Boots

September 5, 2012

Hi

In my rig, I have two circuit breakers located inside the coach battery house. They are both 30 amp and are push in - pop out types. See if they are "pushed in" meaning they are allowing the circuit to be completed. If they are out, and need resetting (being "pushed in") that means they have tripped (meaning there has been an over draw of current (more than 30 amps of power) - look for the cause of this, a short circuit, dead short, short to ground, what ever you want to call it.

September 5, 2012

Hi Derek,

All of my enquiries were done by Toyota Canada, however, there is a potential hold up if the vehicle is registered in the US. I don't know the particulars, however, I did see a 1 - 800 number for US registered vehicles.

Brian

September 5, 2012

Well, I had an experience, that was both good and bad.

My 1992 Spirit was the perfect way of travelling across Canada, and back; a lot of miles and hours driving enjoying my country. But I digress, on the way home to the West Coast, just days from our homes, we had everyones worse nightmare, a blow head gasket. All I can say is that if you ever have to have a blown head gasket, do it in a place like Sorrento BC. We broke down in front of the only garage in town, and met a great team in the shop. No play games, or fearful estimates, or dirty tricks, just the facts and how else can we help you. We were able to secure a place to stay, within walking distance of the shop, for the duration while our rig was being repaired and the town folks we friendly and helpful.

It was a long repair, starting on Wednesday and ending Saturday afternoon. Lots of pacing, looking at our watches, going for walks and watching the Olympics, we were glad when they told us to come and pickup our rig.

How much more good news can there be you ask, well after we paid for the repairs and wished everyone well, we headed straight for home, thankful for workmanship and concern. Then what more can happen....well not all of the time I spent was watching TV or out walking, I spent a fair amount of time on the Internet, trying to determine what was the cause of this problem and I found out.

Apparently when the V6 was being designed back in 1986, the plan was to use asbestos headgaskets and they did use those gaskets until 1988, when the US and Canada banned asbestos use in most things. Toyota came up with an alternative, production carried on. Fast forward to today and it turns out, the solution was problematic and V6 engines started to experience premature head gasket failures and to Toyota's credit they offered to repair them or replace them free of charge. So when I found this out, I contacted Toyota and then checked into my vehicle and sure enough it had not had the repair done, by their records and so they sent me a cheque for the entire amount. It took them about two weeks or so to confirm the details and I am delighted to say it was easy, no grumbing or foot dragging, just sorry about that, here is the cheque and a handshake. This is after 20 years of running. I have met two other owners who have had a similar experience, same results. So if you have a Toyota V6 engine (3.0 Litre) built between 1987 to 1995, and have not had any work done on your rigs head gaskets, you may be eligible for a replacement or similar work.

Very pleased, thankful to Toyota and relieved about the future durability of the engine.

Brian

June 26, 2012

Hi,

On my 92 Itasca Spirit, Toyota is very clear on what the pressure is, they have a permanent laminated instruction and vehicle weight table pasted to the drivers door. The rating for the vehicle is 50 psi, not lower in the front or more in the rear. 50 psi. The designers are looking at the Gross Vehicle weight, and then having choosen a certain size, with specific load carrying capacity, and the braking system performance came up with that number.

Anyone who suggests car tire, is either lazy, stupid or doesn't care about your life or that of your family. P rated tires (i.e. car tires) are designed to carry a load in the lower weights normally associated with small cars and light weights, the Toyota is using tires designed to pack about 1650 lbs per tire, not 550 lbs per tire (P rated are normally rated for 1/4 ton to 1/2 ton vehicles). The tire dealer wants to sell tires, no wonder he said 5000 kilometers, those car tires would have been beaten with an inch of their lives, from heat and weight stress.

Engineers design vehicles to be safe, do not mess with this kind of stuff. If you don't like your specified tires, choose anothe brand, or model, but not stray from the specifications, because you might live to regret it.

Boots

June 20, 2012

I am just having the tail pipe, muffler and intermediate pipe installed in a 92 Toy 3.0 V6. I don't have the supplier yet, but I will find out for you.

Boots

June 12, 2012

Have no idea about the tubing sizes. Any of the threaded fittings will be metric of course. The cooler lines are low pressure and the cooling system taps a small bit of oil out to run through the cooler then mixes it back into the pan.

The best place to place the sensor is in the pan. A shop can braze a fitting into the pan that the sensor will screw into. Just have to make sure where ever its placed that the projection has clearance inside.

The other location is in the output line to the cooler. The concern there is restriction of the flow. Any fittings really need to be as large I.D. or larger and the sensor protruding into the flow must not restrict the flow.

