We recently bought a 1975 Jamboree and have no idea what we need to do to get on the road...We have been given a ton of advice from people who have never even owned a RV so basically no advice. We need to clean all of the tanks and picked up a cleaner/deodorizer for both clean water and toilet/tanks. We wanted to take the tanks down and fill them to check for leaks but we can't see a way to get them off. Any ideas?
Also does anyone one know if we need special gas or additives due to the age of the RV? Or is it regular unleaded gas?
If anyone has any info or tips they are appreciated!
Thanks!
The only tank we clean is the fresh water tank. We don't drinkk out of the sewer tanks so they are OK. You will find that most tanks are installed before the MH is completed and it is very difficult to get to them. Since the city water depts use chlorine for cleaning that works good for us also. I bought a '76 Class C in '86 and the tanks had not been dumped for 2 years. It was -13F when I picked it up and when Spring came I knew there was something in the tanks. After a good flushing there was no odor left. Flush all brake fluid out of the system, check your tires for age. Flush the trans. fluid, oil and anti-freeze and enjoy the rig. There are additives for the unleaded gas but I think unleaded was all that was around in '75 also. Then go out and enjoy. We had a '89 Jamboree.
2003 Newmar Mountain Aire, Workhorse W22, 2008 Saturn Vue, Falcon 5250, & US Gear Unified Tow Brake
Ditto to all the above excepting flushing the automatic transmission. It is often best to simply change the fluid and filter and not flush as this can disturb materials which are not bothering anything. If you know a reliable transmission shop, talk to the builder and go with what is advised. We used to see many automatics which had not been serviced for far too long would fail after flushing.
Change power steering fluid also. Dending on whether you do your own work, the cost will vary. I use a couple of dedicated syringes (one for oils, the other for brake fluid) to suction out brake master cylinder reservoir and power steering reservoir to allow some fluid to be replaced at each oil change. It eventually clears out and maintains the fluid.
Friends have had good success with using "30 Seconds" algae remover to flush out foul water lines which makes me wonder if others have tried this method?
I have a 74 w/dodge 360.... unleaded fuel works fine. Mine had sat for a long time also, I simply filled the fresh water tank about 1/2 full dumped in a cup of bleach or so and drove it around for a bit sloshing the water all around, I then turned on the pump and pumped water through the system into the holding tanks. I drained remaining bleach water and added more fresh water to rinse everything out, I then dumped some RV waste tank deoderizer (about 5 bucks at Walmart)into the waste tanks, drove to the dump site and dumped the tanks. All has been fine since then. As far as mechanicals, my mechanic buddy serviced the transmission, we put on a new master cylindar(it was bad), changed out oil & other fluids etc, and general stuff like plugs, hoses, belts etc... mine also needed tires due to age and sun damage and I threw on some new shocks just because. Yours may need more or less depending on condition. Good luck and enjoy, we love ours.
I don't think anyones dying statement ever contained the words "I wish I had spent more time in the office", so lets go somewhere!
Some things to monitor on on older Chrysler products are:
1) Cooling system corrosion. Something regarding the cast iron mix used in the engines makes for more corrosion than one would see for Ford & GM. The coolant will often appear to be thick mud from the Red River which requires a flush out and coolant change. They seem to need this service more frequently than the other two. Change the engine thermostat on any older engine as these are a wear item and can cause huge inconvenience if the "stat" fails. Easy enough do-it-yourself job. I do mine every three years with a coolant change. FWIW.
2) These engines use an exhaust cross-over passage from one cylinder head to the other which is part of the intake manifold. This passage has a tendency to "coke up" or block with carbon from cold engine operation which reduces heating of the floor of the intake manifold affecting engine operation during warm up.
3) Another issue with the cross-over passage is that the exhaust flow through the cross-over heats a well on the intake manifold in which the bi-metallic spring for the automatic choke is located on many versions. If the spring is not being heated properly, the choke will be slow to open or may not open completely leading to poor economy and much increased engine wear. I have seen new engines worn out in only one winter due to this problem. It is easy enough to monitor by starting the engine and then lifting the lid off the air cleaner. The choke plate is the large butterfly valve in the air intake of the carburetor and this should be mostly closed with a cold engine and open gradually until completely open when engine is only partially opened up.
If the choke is not engaging/closing, the engine will be difficult to start and keep running when cold but a partially closed choke may not be evident to the driver when engine is warmed up.
*Do not have face near the open air cleaner area when rev'ing the engine as a "pop-back" can produce a large ball of flame. I was tempted to joke here about there being nicer ways to trim one's eye brows but someone might not see the joke and be hurt.
4) By 1975, if memory serves, Chrysler had moved to their second generation electronic ignition which gave few problems but the earlier version had issues with the ignition ballast resistor burning out. These would often cause intermittent no start or driving issues which could be quite challenging to identify unless one was aware of the issue. Many owners of early 1970's Chrysler products carried a spare in the glove box as they could be temporarily changed without tools.
The second photo down shows the two element (also called 4 pin) ballast resistor. If yours looks like this, carry a spare as they are only a few dollars and just plug into the harness plugs. One doesn't have to bolt it into place for temporary use as long as it doesn't rest against something which could melt from the heat.
Hope this is helpful, packing for a long weekend so took short cuts with the post. Hope is conveys the information.
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