quote:

Originally posted by ccctimtation:
Change the hangers to strain gauges, wire up to your dash, calibrate and go.

Tim, sounds fun, except there are two straps and each end has 4 bolts to frame cross members.

I feel your pain. Fill gas tank 1/2 full 25 gal.or so, note mileage & gallons. Does the gauge work? If not then once the tank is emptyish again, remove ******* tank ck floats then,or do what Steve says "fill tank, drive, repeat". Just keep an eye on that mileage.

I remember someone asked a former Barth employee why they only seemed to use red wire everywhere. I don't remember their exact reply but wiring on these buggers are an issue. Especially for those of us who are not good at electrical issues.

From the electrical novice: ck & clean all your ground connections. 90% of my electrical issues seem to be related to the ground connections.
Tere

Water leak issues ugh. The first thing I do when we get a new to us rv is I take the day to get in & clean/vacuum under all the inside cabinets, cubbies, appliances etc. all the mouse nests,turds, & dirt. So that...when I have to deal with water issues I don't make an even bigger mess.

Our water tank fill lever is kind of hidden. It took me a while to find it. It is a little 1" blue lever.

Tere

Hot in Iowa again today, worked on 88 for a few hours, sweat and mosquitoes drove me into the house for some A/C and sit down!

Found the under the kitchen sink leak problem, just a poorly installed connector, took it apart, trimmed the damaged area a bit, back together seems ok but think a new fitting should be installed.

In another forum, talked about the water tank fill, no access have to use the city water inlet, found a hand valve under the bed that allows it to be filled, Craig says there should be an automatic fill system, gotta check that.

How does one add water stabilizer, or just empty and refill every few days, it is under the bed and a pain to drain??

The water pump works, low flow and does not make enough pressure to shut itself off. Have a spare pump from The Nose stash need to make that swap-out.

Bi-passed the water heater for the time being, but need to track that leak, and hope it does not need to be replaced.

Well cooled off a bit, back out in the heat and bugs!!!!

Man oh man. All that talk about heat and bugs has me just itching to go work on mine.

If you pour bleach in your hose before you hook up to coach it will sanitize water system. I don't use coach water for drinking and if i don't need much water I just wait to hook up water. That is 400lb less weight (2 25gal, tanks) to haul. You might drop a couple bags of ice to slosh in your black tank before or during your trip to help clean it out.

Craig, thanks for the hose idea will work great and like you never drink water from any RV faucet.

Looks like someone took the autofill valve out and replaced it with a manual one, that is ok with me.

Got the new pump ready to install, probably finish it off this evening if the bugs don't drive me inside. Last thing on the water system is the water heater leak.

Did notice that there is a leak in the waste tank outlet plumbing, has been rubbing the ground, need to repair that or have waste leaking in the campsite.

Just hate to start on the LP and furnace, have noticed the LP tank has a lot of surface corrosion "rust" to all of us other than Steve, Iron Oxide in his eyes!! So need to sand and paint that or they will not fill it.

Have put a lot of effort and cash into 88, gonna make sure it functions as well as it should, take it to the Michigan GTG, then believe 88 will be put on the market. Still think Ole Nose is my final Barth. Don't expect to get back my investment, but would like someone, maybe a bit younger than me who will enjoy a lot of good times in 88. It should be a good coach, not perfect but very usable.

Well wasted some time today, replaced the water pump and still had the same problem, continuous pumping, low volume and would not build enough pressure to shut itself off. Probably my own fault, did not tighten the manual fill valve enough and was just pumping water back into the tank. Closed the valve and works fine. Lots of leaks around the water heater fittings and broke the plastic drain plug off while it was installed, what a pain to dig that out, replaced it with a brass one.

All seems ok, maybe tomorrow check out the LP system.

Cooled off a bit, but the bugs are worse had some rain!!!

Got that 2nd AIR pump out today! Matt told me the pully was held in by 3 bolts not pressed to the shaft, by jamming two screw drivers between the pully and pump housing, able to loosen the bolts and remove the pully. Gave access to the mounting bolts.

Got another serpentine belt, thank you Steve, back together!!! The brackets also hold the alternator in place so they need to stay.

A few things to do before the Michigan GTG, LP system, fuel tank, waste leaks. The rest can wait, test ride, unless ambition gets the better of me.