Bought my gauge through JCWhitney, can't remember the brand but its a digital readout. Found the analog ones to hard to read with old eyes. Don't have it in yet. Will put it in a gauge pillar. There is a guy who makes custom ones for out toyotas, 2 or 3 gauges. Somewhere I have a thread showing it when we owned the 4x4 sunrader turbo.

Hi

I micrometered the coolant line (not sure which one yet) and it was 10.14 mm ( I was told by a mechanic it should be 9.5 mm) in outside diameter. this roughly corresponds to 3/8 o.d inches, a common enough size to consider using a 10 mm steel pipe compression fitting. Now for the good news, I found a site here: http://www.dieselmanor.com/dm_products/FTG-MFD.asp that offers a low cost manifold for the installation of a standard sensor. Another page offered a two more means placing the sensor. http://www.dieselmanor.com/autometer/tmp-mnfld.asp . I have a series of pictures of a do your it

On the topic of sensor placement, there is a pan plug location near the rear of my transmission which might accept a temperature probe. But, and there is always a but, it will read only the cooled transmission oil returning from the transmission cooler, and that is not what you care about. What you are really concerned about it is the hot oil temperature, and that comes from the outbound oil line. From what I have read, the difference from the three points are: outbound hot (can be up to 400 degrees F), return will be 40 - 60 degrees F cooler and the mixed oil in the tran pan will be approximately 20% cooler than the return. Why is this important, because transmission oil that has been over heated, even briefly, breaks down permanently, the components that you need. From what I have been able to read in oil tech sites, a transmission oil that has been heated over 300 (most guages max out at 280 degrees F) for fifteen minutes will only protect your transmission for approximately 3000 km, then transmission damage goes up dramatically.

Something to consider.

Boots

June 10, 2012

Hi everyone,

I am installing a VDO transmission guage in my Toy, and need information on the size of the transmission coolant line. How is it measured (I mean o.d. or i.d.), what fittings might be used. By the way, I have sourced an "Inline Temperature Port & Distribution" part from Peterson Fluids System. Very well built, but I need to specify the hose (or pipe) size to order the part.

For those interested in this project, I have ordered a VDO "Cockpit" series - 400 degrees F. guage (part # 310 - 015), with a sender (part # 3223 - 050) - there are two probe lengths ( I ordered the 5/8 inch probe) and there is a 3/8 inch probe also available.

Guage was approximately 42.00 and the sender was 18.00 - not including taxes and shipping.

Another item I am considering is a 3/8 inch MAGNETIC TRANSMISSION FILTER ; inline transmission filter (it has large magnetic element inside). Rated for 15,000 miles. Approximately 20.00 (not sure about import duties, taxes, and shipping. Any comments?

Cheers

Boots

June 8, 2012

Hi,

Here is my experience - 92 Ithasca Toy. Notice one day that rear brakes lights were not working properly, so I start the process of finding out what might be the problem. Some of the things I noticed:

When driving in normal daylight conditions, and no lights on, no problems. When driving with the headlights on (day or night) and I stepped on the brakes, I noticed that the shift selection indicator light dimmed when I stepped on the brakes (aha!) When I was driving with lights on and had cruise control on and stepped on brakes, cruise control would release (hmmm)

Here is what I did to fix this:

Inspected main (engine) battery: Battery connections clean. Measured battery voltage while engine was off (rig has been sitting all winter, 12.2 volts - so battery charger on for four hours)

Then rechecked voltage (14.5 volts DC)

Started engine, measured battery voltage, while engine was idling (14.3 volts DC), checked Amperage to both engine battery and coach battery (3 amps DC)

Removed lenses from the rear light assembly (numerous bulbs blown) and replaced all rear light bulbs.

With engine running, stepped on brakes, had someone watch rear brake lights (they came on)

Then, stepped and held on brakes, and turn on left turn signal, on the left rear brake light, (one bulb element went out, the other dimmed)

Then turned on parking lights (and clearance lights come on as well) and stepped on brakes and left signal (brake light, turn signal went out)

Measured amperage draw at the fuse panel (dc voltage went from 14.0 volts to 10 volts) this works out to about 3.5 amps of current draw.

Turn off all lights, turn signal worked, turned off signal, stepped on brakes (brakes lights worked) and released brake, turned on clearance/park lights (they all worked)

Conclusion:

Battery and charging system are in good shape.

Individual lights are in good shape.

Suspect it is the grounding connection to rear lights. Measured wire connection from light to ground, high resistance or no continuity.

