross not knowing what the fluid all over the top of the engine was and once we got there we got some help determining that it was oil covering my engine and there was none registering on the dipstick. (In my defense there are two ways to access the engine, from the front and from inside the RV and we checked what looked to be like a dipstick from inside the RV which had plenty of fluid ; it turns out that was the transmission oil dipstick).
I made it back to Fairbanks safely due very much to the purchase and use of two gallons of oil plus a five gallon gas can and five gallons of gas to top off the tank and ensure I got to Delta Junction and stopping to check every 50 miles to make sure I had oil on the way back. The RV is going back to the shop Wednesday and I’m hoping it is just valve gaskets and not head gaskets that need replacing.
Yeah, you're gonna want to keep up on that oil...
W% W% D:oH!
You were the first one to pop to mind when she said it was slowing down!
Joyce, I certainly hope there was no damage done but when it gets to the point of losing power that is not a good sign. I see your crankcase breather is just hanging out there in the breeze, that will blow some oil vapor around under heavy load or a lot more if the PVC valve is clogged. It has been a long time since I worked on a Dodge gasser but I seen to remember the oil pressure sender is up there on the back top of the block? That could be leaking also but would probably not blow forward. Valve cover gaskets don't usually just start leaking that bad all of a sudden unless the PCV valve went bad or something else went to cause high crankcase pressure. They usually leak at the bottom of the valve cove more than the top. Once you find the leak be sure you know the cause. And do a oil pressure check with a mechanical gauge to be sure the bearing were not damaged.
While I'm okay at debugging the appliances and coach systems I'm not really ready to try my hand at large engine maintenance so right before my first trip out I had a tuneup done on the engine. I specifically asked them to check on the oil and they did.
When I paid for my nearly $1k tuneup and told them I was planning on heading out on several trips this summer ranging from 200-400 miles on each round trip they told me "that engine is in great shape.....you will be fine running around all of Alaska if you want!" so I felt pretty good about the fact that I didn't check fluids before this last trip.
MY BAD.
The RV is going back to that shop and they are going to look at it for me. Once I know more I'll be sure to let you all know. The shop I plan to use has done other work for me and I was pleased with it so I'm expecting they will fix it and let me know what the issue was caused by.
Also, I'm glad this happened on one of the 'race' weekend trips; my friends race motorcycles on a closed track in Tanacross so at least I was heading to a location with lots of other folks including many that were mechanically inclined and even more fortunately there were some that were quite knowledgeable about my engine; one had even been a Winnebago mechanic "back in the day"!
They said the same words Rick said: PVC valve (and something about a rubber busing missing maybe?), and while they weren't clear on what I think you are identifying as the crankcase breather they did note that it was odd that it was not attached to anything, plus there was a overflow hose from the radiator that usually hands down in the front of the engine which had either blown back into the engine area and was getting whacked by the fan or it got put back in the engine area on accident; either way we fixed that problem. I learned quite a bit about my engine in the 20-30 minutes they spent trying to help me determine what the fluid was and the best way to ensure I got home which was still 200 miles away.
As for the "loss of power" - I'm not sure if that is just me now knowing how fast my RV should go or not; on my other trips I've learned it tops out at about 60 unless I'm on a flat straight road that maybe slopes downhill then I can get it up to 65. Hills are really hard on it and I seem to go down to about 40-45. I've tried shifting down to 2nd gear to get up the hills and that makes the engine sound better, but I'm still not going at full speed up any hills.
On the way back on this trip I didn't seem to experience any loss of power, other than the regular issue I just mentioned with hills. I'm finding it makes more sense to just go about 55 and then my friends in the caravan had to slow down for me (they tend to make this drive much faster than I can and I just had to tell them to slow down!)
You say the overflow hose was in the fan, are you sure it was oil and not antifreeze on the engine? I am guessing with that many motorheads around you are pretty sure. ;) The crankcase breather is mounted on the valve cover and in your picture the hose is going to nothing. Usually it would go to the air cleaner but you do not have the stock air cleaner. It might actually run a bit better with the stock air cleaner and a hose from the snorkel out to cool air in the front. Right now you are just sucking in hot air above the engine.
