Kbeefy's 78 Royale

Ken,
If the steering shaft is not at straight ahead when the coach is, that will make the signal switch misbehave. Look for the chisel mark and if it is not straight ahead, re-balance the tie rods. This happen all the time because alignment shops did not understand the TZE steering box.
Matt_C
 
Ken,
If the steering shaft is not at straight ahead when the coach is, that will make the signal switch misbehave. Look for the chisel mark and if it is not straight ahead, re-balance the tie rods. This happen all the time because alignment shops did not understand the TZE steering box.
Matt_C
It seemed straight, I'll pull the horn cover and look for a mark. I also have the front off the fround right now, I'll check lock to lock turns and control arm clearance to see if the box is centered.
 
Distributor is back in. Todays project will be dealing with timing.
I can't see the timing mark from inside, so I brought the engine to #1 TDC and made a new mark at 6 oclock. Now I just need an extra body to run the throttle.

Got the dash about done, Switched out the cigarette lighter for a dual USB charge port.

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Also installed this radio with a 7" screen. I have the double din one in my truck and it works pretty good.

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I need to get some more RCA cable to extend the backup camera cable. I threw away my stash when I moved out of AK years ago.

I installed these gauges, still need to install a sender for the trans temp. I also still need to attach the tachometer, you can see it hanging below the steering wheel in the pic above.

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Replaced 8 light fixtures with LED fixtures. Missed 2, need to order a couple more.

These 12v flourescent ones were especially power hungry

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The replacements were not only brighter, but use quite a bit less power.

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I also put one of these bulbs in the stove 'hood' light assy. Original was an incandescent 1156.

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Did you actual measure the drain of the fluorescent fixtures? The ones I put in 15~16 years ago were still so good that replacing those with LED was only worthwhile when replacement "tubes" were offered at an FMCA rally at a very good price.
Matt
 
Did you actual measure the drain of the fluorescent fixtures? The ones I put in 15~16 years ago were still so good that replacing those with LED was only worthwhile when replacement "tubes" were offered at an FMCA rally at a very good price.
Matt
Yes. Approx 1.5A. The incandescents were about 1A. Replacements were as low as .15 A, up to 1A at the highest setting (which was at least twice as bright as the florescent).
 
I didn't measure the largest Fluorescent light (the one pictured above) so I hooked up a battery and checked it.

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2.17A.

The rest of my measurements were taken from the battery monitor inside the coach.
For reference, this is the draw with all lights off. The Monitor itself and a relay in the battery charger draw .19A. that will be the control/base measurement.
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This is the reading with one LED light on at it's lowest setting, similar to a night light.

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.22A, so a load of .03A.

Heres one of the bedroom lights, right above the monitor...

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An adjusted load of .61A.


You can't tell, but the stove light was .17A.

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And the largest light at the highest setting...

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.95A. So just under half the current and puts out an guesstimated double the light.
 
Did you actual measure the drain of the fluorescent fixtures? The ones I put in 15~16 years ago were still so good that replacing those with LED was only worthwhile when replacement "tubes" were offered at an FMCA rally at a very good price.
Matt

Oh, I reread your statement. I didn't install LED tubes, I replaced the entire fixture with a panel, so no more ballast or tubes at all.
 
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I had two fluorescent fixtures that I put in the head. When I installed them I measured their drain at about 500 mills each as opposed to the 1.2 amp each for the original. The remaining one is a different brand and newer I have not measured. We also don't use it enough to merit attention.
 
Got rid of the stupid side post batteries and cables. Not sure which years had these, but mine did.

Also removed the second battery (original house battery) and installed a new hold-down.

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Installed the DC to DC charger under the passenger seat.
It's currently wired so the boost switch controls operation.

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Works good enough at idle...

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Replaced the rear power 12v outlet with a plug that matches my ARB Freezer and several other 12v accesories I use.
Also installed the same plug in the right rear cargo bin so I can plug the ARB in with it outside.

Original
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Replacement
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I did the same thing with the Dinette outlet, but I used a USB outlet. I also didn't care for the stainless cover plate so I made one out of plywood. It was what I had laying around.

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Replaced the inop washer pump with a Trico universal.

Repaired the short in the floor lighting circuit that goes under the coach. Forward light still doesn't work, probably has a bad bulb.

Time to go work on todays list....
 
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Heres all the lighting fixtures I've replaced....

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I lubed up and was tweaking the cable on the windshield wipers, making the very last adjustment. One more click and it will be perfect. Oh shoot. The stop screw just twisted off.

I tried drilling it out in place, but my drill kept walking off into the softer metal of the housing. Guess it's gotta come off.

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After messing with it a bit, success! I was getting worried....

