My new project - Argosy 24'

[mprokop87]

That's a great idea! Now if I can get the darn leaf blower fired up I'll give it a shot.

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by mprokop87

As far the engine goes, the carb is fairly new (was replaced just before the beast was parked).

How long has it been since you parked it?

With the ethanol in the gas now it doesn't take very long to mess up a carburetor, 3 months without problems is wishful thinking (can be worse with high humidity).

[mprokop87]

Originally Posted by Wazbro

How long has it been since you parked it?

With the ethanol in the gas now it doesn't take very long to mess up a carburetor, 3 months without problems is wishful thinking (can be worse with high humidity).

It was parked 8-10 years ago and I purchased it in November of 2012. I usually run it a few times a week so I can move it around the yard to make it easier to work on. Haven't been having issues up until now.

[WineStream]

That was my story before carb rebuild, too. It was starting hard for months. Then, one day, it just wouldn't start. Period. I had the carb rebuilt, drained the oil and about a quart of gas from the oil pan, refilled and she started on the first rollover.

[mprokop87]

Originally Posted by WineStream

That was my story before carb rebuild, too. It was starting hard for months. Then, one day, it just wouldn't start. Period. I had the carb rebuilt, drained the oil and about a quart of gas from the oil pan, refilled and she started on the first rollover.

I'll give it a shot. Hopefully later this week I can get all of my other parts in and then maybe this weekend I can start to take apart the original carb.

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by mprokop87

It was parked 8-10 years ago and I purchased it in November of 2012. I usually run it a few times a week so I can move it around the yard to make it easier to work on. Haven't been having issues up until now.

If you haven't filled the tank recently you might want to try fresh gas before you go through the effort of rebuilding the carb.

[bkahler]

Wazbro, that's a good point.

Matt, you might try using a 5-gallon gas can to feed from with fresh gas to see if the problem goes away. Easy and cheap way to isolate the problem.

Brad

[mprokop87]

So I didnt get too far this weekend. I've been having a fuel delivery issue ever since I swapped the fuel pump so I decided to take it apart again. I found the issue which was that the push rod is stuck in the engine block. There must have been some dirt on it or that the new fuel pump has so much force pushing back that the push rod was mushroomed out at the end. I should have just replaced it when I bought the new fuel pump but I didn't. I am working on making an extraction tool at work that will allow me to grab down on the push rod and pull it out. It is stuck in such a way that I cannot get vice grips or any other tool that I own in there. Cross your fingers!

[bkahler]

Matt,

Something doesn't sound right. From your description it sounds like the mushroomed end is the one that rids on the camshaft. Is that correct?

I can't figure how you could have got the fuel pump installed without the lever being in the right place. Needless to say I'll be real curious as to what the pin looks like. What does the lever on the pump look like?

Brad

[mprokop87]

So it has been a busy past couple of weeks but I managed to fit in some Argosy time. Last weekend I was cleaning up the Argosy and I also finished the plumbing. All new PEX with $100+ in fittings. I also took out the furnace to clean it out and try to repair it. Looks like I need a new igniter, mine is shorted. If I pull the wires off of it, it still throws a spark so that eased my mine a bit. In the process of cleaning it I found a bunch of mud wasp nests that were a bit tricky to get out but they are gone.

Today I got the fuel pump pushrod unstuck form its cavity in the block and bought a new one. The new one slid right in with no force necessary (the way its supposed to work!). After putting the fuel pump back on and connecting all the lines, I primed the carb but using my handy vacuum pump to suck up some gas from the tank. Ready to start it, so I turned the key and NOTHING. Well once I jumped it with my truck it turned over just fine. 2 cranks and it was running. The sticky push rod and old fuel pump must have had the right combination of issues to make it run fairly crappy. There was plenty of power too, managed to spin the wheels in the drive. Oops.

Not so big news is that I finally bought a side post battery for it. My dad found it sitting at the junk yard, only a year old. Next time I see him I will grab it and hopefully it will start the Argosy. I think it will because it is an 850CCA battery and I have been using my boat battery which is a 650CCA that turns over a 350ci V8. Plus my truck has a 975CCA that turns over a 488ci V10.

Monday is a big day, my fridge is scheduled to arrive at the FedEx warehouse. I found a use Norcold 6062 that was located about 4 hours away. It has an electrical issue ( I have the schematics so I hope I can fix it, not much to them). I was going to drive and get it but the round trip wold have run me $120 or more in gas plus a day of my time. For $150 fedex got to put up with it. The best part about it, the guy only wanted $100 for the fridge. Once I get it installed I will get some pictures. The pictures that I have seen show that it is in really good shape inside and out. It has one cracked piece of plastic but I found replacements on line.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by mprokop87

So it has been a busy past couple of weeks but I managed to fit in some Argosy time. Last weekend I was cleaning up the Argosy and I also finished the plumbing. All new PEX with $100+ in fittings. I also took out the furnace to clean it out and try to repair it. Looks like I need a new igniter, mine is shorted. If I pull the wires off of it, it still throws a spark so that eased my mine a bit. In the process of cleaning it I found a bunch of mud wasp nests that were a bit tricky to get out but they are gone.

When you reinstall make sure you buy one of the mud dauber screens. Those buggers seem to get everyhere.

Suburban mud dauber screens

Get one for the water heater while you're at it.

Atwood mud dauber screen

Today I got the fuel pump pushrod unstuck form its cavity in the block and bought a new one. The new one slid right in with no force necessary (the way its supposed to work!). After putting the fuel pump back on and connecting all the lines, I primed the carb but using my handy vacuum pump to suck up some gas from the tank. Ready to start it, so I turned the key and NOTHING. Well once I jumped it with my truck it turned over just fine. 2 cranks and it was running. The sticky push rod and old fuel pump must have had the right combination of issues to make it run fairly crappy. There was plenty of power too, managed to spin the wheels in the drive. Oops.

