noahrexion

dolphinguy - what sort of place are you looking for? What is "too" expensive? How long are you thinking of staying? I'm from Longmont and I know a few around there. Otherwise I can only really recommend places that would require a bit of offroading. There is also a Camping World on I-25 just north of the Highway 66 junction (barely north of Longmont, headed towards Loveland). Supplies and information can be had there.

Actually now that I've stared at your super-sized version of the last photo - it looks as if the aluminum roof bends over the fiberglass siding: is this the case? Do you have any other photos of this? Can you explain briefly how the layering goes (ie: siding, aluminum, butyl tape, trim piece, screws, vinyl aesthetic piece...etc)? I'd hate to put everything back together after a repair and still have a leak !

What did you use to hold the fiberglass sheet back onto the foam board (or OSB)? I guess I'm not totally sure how your cab over is now layered. Also, did you happen to take any pictures of the paneling disassembly? I think I'm going to be resealing all my exterior paneling this winter and have yet to find anyone with pics/instructions on how to properly take apart/seal the aluminum roof: side areas yet. Thanks so much for sharing these pictures, I was wondering if you were going to just use plywood after I saw you post in John's thread. Nice to see other options!

You were both correct, for the record! I hadn't, at that point, checked my coach voltage for about a week. Indeed I had about 60% or so charge and once plugged in/charged back to 80%+ the furnace is working as it should. Just wanted to follow up for reference.

I wish your writing was a bit more legible; sentence structure would go a long way. Are you saying the the buddy units vent inside? You had headaches from monoxide? I'm interested in replacing mine with something newer/more efficient as well.

3travellers, Shoot me a pm. I will be driving through California (south to north) in about 1.5-2 weeks with my 86 dolphin. I can show you around the Toyota RV if you have interest. Austin

Heater was working great about the last week. I can only think the auto pilot is not working as the fan still runs and I've plenty of propane. Anyone replace the pilot? Is it accessible through the inside cover? John, any insight? I couldn't find anywhere to access this pilot.

Sorry this one is a little bit off topic, but do you guys know of a solid (whether cheap or expensive) tank gauge? Have a link? I have a tiny little 1" or so gauge that seems to consistently read a a little low. We had about 9 days of use on our 20lb tank (5 gallon) and when our gauge read about 1/8 of a tank I brought it to get filled. Low and behold, the guys puts in 2.1 gallons to fill it. Obviously I had about 1/2 a tank but my gauge reads low. It sure would be nice to have a 30lb tank in there for those chilly nights and furnace usage. Although I store my jacks in the same compartment as my 20lb tank since there is so much more room.

Brent, My wife and I just moved from that area about 2 weeks ago. We are leaving the west coast for the east coast and will be driving through later (about 10-12 days from now). We would be happy to show you around it if you still need. Austin

Gerry, Are those harbor freight gauges you used? How do you like them? Color match the oem green at all?

So little did I know that there are two valves inside the electrical cord access panel, behind the water heater. When I pulled out the cord I opened one of the valves fully. I closed it and solved the mystery. Just in case folks were wondering. I suppose these are drain valves for the water heater that act as another drain point to help winterize.

Fantastic John, thanks for the ID. Have you any idea where I may be able to close them? I hadn't known of any valve(s) to open/close or area where I can get to in order to change O rings.

Have put about 1700 miles on my 86' Dolphin (rear dinette) in the last 2 weeks - been outstanding! I am settled at a family residence now, charging and cleaning. I filled my fresh tank, turned on the water pump and the pump would NOT stop running. Generally this has been when the tank gets low and the pump cannot prime as it pulls air in. This is not the case now. I heard water draining from the outside and I went underneath and took this picture of 2 hoses coming out of the floor. I do not know what they are but they do look as if they're underneath the water heater. Perhaps they are overflow lines for the water heater? When I turn on the pump water just spews out of the line(s) non-stop and the pump runs and runs. I cannot find any leaks anywhere else. This is an "all of a sudden" type of problem that did not come on gradually. Everything has been working great until this happened (with the water pump that is). Can anyone help me ID these water lines and perhaps help me ID the possible source of my problem with my description thus far? I didn't pinch the output line from the pump (yet) to see if it is an external priming issue since the obvious running water from these line(s) is a priority issue first. I have a feeling that waterever these lines are associated with is where my attention shall need to be directed. Thanks you outstanding toy'ers in advance! Austin

Dolphinite - what floor plan do you have? Please document, as nice as watier does if possible, your project! Oh and your condensate - since its a window unit and designed to "hang out" - may very well not have a hose/line but instead either 1) accumulate and flow off of the corner of the behind-end or 2) not have one at all and have self evaporating technology (as many new ones do)

