new owner with a few questions

[trintek]

Hey all, I have been lurking for a bit and reading through things as I have time. I just picked up a 1977 toyota chinook, it needs quite a bit of work and had not been moved in at least 5 years. I managed to get it from south Austin to San Antonio with only 1 blow out and a top speed of 45 while blowing oil and coolant everywhere.

I picked up a coolant recovery tank and will be installing that soon, so here are the questions:

1) 1977 with a 20r engine and manual transmission, is this a 4 speed or 5 speed transmission?

2) The oil leak looks to be the front main seal. How involved is replacing it, and should I get one of the kits (front main seal, oil pump o-ring, harmonic balancer repair sleeve) and do them all at once?

3) It looks like everything on the 'house battery' side is disconnected, does anyone have a wiring diagram for this area?

4) The left hand gauge section is... well... deadish.. charge light is on (but main battery seems to be maintaining charge, could this be caused by the disconnected house battery wiring?), oil light is on dim, fuel gauge doesn't move, temp gauge doesn't move.. High/Low beam indicator works! Are there any common issues that could effect that area (ie: common ground), or should I start replacing the senders and wiring.

5) Turn signals are dead, no manual, any idea where the flasher is located for it? All fuses check out, so I am at least partially sure it isn't the fuse.

Amazingly enough the thing still had propane in the tank, so far I have only checked the range, 1 of the burners works, will be plugging the converter in tomorrow and testing the fridge and furnace, taking the range out to clean it and fix the dead burner, and hopefully will get the coolant recovery tank mounted.

There are other issues, it sat on a flat tire for 5 years, so the passenger side of the house is a bit out of alignment, door is out of alignment, rear entryway is rotted out and needs to be replaced, etc. I also need to find or fabricate the rod to lower the spare tire.

[trintek]

My last (might be stupid) question for now, the glove box has a warning to secure the "5 straps" for the popup before moving the vehicle... would these be the locking straps on the inside, or am I missing something? A similar model year vehicle I looked at had external straps, so wasn't sure if that one was modified or not. Mine seems to have 5 or more locking straps and 5-10 button straps to pick up the slack.

[TacomaSue]

My 1978 Bandit (very similar to the Chinook Pop up) has three exterior latches --- one on each side, that align with the front edge of the driver's and passenger's doors and one above the rear door. The previous owners added a rope across the top to better secure the top. The rope is secured with eye bolts into the coach slightly behind the cab doors. In addition, there are three inside latches. Two are approximately aligned with the exterior latches on the sides and there is a velcro strap above the back door. On mine, the original interior latches were replaced with bungee cords as one latch is missing and the other seems shaky. Pictures of later model pop up Chinooks (1980 +) show pop up exterior latches above the windshield. Seems like it would secure the top better. The previous owner of my Bandit was insistent that both the inside and outside latches needed to be secured before moving the vehicle to keep the top secure.

I also have a dead fuel gauge although the temp gauge works. The hazard light switch on mine is on the left side of the dash next to the air vent and is a push/pull knob---this may be different from your dash as it appears that the dash in the Bandit is not the original 1978 Toyota.

Sue

[trintek]

Okies I will need to do some more investigating on the latch issue then, glad I wasn't going above 45 the entire way back. My hazard switch is in the same location, left side next to the running/driving light switch, hazards work fine, turn signals are out. Not sure if they are on a separate flasher relay, or if the switch itself is at fault, I am hesitant to suspect the switch since the high/low selector works fine.

I'm going to get some pictures tomorrow before I start work on it. It's in rough condition, but only has 70,000 miles on the odo (working odo) and I managed to pick it up for $500. Doesn't get too much better than that.

[nhcamper]

Hi,

I own a 77' Chinook. It was my parents and was parked for about 10 years before I rescued it from the back yard.1. It is a factory 4 speed. 2. The oil leak not sure, but mine needed the water pump, head gasket, clutch and throwout bearing,shocks, brake calipers (front) wheel cylinders (rear) and other little things replaced. 3. The house battery runs the interior lights of the cabin, there is a switch next to the converter that you can flip to 110 or 12v if you have the deep cycle battery installed and the wiring is correct than your cabin lights will work and if you have the three-way fridge it will run off this too. I don't have the wiring diagram. 4. If your charging light is on make sure your positive wire to your coach battery is isolated if it grounds it will cause this light to stay on it would be best to tape off these wires until you can correctly sort them out. If you want to use the cabin lights and fridge you can use the 110 plug on the outside of the camper located just under the propane tank storage area. The suburban heaters in these campers work great, just clean it up real good. The converters are not the best but I have not had any problems with mine so far. These campers are notorious for poor grounds causing many problems with the turn signals and the such. My gas gauge only works till 1/2 full than it sinks to empty? I get about 21 miles to the gallon on 91 oct. you need to run this engine on at least 89 oct. The safety straps that you see on the pop-top are the ones being refernced in the glove box. My dad had a spare tire holder fabed up for the front end of the Chinook because he spent three hours trying to get the spare tire out from under the camper. I'm not sure on how to fix your door.