Solution:

1 - I renewed or cleaned all of the grounding components (or as alternately you can buy a new rear light assembly) and repeated test. Improved light bulb performance, but still some diming on brake/park light (this is because this bulb draws a lot of wattage (26 watts or 2 amps).

2 - Went under the rig, and traced the factory installed ground wire from rear assembly lights towards front of rig. This single wiring harness comes from the front to a point about three from the rear of the rig, as a single wire group and then splits into two (left and right light assembly wiring harness) and this is where I found a factory problem. All of the wires in the wire assembly are the same size. So I assume over the ages these wires have aged, been abused, or suffered some form of heating (some sections of wiring insulation damaged) and cannot properly carry the electrical load to ground (the frame of the truck) and the ground wire needed replacing.

Cut open the plastic sheath protecting the (branching) wiring harness, found the dedicated ground wire (my color was purple and green) and replaced that original wire (AWG 16 guage) with an (larger) AWG 12 guage, ground rated wire. I did this to both the left and right side wire harnesses, note that I took the free end of the new ground wire and ran it to the frame and attached it to frame by drilling a small hole in the frame and fastened the ground wire with new stainless steel nuts and bolts to the frame. Problem solved.

The results are very good, I measured the voltage supply at each light, (14.3 volts) and re ran all the above mentioned tests with lights, brakes and turn signals on, all performed flawlessly. Measured the to ground voltage and current and all matched up with the design specifications.

As an aside, there is a wiring schematic on this site, which help clarify the wiring design and greatly shortened my efforts, so thanks to whom ever found and post it.

While this repair is not directly related to your problem of flasher failure, the approach I detailed here can be used to systematically find an electrical fault and fix it (hopefully).

I was quoted an estimate of 300 dollars to trouble shoot and fix this problem, which i think is reasonable considering how much time and effort it took me to do it, but by doing it myself (and with some luck), I still have my 300 dollars.

Many electrical faults (particularly lights can be traced back to poor grounds (particularly in old vehicles) so start there and see if you have good connections to the frame and or to the engine battery negative.

Boots

June 7, 2012

Recently, while looking for some information on the 3.0 transmissions, I stumbled upon this site and thought it might be useful or interesting stuff for others on this site,so here it is. I didn't click on every link so cannot vouch for all the site's worthiness. This relates to a lot of Australia, but might contain pertinent information for some Toyotas.

http://members.iinet...tepho/links.htm

Boots

May 29, 2012

I am just about to work on the electrics in this area. There are two resetable circuit breakers in my 92 Ithasca, and they are hard to get at and not obvious. The second part of the upgrade is to replace the old charger located under the seat. So I am bringing the main wiring harness up into the coach, installing a master fuseable link, an isolation switch, possible A Xtrantrex digital meter (measures charge, consumption, state of charge etc) and the new Xtrantex converter / inverter (2000 watt pure sine wave output). In addition, I have upgrade the main wiring from the positive and negative to the space under the seat (where the new charger will be installed) and finally upgraded the ground connection to the frame. All original wiring is being brought from the coach battery box to a marine grade fuse box for monitoring and access. Should be a fun project.

Boots

May 25, 2012

I have a 79 dolphin with a bowed rear suspension, 5 lug

what air springs fit this dually?

direct link please

This is an easy one, look up a Firestone air bag kit, there are different types. Go here for the website information: http://www.truckspring.com/suspension-parts/firestone-air-bags.aspx

Brian

May 12, 2012

my 79 doesnt seem to have an external battery.

where would an external battery be?

Most, if not all RV's are designed to operate with two batteries. Each battery is designed to do a specific job and is used for different purposes. The obvious job of the engine battery is to provide instanteous power for starting the engine, maintaining a near constant voltage to all of the vehicles primary electical parts and accepts a fairly high amperage charge rate to the battery (quick recovery to fully charged state) all doing this automatically. This battery almost always is in the engine compartment, located quite close to the front of the engine and very near to the alternator.

The other battery, is often called the coach battery, is there to provide all other electrical devices such as the lights, controls, safety devices, power to run refrigeration, power to run the furnace, and other miscellaneous electrical appliances with 12 volt power. It almost always is located outside of the coach, usually in a well ventilated fiberglass box, slung off of the frame or attached to the coach by anchors. This battery is designed differently, it's primary role is a big resevior of power to be drawn steadily in small accumulative loads for longer periods of time. The vehicle battery, can provide hugh amount of current for shorter periods of time, say during starting) then a smaller amount from a few minutes to many hours; the coach battery will be called upon to provide a steady amount of current for a few moment to perhaps as much as eight to twelve hours.

