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Hi, Apologies if this isn't the correct place to list this. I've had a warrior, itasca and enterprise motorhomes and was a member on one of the groups many years ago. I have a 1991 vol 1 & 2 toyota truck dealers repair manual to sell. Someone offer me a fair price and we can work it out. my pics are hanging out in cyberspace apparently, as soon as they find their way home I can post them. thanks, john, 713.206.6469

We are revamping our Sunrader in stages. First, redo the interior so we can begin using it. Then if we like it, we'll sell our other mini RV (VW Vanagon) and convert the Sunrader to 4WD. I plan to keep the 22R engine as it's a workhorse and has only 32k on it. It's also a manual transmission version we prefer, with the L48 tranny and I'm wondering if anyone knows if this tranny is appropriate to continue to use once it's 4WD? The tranny is listed as a RWD version in research, which could mean nothing as if it's the corporate bolt pattern it will still bolt directly up to a Toyota transfer case I'll source along with the axles to do the conversion. With such low miles, I'd love to keep the tranny in service, but if anyone's knowledgeable on such things, I'd like to know if that's a bad idea or if the bolt patterns won't match, etc. Odds are good the eventual donor will be an entire wrecked Toyota truck with a manual tranny, but it may have a lot of miles, on the tranny, etc. Also, if anyone's well informed, I'd love to know what years of Toyota truck make the best drivetrain donors into a 1982 chassis. Informationally, I will not be running duallies after it's 4WD and will use Linda's advice to swap it to single rears before driving it in its current 2WD. Thanks in advance,

haynes manual shows a thick gasket. if i recall it's about a 1/4 inch

While Hunting for a unicorn (large Sunrader, rear dinette), I came across a Nova Star, made by New Horizon(?). Does anyone have any information on these? Thanks!

Thanks IdahoDoug, I think the reason I posted hear was that somewhere in my head was the nagging knowledge that such a major swap might be just creating headaches (and more so with CA emission issues possibly complicating things) . They gave me a pretty thorough list of what's needed, and it's a lot...steering box, hood scoop, lots more, in order for the 3.4 to fit properly, but with so many changes, I agree that there's a lot to go wrong, or at least bring up new problems. They do convert the cruise control and A/C, of course at extra cost. It IS almost tempting to dive into it myself and do the heads and timing belt; just looking under the hood, seeing everything packed in there so tightly made me decide I wasn't going to tackle it myself (getting up in years and lazier 8^). I'm not familiar with this particular engine as it hasn't needed any work up until now, but I do have the PDF manual so maybe I'll look it over and see if I'm tempted. It runs great (though I can hear the weak cylinder at idle), no oil use, no leaks, no sign of coolant problems/leaks, trans oil looks clean and smells fine. It's drivable now but won't pass the next CA smog test. Maybe it doesn't make much sense to do such a major undertaking for a somewhat minor issue. I know the 3.0 isn't a well-liked engine, perhaps that influenced my thinking on it too. Appreciate the info, this board and its members are a great asset for keeping these great little motorhomes on the road.

Maybe you all just take a running jump and hope for the best! So I ended up finding a great deal on a "Stromberg Carlson Manual RV Step" that was 20" wide with a 7.5" drop ("drop" is top of step-frame to top of step, when extended). To make the thing fit correctly against the bottom of the factory footwell, I welded on some angle to each side of the step frame, which gave me a little more mounting width and also (helpfully) dropped the step down a bit further. I dropped elevator bolts down through the left-and-right edges of the footwell (where the steel was thickest) and into the angle iron, secured with big fat washers and Grade 8 locknuts. Pretty easy to unbolt the whole thing and remove if needed. I'm not sure it's 100% perfect, but I'm pretty satisfied with the look and placement. Feels very sturdy! Probably will outlive the rest of the rig, I'm guessing.

Hi All, I am replacing the 3-way with a 2-way, but there’s still a 12v connection question I have on the new one for lights, board, and the fan it has. I’m asking because there is a white and black wire coming down from the area above the fridge to the 12v cigarette plug? that had also connected into a molex plug of the old one aside from the 12v positive and negative that came from the front of the truck. Black from above was into the red from the truck battery. White was into a separate molex with the other white from the truck with the red. I’m not sure if I should or could tie those in to this new fridge. Or connect up to a different 12v supply while I have the chance. The fridge manual says not to run other outlets or appliances off the fridge. Old pic on top, new below Thanks so much to everyone for the help.

