Newbe with a 97 Newmar Mountain Aire

[ronbrown]

good morning

i got this 97 newmar 38 gaser for 5.5k after spending a week cleaning an removing all sorts of nastys iv started to rebuild it.
it has 57k miles an iv rebuilt a 460 ford before no worries there.
im very handy an becoming more detail oriented.
lol heres the fun list of things that do not work on this monster...
tag axle.... no compressor
generator....stolen
batt boost.... no switch activation
hwh leveling system... backwards and hydro hoses have been switched.
step activation arm broke...

drain cleanout under bed.... no anti varmet ring around pipe.... the mice poop everywhere.
cleaning the heating ducts ????????

membrane on roof needs replaced with 2 sheets of roofing also.

the last one is my most challenging, anyone out there replace the roof membrane?

[Skip426]

Three different linkages available for the Kwikee step repair . As per photo below .

Mouse poop , spray it down with a bleach solution before cleaning it up, the hantavirus can be deadly .

Furnace duct work , I don't know how your gasser's duct work is run but on my DP it goes straight from the front to the bedroom . I run a 1" wide tape measure from the front to the rear and pull a length of 1/4" rope through ; long enough to connect in a loop above the floor. I tie the two ends of the rope onto a rag and pull it through the duct work multiple times . Be careful with the size of rag if it jams up in the duct and the rope comes off your in deep

[ronbrown]

type A i ordered a replacement unit as i couldn't find just the arm. its a lil different and will have to enlarge the motor mounting holes to accept a 6mm fine thread.

[RKins]

Originally Posted by ronbrown

batt boost.... no switch activation
hwh leveling system... backwards and hydro hoses have been switched.
step activation arm broke...

My boost switch is on the long switch plate to the right of the helm - are you saying you can't find it or pressing it doesn't do anything? Have you installed new batteries? On my coach the boost relay is back in the electrical bay.


HWH - Remember that the control is what you want the coach to do, not the jacks. So you press up (button of joystick) and the jacks go down to raise the coach up.


Hope that helps.

[GypsyR]

My battery boost switch doesn't work either. I've narrowed it down only so far as being related to the BIRD in some way which works otherwise so I let it be for a while.

I've learned here to be careful about what you compare equipment advice to. The diesel pushers tend to share very little in design and equipment with the gassers it seems. Mine is a 1993 Kountry Aire which makes it almost a sister coach to yours. I suspect you have newer and upgraded jacks though.

[schwansnest]

yes, did my roof by myself (not recommended) at 63yrs old. last year. It can be done.
Took me a couple weekends. Cost a little over 1000.00. Got products from rec pro.

[95f5334j]

Originally Posted by ronbrown

membrane on roof needs replaced with 2 sheets of roofing also.

the last one is my most challenging, anyone out there replace the roof membrane?

If the roof material is EPDM synthetic rubber, it's very common and not exclusive to RVs.

I replaced the EPDM roof on a '95 Bounder a few years ago. Not hard to do but lots of work removing all the screws, AC units, vents, TV antenna and rear ladder. Don't just rip the old material off, take some care when removing it so that you can use it as a template to cut for length, width, the holes for AC and vents etc. Save both transitions at the front & rear caps as well as the two side transition pieces that run the length of the roof. If you need to replace screws, use stainless steel 8 gauge square drive.... you'll thank me later.

Only one layer is required, not 2 sheets. To finish, you'll need several tubes of the appropriate caulking as well.

[ronbrown]

HWH - Remember that the control is what you want the coach to do, not the jacks. So you press up (button of joystick) and the jacks go down to raise the coach up.



yes i figured it out that up is coach up... took a sec. hehe... but they rerouted the hydro hoses, had to verify locations using the manuals i found. they were only using 3 of the 4 activator solenoids 2 of them linked together a front and rear.... they do now all function as they should, BUT i found the rear left ram is scored an both sets of rears wont return all the way up. right rear the springs are weak.
now im using blocks that just fit under the rear jacks so after deploying when i release the pressure the weight of the coach pushes them up out of harms way instead of using a crowbar to force them back up.


thanks

[ronbrown]

take some care when removing it so that you can use it as a template to cut for length, width, the holes for AC and vents etc. Save both transitions at the front & rear caps as well as the two side transition pieces that run the length of the roof. If you need to replace screws, use stainless steel 8 gauge square drive.... you'll thank me later.

