toycoach

I have a 1986 Coachman. Have tried to find ball joints but all suppliers will not state that they have the part since they have no listing on their books. Will the Toyota pickup ball joints work and who is the best supplier?

On the way home to NC from Tn, the alternator on our 1986 Coachman motorhome, 2.4L, EFC, auto gave out on us. Having tried doing some research on which alternator to order for replacement but none on the auto parts stores has any info. The only help was Advance states the 1986 Toyota pickup only calls for one 70 amp alternator. Any way to tell which alternator I need short of pulling the old one off which I don't want to do until I have the replacement in hand. Also the brake light came on when the charge light came on???? From reading on this forum, this is a difficult job. The alternator is in a tight place to get out once it is removed. Any thoughts.

Hi Fred, Send you an email but never heard from you. Phil in Fuquay Varina. Let me know if you want to meet up sometime.

I installed rear view mirror instead of the useless rear view mirror, works great.

Yes, the fuel pump is in the tank. Had to drop the tank to repair fuel sender on my '86 Coachman with the 22 RE, not a fun job. Good luck.

Probably not your problem but I had this problem when plugged into house hold current, the ground fault had tripped, just a thought.

Probably not your problem but I had this problem when plugged into house hold current, the ground fault had tripped, just a thought.

I like my TV so is there any signal boosters that will work and help reception on my 1986 Coachman roof mounted. Have not been very successful picking up many channels in any location that I have camped. t

Hey Derek, First FI was in 1987. Just an update on my fun with the fuel tank and sending unit. Got it off and found the sending unit frozen up, cleaned it and put everything back together. Had to get a used rubber line with fittings on both ends to attach to the fuel tank. Everything works great. Just went on a 2 day trip and it was so pleasant to be able to view a working fuel guage versus writing down mileage to keep up with available fuel. Not an easy job for a 68 YO working in a drive way but well worth it. Now if I can just figure out what is leaking in the bathroom and wetting the carpet under the commode.

Thanks Derek for the info. I don't know what the pressure is but the Toyota repair/salvage yard owner/mechanic stated that he had experience with the rubber hose with clamps coming to his shop with blisters/bubbles on them where they could not hold the pressure. I didn 't want to chance this with a fire potential going down the road, figure better safe than sorry.

Just an update, had to cut the rubber high pressure line from the tank fuel pump to the supply line to the fuel filter to get the tank out. Found out that the 14 MM screws into the 19 MM beyound the threads and sometimes flares out inside the 19 MM fitting so that it is almost impossible to unscrew. I now have a salvage yard which is local trying to find a matching fuel line and rubber high pressure hose. The rubber hose with screw on clamps that I originally planned to use will not hold up to the high fuel line pressure. On the good side, when I got the fuel tank out, I found the sending unit was frozen up with rust and was able to clean it up and free it up, plugged it back in to the electical plug by the frame and manually work the sending unit and it goes up from 0 to full. Checked the plastic float and it does not have any holes, hopefully it will register fuel level correctly since it is obsolete. Waiting on replacement parts and a warmer day to install them, will reply with finished results.

Hi Bill, Adventure does not begin to describe this. I am currently in the process of removing the fuel tank. The main problem being that I cannot get the coach up high enough to get to the fuel lines so I can get any torque on the fittings that attach to the tank. My biggest problem is getting the 14MM steel line loose from the 19MM rubber flex hose that attaches the supply line to the tank. Got them broke loose but they get to a certain place and then tighten back up. Have used "Bust em" on fittings and went yesterday and purchased a 14MM line wrench to try and grip the supply line better. Will try this when the temp gets warmer today. If this doesn't work, guess I'll cut lines and go to rubber hose w/o fittings, just screw down clamps for replacement. Will be interesting when I get the fuel sending unit/fuel pump assembly out to see what I find since the fuel guage is not working, Wish me luck!

I have the same problem on my 1986 Coachman and I just pull one side up on the leveling blocks to tilt the motorhome when I park it to run the water off.

/;Hi Ranger, I also have a 1986 Coachman and used to live in Erwin. I now live in Fuquay Varina. Sounds like we have the same unit. Contact me at pheckerson@fhotmail.com if you would like to share info. Thanks, Phil

Live in Fuquay Varina, NC and own a 1987 Coachman, will share info, give me specifics on what you still need to know.