crasster

Okay I just did a coil test. Basically I did an ohm test that I found on google. The positive an negative posts have complete continuity. I used this guide http://www.internati...nition-coil.cfm No wires attached and sitting in my lap in the living room, I get the following readings: The guide said I should see .75 to .81 resistance between the posts. I saw 0.01 on all settings on my digital ohm meter. The center post to side terminals said 13.6 on 2000k, 200k and 20k. It would not read on 2000 or 200. So according to the guide, I probably have a bad coil. However, this may be a general and not specific. I am not too familiar with the 22RE & the specifics. Does anybody know? Also would this be a good replacement (electronic ignition) http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/BWD1/E520.oap?pt=02767&ppt=C0334 Thanks!

Small update. Added some marvel mystery oil to crank case and gas. Cyl 3 started firing. Missing 1-2 sometimes 3 times every 5 or so seconds. All other cylinders seem to be working right. Perhaps it was a stuck valve or some cruddy build up. Would it be bad if I tried running good detergents like Mystery oil & RXP. Sorry unfamiliar with 22RE still. Those work great in other engines to internally clean. I've had wonderful results in go-kart engines lol.

I pulled the boot off #3 and stuck a spare spark plug on it. We could see spark on this overcast day. Not incredibly bright, but spark none the less. Next I pulled out the spark plug itself. There was some oil on it. Not a gunky build up, but a thin layer all over. It wasn't clogging the gap, but there was a thin layer of oil. Even right below the gap where the small "white" section holds up the electrode to the gap, that had thin oil all over it. Pulled each plug each had the same. It was not "gunky" but I thought it wasn't good to have any layer of oil. I would not call it a build up, but they were wet. Would weak spark for a few months do this on all plugs? Or do I have something I got to dig into? I have no smoke out the exhaust.. hmmm. Thanks

2nd Update: Glad I found the glow, but unfortunately did not fix it. I think this was a separate issue all together (won't get into that now - LOL) The engine sounds better, but I do believe it is missing. Here is what I have done so far this morning. Cranked the truck, sounded kind of "choppy", (better than the stutter from before with glow wire which is understandable). When I put it in reverse, it gets "real choppy". I feel a heavy miss. Even the shifter is kind of vibrating pretty good along with the dash. So I went out and started pulling boots off the distributor one at a time (replacing each boot between tests) & re-cranked the truck. Results Boot 1 - More "choppy" but didn't feel horrible Boot 2 - Truck barely ran & barely started Boot 3 - No change - truck seemed to be running the same with as if all were plugged in! Boot 4 - Truck barely ran & barely started. Okay all this points to the obvious that something is bad on #3 but #1 has me thrown off. Boot 2 & 4 probably the truck barely ran because #3 (possibly #1) was not working so I was firing on 2 cylinders with those removed - did stall. Boot 1 has me thrown off a bit perhaps intermittent miss. My sons and I did pull the cap and it looks okay as does the rotor. Obviously replaced before. Both parts look okay on the inside, I suppose I could change them anyway. Plug wires looked pretty new, definitely not originals. I could change these as well. I'm kinda leaning that the culprit is the coil... Possibly getting weak? Worth changing anyway? Looks orig. (lol) Anything else that could cause this? Advice / suggestions appreciated.

UPDATE: I decided to go see if I could find any bad spark plug wires at night. I cranked on the engine. Immediately I saw a "slight red hot metal glow" coming off the alternator wire onto the battery isolator that I went through a living hades to fix. I turned off the vehicle immediately. Then I took off the battery cable & isolator cable & bolted them together completely off the isolator. Cranked the truck and it seemed "okay", much better than it was. It's getting late so I'll tinker tomorrow. But I probably found the problem. For the split second I noticed the "slight glow of metal", I saw it pulsing with the revs of the engine. I'm never buying an isolator from Oreilly auto again. I think that the diode to the alternator somehow was grounded. I already had to return a bad one. This one had a bad excitation wire diode that I had to fix with an external diode. It worked for a while. Then this.... Pure expensive junk! I would have never seen the glow during the day. But to answer the above question, I have not checked the compression. But I "normally" have an intermittent missfire that I need to check with that method. The "stutter" was way different as you can imagine! LOL. It was just bad. I apologize, I didn't have the glow of metal detail earlier before it was night time here. My question was vague. I'll put some more details down in the morning. I'll get it going down the highway and will know immediately, but I suspect glowing metal was probably the problem. One note, after connecting the battery & alternator directly, no glows, no heat at connection. Thanks.