1 K for a tune up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I need to move up there and open shop!!!!! Unless there was a lot more than a tune up that job is 300.00 at the most.
Now if that included going over the entire RV, brakes, driveline and everything then I can understand it.
Everything in Alaska is more expensive... I feel for those poor souls who pay $40 bucks for a birthday cake.
Finding a stock air cleaner is going to be hard, there's a local guy here in Utah looking for one, if anyone had ideas on a source or what vehicle's cleaner could work in place of the stock one, I'll listen. ;)
Probably most any older car with a four barrel carb. You just have to measure the maximum height you can use. Try to find one with dual intakes, Chevy pick-ups from the early eighties with 6.2 diesels come to mind. I think they use the 4 1/2 inch hole. I would have to measure the height of mine and see if it is usable for you. I will try to get that for you tomorrow. There should be plenty of them around and they will flow more air then any of those engines can use.
Quote from: Rickf1985 on June 07, 2016, 05:13 PM
You say the overflow hose was in the fan, are you sure it was oil and not antifreeze on the engine? I am guessing with that many motorheads around you are pretty sure. ;) The crankcase breather is mounted on the valve cover and in your picture the hose is going to nothing. Usually it would go to the air cleaner but you do not have the stock air cleaner. It might actually run a bit better with the stock air cleaner and a hose from the snorkel out to cool air in the front. Right now you are just sucking in hot air above the engine.
I thought originally it might just be really dirty coolant when I first pulled over, but then the guys assured me it was oil with just a couple of flecks of coolants splattered in the oil, likely from that overflow hose. The thing that confirmed there was no oil was checking the oil dipstick in the front only to find NONE reading at all. Zip. Zero. Scary.
And I need to get a new air filter too. One of guys said I definitely needed a bigger one. I will refrain from making jokes about bigger is better :)
This top photo is the crankcase breather hose, yes? It is just for air, right?
And these are close ups of the mess made on the engine. Ick and yuck!
That is the crankcase breather and yes, it lets filtered air into the crankcase to replace what is being pulled out through the PCV valve. The problem is this, At full throttle there is little to no engine vacuum and high crankcase pressure so instead of pulling air in it will be blowing vapor out. I some evidence of that but not bad. I do see the majority of your oil leak though and it looks like you have a bad gasket on the oil fill cap on the valve cover. Get a new oil fill cap. On the bill they kind of violated you on the distributor cap, plug and LABOR! I know prices are high in Alaska but wow. I don't see any mention of brakes or anything other than a quick visual and a tune up, two hours at the most.
Looking at the pictures again I do see where the valve cover gaskets are leaking so new gaskets and an oil cap.
I need to correct myself here, I went back to look at the bill to see if I could see the labor rate which I cannot but I do see where they say they checked the brake thickness. This vehicle has drum brakes I believe? That would add quite a but of time since the rear axles have to come out and the front hubs have to come off. Still high but getting closer.
The gaskets should not take a competent mechanic more than an hour and a half.
And that intake manifold appears to be an aluminum manifold with a Holley carb on it. I know some of the older Dodges used the Holley but I am not aware of any that used the aluminum intake. Dave?
Both 413 and 440 have the distributor in the front. 318 had the distributor in the rear like hers. The 318 originally had a Carter BBD 2 barrel. I agree with you Rick, That it looks like someone installed a Holley 4 barrel and manifold. Only the 413-1 came with either a 4150C or 4160C Holley 4 barrel.
Thing is though, mst of the oil I see on the top of the engine looks old and dirty making me feel it has been building for a long time rather than one trip. What does the bottom of the engine look like (oil pan)? I am thinking a front main seal leak.
Having a 318 maybe why she feels it lacks power.
Having some experience with a 318 in a 21' 1975 Winnebago Brave. In the hills of New York and Pennsylvania and Ohio. There's no better way to put it other than there dogs. 40/45 is about right. I know this because now I have a 440 in a 21' 1975 Winnebago Brave and she blows up the those hills. Shoot she doesn't even breath heavy. Hm?
