THSCC Forums

Ricky noticed some stuff with the bus and thought it should be checked out before the event this weekend, so I checked it out today.

It doesn't like to start any more because whatever senses if it is in gear isn't working right. I had to put it in "N" and move the selector back and forth a bit before I found the right spot and the starter cranked. On my other bus, this sensor is inside the steering column, so someone may need to open that up and twist a couple of wires together. It will work, but like many things in life, you may have to wiggle it a little bit. If you use it as a getaway vehicle for a bank robbery, then be sure to leave it running. I'll get to it eventually, but be aware of it.

The trailer tires were bad. One was pretty new, and that one was good, and three were pretty old. One had a big lump in the tread with the rubber around the tread blocks split open, another was bald on the edges, and another had a lot of little cracks in the rubber. I replaced three of them today, so we should be good to go.

Tires start to experience accelerated deterioration about five years after they are manufactured, regardless of miles. I've seen it on the RV; after 5 years they need to be replaced or they will start to fail, even if they still have plenty of tread left. Going forward, we should replace then when they hit the six year mark, even if they still look okay.

All tires were low on air, engine and trans oil was about a quart low each, and coolant was good. I pumped up and topped off everything.

I'm thinking that we should have a pre-use checklist that we perform every time that we use the bus. It should only take a few minutes to check the air in the tires and check the fluid levels (coolant/trans/engine), so I don't see it as too much of a burden for whomever is driving the bus. I can make that and put it on a clipboard if you guys want to use it. I don't actually use the bus, so I'll go along with whatever you guys want to do, but I would like to see it operate reliably.

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"Every ship is a minesweeper, once."

Roger:

I'll take responsibility to do this before I drive it since I seem to drive it for AX most of the time. I actually thought about checking the trans fluid at the last event, but forgot in my exhaustion.

In this case the life I save may be my own so I will make sure to check it prior to takeoff

Rob

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1990 Faded Reddish CSP Lite Miata
2002 Electron Blue Corvette Z06
2005 Mazda 6 Wagon
2003 Nissan Pathfinder DTV (Dog Transport Vehicle)

That switch you refer to is a "neutral safety switch." Just know that when they start to fail like this, they *usually* only work for so long with the wiggle method before they stop working at all. So it *may* ultimately leave someone stranded if not fixed.

Also note they can be anywhere from the shifter mechanism to the inside of the transmission itself. The latter was the case on my 1970 Corolla (yes, I had a f'n automatic Corolla once...worst driving experience of my life). Had to shimmy my then VERY SKINNY ass under the car with a flashlight in my mouth, a wire connector and pliers in my hand, and having memorized which two wires it was going into the plug into the transmission.

Jumped that POS out completely and forgot all about it.


--Donnie

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My Blog

This one looks like it's bolted to the side of the transmission. It looks easy enough to get to.

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"Every ship is a minesweeper, once."

I always check everything before setting off. Once you're on the road, it's a lot harder to fix anything.

For the record, the parking pawl doesn't always work either.

So we may just need to tighten up the transmission linkage.

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"Every ship is a minesweeper, once."

Camper AC didn't work this weekend.

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2012 MX-5 Sport SUV

I checked it out today and it's blowing 47-degree air as I type this. Did it get rapidly power cycled? Based on what I've seen from portable electric units, the compressors will get into an overpressure condition and shut down if they are unexpectedly power cycled. I saw it a lot with the window unit in my Targa Southland car. If that happens, then you need to turn it off and leave it off for a bit in order for the refrigerant pressure to bleed off and then turn it on again.

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"Every ship is a minesweeper, once."

I think that is what happened as the events leading up to the event caused repeated power cycling.

Glad its not serious.

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1990 Faded Reddish CSP Lite Miata
2002 Electron Blue Corvette Z06
2005 Mazda 6 Wagon
2003 Nissan Pathfinder DTV (Dog Transport Vehicle)

Good call, that likely could have happened.

Its also possible that it was just too goddamn hot for the thing.

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2012 MX-5 Sport SUV

Yep, the bus is a greenhouse. At the hottest part of the day yesterday it only got down to about 80. I sat in it with a fan blowing on me at 80 degrees and it was tolerable, much better than the 104 it was at without the AC.

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"Every ship is a minesweeper, once."