I hope this sheds a little light on your Chinook and if you are like me you will fall in love with this little camper and enjoy it for years to come.

[trintek]

nhcamper: thanks much!

I managed to go through the camper a bit today and found a load of new spare parts, so will probably be installing many of them after the holidays. Included were a new front main seal and oil pump gasket, two thermostats and gaskets, 1 belt, a gasket that i haven't figured out yet (may be windshield), distributor cap and rotor, new heater core, radiator fan, clutch master cylinder with reservoir, and some other odds and ends. Now to an itemized reply

1) any idea what the top speed was/is? I brought it back to san antonio at around 45mph as it was leaking oil badly and spraying coolant (no recovery tank), I have a new recovery tank and will hopefully fix the oil leak by replacing the front main seal, etc once the holidays are over.

2) water pump seems fine on mine, but i may replace it with a reman unit when i do the thermostat and flush, the only other main thing besides the oil leak is, I drove it back with no brakes.. Used the e-brake and downshifting, so I plan on flushing all the lines and checking it again after that, will probably do it when i start replacing all the gear oil and grease.

3) on the converter switch, is top depressed 120v or 12v? mine isn't marked unfortunately, I believe I have another converter sitting in the garage and may just replace the existing one, but would like to keep it if it is working.

4) it looks like everything is disconnected on the coach battery side, but i will double check and make sure nothing is contacting ground.

Now to be sure, the furnace is propane only with no electrical connections and needs to be lit with a match or similar, correct? I am used to forced air furnaces, and haven't messed with one like this yet. Any chance you have a model number or manual for the furnace?

The dometic fridge is slightly off from what i am used to, I have never messed with one that actually had a freezer box. I believe the model (judging by the parts manual I have) is an rm211, I am going to mess with it tonight or tomorrow and see if it is still working or if i need to pull it and service it.

At the moment I have no cabin lights, will have to repair and replace some fixtures. Thanks for the head's up on the ground issue, my old jeep had a similar issue, will probably grab some 8 gauge jumper cables to cut up and fab new grounds out of. The front spare idea isn't bad at all, I was considering mounting mine on the hood just to have it easily accessible.

As for the door... heh... I am hoping that I can just cut some plywood to fit the entryway, epoxy coat it, then use some straps to slowly pull the back edge back into shape, once in shape I will secure it to the new entry floor and hopefully all will be well.

Once again, thanks much! This will be the first vehicle I actually plan on keeping, usually I buy a project and keep it for a couple of years, then sell it for the next project. In the end though, I have always wanted a small rv so I can spend more time in the places I love. I am hoping that I will hang on to this one for the next 20-30 years. Of course I may take it apart and put it on a 4x4 chassis if i find one for the right price

[nhcamper]

nhcamper: thanks much!

I managed to go through the camper a bit today and found a load of new spare parts, so will probably be installing many of them after the holidays. Included were a new front main seal and oil pump gasket, two thermostats and gaskets, 1 belt, a gasket that i haven't figured out yet (may be windshield), distributor cap and rotor, new heater core, radiator fan, clutch master cylinder with reservoir, and some other odds and ends. Now to an itemized reply

1) any idea what the top speed was/is? I brought it back to san antonio at around 45mph as it was leaking oil badly and spraying coolant (no recovery tank), I have a new recovery tank and will hopefully fix the oil leak by replacing the front main seal, etc once the holidays are over.

2) water pump seems fine on mine, but i may replace it with a reman unit when i do the thermostat and flush, the only other main thing besides the oil leak is, I drove it back with no brakes.. Used the e-brake and downshifting, so I plan on flushing all the lines and checking it again after that, will probably do it when i start replacing all the gear oil and grease.

3) on the converter switch, is top depressed 120v or 12v? mine isn't marked unfortunately, I believe I have another converter sitting in the garage and may just replace the existing one, but would like to keep it if it is working.

4) it looks like everything is disconnected on the coach battery side, but i will double check and make sure nothing is contacting ground.

