Electrical Short, 12 Volt Power Splitter and Windshield Wiper

I diagnosed the electrical short on the marker lights.  Power comes from the fuse block to the orange marker light on the driver's side of the overhead bunk.  From there, there's a 3 way split.  One wire supplies power to the other front orange marker lights, while the other goes to the back driver's side red marker light, where there's a 3 way split there supplying power to the remaining ones.

The junction at the driver's side orange marker light was soldered by my mechanic.  But the left mounting screw must have come in contact with the wire?  I think that I have it fixed now as I re-shielded that intersection with electrical tape.  This now means that the motorhome can leave the storage unit under any weather conditions, either night or day now.

But I'm going to have to repair some of the fiberglass body at the driver's side orange marker light because some of it cracked and came off.  Sands RV in Madison Township of Lake County specializes in obsolete parts.  They might salvage old RV's and they might have a bit of fiberglass that I can mount over top of it?  I think that in the months to come, I might look at trying to devise a better way to deal with that intersection?

I also mounted a 4 way 12 volt power splitter to the overhead of the table area.  It's switched.  But the one thing that I don't like about it is that it has an LED in the plug for it's surge protection.  If i can find something intermediate, I'd like to switch it on and off with an immediate male to female switch.

I have the supplies for the electrical outlet in the microwave's storage bin.  I may have reported earlier that an exposed wire came in contact with the back of the previous microwave and shorted it out and fried 3 outlets in the process.  When I removed the microwave, I discovered the outlet as being electrial taped on, hanging by exposed in wall electrical wiring. 

Hopefully, the wiring still works.  I plan on routing it through an aluminum conduit and installing a new kitchen outlet with a reset breaker into a box on the outside of the wall in the compartment.  By doing this, I may be able to bring that outlet closer to the door and use the second outlet for something like a USB powered device?

There's a problem with one of the windshield wipers.  It connects to a stem and it's real loose.  There's nothing wrong with the stem, so it doesn't need a new arm.  The Wipers aren't in bad shape, but I might have to replace it anyways because I'm not sure why it's not locking on to that stem?

Oil Level and Chassis Door Prop

According to O'Reilly Auto Parts, my 5.8 liter engine takes 6.02 quarts of oil. My dip stick was reading that the oil level was high. But I don't remember putting in more oil than it really needs. One of two things wad wrong. Either there really was too much oil, or the markers on my dipstick are wrong. I tried to leak it before, but it really didn't change the reading. So today, I did an oil change at 71,565.8 miles and found the problem to be the latter. The dipstick took me and my mechanic on a wild goose chase.  The old couldn't be anymore than 1500 miles and 18 months old? The oil was replaced with Mobil 1's 5W-30 High Milage Advanced Full Synthetic product.

But what the heck... it runs better now.

I just installed a new prop to hold the  chassis door open. It was extremely simple to do.

Motorhome Cleaning, Idle, Oops and Tablet

The dust has settled and I've been cleaning out the motorhome.  I already took a load to the dump today and am working on another one now.  I put the table cushions and overhead bunk mattress back in.  And then I started a pile of everything that needs to go back into my tool bin.  I believe that I confirmed that the AC power is going through the converter and recharging the house/ auxiliary batteries.

I didn't drive the motorhome too much, but it's idling at 1,050 - 1,100 RPM's today.  It was idling at 800 RPM's before the throttle position sensor was replaced.  But since I didn't drive it too much, perhaps I'll see what it does tomorrow?

Somehow, I made the mistake again of publishing a post meant for my personal profile to the Buckeye Trail Association Facebook group.  I think that my Tablet and the way that things display in the Facebook app is somehow the culprit?

My tablet is the motorhome's record keeping device, entrainment and navigation device.  In my opinion, Google Assistant has been hijacking it.  I don't like it because it won't open apps.  If it did, I'd probably let it run.  But because it's trying to assert itself by taking over the home button, I had to get a 3rd party app to remap the key just so it would do what it's always done before.

BT 10 Miler Camping/ Lodging Streak and Throttle Position Sensor

About 2 years ago was when I completed a diagnostic on the Buckeye Trail concerning it supporting continuous hikes at generally 10 miles per day.  It's an initiative of the Buckeye Trail Association.  When I did the diagnostic last, I found that the longest "streak" that the trail's logistics could support was 32 days at this rate.  But, with a couple of new campsites, and some "hacks" that I recently discovered, this increased by 10 days.

