mini-wini-dan

Thanks for your info jdemaris, am finding out that this is a problem that could be ignored and just keep checking and adding oil. I am still going to check some of the possible leak locations and do what I can without taking the engine apart for now. Thanks to all who have shared thoughts on this!!

I have added 15/40 shell rotella 2 qts and used 1 qt of lucas oil additive prior to adding the rotella. Thanks to each of you for the info about possible leak areas - I'll check them out.

I posted the same topic about 6-8 mos ago and actually thought the problem had been resolved but it was not. If you remember I thought I discovered an oil leak that was causing the loss of oil and after replacing the timing chain cover and oil pump (where it was noticed to be cracked and a hole plugged) this made little if any difference. Since then I have taken the 86 mini-wini on 2 1200 mile trips and find that I am still consuming about 1 quart per 400-500 miles of travel. This vehicle has 74000 miles on it and aside from losing so much oil it runs excellent. It seems to have reasonable power and I have cruised on I-95 easily at 65 mph. I have consulted.one mechanic who thinks it could be bad valve seals which cause a lot of oil to enter the cylinder especially at start up. After examining the spark plugs today at over 3000 miles since installed I see dry light umber coloration (which I think shows little evidence of burning oil). This engine sounds good and runs good so I am still puzzled when I see no puddle of oil under it at any time. There must be an undetected leaking site. Any ideas or similar experiences out there. I was hoping to drive it from PA to San Fransisco this coming July and if so I will need 3 gallons of oil to get there and return. If it is a leak it could go from bad to worse while en-route so I am going to look for another mechanic to check it out soon

Hi John We are traveling in July so no concern about snow I am guessing? Anyhow thanks for sharing your info. Dan

Hi John we are looking at a northern route such as I-80 and going on a southern route on the return trip that will take us through southern CA near LA..

Any comments about I-80 from Reno NV to Sacramento CA. I see that it cuts through the mountains just above Lake Tahoe. I will be traveling in July so is there any snow issues in the mountains there then? Thanks to you all for the many replies sharing your travel experiences.

I am planning a trip to San Francisco from NE Pennsylvania. Any comments or tips for traveling with a 4 cyl. 22 rec mini wini through this area. Are the Rockies doable or should I avoid going up and down the slopes? Any experiences that can be shared? -- thanks appreciate any comments based on experiences. Thanks Dan

I consulted a local rv dealer and the mechanic advised me to run a burner while attempting to start the furnace. He said if the gas is low it would show a reduction in the flame. I turned on 2 burners and I did see one of them go out completely as the furnace fired up for the first time since changing to the new regulator. I will fill the gas bottle before I go on the road. I am sharing this for those who may have a similar problem.

I just replaced the the regulator for my lp gas system. I bought the regulator at an rv dealer and it is a 2 stage unit that as not a perfect match but did connect and after turning on gas was good for operating gas burners and the gas refrigerator. However when I attempted to run the furnace just the blower would come on and did not get ignition of the furnace burner. The gas bottle is the vertical type stationed under the vehicle in a closed compartment. It may be less than 1/2 full and am considering filling it up to see if that helps. Any thoughts on this problem? Is it possible that this regulator is the wrong type?

Any recommendations for where to obtain a new regulator for my gas bottle on an 87 mini-winnie.

The tank appears to be the factory application (not the 20lb BBQ type) and it must just need a regulator. I've just never seen a regulator go bad and I have used them for years in my home with lp gas for our 100 lb tank and bbq grill.

Recently I winterized my 86 miniwinni and spilled some rv antifreeze on the carpet. So I decided to turn on the gas and run the heater for a bit to help dry out the carpet. So when I turned on the gas I heard a rather loud leaking noise and took the cover off the regulator where I noticed a pinhole where a steady stream of gas was flowing out. Of course I just shut if off. Do I need a new regulator? I ran the gas several times this summer without any problems and now I cannot even turn on the tank. Any suggestions?

