Bakersfield Westbound - What a blast!

[peer oliver schmidt]

Coming in from the east, I was a bit afraid of driving into Bakersfield
- with Vapor lock, stiff grades and all that.

In the end, everything was a *blast*. The Eleganza ran up the hill (with
a bit of a slow down from the cruise control set at 55 going down to
45), and enjoyed going down hill a lot. Nice curves they have there.

It was way less of a deal than the grades in New Mexico. Even though the
coach managed them as well, with the cruise set to 55, two, three hills
were only climbed going 35 (and maybe even slower).

Still, the coach made it, the original cruise control is working great,
and I am now sitting at camp Walmart in Bakersfield and enjoying the
evening.
--
Best regards

Peer Oliver Schmidt
PGP Key ID: 0x83E1C2EA

'76a Eleganza II, CA
'73 Sequoia, VA

 

[SteveW]

Peer - where next ??

Are you heading to Southern California ??

Steve W
1973 23'

 

[peer oliver schmidt]

Steve,
> Peer - where next ??
>
> Are you heading to Southern California ??

Nope. I'll now meander up to SF, and will probably pester the guys at
AppliedGMC with a thing or two. Like not really good starting (starter
runs strong, but it takes a while and a lot of throttle movement until
it starts), and a replacement of a grease fitting in the front, that Hal
noted to me.

Southern California (better LA), is on the list for mid to end of
August. I'll drop of my girls at LAX on the 24th of August, and we want
to checkout LA before that. Girls...

--
Best regards

Peer Oliver Schmidt
PGP Key ID: 0x83E1C2EA

'76a Eleganza II, CA
'73 Sequoia, VA

 

[hal stclair]

It's just about got to be the plugs on the bottom of the carb leaking fuel Oliver. Fuel drains out of the bowls when stopped and tries to flood it
when hot or the carb is empty in the morning and you have a no fuel issue on startup. Your symptoms sure point to that.
Glad the hills weren't to rough.
Hal
--
1977 Royale 101348,

1977 Royale 101586, Diesel powered,

1975 Eleganza II, 101230

1974 Eagle Bus 45',w/slideout

 

[robert mueller]

G'day,

It could also be the common "problem" of the fuel in the float bowls boiling / evaporating after the engine is shut down. That is
especially prevalent if the crossover isn't plugged. The thousand plus degrees F under the carb get it pretty hot when no air / fuel
is moving through the venturi's.

Regards,
Rob M.
Sydney, Australia
AUS '75 Avion - The Blue Streak TZE365V100428
USA '75 Avion - Double Trouble TZE365V100426
USA '77 Kingsley - TZE 267V100808

-----Original Message-----
From: Gmclist [mailto:gmclist-bounces] On Behalf Of Hal StClair
Sent: Monday, July 31, 2017 3:18 PM
To: gmclist
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Bakersfield Westbound - What a blast!

It's just about got to be the plugs on the bottom of the carb leaking fuel Oliver. Fuel drains out of the bowls when stopped and
tries to flood it when hot or the carb is empty in the morning and you have a no fuel issue on startup. Your symptoms sure point to
that.
Glad the hills weren't to rough.
Hal

 

[john r. lebetski]

Sounds like you are using cruise in the hills. Better to drive it, and at 45 I'm in S going up and coming down as well.
--
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II

 

[Jim Hupy]

Depending upon final drive gearing, pretty much anytime a coach will not
gain speed with increased pressure on the throttle, you are in the wrong
gear (too high) much better for the engine to be in a lower gear at less
throttle opening. Same speed, but higher rpms, greater coolant flow, higher
oil pressure and flow, better transmission fluid flow and cooling. All
other factors being equal, rpms are free.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Or
78 GMC ROYALE 403

Sounds like you are using cruise in the hills. Better to drive it, and at
45 I'm in S going up and coming down as well.
--
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II

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[justin brady1]

Yep I found on my recent trip that any hill that couldn't be climbed at a steady 55 or over should be tackled in 2nd. (S)
--
Justin Brady
http://www.thegmcrv.com/
1976 Palm Beach 455

 

[peer oliver schmidt]

> Yep I found on my recent trip that any hill that couldn't be climbed at a steady 55 or over should be tackled in 2nd. (S)

hmm. I wonder why the transmission doesn't shift into lower gear when it
is the better? I have *no* knowledge how automatic gears from the 70s
work, but that would have been my assumption. I guess not

--
Best regards

Peer Oliver Schmidt
PGP Key ID: 0x83E1C2EA

'76a Eleganza II, CA
'73 Sequoia, VA

 

[scott nutter1]

Peer,
If you get to San Diego, your welcome to stay at my house. Water and power. Sewer is a 30 foot stretch. My driveway fits a 26 GMC perfectly.
3 blocks to the train station, and some of the best brew pubs in California!
Scott.
--
Scott Nutter
1978 Royale Center Kitchen, Patterson 455, switch pitch tranny, 3.21 final drive, Quad bags, tankless water heater.
Houston, Texas

 

[peer oliver schmidt]

Scott,

thank you very much for the very generous offer. We will not come down
that far this time around. Maybe next time

--
Best regards

Peer Oliver Schmidt
PGP Key ID: 0x83E1C2EA

'76a Eleganza II, CA
'73 Sequoia, VA

 

[william shourt]

Peer if your girls are teens Venice Beach boardwalk is a must see. We have English friends and there kids love it. Near LAX.