Sorry. 1987 Dolphin 22RE

Having another problem. This one actually just ruined our maiden voyage after the rebuild No big deal, it was really a "shake down voyage" 1 hour away, but it was scary with our 5 kids. Made it home. Not fast, but home. Anyway, I'm at a bit of a loss on this one. The engine sometimes starts on the 1st try and other times its takes just a couple tries with a bit of help from the gas pedal. (Don't know if this is a symptom of the issue) Once it starts it has a pretty good "stutter". No pops, but the engine isn't "humming right". (perhaps I'll get a video of it if nobody knows) When I hit the gas, it revs and sounds normal until it returns to the stuttering idle. There IS a power loss. I was lucky to get to 45mph on the highway. I may not be noticing it stutter at higher RPMs. As far as the fuel system goes, I have changed recently that are probably relevant to the problem: 1) Fuel pump 2) Fuel filter 3) New Plugs 4) PCV Valve 5) New Plugs I'm pretty sure my alternator is good, battery is at 13.28 volts when not running. + vehicle starts after 2 hours of running. I don't know on this one. Could it be a coil pack? (just a small dim light bulb hypothesis) Bad wires? Just looking for clues. (One other funky thing that may be unrelated (or may be?) the fuel gauge and coolant temp gauge mostly work, but when they don't work, they both don't work together. Very sporatic) All help greatly appreciated.

Just brainstorming, but do you guys think a bug guard could help "throw" the air current off the windshield and getting stuck under the overhead bunk causing drag? Perhaps it would stream the air over to the more aerodynamic part of the bunk? Just a thought with 100% no scientific backing - just sitting here with a bottle of suds.

I want to "push the limits" of my Dolphin. On another forum that I visit, there are so many people that are "stuck" from RV travel because of gas prices. I'm one who only wants to travel for my kids to have fun and see the USA. I am too kind of "stuck" not exactly financially, but because I'm a cheapskate in ways. I have another vehicle that gets 40+ mpg and the thoughts of "tents" is coming to mind for far trips. A 900 mile trip in my 1987 Toyota Dolphin with the 22RE would cost around $500 or so (round trip) in gas alone on a good day. Here in Texas, gas is currently $3.55 a gallon which is probably better than many places in the USA. But it's still high. So anyway I thought I'd ask here on the forum for any advice, any mods, or anything that can improve the MPG of the Toy home. I know this is probably pushing the button some, but I'd LOVE to get 20 miles per gallon. I know it's nearly a 6000 pound vehicle, but it is also a 4 cylinder. I'm sure a thread like this will help many people. I really want to "push the limits of MPG" to help trips be easier on the wallet. So far the following things I have heard can get you better MPG. 1) Absolutely correct tire pressure stated on the sidewall of the tires. You want it at maximum to reduce road surface contact. (some debate?) 2) Good clean oil. 3) Good spark plugs. 4) Unrestricted cat converter 5) Install a cold air - air filter. ***see below*** 6) Lighten your load, empty tanks. Fill at destinations and empty before you leave. 7) Airtabs? 8) Slow down (yeah I know hard right LOL). 50-55 mph I'm open to any suggestions and I hope all this helps others.