In the future, what I have to do is what I call a "mock hiker."  It's a written simulation of the trail.  Once I do that, I'll need to use Google Earth to make what is written into a graphic displaying color coded tracks (like the line that you follow in your GPS).  They'd be coded green for routes of 10.0 miles or less, yellow for 10.0 to 12.5 miles and red for anything that exceeds 12.5.  With the 42 day streak that I just mentioned, that's from the West Union Section, Point 21 (02/2010 map & guide) to the Pemberville Section, Point 02 (03/2018).  I don't know how many miles that is, but it's roughly 7-1/2 of the Buckeye Trail's 26 sections, or about 29% of it's circuit.  And the vast majority of that is North Country Trail concurrent.

My mechanic came by to check the motorhome's idle.  It was surging by 200RPM's when parked.  He took off the "dog house."  On the older Ford Econoline vans, you can reach the front of the engine through the hood.  But if you needed to work deeper inside, there's a cover that comes off in the cab which exposes the back of the engine called the "dog house."  And he was back there spraying carburetor cleaner trying to get a leak to suck it in and gunk up the engine which would cause it to hesitate.  Apparently it will do that because carburetor cleaner isn't combustible.  But if the engine did hesitate, he'd know what vacuum hose did it?  He didn't find any leaks.

We drove it for about 13 miles and when we got it back, he took some wire and tripped the diagnostic port so that it would start flashing the check engine light and blink a code.  The vehicle runs the first generation of the On-Board Diagnostics (OBD I) and it displayed Code 22, which is a malfunction of  the throttle body sensor.  I purchased the replacement and it will be going in tomorrow.

I've never been good at blink codes.  And the new Bluetooth devices that you plug in to your car is for OBD II.  I have one in my Chevy HHR.  But they don't make this for OBD I.  But I just bought a converter cable and it should arrive here in four days.  The next step is to purchase another Bluetooth diagnostic module.  I'll just zip tie it to the side of the engine compartment and keep it there full time.

Replacement Dog House Bolts

The dog house bolts in my 1988 Ford Econoline Cut-a-Way took 5/16ths replacement bolts. I got mine at 1-1/4in length.

Hike In Akron on the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail

A couple days ago, I noticed that the oil level in my Chevy HHR was critically low.  So, I filled it up with all 5 quarts of 5W30.  In doing it, I didn't use a funnel and got some motor oil on the engine block.  I thought that I had it all wiped down?

Today when I turned it on, there was thick smoke coming out of the the sides of the car and the exhaust.  I immediately shut it off!  I checked the oil level and now the dipstick reads as if it has 10 quarts in it.  And I don't think that the anti-freeze level changed?  From what I hear, what I saw should have been the result of a blown head gasket, or cracked block?  I may try to put it on ramps and follow up with it tomorrow?  When I tried to back it up, there wasn't a noticeable reduction in power.

But I had an engagement in Akron today as part of a Buckeye Trail Association contingent to a hike with Ohio State Representative Emilia Sykes.  So, I took the motorhome there and that's it's second 120 trip.  This morning before I left, I turned the engine on and the RPM's were still fluctuating, but it did it less this time and the trip on the freeway to Akron was no problem.  I messaged the chairman of the Crooked River Chapter of the BTA who covers that area and I told him that I was coming down, but there was a big question as to whether I was going to be able to park the motorhome in Downtown Akron???

She and a gentleman from the Ohio & Erie Canalway Association took a group and myself for a 2 mile round trip and tour of the towpath in the city.  This takes place on the Buckeye Trail's "Akron Section" and I passed through this area years ago before it was on the current route.  It use to be routed next to the Akron Zoo when I was hiking there.  The rule on Buckeye is after you've passed through an area, if it reroutes, you do not have to go back and claim the new one.  After today's event, a smaller group of us went to an Italian restaurant in Downtown Akron.

After I got done with that group, I drove to the nearest Speedway gas station.  The fuel gauge on the motorhome's dashboard doesn't work.  So, I use an app on my tablet.  It tracks the mileage in motion and moves the needle based on the motorhome's fuel range.  I calculate that by writing down the odometer mileage, getting its difference and dividing that by how many gallons it takes to fill it up?  Today, the MPG's were a little worse.

