MikeDXB

1991 Sunrader 18ft - Dubai, UAE! IMG_6019.HEIC

I'm not sure what's wrong with the ECU. It's not 'talking' properly to the fuel pump on ignition. If I can start it without the fuel pump running, and then after it catches a bit, the engine starts to turn over on fuel, then I switch power (a garage out in the middle of nowhere installed a 2 way switch) to the fuel pump back on, then it runs smooth. TBH it's a bit beyond me as to what's going on. I had a pretty scary shorting situation when pulling the positive lead from the leaking Onan at the garage, fuel all over the gennie compartment, and the live wire from starter battery contacted the chassis, sparks and fuel everywhere. Managed to dive underneath the truck and grab the lead, then disconnect from the starter battery. Obviously an oversite on not disconnecting the positive first. Learned that lesson. So I'm not sure if this could have done some damage to the ECU. Contact was a few seconds, and the problem with the fuel pump followed close behind, a few days later. The truck's in the garage today, I'm getting a technician to go over the ECU issue. The Onan's also in for a service. They've managed to get it running and putting out power so there is hope! It definitely needs a few parts that are proving difficult to find. Any advice on where to find parts? Non - existent here in the Middle East, so I'll most likely be ordering a big box of stuff from the US. Doing some searching now but not finding much. Power in the coach is 110V. It would be really interesting to try and track down a bit of it's history. Not sure how it's LHD / LH coach door. Perhaps originally made for Japan, so chassis must have been sent to CA, Sunrader did their bit on a RHD chassis, sent back to Japan, then maybe sent to the Middle East, and removed coach and put on LHD truck chassis, and that's how I found it here in Dubai. Or maybe not. Stumped. As I've mentioned, the connection between chassis and coach is a bit crappy, there's been cuts made to the coach body underneath. Can't see why that's been done for a straight- swap, but it doesn't look great. I'll go and take some pics at the garage next week.

Thanks!

Sunrader in the garage now getting looked at. Hopefully no new ECU needed, not cheap

Yes dust is the main problem out here in the desert! I'm thinking it was perhaps sent to the states as RHD, and then converted. Unless Sunrader were a bit shoddy at fitting the 'house' to the chassis of the truck, then it looks like it may have been removed and stuck on another Hilux chassis. I'll post pics.

Yes a lot of comments! Especially when I'm off in the 'countryside' / desert areas. The locals around here love it. Lost count of the number of people wanting to buy it. It's left hand drive, left hand coach door yes. I'm assuming it must have been converted at some point......? Thanks for the links, the 2nd one, blue striping is identical inside the coach. Although in slightly better condition! Plenty of hours needed to get it to where I want it. Yes I've had comments on the mirrors. Not sure if they're much more functional mounted above the cab. It's not easy seeing round the driver's A pillar to the mirror. Adjusting that is another thing on the long list of to-do's.

Yes I was quite surprised!

1990 v6 shorty Sunrader - Dubai, UAE

Hi all, So I got my Sunrader a couple of months ago. I was very surprised to find it here in Dubai on a classifieds website. I've always liked them, but never thought I'd find one out here. I jumped in the car to view it, liked what I saw (mostly) and made a deal with the owner. He purchased it from a Japanese auction site and imported it into the UAE. Everything seemed to be in order and the test drive was pretty decent. Once bought I took it to my local garage for a checkup, and ended up spending quite a bit getting it running smoothly and reliable! I'm not particularly mechanically - skilled, but hoping to learn along the way. We've been on a few camping trips in the truck over the last couple of months, but living in the Middle East means that you're not really going anywhere during the summer months, average temps are around 40-45C. So for the next few months I"m hoping to find a warehouse to store the car and get a bit of work done on it. There's an extensive list of things that need doing. The tricky thing here is finding parts for the coach, not many RV places around. The mechanical bits are slightly easier, there's quite a few Toyota pickups in the region. It had been standing for around 10 years prior to me purchasing it so needed quite a few things doing urgently. Listed below are jobs done - - 7 new tyres - spark plugs - fuel injectors serviced - new timing & drive belt - new water pump - all oil flushed and changed. - engine, crank, diff, brake fluid - power steering fluid replaced - refurb alternator - oil seals - new thermostat and housing - new fuel filter - new fuel pump - oil filter Lots of cleaning of the inside and it's now livable. Now the things that need doing - - replace Onan generator - looks a bit passed it. Would like to refurb, but looking like it'll cost quite a bit. - new AC roof unit - new fridge - new house battery, and generally sort all house wiring and electrics - replace rotted roof vents. - water system - pump, sink, shower. - looks like ECU needs replacing. Not sure where to start with that one! And probably much more!! So just a quick intro to the truck. I'll hopefully be getting involved in the site and learning along the way!! Cheers, Mike - Dubai, UAE