We got our new, used RV yesterday.

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organistas

Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2006
Posts
12
Location
Oceanside,CA.
We bought an 87 Fleetwood Pace Arrow 32ft. And we already logged almost 300 miles on it in less than 2 days! Mechanically, it runs great. The motor just passed smog a couple weeks ago. When speaking to the seller, we found out, the owner just spent $1600 on a new 4-barrel carburetor/manifold set up. The new 3 way fridge cost them $1600 as well.  We just got the RV over 63,000 miles. One thing that was a shock, was finding the log the sellers kept of every mile driven. The thing only gets 5.7 mpg on average. We drive it at 55-60 mph and I pushed it to almost 70 for a few minutes to feel the power. We pulled the Grapevine with no problems. There are a few things that need to be worked out. I need to replace two headlights. Some of the exterior small marker lights are burnt out as well.  The main awning came apart from its front mounting point, so I have no idea how we'll get that fixed. One of the vent covers on top is cracked and needs to be replaced. The gas gauge is not working properly, so I have no idea how much fuel is in the tank. I kept stopping and putting more fuel in every 50 miles or so, just to make sure. The gas pump kept shutting off, and I could see fuel in the gas tank neck, but it would eventually go down into the tank, so I'd just keep putting more in until I got tired or bored. Or broke!!! We need a shower door/curtain as well. Other than that, after a good power wash and interior cleaning, it looks awesome. And another big shock was the storage fees for these toys. We could of got a space over an hour away for $55, but that is way too far away. Every place around here is all full. We did find a local place, but at almost $200, it's ridiculous. So, hopefully our place in line on the base's waiting list ($30) will come up soon. If not, an hours drive will have to do. We have tons of questions, and we have no idea how to work anything on this thing. We have no clue on the water, power, generator, or anything else. I did figure out how to disconnect all the batteries. And after all, we did get it home and stored without blowing it up!!! Well, any input or advice will be welcomed. Plans are for another voyage next weekend. Just a little dive down south and maybe some beach exposure. Another quick question, is it difficult to change out the carpet to something more modern? How about wooden floors or vinyl? We know we would like to remove some of the wall paper and either install plain or paint it plain. It's flower pattern and quite dated right now. I'll post pics soon if we can figure out how to post them.
 
Hi - Welcome to the forum!!

You're right where I was back in July. Bought a used MH with no manuals and sight unseen (off ebay) and drove it back home 200 miles. Never drove one before (35') and wasn't even sure I could get it down our little dirt road. Took me months of weekends to learn how mosty everything works. This forum was a HUGE help. I actually printed out each reply and kep it in the MH as a reference. Any question is fine, even if it's been asked many times before. A board member will direct you to the answers.

It's a bit scary but a real adventure. We just took our first weekend trip (you'll see the report on this board) and can't wait for the next.
 
Before you go jumping in and dropping the tank and replacing the inner filter,  check the in line filter by the carb and also check your fuel lines, could be collasping or the Gas cap.  Might need to be replaced.  You should b e able to travel at least 150 miles and then fill until that guage settles down.  Good luck
 
Our 1990 Winnebago Elandan's fuel gauge is wonky, but I don't depend on the fuel gauge to guide me as to a refill.  I work on the basis of distance travelled.

In very round numbers I should get 600km on a full tank of gas.  So, as soon as my trip (since last fuel fill up) shows 250km, I keep a sharp lookout for a refuelling spot.

I use the probable half a tank approach because the in-tank Ford fuel pumps are apparently renowned for overheating(?) when the fuel level gets low.  So you might want to try the three quarters of a tank distance approach.

Ciao,

Doug
 
Maybe you have received this information before but do not allow your tires be over seven years old.  A seven they are probably OK - at ten they will blow and when they blow it could be you will be needing new sewer and water holding tanks and a lot of other stuff.  Blown tires are like chainsaws - everything in the way goes.

Second - be sure to use lots of water when using the toilet.  Don't skimp there.  Bricks in the blackwater tank are not easy to remove.  Also tie the toilet brush - using a good strong string - to your neck.  They raise havoc when dropped into the black water tank.  Ask Russ.

Do not trust the overflow on the freshwater tank.  If it hangs up, the pressure caused by you falling asleep while filling the tank, will blow the tank.  Sit right there by it and if you hear funny creaking - turn off the fill line. 

Be prepared - you will dump blackwater somewhere where it is not supposed to be at sometime in your travels.  Practice reaching for the handle to shut things down.  It is as important as practicing for a fire.
 
Hey organistas, welcome to the forum (from another RV newbie, don't even own a coach yet ;)) and congrats on your purchase!  I'm a bit envious that you found an older MH so well documented... that's exactly what my wife and I are looking for.  Do you mind me asking what you paid for your Pace Arrow?  You can e-mail me directly if you'd like, click on the envelope icon under my username.  Good luck with all your future travel adventures!
 