In my experience using Autozone and Oreilly auto, I've bought a lot of parts. I'd say nearly 90% of the time, the parts worked out well. However on some things years back on my 1986 Caprice, I replaced a water pump just to have it fail in 9 months. Also on the same car I bought an alternator that "charged weakly" on idle till it went out 6 months later. I've heard many people talk Toyota only parts, but of course that means $$$. So I'm just going to share my experience with Ebay parts. On my other vehicle a Toyota Sienna, I purchased a Timing belt kit with water pump. The parts were absolutely wonderful & were OEM. Dirt cheap compared to a local retail shop. I've also purchased several blower motors and various sensors from Ebay that turned out fantastic and cheap. I do hear many people call Ebay stuff roughly "junk" and I'm curious the experiences they may have had or heard about. It's tough when I look at an alternator for my 1987 Dolphin and a brand NEW one on Ebay is $99 with free shipping & no core charge. I look up and (yes count it) the vendor has 30000+ positive feedbacks at a 99.7% ratio. New Water pumps from vendors with 150,000 positive feedbacks going for less than $25. Like I said Autozone & Oreilly only get it right about 90% of the time and I've bought some skunky stuff from both of these stores (dirt & crud in rebuilt stuff too). I'm sure Autozone & Oreilly don't have the same good feedback as some of these Ebay vendors (from my own experience). I'm just curious if the "junk" on Ebay is really kind of just rumors or assumptions, (I've heard people also say that anything but Toyota dealership parts are junk) or if there are seriously bad real life experiences with very good "feedback" vendors on Ebay. Anyway just strictly curious.

It has 76k on it. Just trying to make it trustworthy. Yes no tranny cooler right now. I think I need to install one. It's a 4 cyl with O/D.

Do you see any MPG increase with that K&N cone setup? Gas is getting mega expensive, even for the 22RE. May be worth it over the long haul.

Well my restoration project is going well, and I am nearing completion. My wife and I have 5 young children that have all helped in the restoration project. Believe it or not, we do have enough room to sleep everybody. The boys have decided that simple padded bed rolls under the table bed & couch that "folds over" is called "The Cave". So they want to sleep there in the cave. LOL. So we'll be good & cozy and having a blast in our restored 1987 Dolphin. We home school the kids, and I work on the internet (and only need access for about 10 minutes a day if on the road), so we are planning on taking the kids all over America to supplement their "History (such as going to Gettysburg when learning about the Civil war), Science (go find fossils) etc. However, there are a few concerning issues that I personally have... I want to make this camper SUPER reliable. I don't want to risk break downs. My kids ages are 12 down to 2 and I don't need to be trapped in some desert or barren land somewhere. So I'm looking to start "swapping" some mechanical parts for new trusted ones because I don't know the history or the age (could be original?) of some of these parts. I'm asking for advice on what I should switch out that could leave me stranded. Stranded would STINK with 5 kids & wife to look after. So far this is what I have done with new parts in the engine compartment: 1) New PCV valve 2) New starter 3) New battery 4) New battery isolator 5) New Spark Plugs 6) New oil & filter 7) New Fuel filter 8) Added tranny fluid Parts not in engine: 1) New Fuel pump 2) New Muffler 3) New tires including spare 4) New house batteries So now here is what I am thinking of doing to make things "more reliable", "more safe", "more stranded proof". A) New alternator. This one still works, but who wants alternator problems? ($80 - 90 for 70 amp on Ebay) B New Water pump. ($27 Ebay) C) New belts when changing both water pump & alternator D) New Hoses when the system is open for water pump & alternator E) New Radiator? Or just a flush? (Found a new one for $58 on ebay) Current radiator seems to be stock. - and cap. (New radiator fan? $28 Ebay) F) New Coolant G) New Thermostat when things are open H) Possibly install an external transmission cooler?, new trans filter, new trans fluid Of course a good road side assistance program (ERS - Good Sam, AAA, coach net) as well. Cell phone, laptops with GPS, and GPS devices as well. Credit card if rental van needed. Bringing "general tools". Several thousands of dollars in the bank or Credit Cards with the credit. Is there anything else I should add to the list of parts, reliability, or safety? Are most of those items a good idea to change? Our families kind of "stink" and probably nobody would come pick us up states away. So I'm seeking first HEAVY reliability, and second a good backup plan. Thanks a lot!