The truck mechanical’s are 1987 Toyota pickup. The exception being the 6 lug rear axle. It is also made by Toyota but used on commercial trucks and chassis’s. A Hayne’s manual for your year truck is a good starting point. As far as the coach part, most appliance systems are generic to all motorhomes. If you ask specific questions on this forum, someone will have the correct answer.

My manual covers the Duo -Therm Sunchaser and Briskair air conditioners. No metal shroud is visible anywhere in the manual. Just the plastic one. You need to find out what manufacturer made yours and maybe we can track down some information Linda S

I have never heard of an inner metal shroud. Original AC? I still have the manual for the AC on my 86 Sunrader. AC is long gone. I will check it when I get home. A few hours Linda S

Hey folks! I am the very proud new owner of this 1986 New Horizons Nova Star. I am going to do a bit of work to it so I thought I'd start a thread here to ask questions and update progress. This is my first RV and I just know how knowledgeable these online communities are so I am here to learn. Here are some pics: Build goals: I want to preserve the original character of this rare model as much as possible while recapturing some interior space with more modern appliances. I would like to pretty up the exterior enough to avoid some attention being parked on campus. As it stands everything works in the RV so I will just live in it for a bit to inform what I want to do, but I think these two things would make it a lot more livable in the short term: Remove the rear AC: I will very rarely be plugged in and I would much rather have the headroom over the kitchen and roof space for solar. Composting toilet: again, I'm not planning on campgrounds or RV parks so a more off grid set up would be ideal. Bonus points for weight reduction and environmental benefits. With school and other projects I don't have much time to work on it right now, and I am backpacking for 3.5 months over the summer, so even these two tasks might be more than I can do anytime soon. Updates will probably be slow, but I wanted to establish a connection here to make use of this great resource. It's great to be here and thanks in advance for the help.

Can you tell from this diagram if the heater is one unit or two separate? There are 4 wires. I just haven’t been able to take off the shroud and pull the elements. I do have proper voltage to the outlets box, but it was a little confusing on what to pull to check the continuity of the elements. Also, it seems like maybe, if this is possible, that I have an RM2400, not the 10? The manual says 2400 and I’m not sure where on the unit other than the face plate that matches, to check.

The 2410 manual I've found online indicated: AC Heating Element: Amperage1.3 Ohm Resis. +/— 10% 92.3 Wattage160 AC COMPONENTS HEATING ELEMENT To check a heating element, remove the heater leads from the terminal block and measure for proper resistance across the two leads. You should obtain the following readings, plus or minus 10% RM2410: 92 I dont see anything in the diagrams showing a separate 12v vs 120v heating element though. I need to physically look again, but alas at lunch at work.

So is there a separate 12v heater vs AC heater? Or is the 12v one WME and Linda listed for the 3way vs 2way fridge? I’ll try to locate a manual too. I’ll do more troubleshooting tonight too. Thanks y’all.

My Kohler model number is 2.5CM-RV. That's 2500w. The TVM 140 is the engine which was made by Tecumseh. Finding a working one after so many years would be pure luck. Jacks small engines Lawn Mower Parts | Small Engine Parts - Jacks Small Engines Used to have parts but now it's limited to a few gaskets and seals. I see a few parts on eBay and Amazon. Here's the manual Operation Manual, 2/2.5CM (TP-5145) (pdxrvwholesale.com) Linda S

Does anyone have service manual or know where I could find them for 1987 nova star have one as project and need info.

How common was the above drive train in Sunraders? Nissan or Toyota? In hindsight sight, a manual transmission would have been a bonus for both the 4 cylinder and the 6 cylinders motors.

Owners manuals contain very little information. This file has the owners manual, a dometic fridge manual and a furnace manual 1. Sunrader Manual Set - Dometic - Hydroflame.pdf Any vehicle maintenance requires a Toyota or Chiltons type manual. Linda S

We just bought the camper, and are real excited to spend some days in it. I’m having trouble finding any sort of owners manual, or any info for general maintenance and instruction for it. Does anyone have any resource for this? Also, any suggestions on typical maintenance or things to look out for? We’re already going to replace the suspension and do a little lift to it. Any help would be great, thanks!

