flagmanruss

There could be rubber connector on the indoard side of the firewall but there's no way to get to them or the actuator with out pulling the dash back. The actuator is out on my truck... has been for some time. Defrost is the default mode. ____ Poor Design.

The zone actuator is prone to failure but is a PITA to get to... Often vacune leaks are traced to the cruise control which is located under the driver's side battery. Vacume hoses are generally cheap... easiest to replace any questionable.

I'll give Mr Mouse a way out, Feet First! Trapped tripped overnight but not during today. I'm just back from a re-enactment... my job sitting in the shade at 90+ degrees. Sheila did all the set up in the sun! I've got to go out to the trailer & look for a clean period shirt... think I'll set another different trap.

I set a mouse trap under the kitchen counter last night. Wife couldn't wait to check this morning & sure enough caught a mouse overnight. She reports there is a poo trail from black PVC vent pipe to the trap. The question is, was the mouse already in the trailer interior or did it get in from the outside after we closed the square hole? Reset trap. Are there still more holes to plug? I couldnt really reach around the PVC tank vent... steel wool stuffed with long screw drivers. I have not inspected yet. There just isn't access. Thought about pulling the electrical pannel or even cutting an access hatch in the side of the kitchen counter (though there is not really much room to do that). --- Update to the previous post... OK, I went out & spent some time inspecting. (Found mouse trap tripped but no mouse. More poo between a heavy 3/4" electrical cable.) I reset the trap. Trap has a string to a cabinette knob to prevent it dissapearing down a hole. I don't see any more unsealed holes in the floor. It appears the black PVC tank vent steel wool packing is undisturbed. Under the counter, there is a bunch of wires that run from the panel into a generous hole in the outside wall a few inches above the floor. I think that the wall stands on the floor but there is just no way to know if there are holes that connect. The underside of the trailer is covered by mostly intact tough fabric membrane... but it blocks a lot of the view and the tankage blocks the rest. I don't know if I should steel wool or expanding foam but I've decided to seal around the wall around these wires. I could pull the AC/DC panel to try to get access under the counter, but it only gets a ~12 X 12 inch hole against the floor. I'm looking hard at a nice unblemished side panel on the counter. Too bad it does just unscrew to access. The INVERTER (120 V AC to 12 V DC) is on the wall backing up to this panel. The heavy electrical cable I mentioned first turns out to be a 3 wire insulated harness this Inverter. I don't plan on using said 'add on' unit & it appears to be disconnected behind the electrical panel. If I need AC where shore power is unavailable, I'd start the generator. If I remove this counter side panel, the INVERTER unit will have to be removed. I have a re-enactment this weekend... I hope to survive the heat & humidity... back to this next week.

The mouse sign was greatly reduced when I closed up the first hole. If closing this second hole does solve it I'll be very happy. I don't think I'll pat myself on the back until a week has gone by with no fresh sign... and Sheila did clean it all up... A nice square hole with 3 water lines running through it... a square patch even if in 3 pieces, looks much more workmanlike than the free-form maze under the tub. I have to complete & install that tub panel & a bit of trim... I suppose I'll tidy up some... but I don't want to pack all the tools up until I'm sure I'm done. (That would be a JINX & I already JINXed myself once this week... I know this because what I was trying to make happen didn't work out.)

In my experience, poison only works if the mice have no other food... ie they can not get out to get more food. If they can easily get in & out, I've seen them take the bait & store it... but not eat it. I used to work for a neighbor who ran a business from outbuildings... we moved a machine & found the whole base full of Decon. The first step is to try to block access then bait & trap. Mice do not like mothballs but must be in a closed space. I used them in boats & campers successfully but put them in a Dixie cup so after they dissolve you can retrieve the remains & air the place out. --- Update to the previous post... I test fitted the frame for the panel in front of the tub. Installed a couple of back up blocks to screw to. I hope to never remove it again. If I do, I'll not destroy it this time. Wife found more mouse sign in trailer. Was she surprised? The hole under the kitchen had not been closed... and she went to clean up mode again. I can't work if she cleaning & putting my tools all away. I tried to divert her to actually working on the problem. I got her to vacume the mouse stuff in & around the hole from the outside, through the electrical door. While she was getting the vacume, I made cardboard templates for a cover panel. After she was done with the vacume, I tried the templates. They seemed to fit tollerably. I stuffed steel wool to the best of my ability... beyond reach at furthest, used long screwdrivers to hopefully stuff them. I took plywood, drilled out the holes for the waterlines, required the square to be in 3 pieces. Very tough place to work, head & 1 arm in, legs half crouched, barely able to get power driver on the piloted screws. So the patch is holding the steel wool in place & closes the hole. I got it done but my legs were so spent I could barely get myself back in the house. (I don't walk far anyway with the MS.) But I got the hole plugged. YES!!! As far as I know, there are no more holes for the mices. We'll see.