Hi All, Finally the problem is diagnosed. After seeing a lot of oil coating around the oil pump and timing chain cover I decided to take the vehicle to my mechanic. I thought it might just be the oil pump seal but unfortunately the mechanic inspected closer and discovered that the timing chain cover had been removed and the attempt to put it back together was poorly addressed and the cover was damaged and a bolt left missing or broken off. The mechanic discovered a temporary plug (epoxy or heat proof material) that was jammed into the bolt hole and damaged area of the cover. This may have kept the oil leak restrained as a temporary fix. Obviously helpful when selling a vehicle and passing on the problem to the new owner. This is a lesson to be learned that will now cost me about $800. The vehicle ran good looked good and could not see any noticeable leaks or excessive smoking. The 2 short 100 mile trips revealed the oil loss luckily before I took it farther from home. Thanks again for all of the observations and those who said it was a leak were right!!

I have changed the plugs and pcv valve. The plugs are not oil fouled in fact they are tan or brownish grey and look like they came out of a healthy engine. I did inspect more closely for oil leak and see oil coming down the front side out of the oil pump area. My mechanic says this is a common problem with this type of engine and is going to check out the seal in that area. I will let you all know how this turns out. I have a 1200 mile trip coming up in a couple of weeks and this will reveal whether I have fixed the problem. Again I thank all of you for your input and information-this forum is a great help!!

Thanks again for all of the suggestions. I have checked for oil in water -none and foamy white oil in oil cap area-none. I will crawl under to check out crankcase seal area for leaks soon. I have noticed according to heat gauge that when driving the engine appears to run at good temp. In other words the engine is not running hot and is running good with decent power and great gas mileage at nearly 16mpg on last trip. I will do a 600 mile trip soon and it will be mostly flat and straight away highway driving so I'll be curious to see if the gas mileage can improve more. When I have to add or change oil next it will be 15/40 or 20/50. Do all agree that trying sea foam product is worth a try? Maybe put in just before the next oil change?

Thanks for all of the info. I checked the pcv valve and it is rattling freely. I pulled the plugs today and replaced them with new NGK plugs. I noticed some problems when looking at the plugs some crusting and white residue on plug # 1. I used Pennsoil 10w 30 on the recent oil change and will start using 15/40 shell rotella to see if this helps. I will have a compression check soon to see what that tells me. Is rebuilding a feasible thought? I've heard that this can be difficult if not impossible for good results

Thanks for your info and I have used Kendall 15w40 before in a camry and corolla 4 cyclinder. I've never heard of seafoam?

I purchased an 87 mini-wini on June 1st of this year and have driven it twice on localized camping trips. This vehicle looks and runs good and has 74000 miles on it. I am getting great performance in the overall effects including great gas mileage 15.8 mpg on last week's 200 mile run. However it seems that I am losing oil and about 1 qt per 400 miles. I see no evidence of oil leaks and have not noticed smoking from exhaust. I am suspecting dried seals allowing oil loss maybe. Any advice or comments about this-I can deal with adding a qt every 400 miles but still concerned about this since I have a 2.7 engine in my Tacoma that does not lose any oil in between 3000 mile oil changes.

Thanks for the reply-someone could over-looked turning it off during refueling.

I have been told that you should not run the fridge (using gas) while rolling down the road. Is there a problem with this?

Thanks Bob for sharing this idea. My RV has the bathroom area in the rear and I'll have to look it over to see if I could do the same idea. I'm not sure about poking holes through the walls to get this done. I was hoping to discover a system that is lockable and attachable to the bumper area.

Looking for a mount for the rear bumper to hang the spare tire on our '87 vehicle.

Thanks again for your replies-Next oil change I may drop the oil pan to clean it out. I am guessing that I will need a new gasket to put the pan back on-right?

Just want to thank all of you who have been answering my questions and I am almost ready for our first road trip with everything working. Now one more question that was not answered in the manual I received with the vehicle. Just changed oil and at first put in 5 qts.and noticed level was way too high - then drained out one qt and dipstick is still reading a little high. Is it really just 3.7 qis? I read that fact somewhere on line.

Hi All, Thanks for your suggestions. II did find a manual for the fridg and after reading it thoroughly I solved the problem. Cleaned out all vent areas and followed the start up method and it fired up on the first try.