Well, I hooked up the water hose and power cord from an RV site. The electric worked fine on the outlets and lights. But the airconditioners did not work. Does the generator have to be on to power those? Also, the firdge did not cool enough. I guess I have to have it on longer. The generator worked when i bought the RV, but now won't start. The batteries are low. When i go to crank it, the voltage meter drops almost to nothing. I went and bought 2 new deep cycle rv batteries, but both were bad. I returned them and hooked the old ones back up. I'll get a set tomorrow at campingworld. Also, we hooked the water hose (with the filter) to the hose hook up outside the rv and ran the water in the shower, sink and flushed the toilet. We filled the tank up, because the water started overflowing. Do you connect the hose to another outlet in order to just use the shower and sink, or do you have to shut it off at the hook up focet? There are probably valves and stuff i have yet to find. I bough oil, a new air fiter and a new plug for the generator and will do the maintenance tomorrow. I also changed the cracked vent cover and the running lights that were burnt out. I bough new headlights to replace the ones out and cracked as well. I will top off the tank and watch the distance travelled. I don't know if i have a 78 or a 100 gallon tank though. I'll assume i have the smaller of the two and that i get 5 miles to the gallon. So about every 300 miles or so, i'll top off. My wife really got the inside looking good too. We got new sheets and blankets for all the beds. We got new carpets and covers for the couch. After a good cleaning, it looks really good. Tomorrow, we'll be polishing the outside to see if we can get a shine back on the old finish. We really are enjoying the rv, but look forward to using it for the intended purpose. We paid $6500 for it. We hope it's a good deal. With the new 3-way fridge, rear viewing camara, and allthe other upgrades, we think we paid a fair price. If not, we'll learn from our mistakes as we go through the process.
 
Our 98 Pace Arrow has a 65 gal fuel tank and I make it a habit to top it off at Flying J's , with the FJ RV service card, 1 cent a gal off and there is plenty of room to get in and out.  Maybe even a place to leave the spouce when she's shopping  too Much  LOL. Also I plan 200 to 250 miles at these FJs., cause it's time to stretch the legs by that time and good for a potty break.  It would be rare to have a 100 gal fuel tank for a gasser.
 
Shayne said:
Our 98 Pace Arrow has a 65 gal fuel tank and I make it a habit to top it off at Flying J's , with the FJ RV service card, 1 cent a gal off and there is plenty of room to get in and out.  Maybe even a place to leave the spouce when she's shopping  too Much  LOL. Also I plan 200 to 250 miles at these FJs., cause it's time to stretch the legs by that time and good for a potty break.  It would be rare to have a 100 gal fuel tank for a gasser.

Shane:

Our Ford F-53 98 Pace had a 75 gallon tank; do you have a Workhorse?
 
Both Ford and Workhorse use a 75 gallon tank and have for years, so Shayne and the Organistas both probably have 75 gallons of fuel. I would guess an 87 Pace 32' will get around 6 mpg, but starting with an estimate of 5 mpg is safer.

Water tank overflowing:  It sounds as though there may be a tank fill valve that is open to the fill position. I thought the older Fleetwoods (including Pace) had a gravity fill only, but maybe they have both a city inlet fill valve and a gravity fill.  Or perhaps the gravity fill has hose thread and the organistats were using that?  Anyway, you should not have to turn off the water at the post when using the city water inlet becasue it should not be continuously filling the fresh water tank.  There is a possibility that the check valve in the pump has failed to close, which would allow water from the city inlet to flow through the pump into thetank, but it uncommon to havea total failure there (it's usually more of a drip than a total failure). I would not suspect that unless all other possibilities are exhausted. Most likely you simply have it hoked up incorectly.

No, you should not need the genset to power the  a/c's.  However, if there are two a/c's, you probably cannot run the rear one at the same time as the front except with the genset running. that's because of the 30 amp power constraints. It's typical in 30A shore powered rigs to have the rear a/c wired such that the genset, which probably has more than 30A available,  can power the rear a/c as well as the main coach power line.  There is typically a switch somewhere to select front or rear a'c when on shore power.  If you havea microwave, there may be a switch that selects microwave vs a/c as well. That's because microwaves ae big power consumers and you generally cannot use the microwave and a/c at the same time on 30A power. Ditto if the coach has a washer/dryer - there is usually a waser/ac switch to select which one is powered.

If neither a/c works on shore power or genset, check the circuit breakers in the coach's load center (breaker panel) first.  If one or both works on the genset but not shore power, let us know which one and which power source and we can proceed from there.

 
OH  Thanks to both Jeff and Gary  A few  yrs ago right after we got this unit on a Ford Chassis, because it had sett for 16 months and also had set 15 months before the origanal buyer bought it new,  I was leery and had the fuel tank topped offf with Premium when we returned from picking it up, initially.  Upon arriving home I thought it best to have the tank dropped and flushed after filling, Big Dummy, here.  They drained 65 gal from it and that was all in a 1 1/2 mile strip.  Thats all that would fit in the tank and when replaced it was still capped .  So I just always figured 65, cause it wouldn't take more.  Also I always refill at 35 to 50 gal  Flying J's love that 5 to 6.5 miles per gal. Don';t know if they like me leaving the Boss there tho. 
 
I bought my first RV in Florida 3 weeks ago and had chance to use it for a week before I had to return back to the UK and hope it will be shipped here by end of Oct.

I filled it up and it took 60 galls and showing very low pre filling.

I did a 1000 miles in a week mostly driving with the genny running powering the 2 roof AC units.

It did approximately 6.68 MPG (US gallon though) and its a 34 footer with Ford 460 engine (and I had a heavy right foot testing it all out at US priced gallons) god help me in the UK with fuel prices :-\ :-\ :-\

Words fail me as to how much fun I had ;D ;D ;D
 
Congratulations Road Runner and many more happy miles and adventures with said big toy.  You will be the same as the rest of us, enjoying the vagabond lifestyle, no doubt about it.
 
Hi Roadrunner.
Did you get your rig over to the UK. I would be interested how you got on with the DVLA, electrics, lights etc. I have to do the same next year with mine which is currently in storage stateside.
 
Organistas. Hope you have a lot of fun with your HM. I might be able to help with some of your questions. I have a 89 pace arrow.37'  with a 460 engine. going threw west virgina on the turnpike . I got 6.5 mpg. speed limit is 70  and this road is up and down mountains. Went to Indy 500 and got 7.4 mpg. lower speed limit and a lot flatter. Trust me when i say if you ask someone will answer. I have found out there is a lot of good people here.
Good luck jiggs
 

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