I don't have a control panel like that, very nice. My 3 RV batteries are in a triangular box out on the trailer tongue... behind the propane. A real PITA to get to.Trojan (boats) did not have sea-***** (valves on the thru hull fittings). We always had fun with that one... usually as we were installing valves after the hose failed & perferably before the boat sunk.

Camper batteries with automatic chargers are pretty easy to boil dry and short out. They tend to get "neglected"... I don't think we appreciate what having the charger "on" all the time can do to the battery. The lights are obiviously not too much load so I think you are right an internal short on the battery is.This is a good lesson... all the rest of us will go our & check the water in our batteries today!My bro had an alternator fail, burned up the battery. You could smell the battery before he even shut it off. He showed up at the boat yard shop with it, popped the hood & we cut the cables off with bolt cutters. We left the battery sitting on the ground and 24 hours later was still too hot to handle.

I've been using the Cirrus. I'm convinced MPG is better with the mouse fluff & etc out of the duct work... but the MPG is still off. I haven't seen 100 yet but my MS does not like the high 90s w high humidity one bit. I don't have AC in the house living spaces... IF I had lower outside temps at night, I have a huge house fan that can bring the interior down near the outside temp... but the outside temp is 89 overnight. 80 is too hot for me (the heat interferes with nerve conduction... before MRIs they used to test for MS with a warm bath... if the patient's legs failed, it was postive!) The double sized attic vents just installed are working over time. A nephew has promised a deal on central AC when he gets a chance... but his business is not going to slow up as long as this heat lasts. I do have the old window AC from my former (business) shop installed in the walk out (half buried) lower level, so it's naturally cooler & the AC unit can just about keep it that way. It's unfinished but I got an old TV, my laptop, and old couch... Like everybody else, just trying to get through this...

Easy outs are hardened. So are taps but at least they have recesses you can get an improvised spanner into (sometimes). A good day is when I don't end up further behind than when I started! When I have a day going to CRAP!! I try not to do things which are critical, which might endanger life or limb, or for which replacement parts can not be obtained if I screw it up!SORRY about this. Some days yas can't win for losing.Today will be better.(Besides you are contributing to the economic recovery. The bucks you contribute to the machine shop will put people back to work!)

OK, here's my thought. The lights ought to run just fine as long as the battery lasts. Separate the 2 systems DC from AC. Shut off the charger/inverter. The battery powered lights should still work fine on battery power for a considerable period of time. I went off the grid for 10 days. We were sparing on the loads, did not use AC. We ran the fridge on propane. The lights should run a whole night on 1 battery. My Dad's sloop (sail boat) was on a mooring... we could run lights a couple of nights and still get the aux engine (Universal Atomic 4 flathead) started. OK, you've checked the voltage on both sides of the main fuse & swapped supply outlets... it does not seem to be AC supply.If the lights work fine on just battery, it has something to do with the interconnect (charger/inverter). If NOT, it's on the battery side. Question. Are the lights all on one circuit? Unlikely to have more than one bad breaker (and a breaker would not reset itself). My thinking is that the battery is NG. The inverter is carrying the load. These really short on/off/on/off cycles are like AC current cycles. From here, my guess is the inverter has failed.