Possibly tomorrow, I'm going to look for a loose connection or hose.  Either on the spark plug wires, or on a hose somewhere?  I'm willing to bet that something came loose?  But I vaguely thought that my mechanic might have told me to disconnect the negative from one of my dual batteries before jumping the motorhome?  Everything online says that it should be fine with both connected as long as I idled my smaller Chevy HHR for 15 minutes or more with the clamps on (which was done) so that it wasn't as stressful on it's alternator.

Convex Mirrors and Over Cab Sleeping Compartment

My mechanic installed convex mirror to the outside chrome and aluminum bars today.  He also started tearing apart the overhead bunk area.  This hangs out of the front of the motorhome, above the cab.  I expressed an interest in sleeping up there, mainly because I'm 6'6 and I'm somebody who could get up and down from it the best.  My bed here at home port is custom built.  It's about 5 feet in the air and I have a way of climbing up and down it's ladder.  The overhead cab bed is wider than the twin size one in the master bedroom.  With being a Buckeye Trail section supervisor and principal to an effort that may lead to chapter, I could have guests over?

125 Mile Test - Motorhome

When I drive the motorhome, normally I don't go much faster than 55MPH.  But today wasn't a regular operation test.  This was a run it hard one.  My mechanic and I ran it on the freeway where there would be some hills.  We needed to know how the fuel system would hold up over a longer period of time while the motorhome would have to run harder trying to keep up going uphill at higher speeds throughout the trip.  Today's route was 125 miles long on mostly limited access highways.

It's a motorhome with a low torque 351 Windsor engine and does 0 to 60 in about 24 seconds on flat land.  It's not fast and when I take my foot off of the accelerator pedal, slowing down is the only thing that it does quickly.  Also, it's not very aerodynamic and sometimes when I drive it, it's like pushing a wall.  I filled it up today and when I logged everything in, it got 7.1MPG in mixed driving.  My mechanic still has to change a secondary "coffee can" fuel filter on the downstream line.

Today's trip was a success.  My life can now go on.  My appearance with the motorhome at Tar Hollow State Park for the Buckeye TrailFest/ North Country Celebration 2018 and this year's calendar for Adventurer's Project are now in full effect.  I think I now have to choose what suit to wear for certain social engagements in Marietta/ Parkersburg?

Smartphone Batteries, Rear Speakers and Coaxial Cable Upgrades

I received three new 3200mAh batteries for my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 SM-900V smartphone.  It's been slowing down lately and the batteries that I already had for it are probably about 3 years.  So far, the new battery seems to be speeding things up and it might not be draining as fast?

I also got the second grill cover for the motorhome's new 8in rear speakers.  Currently, it has the capacity for 2 - 6in speakers that install in the bottom of two cabinets.  Each side has a hard plastic speaker protectors so that items can be stored on top of them.  They also have speaker grills for them.  Currently, they don't have any speakers or wires running to them.

To upgrade the ports, I'll have to use a jig saw on the cabinets to make their holes wider.  Since there aren't any speaker wires running from the stereo in the cab to to the rear speaker ports, I'm thinking about adding them when the ceiling gets rebuilt.  I believe that the analog coaxial cable currently installed is running through the ceiling and it needs to be upgraded.

In regards to the coax, I have a digital antenna upgrade to mount and I plan on hooking it up to a USB TV tuner that would be attached to my laptop.  Additionally, the coax cables for the Wi-Fi and cellular signal booster need to be routed to a coupler that is on the bottom of one of the cabinets and in the closet in the master bedroom area.

Motorhome's Exhaust Sounding Good

The motorhome's exhaust sounds really good.  There's still a minor part of it that needs to be tweaked, but it looks like I'll be driving it for about 120 miles on Thursday.  My mechanic is very optimistic about that shakedown cruise.  He's offered to come with me, but I'm going to do it solo.  What I need is to drive up some hills at freeway speeds about 90 minutes into the drive.  My mechanic said that he really thinks that the bad catalytic converter was really holding up the engine's performance.  When I drove it today, I noticed that the front end went down.  I've never gotten it to peel out before, but getting it to bow was a first.  And I've never owned a rear wheel drive vehicle prior to this before.

