Maiden voyage

[mrgizmow]

Good to find this forum and I will effort to contribute.. We purchased an 88 Dolphin to keep me busy and get ready for retirement. I am still playing around with some of the 'little' issues. The rig has 55,000 miles. Seems to run fine. There was an issue with a frozen shift cable but with repeated pressure flushing and oil, I was able to get the cable to work. At this point, I took it to a transmission shop and had the transmission drained and adjusted. The shop seemed to be familiar with the engine/trans and said all is now well. I took the rig on a test drive. As I am a slow driver, all seemed fine. When climbing a rather long, steepish grade, I needed to 'mash' the pedal to the floor. The trans kicked down to 2ed fine, but once the rpm's got up around 4,000 (40mph) I heard a sound that was notably different than I heard at 3,000rpms. I seemed to be 'kind of a screech' with a bit of 'high air flow' (without air cleaner). Since the Dolphin is new to me, and an air cleaner is in place, I am puzzled.

I understand that with this small engine, a kick-down on a grade will make a difference in engine/trans sounds. It was about 87 degrees out and the engine temp on the climb peaked at about 210 according to my aftermarket gauges. This all seems fine, and with windows open, no odd (hot) smells were detected.

The sound, though not a "major" stand-out, was a bit disconcerting. I though of a slipping belt in combination with kick-down. This 'issue' seemed to take place during a climb in which I need to get the rig going a bit faster ( from 35 to 45) before the folks behind me started shooting.

As this is the first time on the road since purchase and minor renovation, I am not paniced, just curious. Thanks for any and all insight. Gerry

[5Toyota]

high and welcome soory i have no exp with the automatics maybe someone else can help you but if your not used to little four clinder they winde up our do you have a v 6 nice to hear from you i know when i fllor my older 20 r carb 4 speed in third gear going up a hill it roars a little i aways pull over when i can let them go by and dont go over 55 on the flat myn is 1978 minimax

[mrgizmow]

Appreciate the welcome, and prompt reply. My rig is indeed a 4cylinder. The sound is unique in that it seems to come on abruptly about 3500 rpms when the throttle is pushed to the floor and 2ed starts to gain momentum. Should the coach pull up to 40 + and I relax the throttle, the sound drops back to 'just a small engine pulling a hill'. I will check belt tension. I noted what appeared to be some oil (?) about the airconditioner pulley, but the air conditioner was not on at the time. Keep the ideas comming (please). In a couple of days I will post some pictures of my 45watt Harbor Freight solar array. Take care. Gerry

[waiter]

MIne would do the "screech" thing when it shifted down on long uphills

It was the fan belt needed tightening. The thermostat controlled fan was kicked in so the fan was being driven by the belt, when the downshift occured, the fan would cause the belt to slip. Seemed to happen in all the long hills.

Tighten the belt that drives the water pump and fan.

read this blog entry, when we finially tightened the fan belt.

http://iflyez.com/alaska/?p=254

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 auto

[mrgizmow]

Thanks John, I will see to my belt issue. When on the long steepish grades, in "D"rive and need to push the pedal to the floor, is the shift generally just down to 2ed, or will go all the way down to "L"ow and then begin upshifting as the engine catches up with the load? Reason I ask is, it seems the reaction to mashing pedal in "D" is more 'effective' than down shifting to 2ed. Thanks, Gerry

[WME]

You may be hearing the fan cut in. The fan has a temp sensitive clutch on it. When the engine(radiator) gets to a certain temp the clutch locks and the fan starts to move a lot of air to cool things down. When the engine is cool it just free wheels.

ON long hills after the transmissions down to 2nd, I will manually put it in 2nd. Some hills are just so that the transmission will shift into 3rd on a shallow place and back to 2nd. By putting it in 2nd you can just let up on the gas a bit and stay in 2nd and not over rev the engine. On some high passes (8000ft+) I have to down shift into 1st.

I use 50mpg in 2nd and 35mpg in 1st as my max speeds. Thats way below redline and though it sounds likes it screaming, all is OK. The pic is 1st gear going over an 11,000 ft pass in the Rockies

WME

[waiter]

WME - I do exactly the same thing.

On the long hills, if it keeps popping in/out between 2 and 3, I manually downshift to 2 and just hold the speed at or below 50. I do the same for 1 and 2, and hold the speed at 30.

AND - The infamous 30mph photo - going up I-80 east of Salt Lake City at 30mph, 4 way flashers, and 1st gear.

JOhn Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

[mrgizmow]

Thanks folks. I am use to slow, as Saskia and I did the obligatory trip across America in a 1964 VW van in the mid 70's. Stopped by Napa autoparts on my way home from work today but did not buy a belt because the autoparts guy had a couple of questions I could not answer. Take care. Gerry

[mrgizmow]

As with many things, one can look, but not see. With the hood open, all the belts were in place and tight. I crawled underneath and removed one a closer inspection. Good lord, this and the other belts must have been the original. All the belts were hard, cracked and very compromized. Well, with the exception of the first adjective, this seems to discribe me at 62. The fix for the Dolphin was straight forward and inexpensive; new belts all around. No more screech on downshift climbs, but the engine does indeed pick up rpm's.

New question (s); I have noted both with my 88 Toyota and my 2002 Ford Ranger, both automatics with around 50,000 miles. When the engines get a good workout, which for the Dolphin seems to be much the case on any adventure. For the Ranger it is generally on summer climbs. With the low viscosity oils that we seem to run these days (10-30) when I come to a stop at a light, I note that my after market oil pressure gauges read VERY low oil pressure. In gear, at the light, the engine (s) seem to idle around 600 to 800 rpm and I can see pressure readings of 3 to 5 psi's. Should I shift into neutral, pressure jumps to 10 to 13. When the throttle is applied, pressure raises quickly to 60psi. On the Toy, we have only had a couple of test drives. Unit runs fine, warning light did not go on, but when I grew up, seemed inclined to expect higher idle pressure, but then generally used higher viscosity oils. Guess I can run straight 30 weight.

Another odd issue/question; Shortly after the purchase of the Dolphin I started dealing with the many overlooked issues needed to get the rig back into shape. The coach door had some problems that I was able to fix using 'L' brackets and Gorilla glue. What struck me as strange was the fact that the door had no cauking to seal the frame to the siding. There was some marking, but no hint of any sealant, or body repair. Like any good do-it-yourselfer, I purchased some special RV sealant and proceeded to fill the gap around the door. As I generally do after a job, I put my hands on my hips and stood and admired my work. I then got the strange feeling that that seam may have been purposely left 'open' to promote breathing between the aluminium door frame and the fiberglass siding as to minimize condensation and wood rot. Any insights or opinions welcomed. Thanks, Gerry

[Derek up North]

I'd be more inclined to try 10W40 before a straight 30W oil. Both (10W30 & 10W40) are shown as acceptable in my 1991 Owner's Manual. 3-5psig certainly sounds low, but your gauge might not be very accurate at the extreme low end of it's scale.