Charging the coach battery, happens in usually in one of two ways, first the car can provide power to the coach battery through a special device called an isolator, and when the coach battery is fully charged the isolator can taper off or shut off the charge to the coach battery. Alternatively (or in concert with the car charge) an on board charger, specially designed to provide a charge to the coach battery, can keep the battery fully charged. Variations on this include, using a solar panel, a gas or propane generator that is wired to the on board charger.

If you don't have a coach battery, likely most , if not all of your 12 volt devices are powered by the car battery. The only danger of this is you may drain the battery down to a point where you cannot start the engine and if you are in an isolated located, this means you would be stuck for some time.

If you look for the coach battery, and find one, have it examined and tested, if doesn't meet the batterie's specification for performance, it means it is too old, worn out, has been poorly maintained, or not properly charged. Modern batteries, require more sophiscated battery chargers, so it may be wise to invest in one of these.

Brian

April 6, 2012

Hi,

Last year, my Check Engine light came on and I limped home and went into Toyota, they diagnosed it as a failed computer. So far was only into the diagnose $75, fair enough for about two hours of checking things. Then there was the good news / bad news scenario - first the good news they found out the specific model and cost ( 1700.00) and the bad news (they dont make them anymore) you can imagine how that went over. Went home and 30 minutes later, on the internet found a place in Florida, their price 295.00 refurbished. And if you returned your old defective unit, you had a lifetime warranty for the rest of the time you owned it. So off I went, ordered it - two days later installed it and two days later returned it to them. It has worked flawlessly, they registered me for the returned unit warranty and I am a happy camper!

By the way make sure you have the specific model number for the transmission, apparently there are a number of different models of computers based on the engine transmission/ rear axle (dual wheel in my case) so be accurate.

The company is called AutocomputerExchange Sales <sales@autocomputerexchange.com>

April 6, 2012

Hi,

I am assuming you are driving at the same altitude, but if you are not that might explain. I have a 92 Winnepago with the V6 and I get 24 - 28 mpg. So I don't know what the difference is other than weight, location or perhaps the computer.

April 6, 2012

Hi,

I have been thinkning about this myself, however, the one primary reason I have not upgraded is that any increase in capacity will lower the gross carrying capacity of the rig. I have been pulled over, by commercial truck inspectors and directed to weigh in scales, and found to be just over weight and had to dump weight (water, sewer) before allowed to travel on. You are also at risk from insurance point of view if you are overweight, in an accident and are deemed to be at fault, primarily because you exceed the gross vehicle weight (hence too much weight for your specific brakes) - I have seen this happen, your insurance adjuster is not your friend.

Brian.

April 6, 2012

taking it to an electrical shop could add up fast on the cost side, takes time to trace things. i would start by making sure the coach battery is ok. take it out, check the water level and refill if necessary, check main connections, clean real well. if battery is dead put it on a charger and bring it up to full charge out of the motor home. many auto parts places will test the battery for you free. as for the fuses, you should test with continuity tester to make sure they are ok, or just replace, cheap. they can look fine and not be good. cheap enough and easy enough to just replace. if you can, once the battery is removed use jumpers to connect a battery that you know is good to the coach and see if any of the problems go away. with it going "bad" just sitting my brain says it has to be the battery or connections, after all nothing was being used, maybe a light left on as you mentioned. the air conditioner not coming on is a120v not 12 volt problem. i think most units have a plug coming out of the lower unit that plugs in somewhere, mine plugged in next to it into a receptacle on the ceiling. plug that directly into an extension cord to shore power and check it. if it works then maybe there is a problem with the converter. if you are running the air of an inverter it must be pretty big and the house battery pretty big and powerful. really doesn't make much sense that the fan worked but the compressor didn't come on, unless it was too cold for the thermostat on the air to tell it to come on. the battery, fuse and extension cord to the air are things that you can do that may save a mechanic time if you do need to take it in. good luck.

Hi,

Good advice from the other fellow. Do the basics, don't assume anything, and be methodical. First off take the coach battery off of the rig, take it to a battery store, have them load test it (even if it costs you a service fee) and that will tell you how much life is left in that battery, record that and report back to us. If you can find out from them the specifications of the battery and post them here for us to see. If you demand too much from a battery it may survive for a while.and then it will begin to fail (prematurely) and may need replacing. IIt may be the battery is not sized correctly for your needs.