True TJ except this one has had the manifold and carb changed. Those 318's are pretty peppy with a 4 barrel on them and that is not really a lot of weight there. Who knows if anything else in the engine was changed like the cam? With stock manifolds I would guess it is just the manifold and carb but if that carb is set up and jetted right and if all four barrels are working then it should have plenty of power.
Joyce, What I used to do you may not be able to do because of environmental reasons up there but if you can get several cans of Gunk engine cleaner and /or Castrol Super Clean and clean the engine off of all of the oil and crap then dry and dust the engine with baby powder. Then take it for a short ride and look it over. You will see real quick where the oil is starting to get the baby powder dirty.
Looks like a Holley 600 and an aftermarket aluminum intake. Valve covers leak. You got stroked on that tune up, they should have fixed all the oil leaks too at 900 bucks and changed the tranny filter. I hate hearing that. I bet they didn't take any wheels off to check the brakes.
I think the reason they didn't do anything to the brakes was because they had serviced them the year prior, just before I parked it for the winter. And they did the brakes AFTER the first shop I took it to made such a BLEEP of the brakes that I had to get them redone immediately after picking the RV from the first place I took it
First photo is from the BLEEP shop that charged me $500 and didn't fix what I needed fixed and then refused to work on the RV any more. Their loss, I've spent lots at this other shop and really like them.
The other photos detail what I asked the second and now only place I take my RV to for engine work. Their shop hourly rate is par for Fairbanks.
The RV is currently getting my aftermarket grey tank installed at the RV place then it is going to the engine shop tomorrow. I just don't feel like I can do an adequate job debugging the problem and still have at least another 1,000 miles planned of trips this summer, not to mention weekend jaunts to go kayaking in our area lakes and rivers :)
Um....Looks to me like the mechanics went over the rig pretty good. You have a lot of work to do!! :( One step at a time
5 cans of Brakekleen?! What did they do? Clean the entire engine! I do an entire brake job and use less than a full can. I guess times have changed, I did not charge for expendables, that was part of the shop overhead. I mean, do they charge for dirty rags? Hand cleaner? Toilet paper? D:oH!
Yeah that's a lot of CRC!! haha
King pins are inexpensive, but it was the labor that killed me... get metal instead of nylon if you can.
Quote from: Rickf1985 on June 08, 2016, 10:51 AM
(snipped for brevity)
Joyce, What I used to do you may not be able to do because of environmental reasons up there but if you can get several cans of Gunk engine cleaner and /or Castrol Super Clean and clean the engine off of all of the oil and crap then dry and dust the engine with baby powder. Then take it for a short ride and look it over. You will see real quick where the oil is starting to get the baby powder dirty.
The RV shop that was installing the grey tank took longer than I thought so now the RV goes to the mechanic on Tuesday this coming week for the oil leak issue.
HOWEVER....
I'm thinking that I want to try this "clean the engine/baby powder" trick. Other than using a gazillion rags to clean the engine, are there any tips or tricks on how to clean it since I cannot power wash it since the engine access is from inside the coach?
Go to the parts store and get your self GUNK engine cleaner nd then warm the engine up, not hot but warm and spray that stuff all over it. Put a sandwich bag or plastic over the carb and distributor. You may need a couple cans of the stuff. Let it soak for at least a half hour and hose it off. If you do not want to take the dog box off just get what you can from below but you really had a lot of oil up top. You do not need to use a nozzle on the hose although it helps. Maybe get the stuff underneath with the nozzle and then on top just run the hose without the nozzle to keep from splashing all over. After that I would go over the engine again with Castrol Super clean or Purple Power cleaner and again rinse it off. Then take your bags off and run it for a bit to dry things off and initially and let it sit to dry for a day and dust her down. Anyone working on it will thank you for the clean environment to work on I guarantee. I can't say as much for wherever you do the washing! W% And here is what I would use, Both at Wally World.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Gunk-Original-Engine-Degreaser-15-oz/16816129?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=101&adid=22222222227009489836&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=57015098328&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=80333555568&veh=sem
http://www.walmart.com/ip/SuperClean-Tough-Task-Cleaner-Degreaser-1-gal/23752162
X2 :)ThmbUp
Rick, todays business,s do not have expenses/ expenables ///if they purchase it it goes on someones bill It may be as shop supplys rags uniforms gas & light bills There all crooks now ! Frank
Apparently the five cans of Breakclean on my previous bills is because that is what they use to clean the engine! RV is back at the shop and I should hear back from them by midday tomorrow.
