1991 Airstream Classic 350 le

[sraab928]

Well I went ahead and pulled the trigger and purchased (well to quote you guys made my down payment on) a 1991 Airstream Classic 350 LE. She’s got bumps and bruises but I look forward to being her next caretaker. Of course in true classic rv fashion she did not make the trip home. The antifreeze overflow catch can was brittle and started leaking like crazy and I think she had a clogged fuel filter. She did make it to the service station so there is that positive news. Look forward to sharing my trials and tribulations with her.

[Isuzusweet]

Well, on the positive side, you are a realist, will accept imperfections and understand these old Queens of the Road will have their moments.

Enjoy the first trip and try to get ahead of possible future calamities; ie, check condition of drive belts, water pump and coolant before setting out again.

Have you DOT'd your tires yet?

Cheers
Sidekick Tony

[sraab928]

It had just been serviced. New tires. New brakes. New belts , new hoses and new fuel pump and filter.

[jdalrymple]

Welcome to the club.

I also have a 91 350 LE.

A very nice way to travel.

A lot like a complex aircraft...every hour in the air means at least an hour on the ground.


Congrats and Good Luck !


Regards,


JD

[Waipio Rim]

Welcome to the group. I expect that you know what is wrong, but for what it’s worth the maiden voyages of our ‘84 and ‘90 coaches were interrupted with ignition problems. The first one had me believing that it was a fuel delivery problem. I was better prepared for the second one. Next time I’m taking a new distributor with me. Have faith, you will love it once you get it running reliably.

[sraab928]

If it would have made it home (i got close) I would have tried to fix myself. We have a large bridge to get onto our island and it just didn’t feel like it would make it up it. Hoping it’s just junk in the tank that clogged the filter. Hope to know more tomorrow. The coolant issue is an easy fix. Just needs a new overflow container. We are not discouraged just really wanted it home in my garage tonight.

[tevake]

Congrats on your new coach, and welcome to the fold.

Lots of helpful members here to aid you in getting your rig sorted.

Where did you start your trip home? You did get close.

My 345 has two fuel filters, one near the fuel pump near the tank, another on the fuel line just forward of the door.

My rig started spluttering and losing power recently. A new fuel pump and filters put it right. Mostly the pump, as the filters looked pretty clean.

Look forward to hearing of your progress.

Cheers Richard

[sraab928]

Originally Posted by tevake

Congrats on your new coach, and welcome to the fold.

Lots of helpful members here to aid you in getting your rig sorted.

Where did you start your trip home? You did get close.

My 345 has two fuel filters, one near the fuel pump near the tank, another on the fuel line just forward of the door.

My rig started spluttering and losing power recently. A new fuel pump and filters put it right. Mostly the pump, as the filters looked pretty clean.

Look forward to hearing of your progress.

Cheers Richard

Started in Daytona Beach. Made it Cocoa Fl (next town to mine). Had it not been for the bridge probably would have made it home. Ty for the heads up on the second filter. The previous owner only mentioned one.

[Boom Sounds]

Originally Posted by tevake

Congrats on your new coach, and welcome to the fold.

Lots of helpful members here to aid you in getting your rig sorted.

Where did you start your trip home? You did get close.

My 345 has two fuel filters, one near the fuel pump near the tank, another on the fuel line just forward of the door.

My rig started spluttering and losing power recently. A new fuel pump and filters put it right. Mostly the pump, as the filters looked pretty clean.

Look forward to hearing of your progress.

Cheers Richard

Fuel filters definitely the first place to look. If you have the TBI, you might find that the injectors are a bit sticky or have vacuum issues. Mine had intermittent loss of power, I had the TBI re-built and I've not had a single problem since. Cheap fix too. If you go down this route, you must get that throttle body of the vehicle and match the casting number to the re-build kit as they are several and they are subtly different. If you chuck your VIN through Compnine, it might give you the build sheet for your chassis - I found it useful, but not as useful as casting numbers. Safe travels.

[tevake]

I wonder if the rig had been sitting for a long enough period to make it worth while to change out the fuel, replace the filters.

The 91 350LE came with factory fuel injection, didn't it?
If so do you think running some injector cleaner in fresh fuel might be a good first step?

Tough time of year to get anything done.
sraab928 (is that a boat or a 90s Porsche GT car)

Wishing you the best in getting the coach home ASAP.