OK, so here's what I've learned now. And for other readers and liability - do NOT try this at home. I have a gas leak from what I'm calling the manifold. In the second picture above, it's the squared off object at picture center with a pair of nuts with blue thread locker paint on them. When you push the knob on the front of the fridge while it's at the "gas" position, you open a valve in this manifold that feeds the burner gas, and activates the igniter. The burner lights and starts doing its job heating the ammonia solution. My burner lights, then a few seconds later there is a whoosh as the leaking gas pool reaches the lit burner and causes a ball of flame a foot in diameter around the manifold. I've had to do that about a dozen times to figure out what's leaking, as it only leaks when the burner is lit - not when it's off and everything is cooled down. What I needed to know was "Is it just the manual valve that's leaking when it is depressed, or is it a leak somewhere else in the manifold?" This matters because if it's a simple manual valve, I could replace that. If it's a leak elsewhere in the manifold then the entire manifold likely needs replacing. So we had to keep lighting it and blowing out the fire (without accidentally blowing out the burner 8" away also) until we got it so the burner was working by itself. Then, if it turned out the manifold keeps leaking after the manual valve is closed, we're going to get a fire again in a few seconds. That happened, confirming the manifold has some major leaks. Obviously, with that going on, I can't spray soapy water on the manifold to find the leak as I'd need to be very close and watching for bubbles. Momma drowned all the dumb ones, so I'm not going to try that. So, the fridge has to come out to be disassembled, and since it also doesn't work on electric, I'm done with it and it's not going back in. Had I been able to get it to work on propane and establish the ammonia fluids are intact and the basic system is functional, I'd have been happy to pursue cleaning the switches like that other member discovered and seeing if I could get it to work on electric as well. Or, using it on propane only for a season. Given this type of failure with a pretty scary foot diameter flame on a 40 year old appliance, I don't want to contemplate fixing a leaking valve, and then be laying there in the camper next summer thinking of the other valves in that fridge that might one day stick and also produce a huge gas flame. All things considered, I'm pretty fortunate I did not burn down the camper before I realized I had a leak. So, if anyone needs spare parts for an Instamatic IM-433C, I'm located in North Idaho and would be happy to tear things off it you need and send them out just for mailing costs. The thermopyle flame detector works, the igniter works. I'll take those off no matter what, as someone on here is eventually going to need those. Thanks all for the hints, tips and information - particularly Linda!

I agree it seems to be asymmetrical and would tend to pull it out of center but was definitely there when I opened it up and came with the kit... Also shown in the shop manual below

Always a late comer to the party here. Summer's coming and the annual heating issues with it. I always wait for the old-timers to report back on problem solving and listen-up, it hasn't failed me yet. Linda, WME, et al. I agree with Linda-check the stat on the stove and use IR or a good thermometer to check exact water temp. Leave it in for a while and see if it stays open. You're looking for specs and behavior. Agree with WME, bad mojo to mix coolants. Alas, at 105K mi, I think, do not rule out overlapping issues. The hole-drilling is usually to cure the water temp / gauge slamming into the trouble-zone 3-5 min after startup, ditto the $60 "special" stat that Toyota will sell you with an additional smaller opening to cure same. Once they're open, it's about flow. Because you were running at "above half" at the beginning,... do a careful check of temp gauge sender-unit per fac.manual specs. Again, like Linda said on the stat, kitchen stove, kitchen-thermometer will work, but will need ohmeter here. That said, I have now owned 4 of these little beasts, both carb'd and injected and will report that I have bought new 3-row radiators (not aluminum, made in Mexico) that were bad out of the box and, upon inspection were just badly built. I talked to the owner at 22 RE Performance, the most premium engine builder I know of some time ago, and he told me that he had so many problems with these MIM one's, that he has them, brand new in boxes, stacked up in the rafters of his shop. This was also confirmed by YodaMan in my home area in Cali. He paid for repairs on one of mine and several others under warranty, and won't touch them now. My last radiator purchased was aluminium because of the high cost of a responsible copper/brass rebuild and it's just OK so far. I have kept the old style copper core and will pay to re-build "next time". Other thoughts, timing correct? Is engine breathing easy? i.e. air box, filter, any obstruction in intake air flow? I don't know your skill level, but I'd do both a hot compression check and combustion gas test in water in the driveway, or like Linda said, mobil guy can do this easily. Especially if your guy's telling you the head's the problem and want's to send you to another shop. I keep hearing about "these guy's" who do work on your rig, then want to send you to another mechanic. It's becoming a thing these days and I think it's not a good sign. You keep good notes, that will help. BR, TG