In other news, I've installed the water tank, made the couch/bed deeper to accommodate the tank, pulled out ALL THE GROSS OLD PLUMBING (gag!), widened the bathroom door, fixed the table/supports for the table bed (they weren't fitting quite right when I lowered the table), installed a bungee cord shoe rack and then spent 1.5 hours shopping for PEW and all the replacement fittings to redo all the plumbing.
RV is at the mechanics for the next few days so I'll get back to the plumbing this weekend. The big trip to Denali is in just under two weeks! A whole week living in the RV, boondocking only!
To be clear and give credit where it's due, my husband helped me a lot on the couch/bed makeover. I could have got there eventually, but he cuts much more straighter lines with the circular saw and his involvement in projects don't up with near as many injuries as mine do :)
Oh, and I got a fancy pants latch for keeping the door open. No more bungee for me!
Looking good although that is the first time I have seen a door latch mounted that way. It is usually mounted with the arm facing to the rear and the catch on the door has the opening facing the hinge. As long as it works.
Quote from: Rickf1985 on June 14, 2016, 08:43 AM
Looking good although that is the first time I have seen a door latch mounted that way. It is usually mounted with the arm facing to the rear and the catch on the door has the opening facing the hinge. As long as it works.
Do you mean each plate should be turned 90 degrees? I thought I mounted it the same way I saw it on my friend's trailer, but I didn't read the instructions and I can be creative in my solutions some time :)
90 degrees is correct for all the ones I have had or seen. I have never read the directions either, I am a guy. ;) They are probably a square hole pattern and if they are then you can just rotate them. OR, you can leave them that way and say you did it YOUR WAY! You seem like that type of girl. :)ThmbUp :D
Quote from: Rickf1985 on June 14, 2016, 05:52 PM
90 degrees is correct for all the ones I have had or seen. I have never read the directions either, I am a guy. ;) They are probably a square hole pattern and if they are then you can just rotate them. OR, you can leave them that way and say you did it YOUR WAY! You seem like that type of girl. :)ThmbUp :D
I would say 180 degrees. That way, when the wind hits the door the bar portion cannot come out. You actually have to push the door open and lift the bar at the same time. But, I am also a guy and tend to ignore directions as well.
You did do it your way, and so far have accomplished a hell of a lot. Wish I would have your motivation. :)ThmbUp :)ThmbUp :)ThmbUp
Quote from: TerryH on June 14, 2016, 07:04 PM
I would say 180 degrees. That way, when the wind hits the door the bar portion cannot come out. You actually have to push the door open and lift the bar at the same time. But, I am also a guy and tend to ignore directions as well.
Canadians!? W% W% Actually you have to push the door back and slide the rod to unlatch it no matter which way it is pointed
If it were 180 degrees the rod would be sticking straight out while driving or anytime the door is closed. D:oH!
Just in from the mechanic shop:
"It's impressive how much this thing is leaking. It's leaking from everywhere."
Sigh.They are making up an estimate for me. Intake and valve gasket for sure. Plus it's leaking some coolant.
Something about a Bypass hose / coolant leaking / Thermostat housing / Upper and lower radiator hoses
INSERT BLEEP words of BLEEP here.
I think if it works, it ain't broke eh?
The problem is, it is broke. I ran out of oil on my last trip and heard funny/bad engine noises that made me pull over and then it was either limp the RV 70 more miles and hope for help or backtrack 120 or so miles to get the RV home.
Still waiting for my email estimate to come through. Fingers crossed.....
I was referring to your door latch ma'am.
Oh. <hangs head in shame>
Can you tell where my mind is right now? :-[
This is a great thread, and I'm sure you will get through your engine woes. Nice purchase, and nice work on all your mini projects!
Two more improvements made in response to spending a week in the RV:
1) folding table to extend counter space. When folded up and locked into position the underneath also serves as a place with a pocket to put phone/table when sleeping in the couch.