Got in a pretty good road test this morning. This coach has the factory radiator, although there are no leaks it seems to run a bit hot. A gauge has been added along with the one in the digital dash. Temperature was a bit over 200F, the one in the digital dash was running right in the middle of the bar output. The aluminum aftermarket one in Nose on a similar day ran about 170F, had to put in a thermostat to bring it up to 180F. So all is probably ok in 88, just different than Nose. Maybe a radiator flush is in order.

Also Nose seems to have more power, do not believe all four barrels in the carburetor actuate, was going to rebuild the Rochester anyway, guess it needs it.

Did not push 88 real hard took it up to 65, ride is pretty nice first time at any speed, no sign of gas starvation, had it on the floor a lot, when back in town, going up a pretty steep hill, floored it, did miss twice, but might just have been something in the fuel, not starvation.

Something is making me a bit anxious, just can't put my finger on what it is, maybe just a different feel than Nose.

Might be a bit cooler next week, hope to get 88 all ready for Michigan!!!!

Got that ******* fuel tank down, fixed the sending unit and this time even tested it!! Seems to work at last!

The problem was, the float was just to high, did a bit of wire bending and adjusting, working as it should needs a road test of course. Due to the way the thing is set up to get it to show when it is truly getting empty those adjustments will probably make it stay on full for a bit of time.

Did add a bit of length to the fuel pick-up too. The ******* fuel tank is back up where it belongs, but the bugs drove me off again, so hook up the fill and vent, finish connecting the bolts and straps tomorrow.

The city is back working on the street again, never can figure out why they can't do it all in one setting, but they love to rip up what they just completed 2 months ago, anyway might have to wait a bit for a road test.

Got the ******* tank all buttoned up, put 88 back on ground and went for test ride, road work was still going on but adequate room to get around it even in the RV.

So filled up the tank, looks like it will show full until it burns 10 or so gallons, it had about 12 gallons in it and the gauge showed may be a 1/10 of tank, so all is fine!!

Started up the generator for the first time on tank gas, was running on a coke bottle of gas never had enough gas in the tank for the pick-up to work.

Would like to take a 100 mile or so trip before heading off to Michigan. All that remains is an oil change and check out the LP system, water heater, sand and paint the LP tank.

Tried to adjust the rear drum brakes, the adjusters are so rusted they will not turn, not going to pull the wheels and axels to get at the inside of the drum right now, maybe after Michigan. Might take the alternator in and get it checked, seems a bit low on voltage output.

Generally speaking 88 seems in pretty good road shape, coil overs and front air springs seem to have made it more stable.

Never ending repairs, there was an unidentified whine and the voltage was a bit low from the alternator, good sense got the best of me and took it out, just to check. Can hardly turn the axel, bearing(s) are shot! Good thing it bothered me, sure it would have gone bad on the road to Michigan. Not a new one in town, have it shipped in Monday.

So have not trusted the carburetor from the start, pulled it too, cleaned it up, will rebuild it and seal the plugs that always seem to leak. Someone has been in there already, broke out the factory set idle screws assume they were readjusted, so curious what else is to be found during the rebuild. Seal the plugs today, finish the job tomorrow.

Good job. When the carb is done, the only thing left to check are the fuel lines. Carb to tank all good.... The only way to trust the fuel system is to check everything!

Then you can fill it up, drive it. Repeat. That's the idea!

Steve, replaced most of the rubber fuel lines when the tank was out, some had been replaced by the PO.

Rebuilt the carburetor and installed it today. Started the engine, no alternator, so did not run it long, but seemed to function as it should, no fuel leaks. Did not do a super job on making it look like a new one, outside is still pretty dinghy. Cleaned the filter bowl and jets replaced the fill jet and its pin also the accelerator pump. Actually other then fuel debris in the bowl, pump and sump it was in good shape. Pump diaphragm was a bit stiff but working.

Alternator should be in the store about noon tomorrow, install that then perhaps get that long test ride in preparation for Michigan. Leaves me to check the LP, furnace and water heater. None really necessary for Michigan. Do need that oil change though, should do it before the test ride.

Bought a new roof ladder, probably will not be delivered in time for Michigan.

I was thinking steel lines. Mine were all full of rust inside!