Sent from my iPad

>
> Scott,
>
> thank you very much for the very generous offer. We will not come down
> that far this time around. Maybe next time
>
> --
> Best regards
>
> Peer Oliver Schmidt
> PGP Key ID: 0x83E1C2EA
>
> '76a Eleganza II, CA
> '73 Sequoia, VA
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org

 

[Jim Hupy]

Peer, if they built the TM 425 today, it would be controlled by the
computer, and would probably have 5 or 6 forward gears. Shifts would be
spaced to take ideal advantage of the engines torque curve. Alas, in the
70's, not so much.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Or
78 GMC ROYALE 403

On Jul 31, 2017 8:13 AM, "Peer Oliver Schmidt GMC"
wrote:

> Scott,
>
> thank you very much for the very generous offer. We will not come down
> that far this time around. Maybe next time
>
> --
> Best regards
>
> Peer Oliver Schmidt
> PGP Key ID: 0x83E1C2EA
>
> '76a Eleganza II, CA
> '73 Sequoia, VA
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>

 

[peer oliver schmidt]

Jim,
> Shifts would be spaced to take ideal advantage of the engines torque > curve. Alas, in the 70's, not so much.
so is the transmission suppose to kick into a lower gear automatically
at all, or only by doing a kick down? Is it safe to just switch to S
while on cruise control, or are there things one should be aware of

 

[emerystora]

You can manually downshift to S even if your cruise control is engaged.
I would not do it unless you are traveling under about 40 mph.

Emery Stora
77 Kingsley
Frederick, CO

>
> Jim,
>> Shifts would be spaced to take ideal advantage of the engines torque > curve. Alas, in the 70's, not so much.
> so is the transmission suppose to kick into a lower gear automatically
> at all, or only by doing a kick down? Is it safe to just switch to S
> while on cruise control, or are there things one should be aware of asked by a not-knowing European who knows quite a bit how to operate a
> stick shift, but has no clue about automatics.
>
> --
> Best regards
>
> Peer Oliver Schmidt
> PGP Key ID: 0x83E1C2EA
>
> '76a Eleganza II, CA
> '73 Sequoia, VA
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org

 

[justin brady1]

Peer,
There is a kickdown switch under the dash above the accelerator pedal. It should force a downshift when actuated, but a lot of times the pedal is not
adjusted properly to hit it.
Since the cruise just pulls the throttle cable, I imagine that it wouldn't activate the switch that is pedal activated, and thus wouldn't downshift.

I just keep an eye on it. If speed starts falling below 55 I shift down to 2nd.
Also on downhills shift to second and it holds me at a pretty constant 45 with no need for brakes even on the steepest grades out west.

--
Justin Brady
http://www.thegmcrv.com/
1976 Palm Beach 455

 

[peer oliver schmidt]

Thanks Emery and Justin for enlightening an uninformed European. Very
much appreciated!

--
Best regards

Peer Oliver Schmidt
PGP Key ID: 0x83E1C2EA

'76a Eleganza II, CA
'73 Sequoia, VA

 

[Jim Hupy]

In all likelihood, the transmission will do what yours did. Not downshift
until the governor forced the downshift. At that time, forward speed will
be be between 35 and 40 miles per hour, depending upon your final drive
ratio. As far as you manually downshifting by pulling the shift lever down
one notch, if you have the original equipment cruise control that is vacuum
controlled, it might kick out of cruise mode. Don't know for sure. I've
never tried to do that. I never drive my coach with the cruise control
engaged so I don't have any practical experience doing that. Most of the
throttle actuated kick downs on coaches are either misadjusted or
inoperative, that is why I can't be too precise here. You won't hurt
anything by trying it anyway.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Or

On Jul 31, 2017 8:39 AM, "Peer Oliver Schmidt GMC"
wrote:

Jim,
> Shifts would be spaced to take ideal advantage of the engines torque >
curve. Alas, in the 70's, not so much.
so is the transmission suppose to kick into a lower gear automatically
at all, or only by doing a kick down? Is it safe to just switch to S
while on cruise control, or are there things one should be aware of

 

[hal stclair]

Oliver, as I understand it Manny doesn't like the trans to downshift with the factory switch. He disables that switch and suggests you manually
downshift. It will increase the pressure in the trans by manually shifting vs the factory downshift switch.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Hal 8)
--
1977 Royale 101348,

1977 Royale 101586, Diesel powered,

1975 Eleganza II, 101230

1974 Eagle Bus 45',w/slideout

 

[Jim Hupy]

Manny has stated that he does not like wide open throttle downshifts, due
to a lack of apply pressure to the clutches. When you manually move the
shift lever, it increases the apply pressure and no slippage occurs. Better
for clutch life. That is normally how I downshift, neutral throttle opening
(neither pressing down or off throttle) then manual downshift and back on
the throttle. 70's transmissions were pretty dumb. But the owners were more
used to manual transmissions then. Now, transmissions are smarter, owners,
not so much.
Jim Hupy

Oliver, as I understand it Manny doesn't like the trans to downshift with
the factory switch. He disables that switch and suggests you manually
downshift. It will increase the pressure in the trans by manually shifting
vs the factory downshift switch.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Hal 8)
--
1977 Royale 101348,

1977 Royale 101586, Diesel powered,

1975 Eleganza II, 101230

1974 Eagle Bus 45',w/slideout

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