RV Soon to be back ON THE ROAD AGAIN

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 8:07 am

Well, this should be the week that my RV ordeal ends. If all goes well, the mechanic should be done with it. But even if he is, it appears that the ordeal will not end.

My wife has decided that she wants to get rid of it. Sell it and pay off the lien holder.

To appease me, she wants to renovate an old trailer (RV). It sounds like it would be fun but that might be an even deeper money pit than the RV is now.

I guess that all I can do is wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 11:04 am

Dusty
I hope when this is all over you will tell us the problems with RV. I remember the thread on the fuel problem and I would love to know how it was solved. Also what other damage did the blessed critters do to the RV.

I wonder if RV's aren't a lot like boats, where the two happiest days in a boaters life is the day he buys the boat and the day he sells the boat. I know that is true in my life. I have owned 4 boats each one was my hearts desire when I bought them and all four caused massive celebration when I sold them.

And even knowing this I sometimes find myself looking at a new boat and thinking how wonderful it would be.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 12:21 pm

Ed in Tampa wrote:Dusty
I hope when this is all over you will tell us the problems with RV. I remember the thread on the fuel problem and I would love to know how it was solved. Also what other damage did the blessed critters do to the RV.

I wonder if RV's aren't a lot like boats, where the two happiest days in a boaters life is the day he buys the boat and the day he sells the boat. I know that is true in my life. I have owned 4 boats each one was my hearts desire when I bought them and all four caused massive celebration when I sold them.

And even knowing this I sometimes find myself looking at a new boat and thinking how wonderful it would be.

Ed: The damage done by the critters was minimal. There were three vacuum lines that they destroyed.

The majority of the damage occurred as a direct result of the rig just sitting idle. I did not know how much damage could be done by gasoline "going bad". The fuel tank, filter and pump were covered by a thick coating of what looked like rust. I have been told that it was really not rust but that is what happens when gasoline goes bad.

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 12:46 pm

dusty wrote:Ed: The damage done by the critters was minimal. There were three vacuum lines that they destroyed.

The majority of the damage occurred as a direct result of the rig just sitting idle. I did not know how much damage could be done by gasoline "going bad". The fuel tank, filter and pump were covered by a thick coating of what looked like rust. I have been told that it was really not rust but that is what happens when gasoline goes bad.

Can you get the coating off of do you replace everything?
I wonder how much of the problem is from the new fuel with ethanol in it.
I went to buy a leaf blower (stihl) and was told I had to use 89 grade gas as the ethanol in the 87 messes it up. I know my friendly neighborhood lawn mower/tractor dealer says he is getting rich fixing the problems caused by the ethanol in the gas.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 2:04 pm

Ed in Tampa wrote:Can you get the coating off of do you replace everything?
I wonder how much of the problem is from the new fuel with ethanol in it.
I went to buy a leaf blower (stihl) and was told I had to use 89 grade gas as the ethanol in the 87 messes it up. I know my friendly neighborhood lawn mower/tractor dealer says he is getting rich fixing the problems caused by the ethanol in the gas.

The tank was sent out to a shop that does that work. The invoice referred to "boiling the tank" and recoating. I saw the tank after it was boiled. It appeared to be spotless (as well as I could see using a mirror gadget).

I would not have let him reuse the pump and filter if he had asked.

In addition to that, there valve issues in the engine which is what made it run so rough. Had to pull the heads to correct that. No push rod or spring damage. I don't know the details of what had to be done to the engine. Must not have been too bad because he came in under estimate.

Lesson Learned: I should have had some one use the vehicle when I could not. It would have been cheaper. Embarrassing part is one of my daughters asked too and I told her NO. My BAD.

Gene Howe · Post by **Gene Howe** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 4:45 pm

Ed,
I think newer automotive type engines are not affected by all those EPA required esoteric mixtures. Leaving any blend of gasoline in a tank, lines, engine, etc. over a length of time will cause a "varnish" to form, though. Every new yard tool we have purchased in the last few years has come with a warning to either use an additive that combats the effects of these new blends in small engines or to use a higher octane.
Before putting the gasoline engine mowers etc. away for the winter, we run each out of fuel, drain the oil and replace all filters. I learned the hard way.

