Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » [GMCnet] Maiden Voyage Trip Report: RIC > VAB
| [GMCnet] Maiden Voyage Trip Report: RIC > VAB [message #90372] |
Mon, 28 June 2010 22:24  |
Eddie Pettit
Messages: 71
Registered: May 2009
Karma: 0
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Member |
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The trip started out at around 11AM from Midlothian VA on Friday, the 25th.
I was in the RV, with Mercedes, and Carolyn and Zach were following in her
car. We went to Kroger, because I like milk gallons with screw on caps, to
pick up some supplies and gas for the trip. I only filled the RV up part the
way because it leaks when you fill it up all the way. I believe the rubber
hose near the filler has some rot.
To start the travel, we headed south on VA Rt 288, to I95 and headed towards
the beach on US 460. When I was getting off I95, I noticed that the pedal
seemed really soft. It was still stopping, just close to the floor. Shortly
thereafter, I noticed the brake light was on. As I was starting to become
concerned about this, Carolyn advised me that I just lost something. One of
the wheel covers left the RV and slammed into and over the guardrail. While
they stopped to pick it up, I stopped just before 460 and checked the fluid
level in the master cylinder. Sure enough it was real low, which explains
the pedal travel. Naturally, I was carrying lots of spare parts and pieces,
so I had fluid and topped off the fluid. When I first purchased the RV, the
master cylinder needed to be replaced because it sits at such a position
that rain drips right on it. The top had rusted through allowing water into
the system. I bled the system at the time and all was working well, or so I
thought. I'm guessing that I had a brake stuck open and when it freed
itself, it took fluid out of the master cylinder, making it low. Anyway,
Carolyn and Zach caught back up by this time and gave me the wheel cover.
Sadly, all of the retaining clips were gone making it impossible to
reinstall. We got back in our vehicles and continued the trip.
The RV has 2 tanks and the gas flows between them as you drive causing the
gauge to fluctuate dramatically depending upon road level, whether you're on
the gas or brake, etc... When we reached the halfway point, near Waverly VA,
I decided to get gas and the kids got Slurpees. In the past, I've had
trouble restarting the RV when it's hot, so I left it running while
refueling. I figured that it'd be better to be safe than sorry, we were on a
deadline for getting Zach down to the beach for tryout camp.
The trip from Waverly to VAB was uneventful, I did end up going through some
tunnel without stopping for inspection, but you didn't hear that from me...
We setup in the Holiday Trav-L Park in VAB and had an excellent stay. The AC
worked flawlessly and constantly during the entire stay, which was about 42
hours. We didn't have water or sewer because I haven't yet worked on those
systems or figured out how they work. The Refrigerator didn't work on gas or
electric, but we already knew that and had our giant cooler with us.
Sunday morning arrived and we packed up the RV and headed to the rink for
Zach's last day of tryout camp. The RV started right up even though we'd
been using battery power for lighting throughout our stay, as it should.
Since we had the dogs with us, we parked the RV in the shade and ran the
generator for about 4 hours to power the rooftop air to keep them cool.
After the tryouts, we went to Golden Corral for some lunch before heading
home. I chose a somewhat shady parking spot away from the restaurant, so I
could run the generator and roof top air to keep the dogs cool. The spot
wasn't level enough which caused all of the gas to drain out of the
secondary tank and into the main tank, or is that the main tank into the
secondary tank? Anyway, the generator wouldn't run. So I had to spin the RV
around so that it was leaning the other way. Once I did that, the generator
ran for about an hour while we ate.
Once we were satisfied, we headed back to 460 for the trip home. By this
time Carolyn's car was needing gas. On the way to VAB, I had noticed a
station in Windsor VA that had regular for $2.38/gal. We set off for the
station and arrived without issue. Since there wasn't a deadline, and I was
feeling confident, I actually turned off the RV even though the air temp was
100F. When I did that, I noticed that coolant was freely flowing under the
RV. It looked like it was being poured through a small funnel. My temp gauge
had been fine the entire trip, so I wasn't too concerned about it, but the
guys fueling their boat seemed a bit concerned. I looked back to where the
RV had sat, while I was waiting on a pump and didn't see any fluid there, so
I assumed it was just overflow. I only filled the RV halfway, because of the
rot, and then started it up, which it did without hesitation, and moved the
RV away from the pumps to figure out the leak. It wasn't leaking while it
was running, the temp gauge was fine, so I topped it off and headed home. I
figured that I'd keep an eye on the gauge for signs of things going bad,
which never happened.
