Mechanical Breakdowns?

[centralman]

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen ...

May I ask what kind of mechanical breakdowns you have experienced with your TOY MH on the road? It would be a good learning experience if we pull together and share our stories.

I have owned my 87 Toyota Dolphin since May 2009. In the past year of ownership, I have traveled over 8,000 miles with my family with it. My home town is Vancouver, BC. I have experienced two breakdowns on the road thus far:

(1) New year's eve, 2009. San Francisco, CA. 950 miles from home. Right after visiting Golden Gate bridge I noticed cooling (few drops at a time) appearing on the hood, water temperature started to rise. Opened the hood, a small stream of coolant coming out from the water outlet hose. Added water made it to the nearest autozone and gotten a replacement hose and a couple of clamps along with coolant. Find a spot at a local 76 gas station and asked the manager for a spot for me to do the repair. Pulled the old hose out but the new hose wouldn't fit. Autozone gave me the wrong hose as one side should be larger than the other side. Finally the manager at 76 called in his friend who owns a shop nearby and helped me finding a replacement hose and repair the problem. After getting back home I took it to my mechanic and had all the rad hose replaced along with new radiator.

(2) May, 2010. Kamloops, BC. 250 miles from home. On my way back from Banff smelled something buring albeit only a slight smell. ATF Temp Guage suddenly starting to rise, RV is losing power. Parked along the road and noticed ATF leaking (actually more like a stream) from the cooler hose (at the end of the hose that attached to a metal pipe going to the tranny). Took my tools out and cut short the cooler hose and made a temporary repair. CAA came and picked me up to a local gas station to pick up some ATF as they don't supply it and I only got a bottle (1L). Turns out it leaked a total of 4L out. Put the ATF back and started to worry as the tranny doesn't want to shift up to 2nd gear at first. After a little while it worked and then I was very relieved. After getting back home took it to the shop and changed all the cooler hoses. Recently had a 500 mile trip on the Cascade Loop (photo attached, at Rocky Reach Dam) and all went well.

Love to hear from all of you!

[Gulfstream Greg]

Have owned a Sunrader and now the Gulfstream. One flat tire, that's it. Oh, my alarm system wigged out so I had to pull the fuse. Its just the coach door sensor though. About 8500 miles total.

[Maineah]

Had to replace a fan belt while on the road nice guy at a garage lent me some tools.

[bajadulce]

Toyotas don't break down!

Now my past campers and other rigs I've traveled with others in, are a completely different story! I can't help but smile from ear to ear just thinking about all the fun "experiences"! It would be fun to write a book on some of these adventures, because you sure as h-e-ll can't make these up! I've dropped engines in the "dirt" on several occasions, jerry-rigged suspensions, used vice-grips as tourniquets for brake lines, crammed driftwood between leafsprings to keep tires from rubbing, pantyhose for belts, gas cans strapped atop roofs for faulty gas tanks, windshields that were so cracked and shattered, it was easier to just knock them out, broken clutch cables, broken accelerator cables, broken clutch plates, stuck in sandpits for days, transmissions FALLING out of cars, Flashlights for headlights, jump starting cars with mules, losing a car in the ocean after a flash flood... on an on! Somehow through all of this, I have NEVER had the pleasure to experience any kind of an "accident" - Knock on wood! Of course I drive like an old lady and my wife gives me a hard time about that.

Somebody should create a blog called "STRANDED!" I bet it would be a good one.

Anywho, I used to practically haul a second drive train around with me, hoping to be prepared for anything, but now after all the experiences, I just tote along some basic tools/parts. A good pair of tennis shoes and plenty of water is a good thing to include in your spare parts list. Sooner or later you're going to have to abandon your vehicle especially if you travel in remote places. If you own a $50K+ rig, it's gonna hurt. My advice from a world of experience, don't own anything you can't afford to have stolen, sell cheap, or just flat out give away!

If/when I do get stuck again, I pray it's only a mechanical issue like a broken water pump, brake failure, or even the motor seize up for all I care. I can fix those even if I have to go home and bring a second motor or even a donor car, which I have done now on 2 occasions! An electrical or computer malfunction on the other hand can be a serious disaster and send you on a tailspin trying to figure out what is wrong! It might take weeks! I had such a problem with a faulty Air Flow Meter Box last year. Luckily I was only 2 blocks from home.

