Bob C

TOYOTAS GONE!!!!! NO, I CAN'T GO ON. I was looking at a Sprinter the other day and really liked it. then I saw the price tag. $25,000 for a 2004.

It would be good to know what the pulleys are for but I don't think they could be related to your light problem. I would suspect a bad connection somethere in the system. I agree with waiter that you should buy a decent multimeter and learn hou to use it. I would also make up some test wires with aligator clips on each end for doing some test when you don't have a helper to hold onto wires. I made two sets of test wires, one set about 15 ft long and a shorter set about 5 ft long. While checking any of the electrical systems on these older RV;s is is good to know that you are testing with a good ground. I ground straight to the negative teminal on the barrery to avoid wasted time.

I still have a pop-up camper and Scamp that my kids stop by to steal from time to time. (They are not allowed to use the Toyhosue, it is for the wife and I only.) All of my trailers have direct vent convection furnaces. These do not require a battery to operate. Most campers newer than about 1990 have furnaces with a battery powered blower. I like the convection ones but their output is much smaller. I think that the biggest one that I have is about 15,000 btu's. I don't know how warm they would keep a toyhouse. I have a spare convection because they are getting hard to find.

I have a 1988 20' Escaper Toyhouse. even in the hills of Southwestern Wisconsin I top the hills doing 40 in second gear. I plan on spending a month or so in the rockies in 2013 and my expectation is to travel slow and enjoy the trip. There is no way that you will keep up with traffic in the mountains. The best thing to do with these RV's is to gear down and let the engine spin up. Maintenance costs will depend on the amount of miles you put on the Toy. Try to get a low mileage vehicle with the 6 bolt rear axle. I got lucky with my '88, it has 6 bolt wheels all around. The earlier Toys that were converted have 5 bolt front and 6 bolt rear. That means that you will only have a spare for front OR rear.

The place near Hill City was definitely filled with snobs. They looked down on anything under $200,000. Those of us traveling on a budget were not worth of staying at their facility. They even had a "cab" (golf cart) service that would pick you up to take you to the clubhouse.

I stopped at a nice campsite near Hill City, SD and was told that my camper was too old. When I complained, they agreed to let me stay but the price went from the posted $25 to $75. The butt head acted insulted when I gave him a one finger salute and moved on. Found a great place in Hill City for $20. Don't remember the name.

Besides depleting oxygen, they also put out A LOT of humidity. You may end up with a mold problem. The byproduct when burning propane is water vapor and carbon dioxide. When the oxygen level drops, the result is carbon monoxide. I always use a propane detector and a carbon monoxide detector in my campers. It is the first thing that I put in when I bought the Toyhouse. A friend of mine took a dirt nap while ice fishing due to a old style heater in a an ice shanty. I miss the old fart but don't want to join him in the here after yet.

1000 miles so far and about 15.5 mpg. 20 ft Escaper which is alum framed 4 cyl auto with OD. I think that the AC unit on the roof hurts mpg a bit. My high mileage was 17 mpg over 150 miles.

I need to replace all four of my door mounted mirrors. Two of them are flat and two are convex. The mirrors have the mounting bolt on the end instead of back/center mounted. Does anyone know of a supplier for these mirrors?

I will be doing my front and rear in the spring when it comes out of storage. I can do the fronts but have never done a rear. I think a shop may do that.

Do a Google searxch for Atwood Watwer Heaters. You can easily find the owners manual that will include troubleshooting problems. These are pretty good manuals. There is a seperate manual for electronic ignition and standing pilot. I have printed manuals for water heater, furnace, AC, and refrigerator and keep them in the RV at all times.

Go to the store and buy a decent multimeter. A usable one will cost under $30 and you will definitely get your money's worth. With your multimeter, check the power supply to the pump. If you don't have power, go downline (toward your battery or converter) and check for power at every connection or fuse. You will eventually get to a point where you have 12 volt power. You now know where your problem is. Also check the ground from the pump to the chassis. Make sure that you have a good ground with your meter for these tests or you will be wasting your time. Either purchase or make a set of wires with insulated aligator clips on both ends. I have two sets of gator clip wirs, one short set (about 5 ft liong and one about 15 ft long so that I can do all of my testing with the ground hooked straight to the battery negative post. I have no doubt that I have a good ground. You can also check to see if your pump is good by using your jumpers from the battery with a direct hookup to the pump. If it is the pump, they don't cost that much and are pretty easy to replace.

