mtdave2

We got some snow in Denver, after i dug out i decided to fire up the dolphin and see if would back out to the street in the snow. Thing is a beast! I drove around a bit and tried to get stuck. I finally succeeded but it took burying it almost up to the hood lol. too much fun.

i am a fan of Bilstein's, I replaced mine and was amazed how much of a difference they made!

oil pressure is fine now, using the same filter i do for my 1972 chevy truck, the trans fluid also is ran though the same size filter. much bigger than the stock one.

im guessing your speedo is off, or your method for filling the tank is off. the only way to be sure is to fill the gas all the way to the neck where you can see it. 20mpg is rather amazing if it is true. I did get 15mpg with my lexus v8 going 70mph. soo i guess it may be possible.

well, i may have to try that. Im sure it would be fantastic mileage!

there and back. 1900 miles. 65-75 the whole way up and back. going down averaged 14 mpg coming home about 12. best tank was 15 on flat land with no wind. I did have to buy a new battery while in Texas, but I knew that was coming. other than that I did not have a single issue. The rig just tore it up! I flew by a couple of class c rvs that were struggling to maintain 55, I felt a little bad for them but it was a cool feeling. I could not be more pleased with the performance for this motor. I still have a few bugs to chase down, but at least i can use the rig now, and it is a absolute kick in the butt to drive.

that is what I thought too. Now I may be crazy, well, no maybe, but if all goes well with the transmission shop tomorrow. (they are replacing the tconverter and pump), I will take the RV for a 3 hour test drive. Then on Wednesday after work, load everything up and drive from Golden Co, to New braunfels Tx. About 1000 miles. Been planing the trip for a year, and to drive the rv. now I though i would have a few months to drive the hell out of it to be sure the bugs were all gone, but do to 3 months screwing around with the trany, im out of time. Though I have been driving it to work for a few months. so I am confidant in everything BUT the trans. See how this all works out!

206 i think. mostly under 200. I'm happy with that.

well, that was totally awesome. I decided to take a long test drive today, so I left my home in Golden, Co, and drove north at highway speed to loveland co. the Dolphin preformed well on the highway, i was nursing it at first then decided to see if i could brake something. It will cruise at 65 with little effort and 75 with my foot in it a little. not bad for a rv. We then drove up the canyon to estes park, at again it performed well, i was watching the temp gauge closely because these are the times it would slowing click up to 240 and id shut it down. This time it only got to 219, but when we got to Estes and stopped i noticed the radiator fan was not running! found a broken wire and patched it up. so, I don't know how long the fan was off. from estes we drove the Peak to Peak highway all the way to I70. When I say drove, I mean more like drag raced. I dogged the crap out of that motor. I freaking flew up all those hills, cornered like a little pickup. I think the car that followed me most of the way was wondering WTF is in that Dolphin! I giggled the whole way, waiting for a hill so i could destroy that sob. had a freaking blast. i filled up before and after the trip, 13.8 mpg! heck yeah. could i get 16-17 on flat ground not dogging it? perhaps. there are still some issues, but i can say the 1uzfe in our little toys is beyond awesome.

the frustrating part of this is that I have been telling the trany shop that it is the t converter from the start.,But these guys are a great shop and are smart and honest, so I try to listen to qualified experts when i can. because i did this time, i ended up doing 40 hours worth of work trying to find another cause...sigh. the good side is, everything i did i made the rig better. I refabbed some things that are tons better and i also fixed things that I really wasnt happy with. so, at least when this thing is done, it will be done well.. Though I will be so mad at it i will sell it..hah!

well, i have discovered the vibration. t-converter. How i got 2 bad ones from the rebuild place is testament to my luck! I put back in the original lexus t-converter and the vibration is 80% gone. f#$K ME, LOL..

going up hill does make more heat still as much as these rigs work to stay at highway speed you would think it would over heat then as well.. I am still wondering if your motor is running lean.

I understand your frustration, though trust me it is no better with any other 25 year old vehicle. so, you could spend big bucks and get a newer rv, but there is still frustrations there too... the internet can find you the parts you need, you just have to do your own research to get the right part.. good luck

well i did manage to actually go camping for one night! proof! the over heating issue has been interesting and i have learned a great deal about the different types of cooling systems and some details about radiator caps that i didn't know. The cause of the overheating was cavitation , bubbles in the system. or at least I think that is what it was! ha! I changed the system to a closed type with a pressurized expansion tank, this system self bleeds bubbles out very well. The issue is I have a radiator with a cap. doesn't sound like a big deal deal, however it is. Fluid ( and bubbles) must be able to get from the radiator to the expansion tank while pressurized and back. Because I have a radiator with a cap for a open system this was not happening. the only way to get fluid to flow through the cap is to take the vacuum cap off the bottom of the cap the issue with that is that the cap will then leak under pressure. so I have been trying to solve the issue. I just can not find a standard cap with no spring or plunger! Driving me crazy. I THINK that if i can find a cap, or get one of the ones I am altering to seal, I will be done overheating.....i hope...pray.. lol Sill have a trany solenoid error code that is just a bear to figure out! once the cooling issue is done, I will focus on that again. Did some upgrades to the coach, new shower head, new floors, little things here and there. So I am happy with all he progress but the swap is still not done. With one month to go before the yearly trip to new braunfels texas to meet and camp with friends at wurstfest. not sure If the dolphin will be going, or if we will have to rent something. we will see!

Sherrie, it is a far out the normal issue but it does happen. More than likely it is your head gasket. Guess we will see!

Wow, you have as much trouble as I usually do! Hope you get this figured out. Since all the normal stuff has been suggested, I have one that may be the problem. Hook up a code scanner to the truck and take a look at your fuel trim numbers. Ecu can go bad, O2 sensors can lie, and several other things can cause the ecu to lean out your fuel mixture. Lean =hot. Good luck!

i re designed my trans mount and dropped it down an inch. helped with the vibration, it is still there but not as bad.

well i got a pretty good measure of gas mileage. most the tank of gas was burned floorboarded going up and down the steep mountain pass on i70 west of Denver, or revving in the drive way. also, the lock up for the torque converter isn't working yet (waiting for a part) so, with all of that i was setting at 11.5 mpg. those are good numbers i think. I will try another tank and see if i get similar results.

redid the timing belt, it is absolutely correct. still have vibration. sigh

you makin fun of me? lol would not expect anything less. hey it has only been a year, what did you think it would take lmao

well the good news is the guys at the trany shop showed be that it was possible to pull the trans without pulling the motor! it is tight as hell but possible! that is fantastic to know it can be done. bad news, they change t converter, and flexplate and I still have a vibration. I changed the dampener and it is still there. so, I guess i must have done something with the new water pump and timing belt. this is really getting stupid, the rig has been done for month just stupid issues that should not be there are kicking my behind. oh well, I guess ill look at the freakin belt again. ugh.

I just did the same thing. you can get them close but you will need an alignment.

yeah i did do that, a few times. no change. waiting to talk to the trany place so I worked on other stuff. like adding getting rid of the carpet and installing wood floor. that went well!

buy clocking do you mean spinning?