Dunce

What about throwing some helper springs on it? They retail for around $40 and you have the option for an additional 1500 or 3000 pounds.

As soon as I get the thing home i'll take some glamour shots.

Well everybody, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that after replacing the fuel filter, making sure the pump was functioning properly, and everything was sparking correctly, the final diagnosis is that the engine threw a rod (or something like that, if I can decipher mechanic code well enough). There was a beautiful hole in the side of the engine where it had knocked out a chunk about the size of a nickle. The good news is that the same day I was able to find a completely rebuilt 22re from a highly recommended builder with a generous warranty not too far from home. Picked it up yesterday, and dropped it off at the mechanic today. the real good news is that I am going ahead and doing this, getting a fresh engine, before ever really hitting the road. This could have been really bad if I got stranded 200 miles out from a city instead of 5 miles from my mechanic's shop. The price was 1180 for the rebuilt engine, and 1160 for the labor, chemicals, and a few miscellaneous parts. Should be ready early next week. I am certainly sad to see so much of my budget ($3000) for restoration go to one item, but like I said, I'm glad it happened when it did instead of in a really inconvenient, or dangerous location. Thank you to everyone that pitched in their 2 cents and gave advice. Even though the fuel pump or filter would have been a nice easy fix, I at least know now that those are fully functioning and clean. Hopefully my next post will be in the trip reports section, here's to hoping.

You could try some automotive ramps, but they may not be that tall. Back in, then move the ramps in to place and drive forward onto them.

The most common test on cars and light trucks is to jump on the bumper or push down on it really hard and see how much it bounces. If it takes more than about 1 second or 2 bounces to settle then your shocks are probably bad. As for a MH I would think something similar could be used. Try jumping on the bumpers and bounce them, then jump off and see how much bounce they have after that. The issue with highway bumps may be low psi in your airbags or your leaf springs. my 2cents

If this ends up being something other than the fuel system I think when I get it back I will be replacing/cleaning a lot of that so I don't have to anymore. I don't have any service records, but I do have an oil change window sticker from september of 2009 advising on an oil change a thousand miles ago. This tells me that the rig sat for a couple long bouts. Whether it is the problem or not, I'm sure replacing a 27 year old fuel system isn't a bad idea. The most frustrating thing is that because of where I live I wasn't able to get a tow truck driver willing to drop off my Toy at my house because it's down a long dirt road. Otherwise I would be up to my elbows fixing this thing.

This is really hope that is whats happening. The main suspect in this investigation has been the fuel system from the beginning. I still don't understand why it would turn on and hum beautifully and then either stall or drive with low power (pinging along the way) and then stall down the road.

I may have overheated, but I don't think so. The dash lights were out (my first planned project when I got it home) so I didn't pay attention to the thermostat. Could overheating have cracked the block or something like that?

Funny enough, removing the gas cap was the first thing I did when I stalled and ended up on the side of the road. No noticable change after I left it open to depressurize for awhile. It is fuel injected. As others have said about the fuel pump issue, I am beginning to think this may be the issue. We'll see what the reports on pressure are from my mechanic in the next day or so. When I got the rig it was extremely low on gas and I had to drive to a gas station about 10 miles away to fuel up. Potentially could have damaged the pump or let particulate matter to get up in there. I thought about pouring some water on the engine when I was stuck on the side of the road with the engine hotter than it had been. I didn't because I worried about it cooling down too quickly and possibly cracking something. Is that possible? I know throwing cold water in the water can crack your head, I wonder if around the engine will do the same thing.

Will a cold air intake add any additional engine noise? When I put an intake system on my old honda accord the engine sound increased dramatically. Don't want my Toy to get noisey when I roll in late at night to the campground.

I still think the strangest part of it all is that its starts (after sitting for a long time) and idles beautifully. Its only when you start to drive that there seems to be a lack of power and then an eventual stall. The metal on metal noise almost sounds like an engine knock, which makes me quite nervous. We will see when I get a call from the mechanic today.

I took it to the shop today to get looked at. I'll follow up in a couple days with what the issue is. I decided to take it to the shop because when I attempted driving it the last time today (before towing to the shop), the engine was making a very disheartening noise. The noise was similar to a metal hitting metal noise. Hopefully it's the just the fuel pump, and this puppy will be ready for the open road.

Hi all. Two days ago I became the proud owner of a 1987 Dolphin with 92,000 miles. It has the original 22re engine in it, and appears well maintained. I bought it about 100 miles from my home. When I was driving it home yesterday everything worked amazing and I was giddy putting down the road. With only 7 miles to go it started running a little rough and seemed to be losing power. I live in northern new Mexico so there are mountains, but I was just going up a small hill. Eventually the engine cut off so I coasted to the side of the road. When I tried to start it it would crank but not start. I let it sit while my ride came to get me. After sitting for 20 minutes I cranked it and it fired up but ran really rough. Fast forward to today. I woke up early went out to it and it cranked right up. The engine hummed like it did when I first got it. I tried to make it the rest of the way home but the same scenario as last night occurred. It started to lose power and run rough, then died about 1.5 miles down the road. Any idea or help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!