My 20 ft Escaper (1988) 4 cyl/auto get right about 15 mpg. My high has been 17 but average is right about 15. This thing is fully loaded and heavy so I don't expect much better.

I have been wondering about this also. My '88 Escaper looks great except for the cracked and faded stripes. I have checked a couple of body shops and they have offered to spray some strips on but for some reason they did not gaurantee that they would stay on. I am guessing that the old paint does not bond properly with the new paint.

Besides my Toyhouse, I have a small fiberglass camper that I have used for cold weather camping. I will continue using it in the winter because it is light and easy to tow. It has a small (9,000 btu) convection heater with an outside vent that requires no electricity. When it gets to 0, it keeps the camper at about 60 degrees. I only sleep in the camper so I set the thermstat at 40 degrees and use a heavy sleeping bag. My RV is in storage for the winter and will be coming out in April. My wife already has a couple of springtime camping trips planned.

The longest trip that I have taken was 3 hours without a break. The seats are a little stiff and not very adjustable. I think that I will be watching for vehicles being parted out for a pair of those seats. If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for the new ones?

If the RV is parked on a hill, it can get jammed in park. I had this happen with a Chevy Astro w/heavy trailer once. I had to have someone hook up to the front end with a chain and take the pressure off of the parking pawls. When they pulled me ahead about 2 inches I was able to simply put it in gear without any problem. This is the reason that my wife has learned how to place a wheel chock under a rear when we park on a hill. I hope that your problem turns out to be this simple.

WME, Thanks for that information. I did a short search and all of the sites said that you use Dextron II tranny fluid for the power steering. Without your input I probably would have thought to use regular PS fluid. I love this site, it keeps me from making dumb mistakes before I even have a problem. Bob

Before youo start changing parts, make sure that the power steering fluid is at the proper level. A friend of mine was going to get his ps pump changed and happened to mention it to me. We added fluid and the noise went away. He saved about $500. It sounds simple, but sometimes that is all it is.

I don't think anyone can have any doubts about what you beleive. The MH looks like it is in relly good shape.

My Escaper has a drain on the main water tank on the outside of the MH drivers side, there are two drains near the water heater, these drain through the floor of the MH, and the water heater itself has a nylon plug that must be removed to drain teh heater tank. Opening at least one hot and cold faucet will make draining go alot faster. it is also recommended that you dump a few gallons of RV antifreeae into the main tank and punp it through all of the water lines and get some into the water heater to displace clean water. You should also have some RV antifreeze in every p-trap in the drains to prevent them from breaking. After empying your waste tanks a little antreeze should be left in there also.

The best thing about Triflow is that it dries and only leaves the teflon lube. No oily mess to collect dust.

Welcome to Toyota Motorhomes. I wish you good luck in finding a decent Toyota MH on short notice. It seems that most people around here spend a fair amount of time trying to find one to their liking. You do not seem to be very particular in whaqt you want so maybe you will find one that fits you. You already know about the axle problems and what to look for in tire type. Check the dates on the tires to make sure that you are not buying 8 year old brand new tires. There are several posts on here telling you how to check the age of tires. I found my MH after only 5 weeks looking and got exactly what I wanted at a good price. While looking, I called on units up to 500 miles away but got luck and only had to go 100 miles. Good luck Bob

Waiter, Thanks for this information. I have an '88 Escaper and the windows are also very difficult to open. I will try your solution tomorrow. I was concerned that I would break the window latches. One of the latches was broken when I bought the MH but I found the parts to repair it. The windows are made by Hehr. I love this site and the people on it.

Sorry about the mistake. the name of the company is Wisconsin RV World. They specialize in rentals but also have parts.