I ran most of the trip at about 58mph, but after the Windsor stop, I
occasionally hit 65mph for short stretches on 460. I did notice the engine
does miss under heavy loads. I'm not certain, but I'm thinking fuel
starvation. It's possible that there may be trash in the tanks and it's
either clogging the socks on the pickups, assuming their still there, or
it's clogging the fuel filter in the carb. I say this because in April, I
replaced an extremely dirty (looked like it was rusty) carb fuel filter
because the engine wasn't getting gas. Last year, I rebuilt the carb, you'd
think a new fuel filter would be part of a rebuild kit, but I can't
remember. I do carry a spare and the tools to change it if it should happen
to clog again on the road.
So there you have it, our first trip in the GMC Motorhome. It was fun and
we're looking forward to attempting Hershey PA in 2 weeks.
Eddie Pettit
73 GMC
Midlothian VA
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| Re: [GMCnet] Maiden Voyage Trip Report: RIC > VAB [message #90393 is a reply to message #90372] |
Tue, 29 June 2010 04:09  |
David L Greenberg
Messages: 899
Registered: January 2004
Location: Port St Lucie, FL
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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Reading the report of your maiden voyage, Eddie, I kept anticipating the
worst (based on my experience?) and was glad to read how well your trip
went after all.
Nice report; Congrats!
David Lee Greenberg
Port St Lucie, FL skype: david.lee.greenberg
Dedicated to the Preservation of the Classic GMC Motorhome
http://GMCmhRegistry.com
http://www.picturetrail.com/gmcregistry
On Mon, 28 Jun 2010 23:24:43 -0400 "Eddie Pettit" <eddie@thepettits.com>
writes:
> The trip started out at around 11AM from Midlothian VA on Friday, the
> 25th.
> I was in the RV, with Mercedes, and Carolyn and Zach were following
> in her
> car. We went to Kroger, because I like milk gallons with screw on
> caps, to
> pick up some supplies and gas for the trip. I only filled the RV up
> part the
> way because it leaks when you fill it up all the way. I believe the
> rubber
> hose near the filler has some rot.
>
> To start the travel, we headed south on VA Rt 288, to I95 and headed
> towards
> the beach on US 460. When I was getting off I95, I noticed that the
> pedal
> seemed really soft. It was still stopping, just close to the floor.
> Shortly
> thereafter, I noticed the brake light was on. As I was starting to
> become
> concerned about this, Carolyn advised me that I just lost something.
> One of
> the wheel covers left the RV and slammed into and over the
> guardrail. While
> they stopped to pick it up, I stopped just before 460 and checked
> the fluid
> level in the master cylinder. Sure enough it was real low, which
> explains
> the pedal travel. Naturally, I was carrying lots of spare parts and
> pieces,
> so I had fluid and topped off the fluid. When I first purchased the
> RV, the
> master cylinder needed to be replaced because it sits at such a
> position
> that rain drips right on it. The top had rusted through allowing
> water into
> the system. I bled the system at the time and all was working well,
> or so I
> thought. I'm guessing that I had a brake stuck open and when it
> freed
> itself, it took fluid out of the master cylinder, making it low.
> Anyway,
> Carolyn and Zach caught back up by this time and gave me the wheel
> cover.
> Sadly, all of the retaining clips were gone making it impossible to
> reinstall. We got back in our vehicles and continued the trip.
>
> The RV has 2 tanks and the gas flows between them as you drive
> causing the
> gauge to fluctuate dramatically depending upon road level, whether
> you're on
> the gas or brake, etc... When we reached the halfway point, near
> Waverly VA,
> I decided to get gas and the kids got Slurpees. In the past, I've
> had
> trouble restarting the RV when it's hot, so I left it running while
> refueling. I figured that it'd be better to be safe than sorry, we
> were on a
> deadline for getting Zach down to the beach for tryout camp.
>
> The trip from Waverly to VAB was uneventful, I did end up going
> through some
> tunnel without stopping for inspection, but you didn't hear that
> from me...
>
> We setup in the Holiday Trav-L Park in VAB and had an excellent
> stay. The AC
> worked flawlessly and constantly during the entire stay, which was
> about 42
> hours. We didn't have water or sewer because I haven't yet worked on
> those
> systems or figured out how they work. The Refrigerator didn't work
> on gas or
> electric, but we already knew that and had our giant cooler with us.
>
>
> Sunday morning arrived and we packed up the RV and headed to the
> rink for
> Zach's last day of tryout camp. The RV started right up even though
> we'd
> been using battery power for lighting throughout our stay, as it
> should.
