Kale

I haven't been on here in a while. Long story short, after traveling and living in my rig for about 6 months I settled down in Portland. When I went to take it out again this summer it would no longer go into reverse. I'm told the transmission needs to be replaced and was quoted 4.5k. I have no doubt that I could get it running again for cheaper if I were willing to put in some effort, but I'm not. It's got number of other problems, I live in the city with no space to work on it, and I'd rather not pay the insurance and storage fees anymore. I figured I'd see if anyone here is interested. 1985 21' Sunrader Rear dinette Automatic Transmission 1-ton axel The problems (that I'm aware of/can think of): Transmission issue. Exhaust is rusted and needs to be replaced. PVC pipe from gray water tank broke off. (still have the pipe) Kitchen sink tap is broken, probably needs to be replaced. Tires should be replaced soon. Body rust on cab. The good: Engine was replaced with a rebuilt one from Toyota Engines in Springfield, OR, maybe a couple hundred miles on it. Composting toilet. (They're $1000 new.) 2x100W solar panel setup. 100AH AGM house battery. New converter (much quieter than original). 1000W (2000W peak) inverter. Decent stereo. Larger 3-way refrigerator. Back-up camera. I'm probably forgetting some details, feel free to ask about anything I missed. I don't have any specific price in mind, I expect to make someone a good deal.

They priced it at $1250 for the engine, $750 to install. Even factoring in the tow, it seems a decent price. I talked to the owner, Ben, he seems like a nice guy. He gave me a ride to the bus station so I could get to Portland before the holidays. Said he doesn't bother with much advertising because he's got enough work. Apparently they've been in business 60+ years, the last 20 or so exclusively working on Toyotas.

Thanks for all the advice! I'm going to have it towed to the place Linda mentioned. Linda, are you familiar with their work?

Thanks! I'll look into that. Will shops usually install used engines? It does drive, but I'm not confident it will go very far.

Hi Folks I haven't been on here for a while. I've been living in my Sunrader the last few months, visiting friends/family and boondocking. Yesterday, I added some oil to my rig and forgot to put the cap back on. After driving a couple hundred miles the engine started to make some pretty terrible noise. Long story short, I had been driving with almost no oil for quite some time. The mechanic here in Green, OR, where I stopped, says the the engine is hosed and quoted me $4500 parts and labor to fix it. That's a lot of money to put into an old motorhome (more than I paid for it). I figure I have two choices; spend a bunch of cash fixing it, or try to sell it. Obviously I'm not going to get a great price trying to quickly sell a 30+ year old motorhome with a bad engine. Anyway, I figured I'd post here to see if anyone has some advice. Or simply to tell me that spending $4500 on this rig is nuts. Thanks!

Embarrassingly, I didn't take many pictures after I crossed the border. Drove straight through Canada only stopping for gas and to sleep until I got to Anchorage. Maybe I'll try to take a few more when I drive back. It has around 84k now, but the starter I pulled out was a reman, so obviously wasn't the first replacement.

I made it to Anchorage, AK with the starting issue. Whenever I had trouble starting I found that tapping the starter with a hammer would let me start it up immediately. I figured that was a pretty good indication of a problem with the starter and decided to try replacing it again. It starts much easier now and I haven't had anymore issues, though I've only driven a couple hundred miles since replacing it. Time will tell if that truly fixed it. Thanks again for all the help!

I haven't been on here for a few days because I'm currently boondocking in Lassen National Forest. I've only had the issue reoccur once since trying to replace the starter, after the 5000' or so climb to get up here. I didn't take it as anyone telling me I needed to replace the starter, but since I was limited on time and I'm not experienced enough to do much more than just replace stuff, I figured it was worth a try. Next time it happens I'll try to get a voltage read on the wire from the ignition to the solenoid, to narrow down where the problem is.

Thanks, I already returned it. Haven't had any issues since putting the old one back in, so I'm going to wait and see how it goes for a while.

