Riverman77

I'm not sure what this means. Are we supposed to start driving around in Kansas looking for a for an $800 for sale sign? Is there a computer link to this Nissan for sale? ~Riverman77

I wonder if that is graffiti scribbled on the passenger door? It kind of looks like "W#" or "W*" to me? The seller didn't have much to say about the rig (mileage, repairs, condition, etc.). ~Riverman77

Wow! I can't say that I ever seen a deer pole (with 10 sets of antlers!) right in the middle of town either. A lot of fine dinners hangin' there. What many folks don't understand about hunting is, without the necessary thinning of the herd each season, our public highways would be flooded with live game. There would be so many preventable car vs. deer accidents everywhere. ~Riverman77

Linda, I noticed that too. And, I have also seen that Currahee posting, from about a month ago. I wonder if you or anyone else knows anything more about that short lived (about '84 to '85) micro mini RV called a Currahee. I do believe that Currahee used to mainly be a camp trailer manufacturer. **Please chime in on this thread, if you know anything about Currahee (trailers or RV's) I am curious. ~Riverman77

Thanks Linda. I don't venture over to that site very often. There is something (for me) a little difficult to navigate around on the Yahoo site. The continuity, here on this site, seems simpler for me. But, since you've mentioned the Frasier's over on Yahoo, I'll be sure to check them out over there. ~Riverman77

Oh yes, I know that smell also. A decaying critter has its own special foul smelling scent. Unfortunately, that type of smell will not go away until you find it, get rid of the carcus and disinfect the area that he died at. ~Riverman77

Nice pole barn, JDE. It should nicely house a bunch of Dolphins & rigs and such. I have never heard of "lake effect snow" before. Is that something common for you folks out near those big, huge lakes? ~Riverman77

Linda, Thanks for posting the link to the Frasier's photos. I especially liked their '52 Fireball. It brought back some enjoyable memories of family camping, when I was a kid. I have never heard of these cool folks before. I would wonder if it were possible for you (or them) to post their current projects on this website? Just a thought. ~Riverman77

Boy, that baby was a nice one! It sure was worth every penny of the $15K sale price. Those folks put a lot of elbow grease into every crack & cranny! ~Riverman77

Many years ago, my old job used to take me into a refinery or two. *You are correct. Diesel requires only a partial amount (not sure how much less) of the effort of making gasoline. For the sake of discussion, if diesel is only 2/3 of the process, why doesn't diesel cost the consumer about 1/3 less to purchase? There is something tricky going on in the marketing of fuels. ~Riverman77

Final Update On This Thread: JDE promptly mailed me his spare ECU unit for my 87 Dolphin. We installed it today and it works great! This great website not only is helpful to share notions and better ideas, occasionally we can even help another brother out by selling a very needed part . Thank you to everyone who chimed in on this thread. ~Riverman77

For only $900, even with the bad old axle design, does not sound like a bad price? If it turns out to be in fairly nice condition (no rotten roof etc.), It could work well for 'local' camping. I wouldn't rely upon a non-full floating axle for any long distance traveling what so ever. I have even considered purchasing one of those early ('77-'78) vintage shorty Dolphins (with the old axle) for quick little trips near home. Just sayin'. ~Riverman77

I'm glad that you chimed in with that last comment. It now puts a whole new perspective on where your toilet smells could be coming from. It may be possible that your toilet to floor seal has failed in some way. Or maybe the (plastic) toilet it self has developed a crack somewhere in it. If either is the case, perhaps some waste has worked its way into the flooring or the carpeting. If it were me, I would pull the toilet and give it and your flooring a real close inspection and yes, I do mean get right down there with your nose. With any luck, perhaps you'll easily determine the problem by seeing a very obviously broken toilet to floor seal or something. Good luck and please be sure to report back to us on what you find. ~Riverman77

