New to me grand villa
slightly dirty after 1200 miles eastbound across the deserts of I-40. Picture prior to departure
Where do you live Phred?
Enjoying the photos. Keep posting them. Where did you buy it and where are you going? Hot weather in the day?
Pierce
A hot rod compared to almost all the coaches.
Zero to 60 in 25 seconds. Or it needs fixing
Check radiator fluid level when hot like this...
Bob is correct, hot rod 4 speed, loved that coach.. the 3208 used a bit of oil like a qt+ every 2-3000 miles..
My cummins uses a gallon every 4K miles or so. Matches the shop manual usage specs
I live in Wichita KS, coach was located in Laguna Niguel CA. Bought 7/3/17 after an eventful test drive.
Prior to my arrival.
Alternator problems, it was removed by a mobile rv tech and tested ok PO paid $580.
Still wasn't charging correctly, another mobile rv tech service was called, and cabling to battery isolator was removed and combined house and start batteries and "fixed" some other parasitic drains and wiring. PO shelled out another $500.
And issue was supposedly solved.
I booked a flight, and PO picked me up at the airport.
Looked the coach over for 2 hrs. and tested house systems, visual checks for all the usual suspects, checked engine fluids for abnormal color, smell and textures. Cold Engine fired imeddiatlly without unusual smoke or odors and ran smoothly. Checked brakes for be proper op. Lots of major service records.
Ten minutes into test drive low air pressure alarm goes off, and we head back to his house. About a mile later we see smoke/vapors from the radiator inlet. Overheating, but gauge not indicating hi temp. He stops, we open back access and main belts are slipping badly, and radiator fan isn't spinning. Alternator and air compressor pulley rpm clearly out of sync with crankshaft pulley. He kills ignition switch and there is a click and hydraulic radiator fan spins briefly. 6 pm he orders dinners, and puts me in the guest bedroom.
Next day got the rad fan running in fail safe mode, got gauge sensors working, and found and installed main drive belts, replaced radiator cap, and made offer. Took all day and had to cut the dash A/C belt because the adjustment bolts were soo mangled. PO drove about 100 miles chasing parts, finding a notary at his bank, food, beers and lodging for another night. Early morning July 4th he led me thru LA to the freeway to Barstow. Called twice a day to check on my progress.
Quite a 1400+ mile trip.
Search "in a pickle" on the forum for a good laugh.
Only thing that pissed me off was the owner claimed good tires, due to the extreme slope of the street I did not crawl under it, tires looked perfect not one percivable indication of age, no cracks, etc (still do after the 1500 miles in extreme desert 111f heat and horrific bumpy roads). So I did not check on the Bridgestone regrooveable tires date code. Tires are totally suptle and I can easily deflect the tread blocks with my scrawny fingers and thumb. And my fingernail will dent the tire and bounce back TIRES ARE 18 YEARS OLD..
Do NOT drive further on 18 year old tires!
FMCA has a fleet discount program with both Michelin and Continental. A good place to start.
What are the numbers of the date code? the first 2 are the week and the second pair are the year. I don't know how you could tell the difference from one decade to the next. You might be reading it wrong.
We bought a $500 1984 SOB that had been sitting in an RV park for 27 years after the owner's girlfriend died. His sister put in 4 new batteries, propane and one new front tire and fueled it before we picked it up in Antioch, CA. The coach jumped up and down like a pogo stick when we left the RV storage facility. Was still hopping going over the big bridge but after about 30 miles, it smoothed out. Think they were OEM as the coach only had 27K when we got it.
Pierce
Tire date codes before 2000 were only three digit. First two were week, third the year. No brainer, if only 3 digit date code, they are OLD.
No intentions on hitting the highway now, have shopped around and plan on tires next week. Only 4 stores in town do truck tires.
If you've ever blown a steering tire, you will never forget it, especially if you cream-in! :'(
Congrats Phred!
Saving grace on the tires may have been only running at 57% of rated capacity.
Tire shops just pass the trade-ins on to other RVs, trucks, etc. if the sidewall looks good. Most failures you see on the highway are recaps coming apart.
Pierce
I'm surprised one still sees blown caps along the road, think they'd get it about caps. I had a 18-wheeler blow one next to us; for a minute, I thought I'd been shot, it was so loud! >:D
It's the price. The tire pieces on a trailer keep flying back at you, sometimes for a pretty good distance. Sometimes they find your grill or front end. The L.A. Times, NY Times and USA Today have published excellent articles about driver/owners of big rigs. Only takes a paragraph before you can figure out why they use the cheapest possible of everything.
You would think that "they would get it" about a million things in our world but "they" won't. Never will. Human nature has a dark side.
Rigged. Forced into debt. Worked past exhaustion. Left with nothing. - USA TODAY (https://www.usatoday.com/pages/interactives/news/rigged-forced-into-debt-worked-past-exhaustion-left-with-nothing/)
Alone on the Open Road: Truckers Feel Like 'Throwaway People' - The New York... (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/us/trucking-jobs.html)
Pierce
Ouch, I had no idea the trucking industry has gotten this bad.
This explains a lot about tire failure.
This is mainly a port city problem with short haul trucks. I have several truck driving friends who make a decent living and the ones driving for hire get newer trucks and good maintenance on them. It is cheaper to buy new tires and keep the truck in good condition than having it breakdown or need a tire when carrying goods across the country. Fed Ex and UPS are two of the companies 2 of my friends drive for. The owner operators here in Los Angeles that drive lowsides and highsides do well also. Here are some pictures from a charity event the truckers held
FedEx and UPS are like the Mercedes and Toyota of trucking. Excellent companies with a lot of capitol behind them. Big aircraft and international operations too.
We overnight at a lot of truck stops and while a lot of rigs are first rate, there are enough sketchy ones to be a worry. You don't go too many miles on the interstates without seeing tire carcasses or parts of them littering the side of the road. Pretty easy to tell which are the caps.
Pierce
Well back to the GV, not much progress getting it up to snuff as last 5 days over 104 F. with 107 yesterday in Wichita. Bought a remanf air dryer, original pharts about every 30 seconds but did not get the D2. Dash lights quit about midtrip. Genset tailpipe fatigued off on the rough I40 road, along with hallway mirror, and the driver's side convex mirror. Tires, get replaced. Air bags condition marginal but no chords.
1500 mi. and only minor issues. Not bad compared to some other buyers.
You may need a 1" crow's foot to change out the dryer. It's a nasty bugger to break loose but finger tight after that. D2 should be super cheap and available at any truck stop.
Feel for you with the high temps. Hope the air works. I take it the generator pipe came off while running it for AC.
Sounds like the mountains are behind you.
Pierce
Looking down the side of the coach the finish looks nice. I hope it serves you as well as my 89 280 has served me.