Cheers Richard

[sraab928]

Its a low mileage coach so anything is possible. Hoping the service center will get it sorted out.

Yes fuel injection (throttle body to be technical)
928 as in the Porsche. I used to own an 86.5 928s. Created this user name a long time ago and just stuck with it.

[Mike1997]

Congrats on the purchase.....she is a beauty!! There will be maintenance just like on any classic car over 25 yrs old. Its comes with the territory so just learn from mistakes others made (from here) and get ready for lots of attention from other RV folks

Hope to see you showing it off at the Airstream International Rally in Virginia next summer.

[sraab928]

I did tons of reading here before deciding to purchase - fully accept the purchase price is the down payment theory - Thankfully she will be garage kept and will receive the resto mod (plan on changing the rear bedroom around - will keep the stock pieces to return to original though) treatment from me.

[Boom Sounds]

Originally Posted by sraab928

Its a low mileage coach so anything is possible. Hoping the service center will get it sorted out.

Yes fuel injection (throttle body to be technical)
928 as in the Porsche. I used to own an 86.5 928s. Created this user name a long time ago and just stuck with it.

Not sure how well you know your way around the Rochester 220 throttle body, but i found these two sites to be a useful resource.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeoQdQVWhCI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HLCid1Sh6M&t=189s

I think Chris Craw and I have a very similar set up to you. One other thing worth highlighting is the ECM which sits under the steering column. It delivers you rudimentary OBD1 diagnostics. The diagnostics available via shorting using the 'paperclip method' can be significantly enhanced via a bluetooth dongle connected to a logging/data reporting system like ALDLdroid. Google the site if/when you want to know more, or drop me a line.

[sraab928]

Just got a call from the shop - they are running out of options - Getting good fuel pressure to the engine - 13 lbs - No codes - engine just falls flat when it hits 2800 rpm - they have one more thing they want to try (didn't say what) and then they are calling it quits -

[bkahler]

Have they replaced any parts in the distributor? I had issues with a brand new distributor I installed in my throttle body 454 conversion using all GM parts. My issues showed up while I had the engine still on the test stand. It would rev ok but the higher the revs the worse it sounded. I ended up replacing the ICM inside the distributor. About $35 for the part.

Brad

[sraab928]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Have they replaced any parts in the distributor? I had issues with a brand new distributor I installed in my throttle body 454 conversion using all GM parts. My issues showed up while I had the engine still on the test stand. It would rev ok but the higher the revs the worse it sounded. I ended up replacing the ICM inside the distributor. About $35 for the part.



Brad

I am not sure. They were a bit vague. It really feels like a fuel or vacuum issue to me. If I could get it home I’m sure I could figure it out.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by sraab928

I am not sure. They were a bit vague. It really feels like a fuel or vacuum issue to me. If I could get it home I’m sure I could figure it out.

My memory was faulty. My problem was just the opposite. Read post #638 in my restoration thread. My problem was from idle to about 2000 rpm it wanted to sputter and hesitate. Once above 2000 rpm it would run like a banshee. I would think it's possible for your ICM to being doing something similar with the problem occurring at the higher rpms.

Brad

[Boom Sounds]

Per previous post, if you are running out of options, i would look at the throttle body, gaskets and vacuum set up. I had a similar intermittent problem at high revs where i lost all power. I had no fault error code on the dash light reading.

I had the 220 Rochester rebuilt and replaced the vacuum lines, EGR valve etc. I am not sure what fixed the problem, but I know that particular service resolved the sag issue which I had struggled with for some time.
http://www.73-87chevytrucks.com/tech...TBISystems.pdf

It's possible that the bluetooth OBD1 diagnostics dongle might offer some additional clues. I understand that you are getting no fault lights on the dash. Has the garage monitored all the readings when it has been connected to an OBD1 computer at the same time as replicating the problem........or are they simply referring to the dash light error codes not being present?

I am no expert on the bluetooth OBD1 reader. I have played about with it and it seems to provide loads of data. Brad, Wayne or Chris Craw might be able to advise on whether it could provide you additional intelligence to aid fault finding. Obviously, there is no point in looking at this if the garage has already got the coach fully rigged up. I think Chris also had issues with his 91 TBI, I can't recall how he solved his issue, but it is probably somewhere on the site.

Good luck.

[Isuzusweet]

Yeah, you guys know what's coming.

Thank God I own a diesel.

Cheers
Sidekick Tony

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/hrdp...-combinations/