> Since we had the dogs with us, we parked the RV in the shade and ran
> the
> generator for about 4 hours to power the rooftop air to keep them
> cool.
>
> After the tryouts, we went to Golden Corral for some lunch before
> heading
> home. I chose a somewhat shady parking spot away from the
> restaurant, so I
> could run the generator and roof top air to keep the dogs cool. The
> spot
> wasn't level enough which caused all of the gas to drain out of the
> secondary tank and into the main tank, or is that the main tank into
> the
> secondary tank? Anyway, the generator wouldn't run. So I had to spin
> the RV
> around so that it was leaning the other way. Once I did that, the
> generator
> ran for about an hour while we ate.
>
> Once we were satisfied, we headed back to 460 for the trip home. By
> this
> time Carolyn's car was needing gas. On the way to VAB, I had noticed
> a
> station in Windsor VA that had regular for $2.38/gal. We set off for
> the
> station and arrived without issue. Since there wasn't a deadline,
> and I was
> feeling confident, I actually turned off the RV even though the air
> temp was
> 100F. When I did that, I noticed that coolant was freely flowing
> under the
> RV. It looked like it was being poured through a small funnel. My
> temp gauge
> had been fine the entire trip, so I wasn't too concerned about it,
> but the
> guys fueling their boat seemed a bit concerned. I looked back to
> where the
> RV had sat, while I was waiting on a pump and didn't see any fluid
> there, so
> I assumed it was just overflow. I only filled the RV halfway,
> because of the
> rot, and then started it up, which it did without hesitation, and
> moved the
> RV away from the pumps to figure out the leak. It wasn't leaking
> while it
> was running, the temp gauge was fine, so I topped it off and headed
> home. I
> figured that I'd keep an eye on the gauge for signs of things going
> bad,
> which never happened.
>
> I ran most of the trip at about 58mph, but after the Windsor stop,
> I
> occasionally hit 65mph for short stretches on 460. I did notice the
> engine
> does miss under heavy loads. I'm not certain, but I'm thinking fuel
> starvation. It's possible that there may be trash in the tanks and
> it's
> either clogging the socks on the pickups, assuming their still
> there, or
> it's clogging the fuel filter in the carb. I say this because in
> April, I
> replaced an extremely dirty (looked like it was rusty) carb fuel
> filter
> because the engine wasn't getting gas. Last year, I rebuilt the
> carb, you'd
> think a new fuel filter would be part of a rebuild kit, but I can't
> remember. I do carry a spare and the tools to change it if it should
> happen
> to clog again on the road.
>
> So there you have it, our first trip in the GMC Motorhome. It was
> fun and
> we're looking forward to attempting Hershey PA in 2 weeks.
>
> Eddie Pettit
>
> 73 GMC
>
> Midlothian VA
>
>
____________________________________________________________
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davegreenberg1@juno.com
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| Re: [GMCnet] Maiden Voyage Trip Report: RIC > VAB [message #90412 is a reply to message #90372] |
Tue, 29 June 2010 10:08 |
Dennis S
Messages: 3046
Registered: November 2005
Karma: 2
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Senior Member |
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Eddie,
Nice report -- glad to hear it was successful. I too, was worried that at some point in your story it was going to turn bad.
Trash in the fuel line may well be the miss issue. Let us know what else you determine on the coolant leak and come back with any questions on the sewer. Having recently removed the black tank from my 73 I may have some photo or info which will help.
Dennis
| Eddie Pettit wrote on Mon, 28 June 2010 22:24 |
The trip started out at around 11AM from Midlothian VA on Friday, the 25th.
I was in the RV, with Mercedes, and Carolyn and Zach were following
snip snip
So there you have it, our first trip in the GMC Motorhome. It was fun and
we're looking forward to attempting Hershey PA in 2 weeks.
Eddie Pettit
73 GMC
Midlothian VA
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Dennis S
73 Painted Desert 230
Memphis TN Metro
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| Re: [GMCnet] Maiden Voyage Trip Report: RIC > VAB [message #90437 is a reply to message #90412] |
Tue, 29 June 2010 12:10 |
Eddie Pettit
Messages: 71
Registered: May 2009
Karma: 0
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Member |
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Thanks, Dennis and David. I was waiting for something to go bad too, but it
never did, so I was pleased. I was pretty certain it would make it, barring
something catastrophic, like a wheel bearing or something...