Yes the fridge uses only 140 watts. I've put in on a kill-a-watt meter and watched it for some time. When compressor kicks in, its only 140w. Otherwise much less. Yeah I hear the talk about the propane. The thing is I don't think we could do much dry camping. We have 5 children (I'll start a thread on our solution later for the small space), I can't imagine going more than 1 night without power. We pretty much eat raw foods, fruits, veggies, raw nuts, raisins etc., so most of the 1 night short trips we wouldn't even need the fridge. For long trips, since the dorm fridge is so insulated, we were planning on freezing ice in large bags on the road while driving if we are planning to boon dock for the night (or wal-mart parking lot if transiting interstate and need a few hours sleep). This way the ice would keep the fridge "cool", along with the other items that are cool during the sleep hours (4-6 hours tops for me). Once the truck is turned back on, immediately the fridge begins to cool (and this thing cools fast!). Hot water is simple. 2.5 to 4 gallon water heaters usually recover in 20 minutes. This amount of water is also mixed with regular "cold" water. So a good quick shower to get clean and there won't be problems. (we had a popup with a shower before and our gray water at the most was 3 gallons per person, per shower. Hot plates / electric skillets can indeed use power as can crock pots. The large flat skillet we have in our kitchen is about 800 watts of power. (7-8 amps) So all in all I think that any site with a 30 amp plug in will do us just fine. We may just have to be careful on certain instances such as if we are heating hot water 7 amps, running full blast A/C (14 amps), Converter charge 4 batts (mine pulls 3 amps), fridge (Less than 2 amps), and then decide to turn on a hot plate or something like that. However, here is the funny part. Most Texas state parks along with most of the campgrounds that I see have separate breakers. Some have what looks to be a 30amp breaker, then next to it there is a common household 15 amp plug that has its own fuse. I was just thinking of running an extension cord and using that 15 amp plug as well for perhaps the water heater along (it's in a good EASY spot for it) (The total plug ins can handle 45 amps, but they sell it as a 30 amp site). Of course, there is always careful consideration for those places that just have 30 amp camp sites. Like turn the A/C to "low cool" while using the water heater. etc. What also sold me on the idea was: 1) Propane you have to fill it - $ 2) My fridge was broken, and a new RV one was nearly $850. Wally world large dorm fridge with freezer - $149 3) The range looked like junk and we won't bake on the road. Funny because it looked brand new inside the door, which probably meant nobody else did either. 4) 12V for boon docking. I have 2 6V golf cart batteries wired in series to the generator. Fine for lights & small fans for a night. Could even run the fridge off the 12V system as well with inverter. The two batteries are rated at 210 amp hours each (YEAH RIGHT!) so I assume 200 amp hours together. After conversion to A/C through a small inverter to the fridge, I could probably run it all night once the compressor kicks off with 12V. (I really like golf cart batteries!) This includes the loss in the conversion process. Plus lights and fans. Of course I am speaking if we are boon docking for 1 night. No hot plate, no A/C. Once the truck starts or generator, batteries start charging. 5) If we need to cook, fire up the generator while boon docking. If in a National forest, use the camp fire (when permitting). For my personal situation, I don't see too many downsides. In fact if I also think of the leaks & possible dangers of propane with all my kids & wife, it just sounded like more of a headache. But YEAH I can completely see why some of you who go for days to the National Forests wouldn't get rid of their propane. Now with that said... Resell value. I suppose it could affect the resell value some. However, being a 1987 Dolphin and considering we are planning on having it for a while (I hope), I don't think it will have much of a resell value anyway. We paid $2900 for the RV, and have put almost exactly $1000 into it. That includes a New A/C with heat, Toilet, Fridge, Floor, Starter (from ebay cheap!), & converter. I had the batteries for the generator. In the end I estimate we will have a grand total of $1300-1500 on the rebuild. I'll be sure to post photos of it soon! I hope I'm not forgetting something or ghost power draws. Thanks!

Well knocking on wood, it's running fine. With the pump & filter change it seemed to make the problem vanish. On my rig I've done so much, can't wait to post a bunch of photos. We are painting it right now. If I was in your spot, make sure you have good spark, clean oil, fresh gas, good filter. Then move on to the pump if that doesn't work.