Now to be sure, the furnace is propane only with no electrical connections and needs to be lit with a match or similar, correct? I am used to forced air furnaces, and haven't messed with one like this yet. Any chance you have a model number or manual for the furnace?

The dometic fridge is slightly off from what i am used to, I have never messed with one that actually had a freezer box. I believe the model (judging by the parts manual I have) is an rm211, I am going to mess with it tonight or tomorrow and see if it is still working or if i need to pull it and service it.

At the moment I have no cabin lights, will have to repair and replace some fixtures. Thanks for the head's up on the ground issue, my old jeep had a similar issue, will probably grab some 8 gauge jumper cables to cut up and fab new grounds out of. The front spare idea isn't bad at all, I was considering mounting mine on the hood just to have it easily accessible.

As for the door... heh... I am hoping that I can just cut some plywood to fit the entryway, epoxy coat it, then use some straps to slowly pull the back edge back into shape, once in shape I will secure it to the new entry floor and hopefully all will be well.

Once again, thanks much! This will be the first vehicle I actually plan on keeping, usually I buy a project and keep it for a couple of years, then sell it for the next project. In the end though, I have always wanted a small rv so I can spend more time in the places I love. I am hoping that I will hang on to this one for the next 20-30 years. Of course I may take it apart and put it on a 4x4 chassis if i find one for the right price

My Chinook is stored in another location when I go over there I will look at the converter switch. The fridge has a control box near the front drivers side, it has a red switch with 110, 12v and propane. the red or blue I can't remember plunger is the igniter. The fridge works best on gas. It takes a while for them to cool down but they will make ice if you don't open the door to much. The top speed I would go in this camper is 60 mph. It gets the best gas mileage at 55 mph. The furnace is propane only and is lit through the small cover near the control knob.

[TacomaSue]

nhcamper: Thanks for sharing your experiences. The previous owner of my '77 MH used a fuel additive with every tank of gas. I am wondering if simply using a higher octane will eliminate the need for the additive. Seems like a fairly simple solution--it runs less well on regular and no additive. Sue

[Derek up North]

Well it should run fine on regular gas and no additive. Has it had a tune-up recently? Ignition timing checked?

[trintek]

I managed to get the furnace running yesterday for a bit, I will probably need to take it out and clean it up a bit as I am 90% certain I barbecued a few lizards in the process. I tried to light the fridge but either the burner is clogged or there is air in the line, hooked it up to 120 but it blew the gfci, will be trying it on a non gfci outlet today as I had the same issue with another dometic fridge in the past. I believe the red plunger is the igniter, still not sure what the blue one is for.

I also managed to get the pop-up open for the first time in years, lubed the guides and joints, and it now opens and closes reliably. Will need to clean the fabric, do a bit of patching, and probably re-waterproof it, but it looks relatively complete.

Thanks for the head's up on speed, I'll just treat it like my old granny geared f350, stay in the slow lane and plan on at least a 10 hour trip when i take it back out west. While I was digging through everything yesterday I found the 1977 toyota pickup owner's manual and the 1977 owner's guide, unfortunately I didn't find the chinook owner's manual in with the rest.

[Lee & Joan]

Trintek, On the Dometic I think you hold in the blue or black plunger while sparking with the red plunger. You keep holding the blue in until it stays lit, if you let off too soon the flame will go out. You drove this back without brakes... Sounds like you have way more to fix than me, ah, but you are young...

[trintek]

Trintek, On the Dometic I think you hold in the blue or black plunger while sparking with the red plunger. You keep holding the blue in until it stays lit, if you let off too soon the flame will go out. You drove this back without brakes... Sounds like you have way more to fix than me, ah, but you are young...

You are correct, i fired up the fridge today on propane, verified it was cooling, then shut it down as i need to clean it inside and out. May also have to do some interior plastic repair. On the plus side, it seems like all of the appliances are working. As for the driving back without brakes, I looked at it this way, it hadn't run in 5 years or so and it's only a 70 mile or so trip. Kept to access roads, had it insured before I picked it up, and had my AAA card just in case. If I had towed it back I probably wouldn't have noticed quite a few of the issues until I had spent my budget on unnecessary fixes instead of actual safety issues

[bubbe chutzpah]

just bought 76 chinook in portland, or. in pretty decent shape. my frig doesn't do much plugged into electric. former owner mentioned it works on gas. little scared to hook up but wondered what your experience was? do you know how to prime water tank for sink/faucet use?