New Temp Owner - 1994 Toyota Spirit Itasca M-321RB

[sd_rider]

Hello All,*

* * * * * *New to the forum and looking for some advice and answers. Recently with this Lock Down the wife and I are stir crazy in the house, with that said my Father In law offered his Spirit that he recently came into ownership. There were a couple of issues he took care of but never really used it, it only has 38,000 miles on it and pretty much has all the original equipment.**We made the drive to Crater Lake and Yosemite unfortunately we ran into two issues a broken belt and a popped tire, I should have found this site earlier because those are the two things recommended to replace. I am pretty sure this Spirit was in storage for a long time because the tires still had a ton of tread but were about 20 years old, still had the dealer plastic covering on the carpet, all the original manuals in sheet protectors. We are planning to do another trip next month with that I would appreciate advice with my questions below, I have read through the manuals several times before our trip and know how to operate most of everything:**

Now to my questions:*

- Rear Airbag Suspension: I haven't checked the psi on them but I think they might need to be inflated, I scraped the rear bumper a couple of times. I am little hesitant to inflate them because if I inflate them I might break them since they are so old but I know very little of RV Ownership and/or Rear Airbags. Is this a legitimate concern? With time do the airbags dry our and crack? Or should I be fine? What would inflating the airbags help with, I am assume rear clearance.*

- Extra Spare Rim: Before we took off for the trip I tried to find a Spare Rim with 6 on 7.25 dimensions, I was never able to find the correct rim, is there any place I could find it?*

- Water Pump: My father in-law replaced the Water Pump and ran it a couple of times but I think the seals broke at some point later*because every time I run it the water pours out of the rear driver side section.

- Water Tank Inlet: Every time I try to fill the Water Tank most of the water pours back out.*I think when someone replaced the water pump system or did something they installed a hose that was too*long,for the water tank inlet because I looked behind/underneath the couch and the hose serpentines around underneath the couch, which I believe is the reason the water pours back out. Would anyone know the proper dimensions for that hose? Or possibly a picture of the hose so I could confirm it is installed improperly?*

- Engine/Drivetrain:*I will perform the proper oil change, hoses, coolants, and spark plugs. We just changed all the belts, however I was wondering if there are any recalls I have to attend to, also the tow truck mentioned the truck had some drive shaft issues. Just want to know what I might have to look into.*

- Transmission: I did have a hard time going up hills at certain stages of the drive, and with that I wanted to shift to a lower gear, 2. However I am hesitant to shift in the middle of driving but how does the transmission do while changing in the middle of driving?*



I am sure I will have more questions as these are answered but please be patient as I am new to the rv world.*



Thanks

[CharlesinGA]

With something this old, and unusual, you really need to find a discussion group or forum that specializes in these old Toyota campers. Having newer tires on any vehicle is basically SOP, I would not want to drive across town on 10 year old tires, let alone 20 year old ones.

A lot of RV issues are by guess, and by golly solutions. You find something that works, and go with it.

For something like the air bag spring suspension add on, replacements may or may not be hard to source. I do know that early Views and Navions (2005 and up) used helper air bag kits made by 3T's in Lake Havasu City, AZ.

Here is a link to the parts book for this model

http://www.winnebagoind.com/service/...4/94i321rb.pdf

Download the PDF's and save it to a thumb drive or somewhere you can easily access it.


For the original brochure, click on the following link, and then, under the word RESULTS, click on the 1994-Spirit, and the brochure will download. I cannot give you a direct link to the brochure.

Winnebago has change their site and made it much more difficult to access parts, wiring, plumbing and brochure info than in the past.

DOWNLOAD EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THE PDFs AND SAVE THEM TO A COMPUTER, THUMB DRIVE, CD, WHATEVER, BUT SAVE THEM SO YOU WILL HAVE THEM IN CASE THEY EVER DISAPPEAR OFF THE INTERNET.

All of the following was accessed from this webpage..... (scroll down to Guides and Diagrams)
https://winnebago.com/owners/owner-tools/service

For wiring diagrams, Winnebago does not list them for 1994 for the Spirit, I have encountered this before. However here is the links to the 1993 and 1995 wiring diagrams for the same model, I would suspect the '94 is the same as the '93 and that is why they did not post the '94 version.

WBO does not list a combined link for all of the drawings. so here are links to the five drawings for the '93 model 321RB

Auto Lamps Wiring Diagram
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/1993/085259.pdf

Body Wiring Diagram
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/1993/098967.pdf

Body Wiring Installation
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/1993/096325.pdf

Chassis Wiring Installation
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/1993/096324.pdf

TV Coax Wiring Diagram
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/1993/110138.pdf

And here are the links for the '95 model 321RB (seven different links for this year)

Antenna Installation
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/1995/116282.pdf

Auto Lamps Wiring Diagram
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/1995/105970.pdf

Body Wiring Diagram
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/1995/114414.pdf

Body Wiring Installation
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/1995/114415.pdf

Chassis Wiring Installation
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/1995/114417.pdf

Dash Radio Installation
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/1995/115651.pdf

TV Coax Wiring Diagram
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/1995/110138.pdf

Miscellaneous Manuals (not specific to a particular year or model)

Electrical Parts Identification List
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/...l_callouts.pdf

Wiring Identification Guide
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/...ical_guide.pdf

Wiring Diagram Help
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/Help.pdf

Plumbing Drawings, same as with the wiring, no '94 specific drawings.