In addition if you can give us the specifications for the air compressor, we can see if tthere is too much demand on the battery system. As an example, if the a/c draws 12 amps AC, the demand on the battery (when it is in good condition and fully charged) will be in the order of 100 amps DC. If your DC system is using too small of wires, the internal resistance of those wires may not allow all that current to flow and the amperage will rise (and consequently the voltage will drop) - a number of things can happen, first you may over heat the wire conductors and they can fail (either fully or partially), second the invertor input voltage (nominally 12 volts DC) will drop below the safety design levels and consequently shut down, or not allow the full load to operate and lastly you may damage the battery system.

By the way, all air conditioning systems, are very demanding on start-up. A typically a/c unit will run at, say, 13.5 amps AC, but to start it, the "inrush current" (the startup current) may be 4 to 6 times that of the operating running current. If the invertor cannot handle that inrush current, the compressor will not start. So if you do not have a sufficiently large capacity invertor, say 2500 watts (which is capable of sustaining high inrush currents for say 30 secs to a minute, you may want to consider the upgrade (with the subsequent increase in battery, cables and fuses.

June 21, 2011

There are any number of meters on the market that are good enough for automotive work in the $20-30 range most big box stores even have them. There must be a decent book on the market about how to use one I think most manufactures assume you all ready know how to use them try Amazon books I'll bet they would have a decent one with all the basics.

Hi,

I would use caution recommending just any old meter. Meters that do not specific safety standards will not protect the user from various shocks and explosions. I had a no name meter blow up and the arc, fire and meter material missed my face and hands, The arc came through the front of the meter -I received some burns to my hands. The arc from this explosion melted a small aluminum faceplate six inches away from me. So if you cannot see that the meter meets all standards, do not recommend or use it. The PDF that I copied this from is too large to upload as an attachment so I have cut and pasted the excerpt below.

Quote:

" Introduction

The choice of a test meter, power monitor or datalogger for a power study must now take into account the safety standards currently in force to protect electrical workers under National Fire and Protection Association (NFPA) 70E standards. When

selecting electrical testing tools users are confronted with the following considerations:

1. Does the meter meet existing safety standards?

2. Does the meter meet both my company or organization’s safety and measurement goals?

3. Does the meter improve worker safety?

We assert that a CAT IV safety rating and Bluetooth wireless communication are attractive and practical features that are compatible with NFPA 70E safety programs and procedures. In this article we discuss how these design features of the latest

power testing meters enhance worker safety and provide an overall better “user experience”. The Impact of NFPA 70E on Electrical Testing and Meter Design

Safety in the electrical testing industry has taken on a new level of importance with the focus on Arc Flash hazards that is embodied in the NFPA 70E Standard for Electrical Workplace Safety. NFPA 70E covers the range of electrical safety issues

such as work practices for maintenance, installation and repair activities. It is intended to be followed by employers, employees, engineers, electricians, their supervisors, and new hires such as apprentices. OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health

Administration) bases its electrical safety mandates on the NFPA 70E standard. It provides guidance on employee training, how to implement an effective electrical safety program, work planning and procedures such as lockout/tagout rules. It specifically

prescribes the use of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) such as gloves, visors and fire-retardant clothing. Meters and test equipment are also classified as PPE. To comply with NFPA 70E owners of electrical trical workers maintain, inspect or repair.

The labels shall indicate the level of Arc Flash hazard (see example) and the recommended PPE when working on the equipment. Those involved in electrical testing and the employment of electrical workers must implement safety programs and procedures that

follow NFPA 70E. If there is non-compliance and an accident occurs there is legal liability that can result in citations, work shutdown, fines or other sanctions. It is generally recommended that electrical testing and maintenance workers use tools with the

latest highest safety rating (CAT IV) to be compatible with their safety practices.Without this rating, the worker could be injured if a sudden transient overvoltage occurs and the tool creates an arcing flash-over. The four CAT environments and their maximum

transient overvoltages that testing tools must withstand are depicted below (as per IEC/EN 61010-1 for phase to ground) Most older test meters are designed to sustain transient overvoltages in CAT III. Higher-rated CAT IV tools have improved protection circuitry.

CAT IV 600V instruments are a better choice and are suitable for all CAT test environments at 600V or below. CAT (Category) IV refers to power lines at the utility connection, the origin of installation or service entrance. It includes outdoor overhead and underground cable runs that could be affected by lightning, utility meter locations and primary breakers or fuses. "

This is a partial copy of the article, shortened to capture one page on the topic....This article came from Electrical Power & Solutions - May 2009

June 21, 2011