PIsta, My wife and I are planning at least 3 months of living in our 86' Dolphin that we just bought. For reference sake, it was tough finding the right one and (un?)fortunately we decided to go the fixer upper route. We have a 50lb heeler and a 24lb son that is as rambunctious as they come - and we're excited We're relocating from Colorado to Oregon and I looked EVERYWHERE! We were looking at units from $4000 - 10,000 and I will say that if you have the capability to do repairs yourself, you have the time and energy then you may be able to score a deal. Otherwise I would generally agree with everyone else; buy the best you can period. I think you'll get used to any floor plan, any model...etc I really wish I was able to find a manual transmission, this is my first automatic. I've a mechanic by trade and have had no issues going through my entire rig the last 5 weeks. It is exhausting, but I've come to know this thing really well and we haven't even slept in it yet! Tons of great help and great people on this board, as well as the yahoo group. It is very worth looking (physically) at a few more before you make a decision. Be sure to run everything, try everything, get on the roof, drive it, plug it in, check for leaks, ask for records, bring a multimeter, have the owner fill up the tanks (water and propane), run the fridge...etc Jam your nose in the cushions and smell for smoke, put pressure all over the inside windows (especially the cab over) to check for soft spots...etc We got a great deal on ours (monetarily) and have had a frustrating love affair fixing it up. We're about ready to roll this punk LONG distance and sure hope our family of 4 does well. If you have any reason you'd like to come up to Colorado to look at a few I know of a VERY nice gentleman (2 actually) selling units - one is a 89' Warrior V6 for around $7k (very worth it) and another is a 87' Dolphin for around $8k (though I suspect if its still available the owner would easily come to $7.5 or 7k). Both were well cared for units that I inspected/drove myself. Best of luck to you and your family unit. Austin

Toyota Part # 89531-28010 is the relay, it is blue and has 3 wires running to it (all are female) and two are in line with one another - I believe these are the two wires that 'cabinguy' is referring to. I, too, would like to try this and will be taking a stab at it soon enough. Please let me know how this works out for you. I asked this exact question either here or on Yahoo boards and received no direct answer. Thanks for the help cabin guy. For reference this is on my 86' Dolphin. Please report back if you try this out Montana!

I think we will likely just delete our A/C - I've got to pull it out to check around the area for repair/leaks anyhow. As for the springs, I am now thinking and some new air bags will do the trick, the coach seems to ride ok and there is definitely some arch remaining in the springs. I ordered some KYB gas adjust! THanks for the cruise recommendation, and links WME! Does anyone know of a solid link explaining the O/D setup and how its disabled? I certainly understand the limitations of the 22RE - but having ones own control certainly beats out the electronics of this 25 years old machine. Downhill, flatlands, tailwinds and low elevation (toppled with a nice vacuum gauge and trans temp gauge) are perfect situations in which once can maximize fuel economy. WME - I did see an antenna on the roof. I will likely cut it off/seal it and then use the outlet space underneath for something else. Good call! Flatspin - do you have any install recommendations for the maxx air? Did you simply install 1 unit (fan and cover)? Is it able to provide airflow that one can feel sitting in the coach? That is all that matters to me (good airflow) and I'd be wiling to install 2 or more if that were the case! Have any pictures or anything? We will end up in Portland area and certainly A/C is not always needed. Thank you all very much for the response thus far!