As for the black water system, I think it's all there, except the part the
tow truck ripped off when they delivered it... It's missing from the elbow
after the tank on back. I'm pretty certain I can get a new elbow and pipe
from Home Depot or Lowes. Then I just need the drain hose from the coach to
the sewer at the site. I just don't know how everything works. A friend gave
me some manuals on disc. I later found a large binder with other manuals in
the coach. You never know what all you have when buying from a non-owner.
I'll just have to do some reading to figure it all out. I'm sure it can't be
that complicated.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: gmclist-bounces@temp.gmcnet.org
> [mailto:gmclist-bounces@temp.gmcnet.org] On Behalf Of Dennis Sexton
> Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 11:09 AM
> To: gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org
> Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Maiden Voyage Trip Report: RIC > VAB
>
>
>
>
> Eddie,
>
> Nice report -- glad to hear it was successful. I too, was
> worried that at some point in your story it was going to turn bad.
>
> Trash in the fuel line may well be the miss issue. Let us
> know what else you determine on the coolant leak and come
> back with any questions on the sewer. Having recently removed
> the black tank from my 73 I may have some photo or info which
> will help.
>
> Dennis
>
> Eddie Pettit wrote on Mon, 28 June 2010 22:24
> > The trip started out at around 11AM from Midlothian VA on
> Friday, the 25th.
> > I was in the RV, with Mercedes, and Carolyn and Zach were following
> >
> > snip snip
> >
> > So there you have it, our first trip in the GMC Motorhome.
> It was fun and
> > we're looking forward to attempting Hershey PA in 2 weeks.
> >
> > Eddie Pettit
> >
> > 73 GMC
> >
> > Midlothian VA
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > GMCnet mailing list
> > List Information and Subscription Options:
> > http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
>
>
> --
> Dennis Sexton
> 73 Painted Desert 230
> Germantown, TN
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
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> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
>
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| Re: [GMCnet] Maiden Voyage Trip Report: RIC > VAB [message #90579 is a reply to message #90372] |
Wed, 30 June 2010 18:57 |
Eddie Pettit
Messages: 71
Registered: May 2009
Karma: 0
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Member |
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As you can see from the story below, I had some issue with coolant. When
the engine was running, there didn't appear to be leakage, but when you
turned the engine off water freely leaked. I took the engine cover off
today and road around a bit so I could watch the engine. It doesn't leak
when under load, but does leak a little at idle and a lot when off. It
doesn't drain completely, just a little until the engine cools. It appears
to be coming from the water pump area. As you know, you can't really see
much in that area. I grabbed the water pump pulley from the top and pulled,
it moved a bit and make a small clang-type noise. Am I right in thinking
that I have a bad water pump?
Thanks in advance,
Eddie Pettit
Midlothian VA.
-----Original Message-----
From: Eddie Pettit [mailto:eddie@thepettits.com]
Sent: Monday, June 28, 2010 11:25 PM
To: 'gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org'
Subject: Maiden Voyage Trip Report: RIC > VAB
< snip >
On the way to VAB, I had noticed a station in Windsor VA that had regular
for $2.38/gal. We set off for the station and arrived without issue. Since
there wasn't a deadline, and I was feeling confident, I actually turned off
the RV even though the air temp was 100F. When I did that, I noticed that
coolant was freely flowing under the RV. It looked like it was being poured
through a small funnel. My temp gauge had been fine the entire trip, so I
wasn't too concerned about it, but the guys fueling their boat seemed a bit
concerned. I looked back to where the RV had sat, while I was waiting on a
pump and didn't see any fluid there, so I assumed it was just overflow.
< snip >
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| Re: [GMCnet] Maiden Voyage [message #170488 is a reply to message #90372] |
Tue, 22 May 2012 01:00 |
rallymaster
Messages: 662
Registered: February 2004
Location: North Plains, ORYGUN
Karma: -4
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Senior Member |
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OK, Gene, where do you get the known, good water, besides at home and
Dunsmuir, CA????
What we've been getting in most of the Southwest leaves an oily residue
on the tea and coffee, and makes weak tea look black. Oh, yeah, and it
tastes like something you don't even want to think about drinking.
RonC, with a buncha gallon jugs looking for a machine that says Glacier
on it.
On Mon, 21 May 2012 22:08:03 -0700 gene Fisher <mr.erfisher@gmail.com>
writes:
> YOU BET
> 4 I fill the fresh water from known , good, water ,
>
Ron & Linda Clark
1978 Eleganza II
North Plains, ORYGUN
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78 Eleganza II
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