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Mike Leary · 12-10-2008, 02:52 PM

Hmm, they went cheapo in '84? Does the front of the d.h. come out when the radio is removed, or is it all one-piece? In which case, you guys with '84 and on are screwed. Hard to believe.

Mike Leary · 12-10-2008, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bkahler

Our Classic 454 only has 10,000 miles on it and it runs like a top!

Get some miles on!

djurgensen · 12-10-2008, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Leary

Clic on my pic to enlarge; that's the same doghouse..diesel or gas. I've not heard of a fibreglass d.h.
All hoses can be changed, as well as belts from above. About time for a valve job on your 454.

There does appear to be another piece of sheet metal that can be removed along with and attached to the hinged portion of the dog house. I can see it from below from the engine compartment held in place with small bolts from above... underneath the radio deck.

That makes perfect sense. Whodathunkit? Apparently AS did! That extra 12-16 inches of access from above will be HUGE!

dick jurgensen

bkahler · 12-10-2008, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Leary

Hmm, they went cheapo in '84? Does the front of the d.h. come out when the radio is removed, or is it all one-piece? In which case, you guys with '84 and on are screwed. Hard to believe.

Working under or in the dash of our 84 really sucks. I can see where having something like you have would make a huge difference.

Now you're making me jealous

.

Brad

bkahler · 12-10-2008, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Leary

Get some miles on!

We're hoping to this summer and my fingers are crossed

bkahler · 12-10-2008, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djurgensen

There does appear to be another piece of sheet metal that can be removed along with and attached to the hinged portion of the dog house. I can see it from below from the engine compartment held in place with small bolts from above... underneath the radio deck.

That makes perfect sense. Whodathunkit? Apparently AS did! That extra 12-16 inches of access from above will be HUGE!

dick jurgensen

Dick,

It sounds like the dog house cover in your 79 is configured like our 74. Do you have the radio stand like Mike has in his 83?

Brad

Mike Leary · 12-10-2008, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djurgensen

That makes perfect sense. Whodathunkit? Apparently AS did! That extra 12-16 inches of access from above will be [B]HUGE[

I'll take a extra rivet or 5 karma choices.

345bill · 12-10-2008, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bkahler

Bill,

Would you happen to have a picture of the front of your engine with the radiator out? I would like to see the physical arrangement of the serpentine system.

Also, what is the function of the top air pump?

Thanks!

Brad

Brad-
1.No I didn't take any pics., but with these senior years flying by I'm realizing to start taking pics. of everything. If needed I could send you a verbal description of complete belt arrangement.
2.According to sticker on (stock) air cleaner this vehicle complies to State of California Emmision Regulations which leads me to believe this is where the top air pump gets involved. The hoses that actually come off the rear of the pump go to two rectangular canisters, on the rear of each valve cover, then to pipeing going to each exaust manifold. I think the lower smog hose joins in the right side rectangular canister. I'm guessing that this set-up is probably limited to California mfg. vehicles.
The thing I'm sure of is all of this crap takes up room under the dh that we dont have to begin with.

djurgensen · 12-10-2008, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bkahler

Dick,

It sounds like the dog house cover in your 79 is configured like our 74. Do you have the radio stand like Mike has in his 83?

Brad

Mine looks exactly like Mike's thumbnail of the dog house. Once taken off/apart, it is going to look a lot like your pic of the Argosy versus the classic.

Bill, I suspect that I could have taken the radiator out from above but it would have been a very odd angle and I would have had to remove the shroud first and that would have been a real PITA. Plus the radiator is very very heavy. Dropping it straight down seemed to be the way to go and I thought that I had sufficient clearance to remove it that way. I can also use a jack to re-attach. The radiator seems to be in good shape. My AS only has 40000 miles on it so the radiator is hardly broken in.

There is a small cylinder shaped gizmo (2" Dia by 4" long maybe )that is attached to the top of one of the studs that holds the thermostat in place. It is a 12 volt device of some sort that has two vacuum lines attached to the back and a place for 1 vacuum line (long since gone) on the front. It is rusty with no identification on it. Some sort of emissions control? Any idea? Mike gets his extra rivet if he can correctly identify.

dick

Mike Leary · 12-10-2008, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djurgensen

Any idea? Mike gets his extra rivet if he can correctly identify.

Most coaches came with a water temp sensor, worked not very well.Had a buzzer on the dash. I'll take my #5 rivet now.

djurgensen · 12-10-2008, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Leary

Most coaches came with a water temp sensor, worked not very well.Had a buzzer on the dash. I'll take my #5 rivet now.

