[Rjbjfire]

Congratulations on the purchase of a beautiful coach! If your ever in Iowa and want to stop out I have hook ups available.

[Floridian]

Your tach and turbo gauge are your best friends if you aren't sure your temperature gauge is working properly. On hills, keep the tach up around 2000 rpms to keep the fan blowing as much air as possible across the radiator and keep the turbo boost as low as possible if the engine temperature starts climbing. Past about 12-14 lbs of boost will really start adding heat loading on a long steep grade.

Yeah, Ron gave me a tutorial and how to use them. I was very concerned on having the past above 15 and the pyrometer over 600 but not sure if I did it correctly because for brief periods of time, while climbing, psi went above 20 and didn't overheat. 

What I'm working on now is not to release the gas pedal when I want to slow down because going back to the right gas pedal position without making the entire coach shake is a fine art!

[Floridian]

Can't tell by your signature in this forum the year coach, or engine, but we have an 8V82 Detroit Diesel that is pre computer. The prior owner, Todd Fickema added a DIGI-PANEL. I really like it. We use it along with the original gauges that are known the be slow to respond and inaccurate at best. The the DIGI-PANEL reads coolant temp, trans temp, oil pressure and battery voltage, has adjustable high and low limits with an audible alarm.  It give us some additional security.

I think you will find that these coaches do not respond like a conventional vehicle to overheating. When pulling a long steep  grade with high ambient temps, if we pull off the highway and let it idle at approx 1000 rpm min, the temp will drop 20 degrees or more in about ten minutes. Heavy traffic at low speed actually results in a dramatic temp drop after running on the expressway at cruising speed.

Your new coach is beautiful! Nothing like a "trial by fire trip" to get you used to your coach.   You will get lots of compliments on that one. Not far from Tom's area in Arizona at a border check point, the officer just wanted us to hold up so that he could tell us  'that thing is bad a**.
Can't wait to see your improvements.  Enjoy !

Thanks for pointing that out, I thought I have created my signature but I didn't, now I think it is there.

Yes, my engine is totally mechanic and I'm working on getting some digital readings from the engine (as much as possible) feed that to a computer and have a small TV with all that information on top of alarms when those parameters are off or changing too much. Thanks for remembering about DIGI-PANEL! I have forgotten about that as an alternative.

Thank you! We love it so far and we just started doing some modifications inside!

[Floridian]

Nice rig!
Somewhere in the paperwork that came with mine that includes technical bulletins. One of them was from Newell that said if the cooling system was working as it should - at maximum engine load, the coolant temperature would stabilize at 125F above ambient.

Mine seems to be a late '87. It looks lots like yours. Would love to see more pictures - especially inside.

Our bathroom wall paper matches the bed comforter - not my first choice, but it is there & usable & in good shape -- so, it will stay for now.

Thank you! If mine looks very much like yours you are complimenting yourself then   I really love it, there is something about the looks of it that I really like, can't explain it with words, is just a feeling.

Maybe my cooling system is not working as it should (it is 30 years old after all) but wasn't concerned with the temperatures for the climbings that I was doing (not to mention that I was towing a small SUV!) so 170-190 or so is not that bad.

There are a lot of pictures of the interior of the coach here but we are in the process of changing quite a few things (flooring, wallpaper, cabinets, etc.) so it will look different in the not so distant future! If you want a specific photo, let me know and I'll take it for you.

Now that you mentioned that! Our comforter matched the bathroom wallpaper too (flowery, so to speak) and everything inside the coach is bordeaux/pink related (we are not big fans but is not bad). 

I'm in the process of insulating the front cap from the inside as there is no insulation there! and the AC dashboard only blows air, nothing else (I think that there is really no AC compressor or anything so not sure why there is AC/MAX AC options on that dashboard ac) but insulation on the front cap, which right now is bare metal, will help a little bit. 

Also I want to move the front storage a little bit to make it shorter (deep wise) because I don't like the fact that we have so much storage compartments above my head (all audio/video equipment is mostly wireless and can be hidden elsewhere)

Now we are in the process of checking if there is so much torsion on the floor of the coach that will prevent from installing cement boards and some tile on top of it, if there'e too much torsion that can break the tiles, we'll go with engineered hard wood.

Sorry for the long post, I get too excited with this plans 

[Floridian]

Congratulations on the purchase of a beautiful coach!  If your ever in Iowa and want to stop out I have hook ups available.

Thank you so much! and I'll have it in mind when close to Iowa!

[ccjohnson]

Caught a glimpse of your coach eastbound on I-10 when we were headed to PHX. Very nice looking! Keep one thing in mind, "It's only a few minutes to pull off & cool engine at fast idle on a long grade. It's a huge tow bill, bigger overhaul bill, and as long as 2-3 months to reman a cooked 8V92." I have learned the hard way to pull over & cool engine even when it's only a few hundred yards to the crest.

[whatsnewell]

Congratulations! You bought a great coach.... remember seeing it at our rally in Creede, CO......in wonderful condition.

[encantotom]

the key on the engine temps is that usually the temp gauge on the dash is not very accurate. some never have had a problem, but many have.

tom

[kyleb]

While the paint colors are about the same, mine has a bit more sunburn than yours    

The engine driven A/C compressor  is mounted on the pass side of the engine. I saw it in one of the photos. Mine doesn't work & I haven't checked out why - yet. The condenser is under the coach, behind the front axle.

As for the floor tile - my dad used a groutable vinyl tile. It looks amazing - people don't believe it isn't ceramic. 10 years & it still looks as good as it did the first day.

The colors in mine seem less intense than yours, but they wouldn't have been my first choice either. We love our coach so much that the colors don't bother us as much as I thought they would. On the bright side, they came back in style 20 minutes ago. Too bad they were back out of style 15 minutes ago . . .    

At least you don't have faux suede on the dash - I have no idea how to clean it without just replacing it altogether ! ! !

Good luck on the front upper cabinet modifications - that is way more than I want to attempt.

[MrE]

Beautiful coach, wish my '86 would have been in that pristine shape!