2) firewood storage under the table/bed. after dealing with moving the firewood in a bucket/tote for our week long trip, this makes much more sense since the space under the table is mostly unused and the bed can be made with the wood under the table.
I just read all 4 pages and I have to say, you are really on the ball and doing a great job.
Vehicle problems and expenses can really test a persons patience but you're handling everything in stride. It's admirable.
Firewood inside......................... bugs in firewood........................... I will say no more.
I think you are really creative.....and do a good job adapting to the old rv. I agree with Rick on firewood under the bed.....creepy crawlies come out at night! haha. Maybe build a rear hitch mounted rack for storage?
Firewood up here is seasoned and dried for a year prior to splitting. As such I'm pretty sure it's fairly creepy crawly free, but even a bug or two isn't going to freak me out (I have 11 snakes, 2 ferrets and 3 cats and I'm not afraid of most anything with more than two legs).
I do have a hitch mounted cargo rack, but I discovered during this trip that I need to have some welding done to my bumper before I put any weight on it since the bumper is pulling off the steel support causing the cargo rack to droop. Not sure if you can tell that from this photo or not.....
One more thing to fix, sigh.
Sigh.................. Seems wayyyyyyy back I outlined a way to fab up a sturdy support system for your rack. W% W% W% i?? Off of the frame, no the bumper.
Ferrets and snakes, there is a combo. The hunter and the hunted. I have had both but not at the same time. Surprised to hear you have snakes in Alaska, Must be quite the electric bill keeping them warm in the cold months? I love Ferrets, they are a riot to watch and play with. Carpet and bed sharks.
Hey Rick,
Not sure I recall the " fab up a sturdy support system for your rack." Can you remind me where you posted that? I still think I need to get the welding done since the bumper is pulling away from the metal and the screw/bolt that was there snapped and we can't get another one in it's place.
There an no snakes in the wild in Alaska; all mine live in cages with proper heat and humidity for their specific species in a room on a different floor from the ferrets. And my ferrets are "my quite playful puppies" and make me smile every day due to their antics :)
Also, we finally finished plumbing the new water system AND I finally have a hot water shower and a (new) shower tent for privacy! Huge thanks to my hubby Michael for all his amazing hard work to make this crazy idea of mine work.
Yehaw!!!
We have talked about so many things I have no idea where it is now but what it comes down to short and sweet is two trailer hitch receivers, one mounted to each frame rail in some way shape or form. My favorite was to fabricate a bracket that would attach to the bumper bracket bolts in the frame and then weld the receivers to those brackets. That way they can be removed if need be. Then you put the other pieces of the steel, 2" outside diameter square tubing. under the rack and get them positioned so the rack will slide in and out of the pair mounted to the vehicle. Then weld them to the rack. This gives a double solid mounting point on both the vehicle and the rack so none of it is going anywhere. You can also mount a set of receivers under the front so the rack can be moved up there if you need to tow something. Now this is very general as to how I would do it, those ideas could change once I saw the vehicle but it would get done in the same general manner. This also takes the rear bumper out of the picture as far as supporting anything.
You were typing at the same time I was, WOW! Hubby has earned the right to a name now! Congratulations Michael! :)ThmbUp
I have to say that you two are the poster children for persistence. You have not let anything stop you from going out in your rig yet.
This is my bumper and the (frame rail?) part that the bumper seems to be separating from and therefore causing anything I put in the bumper hitch receiver to droop a bit. For a couple of bikes it seems fine for one more trip but I don’t trust anything on the cargo rack (not sure if you can tell but the cargo rack is removed for this weekend’s trip); I’m running to the trailer store today to get an estimate and an appointment to get it fixed hopefully next week. I know nothing about welcing so I’ll leave this up to someone who does know what they are doing.
My RV already is set up to tow my little trailer and I want to eventually put the motorcycles on the trailer and take a trip down to Valdez where we can camp and ride the motorcycles in the Valdez area since it is so very pretty down there; it is an eight hour drive to get to Valdez in a regular car (as compared to my slow-going RV) so I think we might break it up into camping in a few different places along the way.