So far in my rebuild project I've rebuilt several things. One of the thing was the cabinet area around the range. While I was in there, I figured I would not do much baking in the rig and if I wanted to bake, I'd bring a small toaster oven. So I pulled the rather heavy range out. So then I was determined since our fridge was bad and I was going to replace it with a dorm fridge to pull ALL the propane out. I guess I just figured "why mess with having to refill it, leaks etc.". So I'm replacing the water heater with a Bosch 2.5 gallon (or 4 gallon) electric 110V. I'm pulling the furnace and will enjoy heat from space heaters or overhead heat. (When traveling in extreme cold we'll bring a portable propane tank & Big Buddy heater) For stove usage we are going to just keep a "hot plate" / 1 or 2 burner plug in "thing". Also, we can keep the fridge cold while driving because we have the dorm fridge that works on 110V hooked up to a small inverter. The fridge uses 140 watts only. So we'll have a nice cold "RV fridge" powered from the alternator going down the road that was only $120. The propane tank I guess I'll just drop out & save the RV some weight. Perhaps I'll install some kind of storage box behind the "door area" where the propane is now. I guess this job is pretty straight forward without any major concerns (yes the propane tank is 100% empty). Has anybody else done something like this? Pull all the propane & just decided to go off electricity? Experiences or tips?

Sorry I was kind of being stupid. The E terminal is 15V but that is AFTER the diode I installed. Before the diode it's 13.5V. I think I fixed it. What's so strange about this is that 2 of the exact same isolators I bought from Oreilly auto had the exact same problem. No wonder I was completely confused. I was sitting here like "this is NOT that hard" and scratching my head.... I think the diode completely fixed the problem. (I just used the 25A bridge rectifier from Radio Shack) I'll get photos of all of this soon. I'm the type that snaps photos and sees something and starts working on something else & gets involved with a whole new project. Then when I am through I get hoarded by all the kids LOL. Thanks for the awesome suggestion of the diode Maineah. I really think it worked well. Isolator is nice & warm & both batteries at 13.5V when vehicle running.

What I would do is try bypassing the isolator. Hook the alternator up directly to the battery wire at the alternator. Put it on a nice charge over night & try to get it started. You may have isolator problems. I just went through one of those ;o)

BUG MAY BE FIXED with my isolator. Working on it today in nice weather. It's funny because it seems so straight forward.... Not sure if I got it right. Here is how I have it setup. 4 Terminal Isolator Battery 1 connector - Truck Battery. A connector - Alternator E Connector - To Alternator wiring harness. Small red wire coming from alternator that has 12V OFF when key in ACC mode, but 12V ON when key is in the ON position. (Traced to IGN terminal on alternator) Battery 2 Connector - House Battery. Here are my tests: TEST 1 - KEY in OFF position Battery 1 connector - 12V + A connector - 0 E connector - 0 Battery 2 - 12V + TEST 2 - Key in ACC position Battery 1 connector 12V + A connector - 0 E connector - 0 Battery 2 - 12V + TEST 3 - Key in ON position (vehicle not started) Battery 1 Connector - 12V+ A Connector - 1V E connector - 12V+ Battery 2 Connector - 12V+ TEST 4 - Vehicle on and running Battery 1 Connector - 11.96V A Connector - 1V E connector - 12V+ Battery 2 Connector - 12V+ I REALLY do think I have this thing wired up right. This is my 2nd 4 terminal isolator from Oreilly auto. It is a 95 AMP so it should be fine I would think. I returned the last one wondering if there was a defect and this was doing the exact same thing. I'm baffled completely. Maineah suggested that I run a 25 AMP diode. They have a rectifier at Radio Shack, but I decided to open up an old inverter that I have that doesn't work. Inside I found a 3.0 amp diode. Pulled it and put it between the "E" terminal and "A" terminal. I used the WHITE band closest to the A terminal. (Don't know if 3.0 amp is enough between E & A terminals, but using it for test purposes. If I could draw it it would look like this E ---->|----- A The white band is the "|". Anyway here are my results with diode TEST 5 - Vehicle in the ACC position + Diode Battery 1 Connector - 12V+ A Connector - 0V E Connector - 0V Battery 2 connector - 12V+ TEST 6 - Vehicle in the ON position (not running) + Diode Battery 1 connector - 12V+ A Connector - 12V+ E Connector - 12V+ Battery 2 connector 12V+ TEST 7 - Vehicle Running + Diode Battery 1 Connector - 14.25V A Connector - 15.6 - 15.9V !!! E Connector - 15V+ Battery 2 Connector - 14.25V It looks like it's working, but I'm a bit concerned that my alternator seems to be putting out SO high. Is it supposed to be like that when hooked to an isolator? If so, I'm good to go!!!! (Finally). If not, I'm back to the drawing board. The diode that I used is a HER3003 - 3.0 amp. I'm not sure if this is large enough to go between the excitation & alternator. The small wire is pretty thin leading out of the harness though. I guess I could always go buy the rectifier from Radio Shack to save the confusion. Keeping my fingers crossed hoping for good feedback on that high alternator voltage. (One other thing, if I hook up the alternator wire to the battery directly, I get 14.25V) Thanks! -Chris R.