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I happened to have a socket screw the right size.

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Decided to pull the filter and blast it out. That thing was tight!

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All back together, function and leak checked. Adjustment seems good, I have park all the way to High speed.

OK, now I use whats left of today for todays plans....

When I picked up the coach the HVAC only blew from the dash vents. I assumed it was a vacuum issue, and I rerouted and replaced some vacuum hoses. Since I already had the dash apart I pulled the HVAC controller enough to get the vacuum selector thing apart and checked for vacuum signal there. It was very weak, so I checked at the reservoir... I should have checked there first but I thought it would be OK since I have a vacuum gauge on the dash, running from the same line that was working correctly.
Well, very weak signal at the reservoir. I wound up abandoning the original line and running a larger line all the way to the manifold. While I was monkeying around with that, I found a crack in one of the lines running from the reservoir to the manifold. I cut and spliced that back together then fired it up.
At first it didn't seem like anything had changed, only air blowing from the dash vents, no defrost or floor heat. I cycled it back and forth a few times, and then something lined up, or everything just caught up. A mess of dust and who knows what blew out of the defrost, and the dash vents stopped blowing. Yeah! Switched to heat, got good flow out to the floor. Another item off the list!

Feeling good about everything, gonna put it on the ground and drive it tomorrow, probably going to take it on it's first overnight (with me) to a friends house as a test run.
 
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Great progress, Ken. What were your findings on the PS filter? I haven't cleaned one out yet.
By PS you mean wiper motor right? Mine was clean, as far as I could tell. But I didn't have wiper issues aside from a stiff, out of adjustment cable. If you disconnect the cable you can manually actuate it and see how well it actually works.
 
By PS you mean wiper motor right? Mine was clean, as far as I could tell. But I didn't have wiper issues aside from a stiff, out of adjustment cable. If you disconnect the cable you can manually actuate it and see how well it actually works.
Yes, I was referring to the power steering fluid in general, though that's not very clear when it's attached to the wiper motor I suppose. I've definitely heard of those filters clogging up and causing issues, but haven't had it happen to me. It's probably spurred a lot of folks to convert to electric wipers, when they could have cleaned out the filter instead. Good to hear yours was clean; you probably have a fairly healthy system then.
 
Test drove last night, ran and drove great!

I did notice a few things though...

Fuel gauge wasnt working, on either tank. It was pretty low when I parked it and now pugged out full so somethings going on. I figure it's gotta be under the dash, I haven't messed with the tanks yet.
I checked the wiring diagram, trans/gauges fuse supplies power and theres nothing before the selector switch that could affect both tanks indication.
I checked and the fuse was good, dang it. The dash has to come apart (again!). Just put it back together last night, and it seems like every time I touch it another piece of plastic breaks. At this point there are no longer any plastic supports intact behind the instrument panel, and the surrounding dash is getting worse every time I touch it. sigh...

I looked at the back of the selector switch and it seemed good. I wiggled it a bit and nothing changed.
I happened to mess with the wiring behind the guages, and the fuel indicator swept beck to near empty. Hmmm... loose wire maybe? I also noticed the GEN lamp flickering while I was digging around. I continued fiddling with stuff and narrowed it down to the pigtail on the back of the gauge assembly. I unplugged it to check for loose wires, but then noticed a loose pin on the gauge. Oh, thats not good.

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I pulled the guage and took it to the bench. The pins appear to be crimped in, and have loosened up. Almost all of them have some play.

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I don't feel like taking the gauge apart right now, and I'm not sure if I have the right stuff to tighten the crimps anyways. I try my hand at soldering the pins to the traces.
I need to get a finer tip for my solder iron, but I managed to goober some solder on them.
Some are better than others, but at least there not wiggling around anymore.
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Put it all back together and it's working again. Yay!
Except I was doing a light check later and the RH turn indicator is inop. Dang it! I was able to reach it by only partially removing the forward dash cover and squeeze my arm in. I pulled the bulb, it looked fine. I wiggled the base around a bit with no change. Then I wiggled the pigtail. I got the light to work by tweaking the pigtail a bit, but it looks like there are loose pins there as well. Oh well, it's good enough for now, I'm not taking the dash back apart again for that.

Next is sway bar frame bushings. Mine are toast and I could hear them banging around on my test drive.

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I have a set of energy suspension bushings I got from Applied. The instructions say to remove the end links and slide them over the swaybar, but I don't have new end links on hand and am not dealing with those just yet.
As you can see, the replacement bushings have a split and will stretch over the swaybar.....

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So on they go. They were much easier than I expected.

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Sunset a couple nights ago...

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Fuel gauges pegged past full is usually an open circuit issue with the sender or associated wiring. Make sure the tanks are well grounded too.