3vZE cranks, but won't spark, HELP!

[centralman]

Have owned a Sunrader and now the Gulfstream. One flat tire, that's it. Oh, my alarm system wigged out so I had to pull the fuse. Its just the coach door sensor though. About 8500 miles total.

Had to replace a fan belt while on the road nice guy at a garage lent me some tools.

Toyotas don't break down!

Now my past campers and other rigs I've traveled with others in, are a completely different story! I can't help but smile from ear to ear just thinking about all the fun "experiences"! It would be fun to write a book on some of these adventures, because you sure as h-e-ll can't make these up! I've dropped engines in the "dirt" on several occasions, jerry-rigged suspensions, used vice-grips as tourniquets for brake lines, crammed driftwood between leafsprings to keep tires from rubbing, pantyhose for belts, gas cans strapped atop roofs for faulty gas tanks, windshields that were so cracked and shattered, it was easier to just knock them out, broken clutch cables, broken accelerator cables, broken clutch plates, stuck in sandpits for days, transmissions FALLING out of cars, Flashlights for headlights, jump starting cars with mules, losing a car in the ocean after a flash flood... on an on! Somehow through all of this, I have NEVER had the pleasure to experience any kind of an "accident" - Knock on wood! Of course I drive like an old lady and my wife gives me a hard time about that.

Somebody should create a blog called "STRANDED!" I bet it would be a good one.

Anywho, I used to practically haul a second drive train around with me, hoping to be prepared for anything, but now after all the experiences, I just tote along some basic tools/parts. A good pair of tennis shoes and plenty of water is a good thing to include in your spare parts list. Sooner or later you're going to have to abandon your vehicle especially if you travel in remote places. If you own a $50K+ rig, it's gonna hurt. My advice from a world of experience, don't own anything you can't afford to have stolen, sell cheap, or just flat out give away!

If/when I do get stuck again, I pray it's only a mechanical issue like a broken water pump, brake failure, or even the motor seize up for all I care. I can fix those even if I have to go home and bring a second motor or even a donor car, which I have done now on 2 occasions! An electrical or computer malfunction on the other hand can be a serious disaster and send you on a tailspin trying to figure out what is wrong! It might take weeks! I had such a problem with a faulty Air Flow Meter Box last year. Luckily I was only 2 blocks from home.

3vZE cranks, but won't spark, HELP!

Looks like no one has any major issue on the road yet ... Makes me having more confidence now, as I would like to make another long trip from Vancouver to Arizona this Christmas ... Hopefully all went well.

[bufbooth]

I had a hot water line crack on a trip to Yellowstone, had to track down an Ace Hardware store to get some PVC pipe, pipe glue, and a hacksaw to make the repair.

I had to repair a hole in the gas tank, ended up using a clay type product for gas tank repairs from a home

improvement store.

Experienced engine vapor lock after climbing a 12% grade for 30 minutes and after parking for 20 minutes.

The engine was slightly hotter than normal and I thought letting it sit for 20 minutes would cool it down,

but the engine actually got hotter while sitting since the water pump was no longer on (engine was off).

I ended up having to raise the hood for about 10 minutes for her to cool down below the vapor lock temperature.

Next time I will need to let the engine run for a few minutes while parked with the hood open.

Dennis...

[ILIA]

For a few months the O2 sensor kept going bad showing symptoms of a blown headgasket. Actually only went through one sensor over 2,000 miles until I left St. Petersburg, FL for Gainesville, FL. Barely got her cranked back up at a gas station 75 miles from my Gainesville temporary residence. Smoked like nobody would believe. Think I recall someone running from the pumps! Once running she was fine, that is until I shut her off in the driveway at the house (hauled a 1,000 pound trailer on the trip). Never started again until the new head was installed.

Turned out the head had pitting in the aluminum that made it's way towards the combustion chamber from the surrounding water passages. Found this on three of the combustion chambers and guessed that the gasket must have nearly caved into the crevises. Cause was most likely from the combination of old coolant and running too hot which caused the aluminum to erode. A new head off ebay, new gaskets, new O2 sensor, and new catalytic converter due to going through so much coolant, and she runs like a champ. Drove her from FL to NC a month after the job. What a grin I had on my face. Viva Toyota!

P.S. Not sure when the previous owner got around to installing the three row radiator, but she runs cool. Even in the summer the needle rarely climbs above 1/3.