The 345 Is Ours!

[swebster]

Well I'm happy to report that we are now the very proud owners of a 1986 AS 345 MH. We saw her on the internet nearly three months ago and nows she's sitting in our driveway.

Many, many, many thanks to all of the forum members. I've been around a few RV's before but I can't imagine buying an AS without the advice and knowledge found on these pages. As soon as I did the walkthrough I knew she would be a keeper.

So far everything is working with a few notable exceptions:

Generator turns and tries to start but falters. Smells of stale gasoline. Priming with new gas and cleaning carb, plug, etc is a project for tomorrow.

Hot Water Heater will not ignite but the amount of rust on the inlet leads me to believe a good cleaning (and something that resembles a ground) might resolve this one too.

Even though the delivery to my local dealer was over 1000 miles towing a pickup truck (with no issues) she runs hot (210) with the occasional whiff of coolant. Going to start with a new thermostat and a flush as well as a good radiator cleaning. Any other suggestions would be appreciated as this is my most critical issue.

It appears from the amount of dirt, mouse droppings and spider webs that she sat for a while so we are cleaning everything and chasing down minor bugs here and there.

The best part about the day (besides becoming an AS owner) was during the B sticker inspection I had six mechanics working on it all at once. Only one was doing the inspection, the others came over to check it out. One ended up trying to get the generator started and two even tried polishing up some of the skin. What a response from guys who spend all day under high line SOBs!

We can't wait to take is camping this coming week.

[thenewkid64]

Congratulation Steven!

Welcome to the forum too.

The 210 degree temp is normal, it seems high but that is where they tend to run. Others can chime in here but it seems to be the nature of the beast. I know Alansd has added a water wetter and it has made a diffrence, but before you get too deep into the system I thought I would mention it.

Be sure to check the burner tube on the water heater. If spiders/wasps have built a nest it can cause the heater to not light.

The wiff of coolant could be a leak inside the coach. Due to the inferquent use heater cores are a high failure point. Also there is an Aux heater under the couch in some models and the water heater that is fed by engine coolant. This means you have coolant hoses running down the drivers side inside of the coach. I would check these spots first if you are smelling coolant.

Congrats again and welcome to the family!

[87MH]

On the genset - make sure you check out the points, They are cheap enough to replace.

210 degrees is normal for me during the summer, but I do intend to change out the thermostat to a cooler one as soon as I need to access the rest of front section.

If you need to get to the front of the engine for ANY reason, replace all of the belts so you have a baseline to work from. Changing out belts on the side of the road by yourself in the dark is no fun. (Personal experience, last Tuesday, one ton Ford diesel van, still have the burn marks on my left hand to prove it.)

Lots of good expertise here - don't reinvent the wheel if you don't have to!

[85MH325]

Congrats! Sounds like you've got all the right ideas. I concur with everyone else's inputs... coolant smells always eminate from the compartment under the couch... even after tightening all of the clamps and checking the hoses, ours occasionally had a faint whiff, but I could never find a leak... The 454 tends to run warm, especially in summer. CHANGE YOUR BELTS!!! There's nothing worse than a roadside belt change (voice of experience here too). Your radiator, dash air, and power steering pump will thank you for it! While you're at it, check your hoses (upper & lower radiator, and heater hoses) as well. They can be a challenge to change when you have the time, space and tools. An on-the-road change would be a nightmare!

Have a great time. The Classic motorhomes are just great. Getting your coach ready to go is half the fun in my book!

Roger

[PeterH-350LE]

Congrats on your 'new' rig. Did you name IT yet?
Don't forget the little water pump by-pass hose. It's so small and hidden, why mess with it....

[thenewkid64]

Peter,

Thats not nice...........................

Steven PM me, I will give you Peter's number so you can call him at 3:00 AM when the little hose breaks!

It is a weak point and one you do not want to have to change on a summer day.

Bypass hose 3.00, not breaking down in traffic on the way out of town, priceless.

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally posted by thenewkid64
Peter,

Thats not nice...........................

You are absolutely right, Brett.
I was working on my powersteering pump when my flashlight happened to hit that little hose. I saw coolant vapor deposits. Thats when I thought to myself, this is not nice, because it looked perfect from above

[thenewkid64]

I have decided that that little troublemaker will be a yearly maint. item for me. Cheap insurance.

[swebster]

Well, thanks everyone for all of the suggestions and making us feel so welcome. I just finished cleaning most of the coach (bath tomorrow - very scary gunk in there) and its looking good on the inside. I found the now deceased mouse (he literally had grey hair and had built himself a mansion under the fridge). I have no idea where his great grandchildren are.

I've decided that even though I never met the PO I really like him/her. So far I've found the following NEW and in the box components in cabinets and lockers; engine water pump, two coach water pumps, two sets of every belt (per everyone's advice they will be going on tomorrow), a fridge board, a new water heater board ???, windsheild wiper motor, various hoses, clamps and fuel lines and of course 15 quarts of oil and three oil filters. I really like this guy!

On the coolant issue I did notice some unfamiliar pluming under the couch so I'll start there with the coolant smells. Good to know they run at 210. Still on the check out mechanics advice I may replace the therm anyway (she's been sitting for a while) with a new one and see what happens.

And yes...I'll replace the bypass hose!

As far as a name I was thinking about "Mouse Dung" for a while, but then realized this would only make sense to me having cleaned up so much of it and other people might not talk to me much with a name like that.

My kids are currently engaged in a contest to name her. We have a few contenters but think we should take her out a few times before she's named for good.

Tomorrow is a big repair day so I'm sure you'll see some more posts from me. I also found a bad muffler so that has been added to the list as well. Looks like I'll need to get on a first name basis with my NAPA guy.

[74Argosy24MH]

If you are going to change the thermostat and bypasss, change the upper and lower hoses also. That will give you fresh antifreeze. If it sat who knows how old it is and how good it will be.

John

[ViewRVs]

Congrats and welcome to the group. I continue to be pleased that most new owners of these units sign on here. What a great community and resource this group is!

Just don't spill your guts and tell us something we can use against you later. We are merciless group! Oh, they talk tough most of them are scared to drive the 345's!

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally posted by swebster@myrvadvanta
.... I found THE now deceased mouse ....

[Pahaska]

on your new acquisition.

It is always a revelation to start digging through a new-old piece of machinery. Like the glider with the snake skin I once encountered. Sounds like you are well provided with spares.

[87MH]

Lots of threads have covered spare parts previously, but a spare starter is highly recommended.

You can get a rebuild for 30 or 40 bucks if you shop around.

They fail with an alarming frequency.