Where is the diagnostic connector on an '88 Southwind

[atikovi]

On this recently purchased motorhome the check engine light is on and it almost stalls under even light acceleration. Idles and starts fine though. Where would the connector be? It's Chevy p30.

[4Knights]

Welcome to the forum, glad you found us. Post pictures, ask questions and answer the ones you can

Down low by the steering column, little plastic cover over it, otherwise right up under the dash on drivers left knee

[atikovi]

OK thanks, I check.



Also it's got like a hula skirt under the back bumper. Is that for grounding static electricity? Can I remove it? Looks a bit ugly to me.

[KIX]

The "hula skirt" is for reducing wet road water misting when driving. Ever followed a semi truck in the rain?

[atikovi]

A semi has the rear tires right at the back of the trailer. Here they are 10 feet under. Plus there are mud flaps. I can see if I was towing something it may reduce rock chips.

[4Knights]

They could also be old fashion brush guard to prevent rocks from damaging tow vehicle or vehicles behind the rig.

[KIX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atikovi A semi has the rear tires right at the back of the trailer. Here they are 10 feet under. Plus there are mud flaps. I can see if I was towing something it may reduce rock chips.

I didn't say that it worked or that you need it but that was the original intent of the grass skirts. UPS semi truck vehicles used them (maybe they don't anymore). No, it's not for "grounding static electricity?"

[Kurmudgeon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atikovi On this recently purchased motorhome the check engine light is on and it almost stalls under even light acceleration. Idles and starts fine though. Where would the connector be? It's Chevy p30.

A chassis that old may not have a connector. If it does, it will likely be an ALDL and not an OBD connector. ALDL was intended for assembly line use only, and required you to hook certain pins together and count the number of blinks of the "check engine" light. To make it even more confusing, the pattern of blinks means different things for different models. It's not very user friendly.

It might be quicker and a whole lot easier to have a good mechanic diagnose it based on the symptoms, then reset the light.

JP

[Dave78Chief]

In 88 you should still have a carburator plus a H5D A.I.R system. The Check Engine Light (CEL) at that point was related to the A.I.R system. They did not move to OBD1 until they started EFI. Download the Chevy P30 Service manual and go to pdf page 197 for a description and troubleshooting of the H5D A.I.R. system
http://www.bdub.net/manuals/P30/P30.pdf

Dave

[atikovi]

Yes it has a carb and A.I.R. Any thoughts on just removing the air pump and hoses and pluging the ports?

[frankdamp]

Taking off the AI system and plugging the ports may not help. A friend who worked for Ford in the late 80's said that the AI system needed more unburned hydrocarbons in the exhaust manifolds to work properly, so the carbs were deliberately jetted richer than normal to provide it. He reckoned all the US manufacturers had to do it on their big engines, to avoid the expense of converting to EFI. I've never heard anyone confirm or deny that story, but the outrageously high manifold temps and the poor gas mileage tend to confirm it.

Certainly, on our old Ford 460, I took all that crap off and the only visible difference was more black smoke when you put your foot down. I didn't have a smog test issue, as it's not required in the area where we live. I couldn't sell the rig to anyone who did live in a smog test zone, but managed to unload it to someone not too far away.

Had we kept it, I was considering getting a carb off an early 70's 429 or 460, whoch weren't set too rich.

[pwf16129]

i'm the proud owner of a 1985 midas that had the a i r on it i removed all the plumbing,pump etc. retimed the engine, tuned the carb and simplified the vacuum lines to just the basics it runs out much better, will cruise 70 all day long towing our car. will it pass smog i doubt it . but when i bought it 55 to 60 was max and it barely pulled the hills so i took it back to older specs and it runs fine fuel mileage averages 7 with the dash air on and towing about 8 max not towing so i can deal with that.
if you can get by with this where live it will make it run better and smoother but you will need to tune it accordingly to get the benefits.

happy travels