Community Forums

Owhiwa · 11-19-2017, 02:50 PM

Hi everyone - haven't posted for awhile as we've been bringing our RV "up to scratch" after waiting 9 months to get all the repairs etc done. It hasn't been a good experience, however, we now have it in use and it's WONDERFUL!

Unfortunately, the conversion to RHD done in Colton was not up to NZ standards and we had to spend an additional $18,000 to have it corrected.

In spite of the very low miles (20,000), it had severe fading on the sun side and had to all be restored. It looks great now and we are very happy with it.

One problem that has arisen is the fuel gauge is all over the place, showing empty, then half full, back to low - this is with a full tank of petrol.

This only seems to have happened since the solar was installed, so possibly a loose connection or is it be something requiring more investigation?

We'd be grateful for any suggestions.

Have a great day!

BFlinn181 · 11-19-2017, 05:44 PM

Most gas gauges use a variable resistor in the tank that is hooked to a float. The resistor is in the ground connection. If you have unreliable readings, start by cleaning all contacts at the tank and ground.

MartinP · 11-28-2017, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

Most gas gauges use a variable resistor in the tank that is hooked to a float. The resistor is in the ground connection. If you have unreliable readings, start by cleaning all contacts at the tank and ground.

Agree, the solar should not have caused an issue with the fuel gauge. Also check the connector at the back of the instrument cluster to see if it has come loose or perhaps has a little dirt or corrosion on one of the pins. When I picked up our motorhome from the body shop after the infamous deer incident the instrument cluster would loose all power on and off whilst driving home. I reseated the instrument cluster plugs and the problem resolved itself. The body shop was located on the western side of the Cascade Mountain range in Oregon which typically has a high average rainfall so was thinking that after sitting there idle for 6 weeks a little moisture may have gotten in to the connectors.

Owhiwa · 11-29-2017, 12:43 PM

Thank you both for taking the trouble to try and help. We will check the suggested things out. Might need an auto electrician if we can't isolate the problem. It's awful not knowing how much fuel is left!

MartinP · 11-30-2017, 06:51 PM

Say hello to Auckland for me.

Owhiwa · 12-01-2017, 12:04 PM

Hi Martin - are you from NZ? Quite a few American RV's in NZ now - we have our own American RV rallies etc. Main deterrent is getting them through our draconian regulations and making sure the width is o.k. i.e. the seatbelts are not deemed to our standard, even though thousands of USA RV'ers have the same belts, wipers are back to front, as are the headlights etc, etc.

However, having said all that, it was worth it - the comfort level is so high and this Rexair drives like a dream! We LOVE it!

MartinP · 12-01-2017, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Owhiwa

Hi Martin - are you from NZ? Quite a few American RV's in NZ now - we have our own American RV rallies etc. Main deterrent is getting them through our draconian regulations and making sure the width is o.k. i.e. the seatbelts are not deemed to our standard, even though thousands of USA RV'ers have the same belts, wipers are back to front, as are the headlights etc, etc.

However, having said all that, it was worth it - the comfort level is so high and this Rexair drives like a dream! We LOVE it!

Hi Owhiwa,
Yes, born and raised in Auckland. I'm so glad that you are having a great time with the motorhome and that you have your own club where you can meet people with the same interests. I am somewhat familiar with the pain of dealing with the NZDOT as I did import a 1981 Trans Am back in 1995. I would seriously consider taking our motorhome should I move back to NZ even knowing that I would have to jump through the same hoops as you.

Unplanned Tourist · 12-01-2017, 11:37 PM

Checking resistance on all the connections and wiring is the first step. If they all check OK, try shorting the wire that goes to the sender. The gauge should go to full if you touch the wire to ground (earth) momentarily.
How about some pictures of the RHD conversion?
Happy Glamping.

Owhiwa · 12-03-2017, 02:42 PM

Well, hello to a fellow Aucklander! Actually, the van sailed through Customs and Bio-security (van was fumigated prior to leaving California), without any problems.

In case you ever do want to bring one out......

The conversion was done by WDC Global Exports in Colton and was sadly not up to scratch in several ways, the main one being the brakes. They left the master cylinder on the left-hand side and installed a rod across to the brakes. This was very lightweight and our engineer wasn't having a bar of it, so it had to be replaced with a heavy duty one.

Because of the way they did the conversion, we had to have the front axle removed, sent off for machining to correct the wheel alignment (vehicle was "sledging") and re-installed. As you can imagine, this all cost a lot of $$$. ($14,000+).

I would now recommend to anyone to get the conversion done here. It's around $30,000 up here in Whangarei, which seems a lot compared to NZD 22,000 we paid to get it done in the USA, but when you factor in all the remedial work that had to be done, works out cheaper to do it here.

Headlights have to be replaced and also the wipers unless they are universal. These are minor things though. Overall, it was a stressful few months, but in retrospect, well worth it.

BTW the entrance door can stay on the RHS - unlike Aus, where it has to be moved to the LHS - and our width allowance has been increased to 2.55m. You need an HT licence to drive a rig over 6000kg here as well.

We haven't had to convert the 110v system either - not compulsory.

Large US RV's sell for big $$ here, even older ones, (we bought pre-1996 to circumvent the frontal impact and exhaust emission requirements - pre-1996 are exempt from these tests.

In spite of the hiccups, we'd do it again, armed with the knowledge we now have. The USA knows how to build motorhomes - it's much admired by everyone.

We plan to do the South Island for an extended trip next year - yeehah!

Cheers

Owhiwa · 12-03-2017, 02:53 PM

Thank you so much for your input - scary not knowing how much fuel you have left!

Unfortunately, I haven't worked out how to load photos - hope someone can give me some guidance.

Cheers, Ava