We have both an 87 & 88 Dolphins (both models 900). Yep, they may be a little different than your Sunrader. Our Dolphins do have pee traps in the kitchen, bathroom sinks and on the shower drains. The toilets are standard with knife valve flushes and a separate vent for the black water and grey water tanks. The ONLY time we have ever experienced funky odors, is when on a long extended cruise and been a little careless (our fault) and failed to dump the tanks during the trips. We use a Bio-Active black water liquid chemical (NOT the dark blue formaldahide product) and regular grey water conditioner. My suggestion for you is simply BEFORE the funky black water begins to smell (be it once a week or every two weeks) DUMP YOUR HOLDING TANKS at the RV dump site and start with new fresh chemicals for Pete's sake! Having a 'fully self contained system' doesn't mean 'FOREVER fully self contained'!! We also have a small 500 s.f. cabin where we use a Port-a-Potty. There finally comes a certain time, where after the potty gets used, 'wheeeeew' that baby smells up the whole cabin (let alone a small motorhome) and we know it has become past due to dump the potty. Again, knowing the correct frequency of dumping your waste is the key to comfortable living. No poop ever lasts forever! Finally, my recommendation for you is DO NOT ruin your Sunrader by removing the toilet and black water tank, if the ONLY reason you have is for odor control. P.S. Like you, we too are also very sensitive to bad smells. ~Riverman77

As you already know, my first of two checks, went out in the mail yesterday. I am looking forward to seeing if your ECU has the correct computer programming for my particular system. I have no doubt that unit worked well for you and your specific rig. I am just crossing my fingers both of our Toyotas rolled off the assembly line with the same programming installed. If it works or doesn't, as I've said previously, I am very grateful for all of the support that we all provide for each other here on this fine website. ~Riverman77

JDE, Wow, you are demonstrating such extremely rare kindness and much trust in a fellow Dolphin 'brother' in my time of need! I guess that is exactly what we do for each other on this great website...help, share and support each other. I will be sure to update this thread to keep the others, who are following this conversation, informed as to how your ECU works out on my rig. I'll send you a personal email, so we can discuss the final details of the shipping. P.S. Your 'first snow' photos were great. It will soon look like that here, in the Pacific N.W. Thanks again, ~Riverman77

JDE, Please check your red dot (above) and your email. I sent you my information as well. I'm looking forward to making this purchase with you. ~Riverman77

Thanks Dan, Linda & JDE for the information. It is beginning to look more like an 86 or 87 Federal ECU should work for mine. But, in either case I am perfectly willing to attempt some trial & error. JDE, please send me a PM (the message board above) so we can exchange information. I would like to purchase & experiment with your used unit. Even if your ECU doesn't work correctly for my 87, I'll still be grateful to you that we made the attempt! Thank You, ~Riverman77

Linda, I simply "assumed" that you may have been part co-creator of this great website. It seems as if I have read some of your posts like: "...over here at 'my' site". But, I must have been mistaken. Thank you for clearing that up for me. And also, for the explanation of how the PM message board functions. ~Riverman77

JDE, I have just sent you a PM (at the top of this page) in regards to your ECU unit. P.S. You did the right thing by informing others that you had just discovered the PM messaging system. ~Riverman77

WME, It's red somethi'n er other? I duh know. I never really looked at it and it's rare that anyone ever PM's me anyhow. But, it is a nice personal touch that Linda has included into her web site. Thank you Linda! (assuming you helped with the idea) ~Riverman77

Linda, That's how mine works too. I got an email telling me I had a PM waiting for me. It was another kind person replying about my previous issue on the "fuel Filler Hose". But, Derek is correct, I too sometimes overlook the small, little red dot. ~Riverman77

JDE, I spoke too soon in one of my earlier posts. As a backup option, I am considering giving your used ECU a try. I would take FULL responsibility on the gamble of it working or not. We're just two folks in this same club trying to help the other out. If it didn't work, I would simply have a good core for one of those Electro-Guru's to kind of "rebuild". QUESTION: Was that blown head gasket rig a manual or an auto tranny? Also, I must have somehow overlooked those two listings, you mentioned above. Thanks for posting them. ~Riverman77

DEREK, My friend's ECU came out of later model 4-Runner (I believe) and the part numbers were different. We all knew it was kind of a crap shoot. But, it did greatly improve my coughing, sick engine. Again, we were simply screwing around with some dumb ideas (hoping we weren't going to damage his perfectly good ECU in the process!). ~Riverman77

JDE, we are following your tip to A-1 as a possibility. Your used "core" will not be needed. DEREK, we have placed a quote request through Car-Parts. Will possibly consider a rebuilt unit through "Autocompu..." (you're right, it could be a late 1986?) DAN, We ruled everything else out, because we exchanged the ECU from my friend's p.u. truck and my Dolphin immediately ran much better. Thank you three for your input! Anyone else care to chime in on this thread or have a spare ECU part #89661-35040 for sale, I would greatly appreciate it. ~Riverman77