Now that's good new! Sounds like it's rarin to go

Not so big news is that I finally bought a side post battery for it. My dad found it sitting at the junk yard, only a year old. Next time I see him I will grab it and hopefully it will start the Argosy. I think it will because it is an 850CCA battery and I have been using my boat battery which is a 650CCA that turns over a 350ci V8. Plus my truck has a 975CCA that turns over a 488ci V10.

A year old battery should be a good deal. I'd give it a full charge before trying to use it.

Monday is a big day, my fridge is scheduled to arrive at the FedEx warehouse. I found a use Norcold 6062 that was located about 4 hours away. It has an electrical issue ( I have the schematics so I hope I can fix it, not much to them). I was going to drive and get it but the round trip wold have run me $120 or more in gas plus a day of my time. For $150 fedex got to put up with it. The best part about it, the guy only wanted $100 for the fridge. Once I get it installed I will get some pictures. The pictures that I have seen show that it is in really good shape inside and out. It has one cracked piece of plastic but I found replacements on line.

For $30 it's definitely worth letting someone else mess with transporting it!

Nice to see you're making some progress getting it ready for the road. I wish mine was that close to being ready...

Brad

[mprokop87]

Brad,
My goal is to have it drivable this month... never said usable. Today I took apart the section where the fridge sits to find a huge mouse house that stained the floor with mouse pee. Well I cut it all out and find that my step was also rotted.











I've got the floors all cleaned out and I managed to put in a new sub floor under the fridge but my drill bits broke so I had to run out to get more. That put a stop to the work for the day. Hopefully I can finish it up tomorrow and put the fridge in Tuesday.

[bkahler]

Boy does that mess look familiar! You've definitely got some water leak issues that need to be dealt with.

You mentioned that the fridge had an electrical problem. Will you be able to trouble shoot it after it's installed?

[mprokop87]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Boy does that mess look familiar! You've definitely got some water leak issues that need to be dealt with.

Yes there is, the fridge access panel! The previous owner busted the latch when he removed his old fridge so its been exposed to the great outdoors for the past 2 years. The water would run in along the wall and then down the step. The floor under the fridge was rotted near the wall but was solid about 13inches in. I poured some water/bleach all over everything to get out some of the pee smell (smelled like an outhouse at a tractor pull) and that seemed to work well. I will post more pictures once I get it put back together.

Originally Posted by bkahler

You mentioned that the fridge had an electrical problem. Will you be able to trouble shoot it after it's installed?

I should be able too. I helped my dad do a repair on his Dometic in his 97 Innsbruck and it was easily accessible. I wont put it in permanently until its fixed or I am 100% sure I can take it apart in place.

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by mprokop87

I poured some water/bleach all over everything to get out some of the pee smell

That's a bit dangerous bleach and ammonia (in the urine).

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Wazbro

That's a bit dangerous bleach and ammonia (in the urine).

Care to expand on that statement?

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by mprokop87

Yes there is, the fridge access panel! The previous owner busted the latch when he removed his old fridge so its been exposed to the great outdoors for the past 2 years. The water would run in along the wall and then down the step. The floor under the fridge was rotted near the wall but was solid about 13inches in. I poured some water/bleach all over everything to get out some of the pee smell (smelled like an outhouse at a tractor pull) and that seemed to work well. I will post more pictures once I get it put back together.

Your Argosy must have the later style fridge access panel with louvers in it. The earlier Argosies had a solid hatch cover and for ventilation there was a floor opening with a screen to keep the larger critters out.

I should be able too. I helped my dad do a repair on his Dometic in his 97 Innsbruck and it was easily accessible. I wont put it in permanently until its fixed or I am 100% sure I can take it apart in place.

Sounds like a plan

Brad

[mprokop87]

So I got my fridge today and I am rather excited. Cosmetically it is in pretty good shape. There are a few dings but overall great shape its age. The handle that locks the door shut is busted because it was hit while being taken out. Luckily I found replacements on ebay!

Norcold Replacement Door Parts- Ebay

I got the stand for the fridge all made up out of 2x4s and put the fridge in its place for a quick dry fit. Well, it turns out that I can access everything that I need from the access panel on the outside of the motor home. I took out the power supply board and found the issue pretty quick, R4.



As you can see from the picture, R4 is TOAST! The connector for the control lines (upper left) is also twisted and one of the feet is broken, probably from removal from the previous RV. The resistor created an open circuit on 120VAC side so there is no power getting anywhere. I posted a link to the manual and parts list in the fridge section of the site, link below. Unfortunately the color bands are burnt off of the resistor and the parts list does not list the resistor characteristics.

From what I could find by looking at boards on ebay the resistor is a 20k ohm +/-5%. I will see what we have lying around work and hopefully I can find something. From my calculations I should get something that can withstand a few watts to be on the safe side.

Cross your fingers that this will fix it!

Norcold 6000 series manual/PL

[bkahler]

Matt,

Good job of troubleshooting the board! Any idea what could have caused the resistor to cook like that?

If that board turns out to be non-fixable then check out this
Dinosaur 618661 replacement board. Only $76.

I've heard good things about them and even bought one of their boards for my Suburban furnace.

Brad

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by Wazbro

That's a bit dangerous bleach and ammonia (in the urine).

Originally Posted by bkahler

Care to expand on that statement?

It is fairly common knowledge that chlorine (which is in bleach) and ammonia (which is in urine), when combined can create poisonous gas. Someone on this forum reported having one of these chemical reactions when using bleach to cleanup mouse urine in their trailer.