I also have this double hitch receiver thing that allows me to put both the cargo rack and bike carrier on hitch receiver on my car which I’ve done before successfully and though I would do the same on the RV, but I think I will likely just buy another of the bumper-mounted hitch receiver and mount it on the other side of the spare tire so that the cargo rack can be on one receiver and the bike rack on the other, distributing the weight a little better. And I could still tow my trailer even with those things on there too since they ride higher than the trailer :)
Quote from: Rickf1985 on July 15, 2016, 03:17 PM
You were typing at the same time I was, WOW! Hubby has earned the right to a name now! Congratulations Michael! :)ThmbUp
I have to say that you two are the poster children for persistence. You have not let anything stop you from going out in your rig yet.
Thanks! I've got ideas and many I can make happen myself, but Michael has really helped me make the water system work! I bought most of the stuff and explained what I wanted but he worked it out and he made my shower hose extension form the water system work (first try was a bust, we used the wrong kind of tubing for the shower extension and so the water pump was not working correctly but now it has pressure rated tubing and works AMAZINGLY.
Can you believe he has not gone out with me in the RV yet? I get to take mini-vacations with my friends and do girls weekends. I've asked but he just doesn't seem interested in going out with me. WE never camped as a couple before so I didn't really expect him to.....he is more of the "homebody" and I like adventures and nature :)
You two are quite the pair. :D I'll bet you are the one that proposed too huh? ;) :)rotflmao I don't believe you don't know welding, seems you do everything else. That hitch extension you have on there adds a lot of leverage to that bumper mounted hitch which in turn is adding leverage to the bumper so you really need to get something attached to the frame and off the bumper. I will bet that bumper is only held on with 2 or 3 bolts on either side. It was made more for looks and holding the sewer hose than anything. Definitely not towing.
Just got the RV back from the shop. The valve gaskets have been replaced and in just the short drive home I noticed the engines sounded better. I also got the bumper welded at the same place and the bike rack no longer lurches about or hangs funny.
The friend who went with me takes beautiful photos (I'm still learning) and she has a public facing blog and she writes really well. This is my friend's blog: http://susanstevenson.com/blog/2016/07/find-your-park-mine-is-denali/ (http://susanstevenson.com/blog/2016/07/find-your-park-mine-is-denali/)
I'm still working on my photos. I might get them done before it's aurora season here in Alaska. Sigh.....
Those are amazing pictures in her blog! And NOW we know what Joyce looks like. :D :D :D I can see why you get out there every chance you get, I would be just the opposite, I would only come in to get supplies and be gone again!
Holy adventure time!
I’ve been traveling and adventuring on and off for the past month and had to be towed twice! I’m still working on photos and blogs with details, but in short I drove 300 miles one way to go dip netting in Chitina, Alaska, got 100 miles part-way back and had to be towed home due to an exploded muffler and an alternator that fell apart.
Got that fixed, went on a shorter 50 mile trip to Harding Lake each way with no problem, so I thought my RV would be fine to get me to Denali the following weekend.
I was wrong.
Got 83 miles into the approximate 120 mile trip and it died without warning. Had to get towed home again, but my friend borrowed her parents RV the next morning so we could do three of the four days we had planned for our Denali trip. We will forever call this trip the “Triumph of Stubbornness over Circumstances.â€
RV is back at home again now that it has a new voltage regulator. I have no idea why they didn’t replace that when they did the alternator, but they said it was their fault for not doing it so the part and labor was done at no charge to me.
And thank the RV gods for AAA RV Premium insurance. Thankfully all cost of my towing has been done under my insurance.
Way to go! Love that you guys persisted. Denali is definitely on our list, but we're having a hard enough time just trying to get to Colorado!! I've got a 74 Brave D19 and I totally had the alternator and exploded muffler combo driving from Florida to Indiana. I feel your pain and admire your dedication. We're keeping track of our adventure (aka tour of North American garages) here: www.detachedandamused.com (http://www.detachedandamused.com)
Thanks for sharing! I checked out your pics on your blog. That sure is some beautiful country you live in. I've never drove a Winniebago before and I appreciate the view from the drivers seat.
Thanks!
Jim!