Tachometer Red Line

1988 Ford Econoline 350 (E350)
1988 Itasca Sundancer IF424RC

My aftermarket tachometer is set to "red line" at 4,450 RPM`s

Final Shakedown Success

My family mechanic friend changed some broken vacuum lines that lead to the throttle body today.  He did some testing on the fuel system and found it to be running at 40psi, which is on the higher side of tolerance as per it's specifications.  And next week, he'll do some work on the catalytic converter and possibly change the muffler.  We took the motorhome on a shakedown cruise today consisting of some hills and freeways.  This time, I had him drive and it passes his tests. 

Once he gets the exhaust finished, it's on to rebuilding the interior.  It's not easy airing up the tires.  The motorhome has E series tires designed to take a higher inflation, in this case, it's 85psi.  Normally, cars don't go above 47psi and the motorhome's weight is an issue.  But I believe that my local Speedway's air pump can do it?  While I'm out there, I have to get both marine batteries replaced.  One reason is that the auxiliary generator runs off of the house/ chassis/ auxiliary batteries.  Right now, those batteries are 5 years old and they won't hold a charge.

Adventurer's Project for the year 2018 is in full effect.

Motorhome Shakedown Cruise 02/28/2018

Well, I think that the Internet sucks today and I'm not sure that I'm going to be much better.  The problem with the exhaust headers is that when I purchased the motorhome, the previous owners didn't use any gaskets.  Gaskets are thin and are what's used on the engine, or exhaust when you bolt something metal to something else that metal.

We're working in a driveway, or in the storage unit.  And my mechanic was taking a risk when he did the right bank (during the compression cycle of the engine, the third phase is exhaust and that goes to the header), he was taking a risk that one of the bolts would snap while still in the engine block.  After getting that on, we determined that doing the left bank was not worth the risk.  If one of the bolts were to snap, working with this part of the engine is tight and he would have to remove the block.  That job entails severing every connection and removing the front grill, radiator and everything else in front of it just to pull it out.  He'd need to do that in order to drill out the studs that snapped.

We then had a hose from the vacuum compressor to the air filter manifold that was breached.  I first went to the local Ford dealer and the employee there said that it was obsolete and no longer manufactured.  He recommend that I go to a junk yard.  I then went to NAPA and tried to get them to replace it, but they couldn't.  So, I got creative and and purchased a piece of hose to go over the vacuum pump one.  Then I drove to the hardware store and got some 1 inch wide copper pipe.  Then I went to another auto parts store and got some JB Weld in case we needed to interface that piece of rubber hose that I got from NAPA with copper pipe from the hardware store.  Well, it turns out that the with pipe and stock hose, he got it together with some hose clamps.

This must be shakedown cruise #3 or #4.  He drove it this time and when we got on the freeway, I don't think he liked how it was accelerating, especially when it was already going.  He was stating that it could be that the cable from the gas pedal to the throttle body was stretched?  Or there could be a some sort of tensioner on the transmission that was causing it not to shift right.

Today was my first opportunity to fill up the gas tank.  I don't know what it's consumption was or what it will be until two fill ups from now.  All I remember was that it cost over $50 to fill over 33 gallons.

Exhaust Header and Mackinaw Bridge Walk

There's been some trouble today mounting an exhaust header to the engine.  I think yesterday (or the day before) I had to get gaskets for both the right, left bank and throttle body manifold.  I think my mechanic got the right bank somewhat mounted and should finish tomorrow.  The right bank had the EGR valve and tube and there might have been something else different with it?  I know from having  worked inside the dog house and having tried to change the spark plugs and wires that this is a difficult side of the engine to access.

I forgot to bring my Mechanix gloves with me to the storage unit today to see if one of my house batteries has a leak?  My mechanic seems to think that I do?  I'm planning to buy a battery charger in about 3 days.  I tried recharging my portable jump box, but it had a malfunction.  That's the second one in four years that I've gone through.  I'm really leaning on getting a corded battery charger, but they can't go on an extension cord because they draw too many amps.  So maybe, I'll just get another portable unit?  I don't want to get one that's on wheels because it's not very portable.

