Jetblack Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 (edited) This is my 87' Travel Master Savanah, it has a 22RE motor and a 7500 watt genny mounted to the rear bumper. When I got it the motor was rebuilt less than 500 miles previous. Back up camera wasn't working from a pressure washer incident, the Genny pull cord had snapped and it's float bowl leaking. Cleaned camera contacts now it's working rewound new pull cord. Still haven't replaced float bowl gasket waiting for better weather to clean the Genny carb properly... the Genny is wired to run and charge the whole MH and aux power battery, including the main battery if it dies via a plug under the hood. Interior is all in good working aged order, the floor has a small issue across from the dinette. I plan on modernizing and redoing the interior design and repainting the exterior in a more personal flavor. I'll make forum posts and updates as I progress along. The only two minor issues thus far... (I drove it 160 miles plus after purchase) was the OD would not hold at a steady speed, at about every 5 seconds it would slowly drop in mph where I'd have to put my foot in it to get it back up to speed. Shut off the overdrive speed held fine at 65-70 though mpgs took a hit. Second issue the cruise control works in second gear but not in regular drive. So, I'll be trouble shooting those two minor issues soon... if anyone knows an answer from having the same issue(s) and want to clue me in feel free to let me know. I am a retired engineer that builds motorcycles and moderates a motorcycle forum in my spare time. So I plan on mounting a cycle hitch carrier and doing a good amount of touring in this sweet little toy rig... which in my opinion; lb for lb, mpg for mpg, and reliability are the best motor homes ever made. Edited November 29, 2013 by Jetblack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 OD is tough on these as you need just an itsy bitsy more power to hold speed when in OD. )also note that OD will not work above about 3000 ft altitude, unless someone bypassed the Altitude override circuit)Try cruising between 55-60, this seems to be the sweet spot for fuel economy, and, you may find your OD "might" work when your going downhill with a tail wind. :-) At sea level, my OD will do reasonably well if I'm not driving into any headwind.Same remarks for the Cruise control, especially if its using a vacuum servo instead of an electric servo (the thing that actually drives the throttle cable) If you have a CC that uses a vacuum servo, I believe your going to be constantly fighting it, as at full throttle, the engine doesn't create enough vacuum to run the cruise control servo, and it will trip out.. Post a couple photos of the CC servo.John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto (For Sale) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetblack Posted November 29, 2013 Author Share Posted November 29, 2013 Thanks I appreciate your reply, I had a feeling OD would be taking a hit with so much weight and the lil 4 in it. If the motor wasn't recently done, I'd probably be dropping an Isuzu diesel in it. But since it's good, I may just add a turbo and upgrade the air intake system, it did good mpg wise on the trip back maybe 167 miles had about an 1/8th left on the gauge... I noticed the OD did like 60ish without too much drop but hauling back on the interstate 60ish wasn't cutting it in rush hour. I'll be sure to get some accurate mpg readings after mods rebuilds. Interesting about the altitude switch, makes sense as a safety feature... an over heated tranny lugging up a mountain is not a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicehobbits Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 Nice .. Very nice Toy ... I did 3 drain & refills on our transmission + 1 can of transmission conditioner as advised on this group .. Our shifting is real smooth ! . Going to be working on a scooter rack in the coming weeks on our rig & front grill gaurd .. Look forward to seeing your updates ... Diesel power idea sounds Awesome !! .. What kinda deal was the Travel Master .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 That generator has to weigh a ton. Way more power than you should ever need and too much strain on your rear bumper. It might end up causing problems. Your rig looks nice though Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted November 30, 2013 Share Posted November 30, 2013 Thanks I appreciate your reply, I had a feeling OD would be taking a hit with so much weight and the lil 4 in it. If the motor wasn't recently done, I'd probably be dropping an Isuzu diesel in it. But since it's good, I may just add a turbo and upgrade the air intake system, it did good mpg wise on the trip back maybe 167 miles had about an 1/8th left on the gauge... I noticed the OD did like 60ish without too much drop but hauling back on the interstate 60ish wasn't cutting it in rush hour. I'll be sure to get some accurate mpg readings after mods rebuilds. Interesting about the altitude switch, makes sense as a safety feature... an over heated tranny lugging up a mountain is not a good thing. It's more about loss of engine power at high altitude than the transmission.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetblack Posted November 30, 2013 Author Share Posted November 30, 2013 (edited) Nice .. Very nice Toy ... I did 3 drain & refills on our transmission + 1 can of transmission conditioner as advised on this group .. Our shifting is real smooth ! . Going to be working on a scooter rack in the coming weeks on our rig & front grill gaurd .. Look forward to seeing your updates ... Diesel power idea sounds Awesome !! .. What kinda deal was the Travel Master .. Thanks, if you mean price wise the po had it at 6500, got him to part with it for 5500... after 6 new tires, and a 3500 dollar engine rebuild, he put a bunch of work in it beginning of summer, took it to the mountains of NC once... his new wife wanted something she didn't have to climb up on to sleep(elderly couple) so he got a 5th wheel to make her happy. These get snatched up quick all around here even at around 8000, missed out on 3 that way people bought them same day ads went up. Oh the diesel; I read on a t-100 forum the Isuzu engine is a popular swap for rock crawlers, supposed to be very close to plug and play as swaps go. Edited November 30, 2013 by Jetblack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetblack Posted November 30, 2013 Author Share Posted November 30, 2013 That generator has to weigh a ton. Way more power than you should ever need and too much strain on your rear bumper. It might end up causing problems. Your rig looks nice though Linda S Thanks Linda. It's also mounted to the ladder to stabilize. I'm not thrilled with the weight on the back bumper either but supposedly it's been back there for over 30k miles 56k miles total on the body. It doesn't have a stock Genny, if I keep it I plan on welding up a good sub frame for it to set it on instead of how it is now... but it's in the way of a hitch hauler I have in mind so somethings gotta give for that to work as planned. Since it's cold interior work is more on my mind at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetblack Posted November 30, 2013 Author Share Posted November 30, 2013 It's more about loss of engine power at high altitude than the transmission.. Gotcha, sort of like a kick down sensor that's air pressure controlled? I was getting really good mpg until I got tired of helping it out every few seconds with the mph drop and decided to cut the OD off. If I get the cruise sorted then they can just play with each other and leave my foot out of it ... though I have the feeling it's got a malfunction in it somewhere i need to trace out and sort, I discovered the same year in other model 22re's had a recall to make a splice in the harness with the same OD symptoms from what I understand that cleared up a miss communication with the ecu. Too late in the evening to remember what the connection call out was they were splicing in the recall to fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetblack Posted November 30, 2013 Author Share Posted November 30, 2013 Post a couple photos of the CC servo. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto (For Sale) As per your request, uploaded several from the engine bay. Perhaps they can be useful for pointing things out in the future, if no picture is available for it... so feel free to use any of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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