Quote from: cj on September 03, 2016, 11:27 AM
Way to go! Love that you guys persisted. Denali is definitely on our list, but we're having a hard enough time just trying to get to Colorado!! I've got a 74 Brave D19 and I totally had the alternator and exploded muffler combo driving from Florida to Indiana. I feel your pain and admire your dedication. We're keeping track of our adventure (aka tour of North American garages) here: www.detachedandamused.com (http://www.detachedandamused.com)
Holy moly CJ, just read the last two posts and it looks like your rv is putting you through some serious tests! I'll be following your blog for sure and hope you get it all sorted out.
Quote from: JimVol on September 04, 2016, 06:24 AM
Thanks for sharing! I checked out your pics on your blog. That sure is some beautiful country you live in. I've never drove a Winniebago before and I appreciate the view from the drivers seat.
Thanks!
Jim!
You might be looking at my friend's blog (http://susanstevenson.com/blog/2016/07/find-your-park-mine-is-denali/), but yes I will agree that I live in a gorgeous place for sure!
After my second break down I had the voltage regulator replaced and headed out once more for what will be the final RV trip to Denali this year. The drive there was uneventful and I arrived in plenty time to set up camp and find the friends I was meeting to ride in for Road Lottery the following day. I ran my furnace that night for the first time overnight and though I had it set down to 60F I stayed warm most of the night except for a couple brief times when I tossed and turned my way out of my sleeping bag. Given it was forecast to be down to 29F overnight, I considered that a good night’s sleep since I prefer a cooler sleeping space and tend to run warm anyway.
The next day we had a great day in the park with lots of animal sitings and that night I once again used the furnace, this time turned up to 65F. It was even chiller and I really appreciated the extra few degrees! I also found my hot water heater works and was able to do dishes with HOT water. So awesome, I just wish I had figured that out earlier in the season.
The only downfall I encountered was as I was leaving the park. My RV started right up but it stopped halfway out of the camping loop. I had slowed down for some massive ruts in the road and was approaching the deepest one so I paused and put the RV in neutral and IT DIED as soon as I tried to put it into drive. I put it in park and tried starting it only to find my battery was slowly draining with each attempt. And then I saw another vehicle behind me in the loop that I was blocking, so I grabbed my box wrench, jumped out and swapped the battery cables to put the house battery on the RV cable. Got back in and it fired right up. No problems driving home and I went to the store where I bought the battery that failed me to get it tested and they said it was fully charged. I watched to be sure!
I’m thinking I have some kind of electrical issue.
Any ideas?
A lot of the time a battery will crank much faster for the first 10-15 seconds as it burns of its surface charge and then settles into the regular charge. Is this maybe what you were hearing and the fact that someone was behind you you just did not want to strand everyone? Or was it REALLY slowing down as in DEAD battery? With all that you have been through I trust that you know the difference I am talking about. It is possible that you have a bad cable but I remember you replaced all of them. Starter could be going bad? As it heats up it starts to bind up or brushes start to lose contact. Bad connection at one end of a battery cable and as it heats up it will get worse. Those are just the things I can think of that would have the end result of a battery testing good after the fact.
Whoohee, Purligirl. I've just read this whole thread. I just bought a '75 Brave D19 that is still with the mechanic who is doing my initial inspection. I was surprised to find out that the original engine has been replaced. Don't know what it was replaced with yet. Your posts are scaring the crap out of me. You sure have guts. I can only keep my fingers crossed as my own adventure begins. I hope my mechanic is half as knowledgeable as the folks on here. He says the rig passed inspection with flying colors, but we ran into a burst copper pipe underneath the bathroom. His dad, who is a contractor, is replacing the plumbing with PEX (is that right?) and he going to modify the bathroom a little bit by sawing off the narrow end of the sink ledge to make room for the raised toilet seat. He is also laying new vinyl flooring in there and taking a crack at restoring the dinette area to convert into sleeping quarters. I really liked that piano hinge idea you had for yours. Once the plumbing is done, they can turn the water on again, and see what else does or doesn't work in that department. Superficially at least, the tanks look good. Can't wait to get out for my first overnighter, but I am beefing up my emergency fund. I may need to start my own thread soon. FYI, Denali is on my bucket list for a future trip. Incredibly beautiful... Anyway, I am hooked on this saga, so please keep posting. Best of luck.