Do you have any paste flux? A little of that and some more heat would probably get those pins bonded a little better.
 
Got out and had our first good shakedown run.
5 nights and 650 miles, home to Portland International Raceway and back to attend a swap meet.

So, before that trip and a day after my last post, my steering gearbox started puking fluid out the input seal.
I stumbled across a thread on GMCnet that mentions issues with this related to the wiper motor. I figured I goofed something up as it wasn't leaking before I messed with the wiper motor.

I readjusted the control cable and that seemed to reduce the leak to a very slow drip. I can live with that and fix it after our trip, we are leaving in a day.

After the next test drive it was again pouring out of the gearbox. I deleted the Wiper motor 'filter' since I had read about people having issues with them. No difference. I cannot get a gearbox seal kit before our departure date, so I'm scrambling. I completely bypassed the wiper motor and there is no change. I figured the seal may have been pushed out somehow do to a pressure issue.

I don't know if it's right or not, but we decided to eliminate the PS for this trip. The PS belt also runs the Alt and WP so I can't just take the belt off. I found a barb fitting that fit the pressure port on the PS pump and just plumbed it directly to the pump return. I later decided I should have wipers (I'm going to Portland) and re-plumbed it to bypass the gearbox and only flow to the wiper motor.

OK, I'm not hemorrhaging fluid, I have wipers, and my belt system is intact.

I know this doesn't sound like the beginning of a great trip report. At this point I'm up to about 150 miles driven since I purchased the GMC. It was last Sunday.

I didn't put water in until monday morning, just before departure (freezing temps overnight) . At this point I hadn't put water in anything EVER and really had no idea if anything worked, or leaked other than the previous owners claims. Filling the holding tank helped me find all the drain points. As I discovered and closed them, I gradually developed an intact fresh water system. I did have a bit of a fright when the purge (?) valve on the water filter became a sprinkler, but it reseated after fidgeting with it and hasn't leaked since.

I managed to depart Monday morning about on time, stop for groceries and Propane to meet the rest of our group at a fuel stop about 50 miles from home.

Everything went pretty well until Portland. Manual steering was a bit of a chore, but not bad at highway speeds.
I swung into a closed weigh station and crossed the scales at 11200. A bit lower than I was expecting, but also lighter on the front axle than I was expecting. Only about 4000# up front.
At our second fuel stop I calculated mileage, 10.8 MPG! Super stoked about that, we were going about 55 mph.

I am also happy to report very little drama refilling. If I listen when it's close and stop the pump before it shuts off there is no issues. If I wait for it to shut itself off it burps a little, about 1/4 cup. It doesn't shut off prematurely. Nice to not have to babysit it like my VW syncro.

Camping issues.....

Pretty minor. The hot water heater has a few issues relighting once in a while. Not always.
BTW, hot water when you park is awesome!

The furnace has distribution issues... FWD ducts flow LOTS of air, rear is almost nothing. Rears are much longer and corrugated/flex, so this might be a blockage issue or just how it is.

Fridge is a monster and freezes everything. This isn't an issue I've ever had with an absorbtion fridge and I'm not going to complain about it yet. So far I just monitor temp and switch it on or off every 6-8 hours. It's kinda a pain, but better than no fridge. I assume it's an issue with the fuel regulation, but honestly don't know how absorbtion fridges control their temps. The lowest thermostat setting and the highest seem to do the exact same thing.

And then we got to Portland. I got leaks. Drip rails both sides and rear cap for sure. I'll see whats left after that.

Driving home I was towing my VW golf, I kept it to 60mph-ish, and averaged 10mpg. I was 14,500# on the scale right after filling up.

After the last fillup I developed a fuel odor. I haven't found a leak but it sure stunk when I parked it. I shut off all sparking items and will investigate in the morning.

I have a new list....
 
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Good to hear you had a mostly successful trip!

Those input seals are usually toast at this stage, with our without wiper issues. I had to redo mine, as the PO had botched it and boogered up all the sealing surfaces.

With the fridge, you might be able to adjust the temp by moving the thermocouple around. On many fridges, the temp sensor is clipped onto the heat sink (cold sink?) on the inside. Place the temp sensor closer to the center and it senses the cold sooner, shuts off faster, and keeps the fridge a little warmer. Place the temp sensor closer to the extreme corners of the heat sink, and the opposite happens. So if you see a device with two wires clipped to the fins inside the fridge, that's what that is.
 
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On the power steering leak. Mine leaked that same way out of the top. I discovered that the only time it leake appreciably was when I turn sharply while parking. Then it leaked everywhere. So I filled it up, did not turn sharply, drove home about 950 miles and fixed it a few weeks later later.