1993 Plumbing Drawings
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/1993/321RB.pdf

1995 Plumbing Drawings
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/1995/321RB.pdf

Plumbing Parts Identification List (not specific to a year or model)
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/...g_callouts.pdf

Hope this helps you somewhat.

Charles

[CharlesinGA]

Originally Posted by sd_rider

Hello All,*

* * * * * *New to the forum and looking for some advice and answers. Recently with this Lock Down the wife and I are stir crazy in the house, with that said my Father In law offered his Spirit that he recently came into ownership. There were a couple of issues he took care of but never really used it, it only has 38,000 miles on it and pretty much has all the original equipment.**We made the drive to Crater Lake and Yosemite unfortunately we ran into two issues a broken belt and a popped tire, I should have found this site earlier because those are the two things recommended to replace. I am pretty sure this Spirit was in storage for a long time because the tires still had a ton of tread but were about 20 years old, still had the dealer plastic covering on the carpet, all the original manuals in sheet protectors. We are planning to do another trip next month with that I would appreciate advice with my questions below, I have read through the manuals several times before our trip and know how to operate most of everything:**

Now to my questions:*

- Rear Airbag Suspension: I haven't checked the psi on them but I think they might need to be inflated, I scraped the rear bumper a couple of times. I am little hesitant to inflate them because if I inflate them I might break them since they are so old but I know very little of RV Ownership and/or Rear Airbags. Is this a legitimate concern? With time do the airbags dry our and crack? Or should I be fine? What would inflating the airbags help with, I am assume rear clearance.*

Call these folks and talk with them about the new air bag/springs Home Page 3-T's RV Products

- Extra Spare Rim: Before we took off for the trip I tried to find a Spare Rim with 6 on 7.25 dimensions, I was never able to find the correct rim, is there any place I could find it?*

- Water Pump: My father in-law replaced the Water Pump and ran it a couple of times but I think the seals broke at some point later*because every time I run it the water pours out of the rear driver side section.

Well, you need to find the leak. Its somewhere, if you are not mechanically inclined, the motorhome will cost you a fortune. Not trying to be mean, its just that, this is the way it is, you gotta be able to fix stuff or be willing to pay a fortune to get it fixed.

- Water Tank Inlet: Every time I try to fill the Water Tank most of the water pours back out.*I think when someone replaced the water pump system or did something they installed a hose that was too*long,for the water tank inlet because I looked behind/underneath the couch and the hose serpentines around underneath the couch, which I believe is the reason the water pours back out. Would anyone know the proper dimensions for that hose? Or possibly a picture of the hose so I could confirm it is installed improperly?*

DO NOT shove the hose into the inlet, it blocks it to the point that air cannot come back out, and instead the water does. Go to Home Depot or Lowes or Menards and get a brass garden hose end that has a 1/2 inch nipple on it and them buy some clear vinyl 1/2 inch ID hose and put it together, shove this down the filler and this will allow the water to run in, and leave room for the air to escape.

- Engine/Drivetrain:*I will perform the proper oil change, hoses, coolants, and spark plugs. We just changed all the belts, however I was wondering if there are any recalls I have to attend to, also the tow truck mentioned the truck had some drive shaft issues. Just want to know what I might have to look into.*

- Transmission: I did have a hard time going up hills at certain stages of the drive, and with that I wanted to shift to a lower gear, 2. However I am hesitant to shift in the middle of driving but how does the transmission do while changing in the middle of driving?*

Is this a stick shift? If so, and you are not used to one, then you got some learning to do. Practice downshifting on shallow grades and work your way up to steeper grades. Keep that little motor spinning, don't let it bog down before shifting. I am 65 years old and learned on a 3 speed on the column (still have that '67 Falcon) and today own one automatic and two stick shifts. A new vehicle still takes practice to get used to it. Took me months to get used to the RAM after driving my old Ranger for years (still have it too)

I am sure I will have more questions as these are answered but please be patient as I am new to the rv world.*

Thanks

Charles (comments in Red)

[CharlesinGA]

Reviewing this I found I left out the link to the brochure.

https://www.winnebago.com/brochure-a...el=Spirit#5326

For the original brochure, click on the following link, and then, under the word RESULTS, click on the 1994-Spirit, and the brochure will download. I cannot give you a direct link to the brochure.

Charles