Hey guys - Hope all are doing well. I would like to replace the shocks on the front and the back of my 1986 Toyota 21' Dolphin. The owners manual says "GABRIEL" but does not note the part numbers. The front shocks are different from the back. The MH seems to be sitting a little lower in the back. The leaf springs are not bowed much but there is still plenty of room between frame and axle. I might need a leaf assist? Airbags are working and holding air properly. Does anyone know what the part numbers are for these? I found a "MONROE" #32383 that says its for a 84-93 chasis for motorhome class C. Does anyone know if this is right? and if so, what is the Monroe # for the rear. Thanks as usual for the input! Kevin

I started a build thread on toyota minis' forum but it being a sunrader, i feel as though this swap/build thread will help people who are looking for the answers of how to better their builds. This is a copy and paste: Post #1 "To keep all my questions and the answers as well as my build in one place, I felt it would be a good idea to start a build thread with a good layout of what i have, what my plan is, and if anyone has any input, it would be much appreciated. A little background: As many people my age (im 25) probably are, im tired of paying rent and buying a house with interest rates at 6.5% is just unrealistic so my girlfriend and i decided to look into RV/Vanlife to cut our costs and save for a down payment while enjoying living on the road. After deciding we didnt want a vehicle with monthly payments, all new vans were out of the question and old vans or rvs were the main solution. We needed something big enough to fit us two and our 65lb dog while not being so massive that it cant park anywhere. This led us to a 1978 Toyota Sunrader based on the hilux chassis. Its the size of a large jeep or modern truck in length while having ample standing room and sleeping area (bed in the cab over is a full when closed but expands to a king). We also liked the rear hatch version we found so we can essentially remove a wall and open the RV up more when we are settled in a spot. After flying to New Mexico to pick it up and finding it gushing oil out the timing cover like a hydrant, i found a shop in Santa Fe that helped me out and got it fixed for us asap. They even let us sleep in the shop in the RV while we waited overnight for parts. Automotive Professionals, they are awesome, if you are in Santa Fe, they are good guys. We then drove to Austin where i had to get some work done and then started driving home to CT. The engine ended up blowing the rings in middle-of-nowhere Arkansas and we loaded it on to a penske flat bed and towed it the rest of the 2k mile journey home. The plan: Currently, the RV has a blown 20r, L43? from my understanding transmission, and a "foolie" dually rear end. I have already sourced and bought a full float 6lug rear end from a late 80s motor home as well as a w55 trans from a late 80s pickup. The last of my parts needs was an engine. With 22REs being harder to find these days, especially in the northeast, i opted for a 1997 Tacoma parts truck with a 3RZ as a swap. I plan to use the existing harness and ECU to minimize cost while also getting the vehicle running sooner so i can feel comfortable renovating the RV part of the camper as there is no point in starting that if the vehicle doesn't run. Questions i have as of right now: The 3RZ i know will not just bolt in to the existing mounts so i've been looking online for mounts that would help it just bolt in while maintaining the 5° lean the engine had from the factory. Because i have a 20r, despite it being a 1978, these engine mounts should work: https://www.lceperformance.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=9010070 Has anyone used these or tried this? Should these work? The w55 came out of a late 80s toyota pickup truck, from my understanding, the bell housings for trucks were different than those that came on the cars for similar engines with toyota. I also have the bellhousing that is on the tacoma if necessary but from my understanding, that is a R150 4WD trans which would make the bell housing completely different and there for unusable for my needs. Will my W55 trans with truck bellhousing bolt to the 3RZ without modification? Or do I need to find a different bellhousing? Let me know what everyone thinks and i appreciate any help in advance. Post #2 Heres a build update: Moving forward with the dismantling of the '97 Tacoma. A few issues i plan to run into: ECU: So the vehicle i bought is a 4wd automatic and i am swapping the engine but not the transmission. I will need to buy a separate manual ecu for the 3rz to make it work instead of shorting the