Ed in Tampa wrote:Can you get the coating off of do you replace everything?
I wonder how much of the problem is from the new fuel with ethanol in it.
I went to buy a leaf blower (stihl) and was told I had to use 89 grade gas as the ethanol in the 87 messes it up. I know my friendly neighborhood lawn mower/tractor dealer says he is getting rich fixing the problems caused by the ethanol in the gas.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Oct 25, 2012 4:53 pm

The price of two PowerPros and a new 1 1/8 HP motor later the RV is able to go back on the road. It has passed the emissions test and my wife and daughter are at the DMV now getting it registered again.

It still needs new tires; they did not weather well in this dry Arizona climate. That will now have to wait for a couple pay cycles.

At least I now know that it runs and it rides as nice as when it was brand new in 2003. But then it should with only 2200 miles on it.

There are some rattles in the residence portion but that is probably stuff in the drawers and on shelves. I'll not chase those until after it has been scoured clean and repacked for a trip. Some of those rattles may disappear without my involvement.

fjimp · Post by **fjimp** » Thu Oct 25, 2012 5:46 pm

[quote="dusty"]The price of two PowerPros and a new 1 1/8 HP motor later the RV is able to go back on the road. It has passed the emissions test and my wife and daughter are at the DMV now getting it registered again.

It still needs new tires]

Congratulations Dusty Soon you will be motoring off into the sunset. I confess to thinking of your efforts a great deal recently. We sold my wife's Ford Escort a few weeks ago and purchased a 2000 Toyota Tundra with 108,000 miles on it. A great looking truck that seemed sound when purchased. Well okay until we began looking a lot closer. It is a sound truck that I suspect has been a victim of someones diminished economy in the last year or two. We discovered several maintenance issues that have been ignored. Good thing a paid less than it was worth as I will need to invest a couple thousand to get it up to snuff. My recent retirement has me waiting for the checks to catch up, so can relate to your tire replacement. What direction are you planning to travel? I suspect we will all enjoy hearing of your adventures. Jim

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Oct 25, 2012 6:52 pm

fjimp wrote:Congratulations Dusty Soon you will be motoring off into the sunset. I confess to thinking of your efforts a great deal recently. We sold my wife's Ford Escort a few weeks ago and purchased a 2000 Toyota Tundra with 108,000 miles on it. A great looking truck that seemed sound when purchased. Well okay until we began looking a lot closer. It is a sound truck that I suspect has been a victim of someones diminished economy in the last year or two. We discovered several maintenance issues that have been ignored. Good thing a paid less than it was worth as I will need to invest a couple thousand to get it up to snuff. My recent retirement has me waiting for the checks to catch up, so can relate to your tire replacement. What direction are you planning to travel? I suspect we will all enjoy hearing of your adventures. Jim

The need for $1300 worth of tires will keep us off the road (for any long hauls) for a while. Besides, we need a couple short week ends out to make sure everything is up to snuff and I need to relearn general operating procedures. Procedures like leveling, running the generator and cleaning holding tanks.

We had a three week trip to southern California and Nevada scheduled but had to cancel those plans for budget reasons. The County Treasurer does not understand being late with property taxes because I was off somewhere enjoying my Golden Years.

As for your Toyota. I don't think you will regret having it. My youngest daughter just gave up hers for a newer one. She had 240,000 miles on old work horse and those were not all easy miles. She hauls a lot of hay and feed for the horses plus puts on a lot of miles for her embroidery business.
She is good about general maintenance and I believe is reaping the benefits.

She complained one day about cost of oil changes so I had here bring it to the house week end and taught her to change it herself. Now she does it in her drive way (much to her husband's amazement). She's worried about the new Toyota however. She says it looks to be more difficult.

I suggested that she stop by a Jiffy Lub and get a current price check for lub, oil and filter change.

ljhhontx · Post by **ljhhontx** » Thu Oct 25, 2012 6:54 pm

Ed in Tampa wrote:Can you get the coating off of do you replace everything?
I wonder how much of the problem is from the new fuel with ethanol in it.
I went to buy a leaf blower (stihl) and was told I had to use 89 grade gas as the ethanol in the 87 messes it up. I know my friendly neighborhood lawn mower/tractor dealer says he is getting rich fixing the problems caused by the ethanol in the gas.

I have a 2 year old weedeater that the ethanol ate the primer bulb on and now I find out the bulb is part of the carbuerator itself, no cheap replacement, maddening!