Hello you fantastic group of peoples! I must get out (which is seemingly obligatory on this site) my appreciation for the community and thoroughness I have seen on these forums the last few months. Happy to be a member (with a rig!). My quick story: My wife and I just bought ourselves an 86' Dolphin (22RE Auto, 63k miles) to travel/live in for a few weeks/months (we're going without much of a plan). We sold our home in Colorado and will be ending in the northwest area with family to settle. We're looking to make this punk VERY reliable and get everything solid enough to feel secure driving thousands of miles and using all the features this fine RV has to offer us. The brief history on the toy I bought is that I essentially bought it from the original owner (an advocate for the old gal). We ended up splurging for this one, even though it looked the worst on the exterior, because it seemed that almost all the toys we'd been looking at needed work and we figured why not save 1/2 the price (this was literally 1/2 the price we were considering paying) and reinvest into it - so we are. There are a number of issues I am really hoping that some of you experienced folks may help us out with. I've been searching here (and on yahoo board) but cannot seem to find the right posts/topics - thought I am sure these questions have been dealt with in some fashion before. Here we go! 1) Batteries: The PO installed 2 (wired parallel) wal-mart 24MS-6 batteries in the coach (underneath the rear dinette) which are "marine starting" batteries. Both are fresh/new-ish (about 2 years but look great and have great charges) and are working. My concern is whether or not we should trust these over a nice single true deep cycle setup. Being that they are a couple years old and that I will not really know how many times they've been drained/charged I am a little nervous. I am fine with replacing one - and I may just buy a nice new DC battery for the coach and then take one of these pretty guys and use it as the cab battery. Would you folks keep a dual-MS battery setup over a single DC battery? Do any of you run dual DC batteries in parallel? I have no idea how much a few lights, occasional fan and such will drain the batteries being out and about. Love some feedback! 2) A/C unit. My roof (inside) has an electrical cover that was covered up by the installation of this "Duo Thermo - Brisk Air" A/C unit. My guess is that this was installed later on and that my rig did not come with A/C from the factory. This unit seems to work "ok" when plugged in. I have no idea how many BTU's it is or what the demand of this would be if we wanted to run it off generator/inverter power but its likely too much. Terrible install on the exterior roof: it is elevated up a bit, not sealed great and the exterior cover for it is broken up in a few places. I was contemplating simply removing the unit but have a couple of concerns first: My wife loves the idea of running this thing while we're driving down the road on a hot day. I do to. However I like the idea of not having to buy a new generator (ours sucks) to do this, losing the weight up top and installing some maxx air vents in its place. Has anyone felt that the installation of 1 or more of those max air vents actually provides meaningful airflow to the coach while running? Secondly, does anyone have a link to a proper patching job for the roof if I were to remove this unit entirely? That is a pretty big hole and I am not entirely sure what is under there (would like to get an idea of the scope of the job before I rip it out). 3) Leaf springs/Air bags. My rig has 3 extra helper springs on the passenger side (heavier or just a bandaid to a sagging problem?) that I do not think is original My rig has air bags but they are fairly trashed. I was planning on replacing the airbag setup and have seen a few mentions of folks doing the same. My question is whether or not any of guys have actually had brand new leaf packs built. If so, where, how much and what kind of performance have you see from them? Did you replace the shackles and bushings as well? It'd be nice to not run the airbags (I think) but I'm not so sure. I'm willing to do either or both. 4) Any HD shock recommendations (front and rear) besides Monroe? I haven't seen much on this topic. I did see a yahoo user buy some monroe's or gabriels though. I am wondering if you guys have any "accepted" shock that has worked well so far? Bilsteins? Part numbers? 5) Any of you replaced the brushes in your alternator as preventative maintenance - or is carrying an extra set ample? I've got 14.2V output and it seems to be working just fine (63k miles isn't a lot). Just curious. 6) ROOF (ugh): Seems as if I fall in the range of what is normal when buying these rigs. My roof skin is bubbles and wobbly. Lots of rubberized painted goop all over the place and I don't even know where to start. It looks like the roof may be several pieces? I am at a loss for how I should start. What I'd like to do is: replace my vents with max air, or at least new covers - possibly remove my A/C and then reseal the thing. I see no evidence of leaks coming inside (except in the cab over - which I was told was repaired, ya right...). The vent over the cab over is much larger than the standard 14x14 that is over my dinette and bathroom. Link/type recommendations? I haven't found any max air (or similar) installs so far - or reviews on them to know if they really provide good airflow inside. I wish the fan was reversible so you could draw some nice cool air inside on those cool nights! 7) replacement seals and parts! I know you owners of these know exactly what I am talking about! I cannot find a site that shows my a breakdown of what I need at all! My roof/side skins come together to for a gap! I am wanting to pull all the screws, re-goop it up (suggestion here?) with something and then install new screws and a seal over them. My rv has been left untouched in the sun for a LONG time and the exterior needs help. The laminate has come up on some of the fiberglass skins and could be glued back down. I am sure most lights/hatches...etc need resealed and I really want to do this properly. We've got great weather and the time to do it, I just don't know where to start and/or get the right parts (or what to call them!). I need lens covers, seals, replacement panels (if they make them)....etc I've seen a lot of different types of "goops" used and that whole topic is a mess in my head. I see caulk, silicone, urethane, roll-on stuff, paint on stuff, putty, butyl tape? ....etc 8) Cruise Control: I do not have. It would be nice to have, and it'd be nice to know what aftermarket units work and what do not work so well so I can avoid them. Is there an original OEM Toyota cruise setup that can be installed? I have no idea what this costs but I'm not worried about getting it installed properly, I just wanted to get one to make the drive a bit more pleasant. Although I may be able to do a better job with gas mileage if I manage the peddle myself, not sure. 9) Overdrive - I'd like to disable the altitude thing to see if my O/D actually works before I leave. I live up in Colorado and wouldn't be able to find a spot under 4,000 ft. unless I drove a LONG ways from home. Is there an actual HOW TO somewhere with any pics? I've seen people mention this override in other posts but no actual instruction on how to do so. I understand the O/D limitations and mostly want to get it going for use on super flats, down hills and then of course once I get out west where the elevation is 0 - 2000 ft. 10) Mirrors: Any suggestion for mirror extensions that do not vibrate a wiggle so much that looking out of them makes you dizzy? My drivers side is ok but my passenger side mirrors were extended (I think because they installed an awning and it needed that much more room to see around it) and they SHAKE badly, yet they were extended with solid metal brackets. 11) Is there a downloadable repair manual or anything for these dolphins? I have the original manual that came with, but I could use some help with things like: rewiring my sensors for the tank level gauge, understanding what wires go where under the coach and inside the cabinets and such (lots of loose, old or broken connections) 12) I attached a photo - anyone know what that is for? There are two knobs with set screws and a flat head adjustment (like valve lash) with a little on/off switch and a red "on" indicator light. I have no idea what this could be. My thoughts were air bags or gas something.... they cover and and such look original. That is all for now folks! I thank any and everyone for reading my post and helping out. I've got about 3 full weeks of time to knock some of this (and lots more mechanical/tune-up) stuff out of the way before the maiden voyage.