I've lived in small studios and decent sized houses. I prefer small, with more space I just collect more crap. Though this is certainly the smallest I'll have lived in and at the very least it will be an experience. I used to cook a lot, but lately have been pretty lazy about it, buying meals from the store (which are not exactly gourmet). I plan to do more cooking now to save money. At first I thought the Norcold 5.5 cu. ft. refrigerator the PO had included would take up too much coach space, but now I'm glad I have the extra food storage. The Keurig was a convenient way to get caffeine, definitely doesn't make great coffee. I'm really enjoying the moka pot, it makes a pretty decent espresso, which I usually put some water in for an Americano. There's also something enjoyable about the ritual of making coffee with something relatively simple like a moka pot or pour over.

It is indeed the same layout as mine. No rear seat cushions. Appears the carpet has been removed and the plywood painted. I probably can't give you much advice other than the obvious stuff you already know, such as looking for water damage. Assuming the mechanical won't be too expensive I'd go for it. Wish mine looked as good.

I have a bit of a grudge against those Canons. One of my first jobs was doing tech support for commercial vehicle enforcement in AK. All the officers had those for printing violations. Though, thinking back, they did quite well for the amount of abuse those guys and gals put them through. I certainly have too much stuff right now, but I'm going to foist it on friends that I stop to see. Luckily I know a number of people in Portland. What did you replace your cast iron with? I've got my trusty Lodge 12" skillet with me. I've also got a 3qt All Clad sauce pan, which is lighter, but less versatile. I was planning to give the All Clad to a friend of mine. My Keurig was replaced with a moka pot. I'm using pre-ground for now, but I do have a little hand crank burr grinder.

What's the most impractical thing you've brought along in your Toy? My entry is a color laser printer. Used in my home office, I had every intention of selling it before taking off but I kept needing to print more stuff out. Now that time (and my patience with CL folks) has run out it has a nice cozy spot next to the refrigerator. Pros: It prints things (when on shore power) Cons: Big Heavy Power hungry Requires wired network connection

Took off the new one, put the old one back on. I was able to start it up twice. What are the chances I got a bad starter? I bought this one off Amazon, see any reason it wouldn't be right for this vehicle?

No difference

I setup my multimeter so I could see it from inside the cabe and connected it to the cable from the ignition. When I turn the key to start it reads under 12V, that's too low, right?

Well I replaced the starter, now it doesn't start at all. I've almost certainly messed something up, but not sure what. Time to triple check my work.

Sincere thanks for all the advice and explanations! Since I have very limited time I'm going to replace the entire starter, as it seems to be the simplest, if more costly, option.

Issue happened again just a bit ago (at the same place, no less). I popped the hood pushed on the connections to the solenoid and waited a bit, then it started again. Maybe it is the same heat issue that Totem described, it has been warm here lately (around 104F today). I did this, they dimmed a little. Not sure it matters, but it only "clicks" once, not repeatedly as I've experienced on other vehicles when the battery is low. I checked the battery again and it was reading just over 12.6V with the ignition off. Do you mean re-terminate the ends on the wire from the battery or something else? I'm a bit dense when it comes to this sort of thing. I'm fairly certain those wires were from an old alarm system I took out a while back.

Can you post the VIN? VINs are comprised of information about the vehicle and a check digit, if there's a typo in the VIN the check digit will be invalid. Also check that you're not using the letters I, O, or Q, if you are replace the I with the number 1 and O/Q with a zero.

Not sure if it helps, but I have the same panel in my Toy except the the converter and receptacles are on one breaker (15 amp) and the A/C is on the other (20 amp). Based on your picture, it doesn't look like there's a hole to attach another breaker where the blank is. I would guess that the connection to the left of the blank is shore power. You might considering wiring yours like mine, with the converter and receptacles sharing a breaker.

Actually, it's very close to the 210 RD, but the bench seats for the dinette go across the rear too, sort of in a "U" shape. The power converter, shore power storage, and battery box are under that section.

Mine is the 210 RD, I suspect the one you're looking at is too. All the exterior doors, vents, etc look to be in the same place. Let me know if you want any additional pictures to get an idea of the layout.

Interesting, my 85 has a single door closet. (Ignore the refrigerator, that section was torn out to make room for the larger unit.)

Looks very similar to mine, which is a rear dinette.