I learned (from MTD dealer) that lawn equipment belts are non-standard. In fact a buddy got a nearly new MTD lawn tractor for a steal. The "mower shop" kept using auto store belts & they kept being thrown. The belts are SAE V angle... but the width of the pulleys are not, so the auto store SAE standard length belts ride at a different depth than the OEM... the Lawn Equipment manufactorers all do this. Ask me why I have a brand new OEM V belt hanging in the barn... right next to the auto store belt that I couldn't return. Gotta love it...

On something this big, I'd not take someone else's word on why the For Sale truck is not running. I'm not up on the later trucks but some CR injector failures melt pistons... (I'm sticking with the VP44... )

Yup, it's a "project" alright. At least you can understand what I'm talking about now. Hopefully, this will help someone else. Russ

I don't know about the rest but the rear discs were a mid-year change... My truck has rear discs: 2001 1/2... Do You have rear discs?

Tell us more about the system in your trailer. Lights are pretty simple & not generally demanding... should run on just the camper batteries & that is where I'd start. Are the batteries connected (check for dirty connections), charged... holding a charge?The lights on & off sounds like a thermal circuit breaker, going off & resetting... could be on the 12 V side... or on the 120 V side heating up a thermal protect breaker on the charging system... I would think this more likely if the battery was not connected/bad connection throwing the load onto the charger. Record breaking heat wave does not help. I would probably quickly check the voltage across the batteries with a simple multimeter. 12V or so (no charger), over 12 volts when charging. This will give more data & ideas of where to look. I would probably rule out the AC power coming to the trailer. I think if you had a bad power cord (the camper cords are pretty rugged, extension cords not necessarily), could be dropping the incoming voltage. A bad cord would probably trip the breaker on be building supplying the trailer. I have a camper polarity tester... plugs into an AC outlet... useful to detect wiring faulty in the AC supplied to the camper.Hope this helps,Russ

I've decided I'm going to use 3 wire lights on the camper, but the low profile lights for side markers are all 2 wire so I'm going to use 2 wire lights on the truck.Nice lights, BTW.Russ

Hi Guys, It's too late to view the hole under the tub/fridge where the plumbing comes through the floor "before" because I already screwed my patch pieces in but you can see the much more complex piping issues in the later photos. This is under the kitchen counter, viewed from the electrical access hatch... I pulled out all the camper power cord. The carpet was stapled down... This is what I found when I ripped up the carpet. Lot's of mouse sign & accorns... Obiviously the carpet is a NOT sufficient seal to keep mice out. Actually this will be easier to seal as there is only 1 tank vent (black pipe) on this side & the hole it goes through is a decent fit. I'll stuff with steal wool & seal that up as is. The square hole around the hot & cold water pipes, after stuffing with steel wool, will take a square of plywood cut into 3 pieces... holes drilled for the tubing. This is the other side of the camper, view from under the fridge looking at the bottom of the tub. A total maze of drains & supply pipes. I have stuffed with steel wool & sculpted plywood (after cardboard templates) & screwed down to secure. This view is from the tub side. I had to cut out some of the tub support to get access to the floor underneath. Again from the tub side, looking more under the tub. I'll have to replace section of the 2X4 tub support I removed. It will go on top of the plywood so I shaved it 1/2". It is pretty challenging for me to do with 1 good hand & must be done from the floor & then I have a heck of a time getting back up. I have to have all my tools & materials within reach before I lay down. Russ photos by Sheila

Our re-enacting group has had good success in camping with a special use permit on Army Corps lands... typically Federal Flood Control areas. The down side is when you get 3 days of rain, you're on your own to bug out. One place we were flooded out of... within sight & just upstream of the dam... holds back drainage for 144 square miles. Even after the rain stops, the water level rises for several days.

I'm confused too about the jamming of wood into the lifters. I understand why they must be pulled. I don't recall ever having solid lifters out... With hydraulics, a handy fingernail or at most a small screwdrive could engage the spring clip grove in a Hyd Lifter & lever it up enough to grasp. I'm assuming the hole in the lifter is just an oil passage or are you using a push-rod + diameter dowel to wedge in there? Inquiring minds want to know! Russ

OK, I fixed the title. I'm a bit clumsy with words. Glad someone's here to proof read. 'Nana' thinks all these kids are for her to spoil...