automatic stock ecu. As the following 3RZ Swap Guide details, its easier to just buy a manual ecu and swap it in. The guide is also a mostly Tell-All for 3RZ swaps so read the whole thing anyways if you plan to do this swap. See the guide here: https://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=19275.0 ECU Continued: I plan to swap in the stock ecu in an attempt to save money but this will bring upon a unique collection of issues. The first issue is the OBD-2 codes that i will not be able to turn off unless i spent mountains of time on getting them fixed. The code that i am especially haunted by from a bunch of previous vehicles is P0420 which is an emissions code. That is just one of many that i expect to encounter but in an effort to save $3k, i'm going to try. If i fail, Haltech it is. NOTE on my donor vehicle: The 3RZ came with 3 different types of ignition systems based on year (there is some variation based on which month but i'm not 100% on those dates so if you have a cross over year, take these numbers as a point of reference): The 1995-1996 3RZ had a distributor based ignition. The 1997-2000 3RZ had a 2-coil ignition system. The 2001-2004 had a 4-coil ignition system. You should be able to tell by looking at the motor. Here is the potential ecu and engine harness i may buy if the stock ecu path doesnt work: https://snpspeed.com/all-go-fast-pr...00-ecu-for-year-range-97-00-w-2-coil-complete 3RZ Engine Mounts: From what i've researched, because my '78 hilux has a 20r, in theory the chillkat mounts should allow me to adapt the 3rz into the my truck. Im hopeful but not 100% certain. Will know more soon. Here are the mounts: https://www.lceperformance.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=9010070 W55 to 3RZ: I believe these should bolt up just fine. The W55 came off of a 22RE which was in a 1985 pickup. I believe that means it should just bolt up to the 3RZ just fine. But, we'll see. This thread helped me a little bit but doesnt entirely answer my questions. Here is the transmission knowledge thread i reference: https://toyotamotorhome.org/forums/...-l43-to-w50-and-w50-to-w55-transmission-swap/ Post #3 Update: The tacoma has been brought to where it will be stripped of its engine. Runs great and starts up fine every time which is awesome so i am confident on moving forward with dropping it in to my Hilux. Here is a trailering pic: The 3RZ has been pulled from the Tacoma parts truck. Thankfully, it doesnt appear to have any leaks or cracks from my inspection. Planning on degunking it before putting it in to the Hilux. The only parts i now need to put the 3RZ and W55 into the hilux is the 3RZ to W series trans bellhousing (W59 4cyl). My parts truck unforunately is an automatic and im having trouble sourcing a bellhousing for the w55 to mount up. Here is the engine right after removal: Parts that im using to swap this engine and trans in are as follows: 1997 Twin-Coil 3RZ Toyota W55 Transmission with W59 Bellhousing (must be a 4cyl manual bellhosing, start on drivers side) 1997 4cyl T100 Manual Trans ECU (ECU must match the transmission type) Factory engine harness LCE Engineering 3RZ to 20R engine mounts 3RZ Flywheel, Clutch, Clutch fork, Slave, and L43 Master Cylinder (Im not sure if this master cylinder will work, but worth a try because then i don’t have to buy another one) Factory Hilux Trans Crossmember (This will need some adjustment holes drilled to accommodate the W55 but based on the following thread, it should work: https://toyotamotorhome.org/forums/...-l43-to-w50-and-w50-to-w55-transmission-swap/ Next up is removing the blown 20r and then the L43 (the trans worked great, just want a fifth gear for highway driving). The 20r and L43 will be for sale if anyone wants them. Post #4 Update: The Sunrader has been moved to the swap location! Got it loaded onto my gf's brothers landscaping trailer (the rv supposedly only weights 3750 stock? so...well it barely fit. Check out the photo of it loaded up below: And this is where it now sits while i wait for one of my friends to finish up their project in the garage before we pull this thing inside (the garage has 8'4 clearance, the camper is 8'3 or close so we may have to remove the roof vent to get it inside but it will be worth it). Beyond the camper, i have received the 3RZ swap mounts from Toyonlyswaps.com. LCE had them on backorder and were nice enough to cancel the order for a full refund, they are very responsive so that was awesome. Toy Only Swaps got them shipped out quickly which was awesome too. As for the wiring situation, i ordered the adapter harness for the 3RZ from Offroadsolutions.com that removes the need for the body harness from the tacoma as the body harness