I changed my fuel filter & fuel pump. Seems to be working well now! Took it on a 40 mile trip and no problems.

Here is a small thread on another site of the filter relocation and where they put it. Mine is similar. -Filter Relocation- Too bad the shipper from Ebay is slow, but the BRAND NEW pump was about $26 bucks with a lifetime warranty. Lots of great feedback on the guy too. Gotta love Ebay. The mega parts store wanted $139.99 with a 1 year.

Well I had the tank down because the fuel gauge was not working and I wanted to check the sending unit. The sending unit was dead locked with rust. In fact, I could not even physically move it without fear of bending the metal. So what my sons and I did was soak it in WD-40 for about an hour. Then we took a light duty wire brush to the outside rust. It began moving. We disassembled the unit completely and soaked it again. Then we cleaned it up real good & got all the rust off the unit. Believe it or not it cleaned up REAL good. This was something I wanted to do anyway, but then started thinking of the fuel pump (was considering my problem was the filter). A small dim light bulb went off in my head saying "duh, that may be the problem". I don't believe there are many contaminates in the fuel tank, the screen on the pump was pretty clean. I poked a flashlight in the tank and for the most part it was pretty clean as well. I do believe it to be the original pump because of the date posted on it. Probably good to change it anyway. Oh and by the way guys, the filter is the metal kind. Looks like they used some kind of high pressure tubing to move it over to the fender area. There are a few sites that describe how to do it on the 22re. I'll let you guys know what happens. I'm trying to get as many photos as I can and then one day I'll sit down and post them all. ;o)

I think I lucked out. I found the fuel filter on the side of the passenger fender ;o) I guess somebody already changed it once. Easy to get to.

Well I did a couple of times, but not during the problem ;o) The tank had about 10 gallons in it. Not full, but not empty.

I've had this problem before, and don't know if this is related. (87 Dolphin 22RE) A couple months back I had a post that I had power for a couple seconds then it felt sort of like the power died off, then power, then died off. I experienced it first when going up a slightly steeper hill, but it was a Texas hill, so it was only perhaps 1/4 mile long. Not bad at all. Then it kept doing it on level roads thereafter. Derek Up North suggested I check my transmission fluid. Wow he hit the nail on the head. My trans fluid was low. Since then it has worked great, until recently. We went on a 60 mile trip. 30 out and 30 back. 30 miles out the Toy was great. Kind of still getting use to the low power... It's almost grossly low power and I have a very light foot. 30 miles back the first 15 were fine, then it started again... Power for a couple seconds, then its like I felt it "die off" then power again, then "die off". The intervals were like 2 seconds of power to a half second of "mush". It happened at highway speeds and while going up a hill. I got on the service road after that and everything seemed fine. When I got home, I checked the transmission fluid and it was good. I don't know if this is a symptom of a fuel filter or fuel pump, but I don't know if either has been changed. (76k miles) (if it is a symptom of this I'm planning on relocating the fuel filter if possible, if a fuel pump is there a way to fix at home?) But anyway, I have no idea what it could be. I've changed many tune up parts, but not the coil pack (but it looks newer). Any pointers are highly appreciated. It try to do all my mechanic work, and my 2 sons aged 8 & 6 are right there learning with me rebuilding this thing. Thanks ***EDIT - Also one other thing, I have the stock fuel tank on the ground right now because I wanted to fix the sending unit. It's fixed and I left it out to see if I would need a new fuel pump (if that's one of the symptoms). Is there a way for me to test it? Also if I do need one, what's the opinion of the ones sold on ebay. If you type in 1987 toyota pickup fuel pump, they have some for $59 plus shipping (OEM)& it comes with a strainer. Thanks!