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4500 mile summer road trip coming up 1989 Warrior


toyo

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Toyota fans,

I have the summer off and me, my wife and 2 kids are heading on a road trip of epic proportions.  I have done these trips in Vans and cars, but I just bought my 1989 Warrior for 10k and am looking for advice. We will be hitting 8k plus altitudes in the Rockies and also enduring some serious desert heat in AZ. Generally, I just need a list of to do's for the trip. The RV seems to be in great shape and only has 42000 original miles on it. Also, it's a California RV which means almost no rust or corrosion.  I also have no idea where to take the RV for a checkup and Onan generator tuneup (161 total op hrs).  So far this RV is amazing, but I want to be prepared for obvious eventualities.  Are there any help videos that you have run across giving a step by step on the 1989/1990 warrior? GIve me your generous pearls of wisdom my friends and I will be most grateful!

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I like to hang out in the rockies too

1) you will need to manage the gears in your transmission - going up & coming down.  I am assuming V6.  I have found that on the big hills ( I often end up  selecting 2 and trying to keep the rpm mid range - 35-45 mph.  If I have to use L, talking about 15-20 for max power (higher rpm). 

If I am going on uphill the button on the dash that changes the shifting schedule for more power (also thing in advances timing too) is selected. I have used it downhill too, however I usually end up selecting the gear I really want for the situation, turning off OD is like locking out 4th gear. Using 2 locks out 3rd & 4th, 

If you ride your brakes all the way down a mountain I would expect you to need rotors & pads at the bottom.  Take your time, keep your speed down. Those "trucks on triangles" signs DO APPLY TO YOU!

Transmission heat: No tran heat gauge - tran fluid is essentially hydraulic fluid - when it gets hot, the fluid scorches then turns black - plan on buying a new transmission.  If yours does not have a tran cooler be careful - maybe even stopping at the top, opening the hood and having lunch. Often there are interesting things at or near the tops. 

Opening the hood lets a lot of heat  flow off the engine/ tran.

To see if you have an aux tran cooler, look at the bottom of your radiator - your tran fluid is routed to a small section of the radiator (at the bottom),  If you have an aux cooler it will probably be mounted in fron of your ac condensor which is in front of your radiator.  You will see one of the lines that go into the bottom of the radiator and will be plumbed to the aux cooler with the return line going to  the line on the bottom of the radiator.  

I have a cooler and I usually keep on going over the top - especially of the other side is not real steep where I would have to   aggressively  gear down on the downhill.

Note when the downhill is steep, you will have to occasionally use your brakes to keep rpm reasonable. I do that for a few seconds to get the speed / rpm down then release the brakes so they do not overheat.

 

When you get to 8-10k, your engine has lost about 1/2 it's seal level power - you will notice it.

As for your generator- I think the onan 2.8 (guessing that is what you have- it is the only one that fits in your camper) has an easy adjustment for altitude. Again at high altitude you will lose about 1/2 its power - it will not be able to run the ac (you probably won't need it at 10k) and even your microwave will make it grunt. 

 

There are onan dealers all over - you will have to google it.  If it is running ok, I would change the oil and maybe the spark plug and run it some at home - part of the time under load (AC).  If it does that ok I would not be too concerned. IF it will not pull the roof ac at sea level I would be concerned about it. Note that it needs to be able to pull it for at least 30 minutes- I would want to see it take the load of full hour.

 

There is a lot of info on this forum - how old are your tires?  which tires do you have?  inflation strategy?

I would consider checking tran fluid.  https://www.walmart.com/ip/Castrol-Transmax-DEX-MERC-Automatic-Transmission-Fluid-1-GALLON/17253576  is what I use - dextron II.  When I got my camper in 2010, it had about the same mileage as yours.    I changed the tran filter (it is really more of  a screen). There were a few magnets in there which had a  little fine shavings (normal wear). When you drop the pan to change the filter, you lose about 2 qts of ATF.   Since then, about every 10k miles, I drain the 2 qts off (my tran has a drain plug) and replace. The whole system holds about 2 gallons.

Also check your rear end fluid - might even change it.

I would also take a good look at hoses and belts for dry rot, etc.

Assuming V6, you have the VZE3 engine - used on 4 runners & pickups.  There are few things unique (solid valve lifters/ shims) and a history of head gasket issues) -- if you can find a MATURE hones competent toyota mechanic, you have hit gold!   BTW, he will have some GRAY in his hair!

Have you looked at your brakes?

 

Lots of great boon docking in Colorado!   Any place in particular on your flight plan?

 

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Thanks so much for the thorough response on this.. you could literally save lives and definitely some dollars.  As far as Arizona goes, we are looking at hitting the Grand Canyon of course, but not sure what else yet.   As a kid, my family broke down on the side of a cliff in the Grand Tetons and I've never forgotten the experience. It turned out that that the high altitude caused our van to cut off.. couldn't figure out what was wrong until a cop came by and adjusted the carb (or something like that) to increase air flow. That was in 1984 and in a v8 for Econoline and mine is a 1989.. and I was wondering if these have the same design and will require me adjusting for that?

Edited by toyo
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Rookies driving rule #1. If you go up a hill in 2nd gear, you go down the hill in 2nd. Give your overworked brakes a brake?

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8 hours ago, toyo said:

 It turned out that that the high altitude caused our van to cut off.. couldn't figure out what was wrong until a cop came by and adjusted the carb (or something like that) to increase air flow. That was in 1984 and in a v8 for Econoline and mine is a 1989.. and I was wondering if these have the same design and will require me adjusting for that?

Nothing like that required.  The VZ3E  engines does it for you.   The ECU (computer) is monitoring the MAF (mass air flow - measures volume of air coming thru air filter),   O2 (oxygen sensor) measures the mixture in the exhaust,  throttle position, rpm, knock sensor (which lets the ecu advance timing without destroying engine)  etc.

With all that it is a "closed loop" system.  The old econoline had a carb  with no computer etc.

All you have to deal with is the altitude induced reduction in power and managing RPM- thru gear selection. The transmission handles gear selection fine on reasonably level ground, but due to the high weight/ low power ratio, you can either select gears or keep the gas pedal on the floor and then listen to the engines scream as it winds out gears (uphill).

 

 

Your generator is a different story....

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