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So this past weekend my 2 young sons and I took off on a 210 mile trip to a rally in central FL. My new to me M1010 hasn't left town since I've had it (about a month). Prior to leaving it had a little surging problem off idle. I almost cancelled the trip but after some prayerful considerations and 100 mile towing from AAA we set off. Despite the surging she ran up to speed very well. We were towing the M101A3 with my Clubcar II in the back. ran between 58 and 61 MPH comfortably. Within 30 miles I could smell oil burning. Stopped at the first turnpike plaza and confirmed that it had a pretty decent oil leak. Couldn't see the source but it seemed to be high at the back of the engine. Topped it off and up the road we surged (pun intended). Fueled up at the next plaza and topped off the oil again and surged away. Made one more stop when we neared the exit on the turnpike and topped off the oil for the last time. We pulled in just after 9PM after using 1 1 /2 gallons of oil. I parked the truck, readied the bunks and was treated to a nice prime rib dinner.
While pulling into the property I got to thinking about the leak and my past experiences and instantly I guessed that it was the vac pump. Removed it the next day and confirmed what I thought. A call to NAPA and I would have one the next morning. I forgot the truck issues and sat back and enjoyed the rest of the day and the pulled pork dinner.
The weather was in the mid 40s at night Thursday and Friday night. The boys and I found that even the lowest setting on the big buddy heater was too much for the ambulance. I had to turn it on and off through the night to keep it from getting too hot. My 11 yr old stayed in the top berth and it was much warmer there. I now have a small ceiling fan to move the heat around. Saturday night got down into the lower 30s and I could finally leave the heater on low. The 11 yr old still slept on top of the bag.
Saturday AM, off to NAPA to get the vac pump. After returning I won the bet that I could install it in 5 minutes, it took 2 1/2. Spent the next 3 hours diagnosing, confirming and tracking down an air leak. When it was all done we isolated the problem to be at the sending unit or the hoses attached. As a field expedient we removed the cap off the aux pickup and piped that into known good lines. All leaks went away and she ran smooth.
Sunday afternoon we departed for our 210 mile ride home. We departed at 1312 hours and headed out to the turnpike. Fueled up right before the pay road and headed south. A few minutes after reaching speed we crested and overpass and all of a sudden we had an overspeed rev. Shut it down and coasted to a stop. No go! Crud. Dropped it into low range and she drove fine. Moved down the road a bit and tried high again and she took right off. Looks like it popped out of gear. On two other down hill decelerations it popped out and a stop, shift to low and back and it got us home. Figuring its either a mal adjusted shifter, worn fork pads or a bad shift fork. Will work on that soon.
All in all I couldn't be happier with the ambulance. It's a great camper and fun to drive. Tows the trailer with no problem and did pretty well on fuel. I'd like to share pics but I don't have any, just a progress report and a happy camper.
While pulling into the property I got to thinking about the leak and my past experiences and instantly I guessed that it was the vac pump. Removed it the next day and confirmed what I thought. A call to NAPA and I would have one the next morning. I forgot the truck issues and sat back and enjoyed the rest of the day and the pulled pork dinner.
The weather was in the mid 40s at night Thursday and Friday night. The boys and I found that even the lowest setting on the big buddy heater was too much for the ambulance. I had to turn it on and off through the night to keep it from getting too hot. My 11 yr old stayed in the top berth and it was much warmer there. I now have a small ceiling fan to move the heat around. Saturday night got down into the lower 30s and I could finally leave the heater on low. The 11 yr old still slept on top of the bag.
Saturday AM, off to NAPA to get the vac pump. After returning I won the bet that I could install it in 5 minutes, it took 2 1/2. Spent the next 3 hours diagnosing, confirming and tracking down an air leak. When it was all done we isolated the problem to be at the sending unit or the hoses attached. As a field expedient we removed the cap off the aux pickup and piped that into known good lines. All leaks went away and she ran smooth.
Sunday afternoon we departed for our 210 mile ride home. We departed at 1312 hours and headed out to the turnpike. Fueled up right before the pay road and headed south. A few minutes after reaching speed we crested and overpass and all of a sudden we had an overspeed rev. Shut it down and coasted to a stop. No go! Crud. Dropped it into low range and she drove fine. Moved down the road a bit and tried high again and she took right off. Looks like it popped out of gear. On two other down hill decelerations it popped out and a stop, shift to low and back and it got us home. Figuring its either a mal adjusted shifter, worn fork pads or a bad shift fork. Will work on that soon.
All in all I couldn't be happier with the ambulance. It's a great camper and fun to drive. Tows the trailer with no problem and did pretty well on fuel. I'd like to share pics but I don't have any, just a progress report and a happy camper.