Only one layer is required, not 2 sheets. To finish, you'll need several tubes of the appropriate caulking as well.[/QUOTE]


Nice info..... thank you.


2 sheets refers to the wood under HDPE membrane.... its gone soft


someone already did repair of the roof... an left a mess of gunk that has started pealing away, so until i have a place an time to toss a new piece of HDPE on, (iv installed many ponds using 45 mil thick liner.....) im thinking of the 3 gallons of white plastic polymer i have to paint it with until then.


Any holes iv found im using 3M window wrap tape to seal now. ( this stuff works in wet applications... i use it to seal pond liners when i accidentally poke a hole while installing... its spendy for a roll but also good for a gen duty mass tape.

[ronbrown]

[QUOTE=GypsyR;5215631]My battery boost switch doesn't work either. I've narrowed it down only so far as being related to the BIRD in some way which works otherwise so I let it be for a while.

I've learned here to be careful about what you compare equipment advice to. The diesel pushers tend to share very little in design and equipment with the gassers it seems.


I found the boost solenoid in the front bay under a plexi lid. ill have to do a test and check my voltage lvls. when i have a helper.....


that's too bad.... lol i like my diesel engines too. iv had the pleasure of operating a Detroit silver 92.... with a 30klb grain bed.... could hardly tell it was loaded.... balls it had huge ones... iv ran several engines, cat, cummins, navstar, detroit... iv rebuilt a 7.3 still had crosshatch visible in the cylinders after 300k

[ronbrown]

lol seems im not doing the quotes rite... its not highlighting. sorry for the confusion

[D Gardiner]

Originally Posted by ronbrown

i got this 97 newmar 38 gaser for 5.5k...
generator....stolen

Congratulations on the new-to-you rig. I'm sure you will have a lot of fun fixing it and making her yours. Is it a Kountry Star / Aire, Mountain Arie or a Dutch Star?

Stolen generator?! I assume you bought it that way. You have a few options if you decide on replacing it. Depending on the size it had (or you want to get) used Onan 4KW generators start around $1800, and 7KW starts around $2000.

[GypsyR]

I had to look back at the title of this thread, yep, I see it.

Quote made me stumble a second but no issue. I have so many projects that I carry around a to-do list of to-do lists on my phone. Stuff on my coach is only one of those list. I found just the other day that my chassis battery is discharging and if I'm reading the BIRD "manual" right I believe it's supposed to be charging it along with the house batteries (which it is doing). I can't be having with a dead chassis battery so it just got bumped up in priority. I wouldn't be surprised if the problem wasn't related to the boost problem. Research says the primary problem with them is a sticking solenoid. After that, loose/bad connections, and maybe a fuse issue.

Nothing against diesels one of my daily drivers is one and it will be in my will. Just they seem to be set up very differently, even the BIRD's have a specific diesel version. One thing I picked up here real quick was the Dutch Stars are very popular and have about nothing in common with our coaches. Like you, I started out looking for some missing parts and so had to figure out what might interchange. Our two coaches outside of the common F53 drivetrain and chassis and that's about it as far as I can tell. An umber of other brands use the F53 chassis too but I haven't figured all those out yet. To further confuse things apparently some coaches could have either a Chevy or a Ford chassis under the same model. RV's are kind of goofy sometimes.

[beamisl]

Ji Ron,

Congratulations on your new to you rig. RVing is great!

YouTube can be your friend. Enter what you want to do; (How to replace my RV EDPM roof) or (how to fix my Kwiki RV steps). Watch several as some people think they know what they are doing and some really do know.

At the top right of this page is a (Search option). Use it. Enter a subject and read. This forum is like a college education in RV. Lot's of good info here, you just have to read.

Try looking (on Google) for RV junk yards. Some of the old items you will want can be find there. You'll be surprised at how many there are out there.

Post pictures, people love to see your work. Find a old thread called "Total Rebuild". It's a long thread but Terry has some wicked skills for redoing things on rigs. You can learn from him. Enter the name in the (search engine) at the top of the page to find the thread.

Most of all, welcome and good luck. Lynne