houses 40% of the fuel injector wiring. The adapter harness (haven't received it yet, takes about 2 weeks) is the fourth plug that goes into the 3rz ecu that the existing engine harness doesnt have built into it. This will save me so much freaking time wiring as there are only a few splices that need to be made into the RV's existing "body harness." I put quotations around it because it is a hack job i will likely want to redo but being that its a 1978, its mostly just positive and ground running to everything, not much for signal wires. Im also buying the harness because of my timeline, this is not a 2 year long build im doing, its a 6 month long build and anywhere i can save time, im doing it at the expense of more costly parts but i think itll be worth it. Here is a link to the harness i ordered: https://www.offroadsolutions.com/products/ors-3rz-fe-2rz-fe-conversion-wiring-harness/ Lastly, the transmission situation. I don’t have a photo for this but as i've said before i had a W55 with 22re bell housing that needed to be swapped. After a lot of search and asking people to just sell me the bellhousing off a w59 that was in a 4cyl truck, i found a guy on marketplace in Lousiana that was willing to do it for me. Shipped it with the clutch fork which was awesome, had it in a few days. Took the old one off yesterday, the w59 3rz bellhousing bolted right up, it went so smooth i assumed something was wrong. I also purchased and have a 3rz clutch and flywheel which are ready to go on once i mate the motor to the trans. Next up, the 20r engine and L43 trans in the Sunrader are coming out. The 20r has insane blow by but if anyone wants it, let me know. It is available, same with the trans. Pulling the motor next week and hopefully dropping the 3rz and w55 in. Things im worried about right now: Exhaust crossover pipe from the 3rz to the existing stock exhaust. I have a friend who is a welder that said he could build me one so that helps with the concern. The oil pan is tall as hell. I also see a lot of people swapping in a rear sump as they come stock with a front sump but those people are 4x4 and im 4x2 RWD so i guess we'll see. Worse comes to worse, my welding friend used to work at moroso so maybe i can get him to build me a custom oil pan or there is one that fits. If anyone knows about this, let me know because i have no clue. Things im thinking about: I have no AC or heat in the existing rv. I just doesnt work. Im going to try to fix it an possibly go with an electric compressor system that i can mount remotely for AC but we'll see if i have the time and money for it. I have no power steering, i cant find anything about a power steering installation on this year hilux. My hilux doesnt even come up in the repair manual i got for it. Its like the one year that no one seems to have information on which admittedly makes my life more difficult so if anyone knows about a power steering set up i can run, that would be helpful. Post #5 More Photos: The 3rz engine as it sits: Custom Passenger engine mount from Toy Only Swaps: Custom Driver engine mount from toy only swaps: W55 Trans with W59 Bellhousing, W59 Clutch Fork, W55 clutch fork boot, new W55 Slave Cylinder, and 3RZ throwout bearing: This is where it stands as of today. Here is the original build thread for if i forget to update this one though i will do my best to keep it updated: https://toyotaminis.com/forum/threads/78-hilux-sunrader-build-thread-3rz-w55-swap.29601/

Very nice V-6 Toyota Sunrader for sale in Illinois If you are looking to buy a Sunrader RV, or are wanting to upgrade from your current RV to one that doesn’t need any fixing, here is a link to the ad for an intentionally-restored one in Illinois. This Sunrader is rare because it not only has a more powerful V-6 engine, it also has a rare 5-speed manual transmission for more nuance of control and better gas mileage. Even though most folks in this group already have an RV of their own, if you have friends who are looking to buy, this one is NOT a project — unlike most of them that are advertised these days. Everything on this RV has already been tested and fixed. Whoever gets it should not have any of the common issues that often come with other Toyota RVs that are for sale. This RV is definitely way above average. To see 94 photos, read more details, and see the price, click this link and scroll to where it says “Read More” to view the entire description. You can reply with your level of interest and give your phone number through the form within the ad. However this ad is getting lots views from wannabe buyers, so phone inquiries are given priority over online queries. Now here is the link: https://www.rvt.com/rvdetail.php?id=10945719 e