No this seems to be vacuum activated valve or relay of some sort. It has no way of sensing temp that I can see. You may have to give up a hard earned rivet. Sorry.

dick

Mike Leary · 12-10-2008, 08:28 PM

Does the automatic step work when the door opens? There is a relay to the dash indicating that.

djurgensen · 12-10-2008, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Leary

Does the automatic step work when the door opens? There is a relay to the dash indicating that.

The automatic step works... but I don't think that it is reflected in any way on the dash. When the door is closed but not locked, a dash light flashes. I can trace the vacuum lines to see where they go. That might help.

dick

345bill · 12-11-2008, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djurgensen

Mine looks exactly like Mike's thumbnail of the dog house. Once taken off/apart, it is going to look a lot like your pic of the Argosy versus the classic.

Bill, I suspect that I could have taken the radiator out from above but it would have been a very odd angle and I would have had to remove the shroud first and that would have been a real PITA. Plus the radiator is very very heavy. Dropping it straight down seemed to be the way to go and I thought that I had sufficient clearance to remove it that way. I can also use a jack to re-attach. The radiator seems to be in good shape. My AS only has 40000 miles on it so the radiator is hardly broken in.

There is a small cylinder shaped gizmo (2" Dia by 4" long maybe )that is attached to the top of one of the studs that holds the thermostat in place. It is a 12 volt device of some sort that has two vacuum lines attached to the back and a place for 1 vacuum line (long since gone) on the front. It is rusty with no identification on it. Some sort of emissions control? Any idea? Mike gets his extra rivet if he can correctly identify.

dick

dick- fwiw the cruise control (servo?) is located near there. it is cable driven w/vacuum lines and 12v. wiring. i say near there because the top air pump extends over the thermostat housing on mine.

djurgensen · 12-12-2008, 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 345bill

dick- fwiw the cruise control (servo?) is located near there. it is cable driven w/vacuum lines and 12v. wiring. i say near there because the top air pump extends over the thermostat housing on mine.

Bill.... that might be. I trace two vacuum lines back to the carb and think that the front "vacuum" line, long since gone, might not be a "vacuum" line at all.... very rusty. Could be a cable line. You may have something here.

I'll keep digging around. Sure am happy to have more access to the engine from above. Makes life almost tolerable.

dick

Mike Leary · 12-12-2008, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djurgensen

Sure am happy to have more access to the engine from above. Makes life almost tolerable.

I prolly would have had the same problem had not a AS dealer that was going
out of business given me the factory manual. Whew!

djurgensen · 12-13-2008, 06:27 AM

Well now... I get it all back together again, feeling like I have climbed a mountain and lived to tell about it and when I begin to put antifreeze in to get things actually running again and to observe the great work that my new WP and hoses and thermostat are going to do, I realize that I have numbeous smalll pin holes in the skin of the radiator.. caused by scraping against things on the way out and back in position.

Wow!!! What a pain. I have taken a perfectly usable 30 year old radiator and perhaps ruined it. Everything else looks good though (gallows humor).

I could have easily protected the radiator with cardboard cutouts taped to it to protect it from scrapes. Live and learn. I don't look forward to pulling the rad again. Any ideas for a super good radiator leak stopper???

dick

3Ms75Argosy · 12-13-2008, 09:38 AM

Dick, I'd just bite the bullet and replace the radiator. The cooling strains that you're MH will have in the summer isn't worth the breakdown on the road on a trip... nor an expensive overhaul due to overheating....

I hate the idea of stopleak "stopping" somewhere I don't want it too either...

Besides, a 30 yr radiator is about due anyway.
sorry!
Marc

Mike Leary · 12-13-2008, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3Ms75Argosy

Dick, I'd just bite the bullet and replace the radiator. The cooling strains that you're MH will have in the summer isn't worth the breakdown on the road on a trip... nor an expensive overhaul due to overheating....

I agree, both the diesel and the 454 run a little hot anyways. The plus side is you're pretty good at doing the job, now.

I did get my Land Rover across Canada with oatmeal in the cooling system, but I was young, broke and lucky.

345bill · 12-13-2008, 10:47 AM

Dick- Mark couldn't of said it any better. As far as I could tell mine was original so while I had it out I took it to the local radiator shop and he installed a brand new core, Made In USA, for $375.86. It wasn't leaking but he did point out some weak spots. According to my temp. guage it now runs almost 10 degree's cooler which is humungus, especially living here in the desert.