ok...finally got 2 days off in a row...(with 72 hrs notice) and decided to do a shake down on our "new" 1995 Rexhall. First need to evac and recharge the A/c because it was showing all the signs of having moisture contamination...new drier from Oreilly, 3.5 cans of R-134a from Wallyworld...done....getting 35 degree drop ( compared to ambient) from vents now ( was 15).
I actually drove the bus over to Oreilly when i picked up the drier to compare, and i left it running outside with the DW inside...after 15 minutes in the store she came running in hollering that the bus was overheating. Thankfully it was just at the top of the operating range ( 225-230ish).
So I grabbed 3 gallons of "green" concentrate, 3 gallons of distilled H2O, a new "fail-safe" 195 thermostat, and a back flush kit.
Well I found some gloppy crap in the overflow bottle, obvious remnants of DEXCOOL.....but it appeared to be mostly green coolant in there.....so i captured all the old coolant and flushed the block for 30 minutes or so. 5 Fresh gallons of homemade coolant ( 70/30 mix with boil at 260), new thermostat....temps are good.
So minor setbacks aside....ready to go...Made reservations at a KOA Krampground about 100 miles away. ( I Know...too much distance and too little time...but this was just a systems shakedown).
So I dont have an easy drive in any direction from here.....and of course I chose the hardest.
100 miles of Interstate, with an elevation change of 3800 feet in the first 40 miles ( 3200 MSL to 7000 MSL). And it is 105F when we leave! So the dash A/C stays off, and the generator and roof tops go "on"!
I was watching the newly installed mechanical triple gauges like a hawk...but the old Rex is a trooper......the factory gauge made it to the top of the operating range, the other showed me a solid 225.....the whole way up.....we did get down to 40 mph at times...and she wanted to drop to second gear a few times....i kept it in 3rd most of the way ( with pedal manipulation) and the temp never went higher.
We got to the KOA about an hour before sunset, easy quick hook up with only one hitch.
I apparently have to re-tape a connection into the water inlet valve ( guess what got left home...tools).
so to keep from wasting the KOA's truck hauled water with a leak from my inlet valve...I filled my tank halfway and shut the valve. ( did i mention i hadn't run the house pump aside from sanitizing...a few months ago?)
Luckily the pump makes great pressure! the new Dometic 320 is great, the holding tanks work as they should, and an ice cold Sam Adams is perfect after a long day behind the wheel....all in all...a good shakedown.
So 200 miles in the books....systems.. nominal....and 7.8 MPG over the course of the short run. Not to shabby for a 19 year old rig climbing almost 4000 feet!
Linear Mode