Wife will be going up in the morning... I'm planning to pass on this trip. 5 hours round trip, at least... It should be about Mother & baby... I don't travel well & my needs would be an uncomfortable distraction. There is another event here in the afternoon & that alone would be enough for me.Russ

Taking a break from playing with cannon stuff (post 4th July). Back to ToyHauler...Sizing up the water/vent lines problem through the floor under the kitchen sink. This afternoon I pulled the electric cord out of the compartment through the tiny outside hatch... unscrewed a plywood panel to get to the water lines. Yup, just a stupid piece of carpet stapled mostly over the hole in the floor (of course). Lots of acorns & mouse poo. The vent comes through the floor through it's own hole. I can calk around it... GREAT! Only if fat me can just get far enough in through that tiny door. I may have to pull the door frame to work. Not starting that today. There are also (3) 1/2" water lines through an 8" square. A patch, cut into 3 strips with holes will close it & screw down. This is a relief. The hardest part will be access. I put it back for now. She's out tonight. I dragged the shop vac out to the camper. I worked under the fridge & tub on the plywood patches I sculped previously. I had to fight to get them in & then back out to trim again. After a few passes, I think I have them in place. Now they need to be secured down. I need clearance drills for the patches & then self-tapping screws to secure them to the deck. The fit isn't perfect but the gaps can be stuffed with steel wool, dum dum or calk. I'm overheated & dripping sweat (certainly smell bad). Time to regroup.Russ

Well temps here were 90-95 humid degrees... with the direct Sun on a closed car, the temps inside just soar. Even when opening all the windows & trying to blow all the heat out... I think the hot metal & trunk just heat it right back up.On our house, our nephew just installed 3 new attic powered vents... twice what the square footage calls for... about 1/3 down the roof slope. (Yes, we had a gable end powered vent... which didn't cool enough. Switched to soffit & ridge vents without power, still the problem persisted.) We don't have AC in the living space... yet. Before we could blow cold outside air with a huge window fan through the house from our bedroom. But one can't sleep in a wind tunnel & soon after shutting that fan off, the room temp would rebound because the attic was unbelieveably hot. Since the new vents were installed, the vents shut off soon after dark (staggered set between 90-95). And the room temperature does not rebound noticeably. We can reduce the temp to just above outside temperature... depending on what that is & how much humidity... Our nephew has offered central air at cost, when their work slows down... gotta do it.Russ

With the HOT weather, I've really needed the AC (bad things happen to my MS if I get over heated). The MPGs totally tanked... and it seemed the AC was working but not really cooling the car very fast. I decided that I ought to drop the kick panel (includes passenger's side duct or I would have left it off) and drop the blower & check/clean out the cage & ductwork. I had trimmed the tab on the console side of the kick panel last time so only the duct holds it on there & just a ribbed plastic push lock on the right, grab & yank. 3 screws & 1/4" drive rachet drops the blower motor. There wasn't as much in the cage as I expected. I reached in & got a couple of small handfuls of debris, leaves & a little bit of insulation (mice ought to be running out of that stuff as I have removed all I can reach). At least there was no actual nest & no mice, dead or alive. I can barely reach the heater core & I tried to get any crap out of it by hand. I was able to barely get the end of the shop vac hose into the duct with my hand & turned down toward the bottom of the heater behind the resistor block. All together a wad about the size of a soft ball.I can reach up through the duct & feel the outside air / recirculate flapper (seems to be mechanical & works fine). I wish I could get into the cowel to screen the opening to keep the critters out. Now yesterday was not as HOT but I had to lock the car up in the Sun while I shopped & it seemed hot when I got back. I felt the car cooled much quicker and colder so I had to turn the AC down. My conclusion is that the AC was running all the time because of inadequate air flow... which neither cooled the car nor allowed the AC to cycle, wrecking MPGs. Then came the reassembly. One really needs 2 functioning hands to hold the blower motor up & start the screws. Unfortunately, my left side pretty much doesn't. After quite a few attempts & more choice verbage, I scrounged a 2x4 which I laid across the threashold & used my body weight to lever the motor to stay while I started the screws. Mission accomplished.I'll keep you posted.Russ