I just got a notice regarding the walk for the Mackinaw Bridge for September 3rd.  I've scheduled it and considering that we'll have to cross Ohio, probably diagonally to get there, I might pick up others along the way?

Motorhome Update 02/25/2018

I installed a new crossbar to the motorhome's roof rack.  I used a 3/4th inch ID galvanized steel pipe. Then I attached four 3/4 inch single swivel sockets.   I may make more modifications to it to allow my Xcargo roof carrier to swing up so the bathroom roof hatch can open?

My mechanic was working on the right exhaust manifold gasket today.

New Tachometer

My new tachometer was installed in the motorhome today and the odometer reading is as shown here.

Motorhome Repairs Continued 02/17/2018

The second cab battery was installed, the left rear brake shoes and were readjusted on my motorhome. The transmission has 17 bolts at the filter pan.  I was airing up the front left tire with my electric pump that plugs into the lighter port. However, I realized the error of my ways when I forgot to turn the motorhome on and run it off the alternator and I killed the battery. 

There was a vacuum tube that was dismounted on the transmission. It's no longer a consideration for something going wrong. My mechanic and I are looking into the tires and suspension. We got it on to the freeway. Yesterday, there was excessive vibrations coming from the right rear side that started at 45MPH.  It still vibrates, but we got it up to 63MPH and I could have held the road at faster speeds.

Motor home Transmission Filter and Shakedown Cruise 02/17/2018

The transmission filter was replaced. Stand by for an odometer reading. I put the motorhome with my mechanic on the freeway today and it had a hard time going above 55MPH. He said that something on the passengers side was vibrating and we're looking into transmission related problems, but I'm braced for replacing the transmission. But the engine sounds good. When I switched from the motorhome to my car to move it, I smelled something. My mechanic said that one of the new brake shoes was rubbing and that he'll have to readjust it later.

There's a ticking noise when it drives. My mechanic said that it's in the exhaust header. And he didn't seem like it absolutely needed replaced, but he said if I want it done that the bolts will likely snap and that he'll have to use a tap and dye set to drill them out.

Meantime, I pulled a bunch of auto parts that I don't need and don't have receipts for. I'm going to put them up for sale or auction on eBay.  And I tried tuning the CB, but it has built-in diagnostics and it's antennas came back as failed.  Looks like I'll have to replace a couple pieces of hardware or add a ground wire directly to the body?

I'm getting closer to having the interior remodeled and reupholstered. My mechanic said that he's going to mount the wi-fi/ cell signal booster antenna to the outside chassis at the overhead compartment. When it comes to punching bolts through, the remodeling is the right time to do it.  It's the right time to replace the brake, reverse lights and side markers.

Mock Hike Written Simulation & Motorhome Antenna Parts

It turns out that my North Country Trail tracks for the State of Michigan are going to need more work than I originally thought.  I'm probably going to have to re-merge five chapters, this time without taking any shortcuts.  But I just took a look at what I need to do and it seems like the bog is waiting to break when I get past Michigan.

The problem with the NCTA's mile markers is that you can only see what the mileage is if you click on them.  It comes up in a bubble.  That's not good for what I'm doing.  I have to see labels, so I'm going ahead with getting mileages off of my tracks for Michigan and North Dakota since I've recently found out how easy they are to do.  With all that said, my mock hike written simulation for the North Country Trail will continue.

I ordered a new N type coupler for my wi-fi/ cell signal booster.  My plan is to drill a new hole right near where the bar mirrors mount and screw it in.  Then run the line inside the door to some shielding between the door and the cab, then under some plastic shielding and up into a set of cabinets where my cable and antenna TV couplers are.  The CB antenna cable is running through the side crack in the door, but computer equipment is usually more sensitive to kinks and breaks.

The motorhome has old ports for special tube screen low, DC power tube screen TV's.  But, even if I do get an LCD, or LED television, they're so easy on power these days that I'm never going to use those special ports.  I'll probably use a digital TV tuner card on my laptop anyways.

Wheelbase Measurement

The motorhome's wheel base from the center of the front axle to the center of the rear measured 160 inches.  Apparently, that's 22 inches longer than the lengthiest Econoline.  Again, I own a 1988 Itasca Sundancer IR24C motorhome with a Ford Econoline 350 cab.