MB 1120 Coming to America! Purchase, Build and Now Travel!

[VerMonsterRV]

So overall, how's the Dometic working out?

If you are referring to the RTX2000 AC it is still not working. I might try and give the fuses another yank, I had an electronics repair shop tell me they don't think they are soldered in (I have not pulled the board as it involves a bit of work). I do know I do not see a fuse holder so if it has one it would have to go thru the circuit board. Never seen one like this. I am hoping he is right, though I do winder why the fuses popped even though there was an inline fuse I installed that was ok (both 40 amps).

Beautiful spot. How's it all playing out over there? Guessing heading south into a quieter country is a better bet than heading north back into a busy place... We are in reasonably quiet countryside where we are so don't plan on going too far. Had the truck been finished that however might be a different story!
Safe travels fella!

Things seem quieter here with the virus compared to the US (people hoarding supplies, including ammunition). We do plan on keeping our distance and remaining fueled/watered up in case things change.

San Filipe is a nice spot. If you walk out into the shallows along the beach towards the peak in your photo you will find a bunch of hot springs. Boondocking is not great in Baja, you have to pay for all the best beach sites, it is dirt cheap though and you are in the off season.

Thanks for the tip, plan is to head south to more remote areas tomorrow. Got some good tips on some wild camp spots so want to give them a try.

 

[VerMonsterRV]

Well due to the announcement from the State Department/President about the border closing to non essential people we did a 180 and headed back across the border to the US. We just felt if any of our family needed help we needed to be able to get to them. Then we find out from the border agent that they are not supposed to deny Americans entry no matter what (and there appeared to be 0 concern for the virus there as no-one was wearing any sort of protection and searches were carried out as normal). Also, now seeing that a lot of campgrounds/parks are shut here in the US. We did see online that Organ Pipe in AZ is still open so are heading there today. We should have saved our yellow Q (quarantine) flag from the sailboat, when you enter a new country you are supposed to raise the flag until you are cleared in, warns everyone else to stay away.

 

[Jostt]

at the end , you just need to see how is going the situation in many contries, this is just a mather of time to be all the world in the same point, Panic is not the way , but to be concient, we must be at home few weeks for do not colapse the healty system, here Is public and is going to the limit

 

[luthj]

Mexico has a slightly different paradigm for public health than the USA does. They currently aren't doing much about the virus. A little math says they had ~200 cases 25 days ago. Which puts them at ~104k cases currently So they are about 15 days behind the USA with regards to hospital loading. Unless there is something very different about Mexico, they will be similar to Italy in about 30 days.

I don't know how that would affect Baja, as its remote and sparsely populated. It is very unlikely you would get stuck there, as there is little point in denying entry to a citizen, when some 1-2 million Americans are already in the incubation period...

 

[VerMonsterRV]

Unfortunately Organ Pipes campground was shutdown a few days ago, so we headed towards Phoenix. We ended up in a small campground in a small surrounding town which is pretty quiet. Since the truck is setup for more remote camping we are parked at the edge of the property next to a horse coral.

We did a bit of a hike today into the Tonto National Forest. So far the roadside dispersed camping is still open, so once this week is up we will move out to a campsite we found today in Tonto.

Here is a pic from the hike today, the desert wild flowers are in bloom. We took the motorbike to get to the trailhead, at this point we are really glad we decided to bring a motorbike along.


Just so you don't think we are just playing around having fun we are also working on a few projects. We bought the motorbike used and one of the issues it had was rust in the gas tank. I was told there was a new carb on the bike and an aftermarket plastic tank was on it. Since the plastic tank really did not fit well I had the original steel tank cleaned out using acid at the local radiator shop, they then coated the interior with some sort of red tank liner. Looked good. Well the day before yesterday we left a trailhead parking area and pulled out onto a highway. While accelerating I lost power, just able to idle. We limped back the 3 miles to the campground. Yesterday I pulled the carb apart and the float bowl had a heap of rust and crud in it, and the main jet was plugged. So cleaned the whole thing and am now back in business (guess the timing with the "new" carb was before the plastic tank). Once the bike was running we switched gears to truck projects. Rear upper clearance lights have been on my list for a while, just not really looking forward to it as you need to snake the wires thru the corner extrusions. Most people with Total Composites boxes do this prior to bonding on the corners (smart). Well since we were being chased out by winter at the time we skipped the lights. Also on the list was the backup camera. Well it took the rest of the day to get the wires thru the extrusions. This morning we completed the install of the lights and the camera (except for the wire tidying up, I am lacking the rubber self sealing tape I want to use).


Now of course once the backup camera was installed I realized it would be nice to have 2 cameras up there. One pointing down to act as a backup camera and one pointing more horizontal to work as a "rear view mirror". Our interior monitor can accept up to 4 wireless cameras so I just need to tap into the power from the other one. Only problem is getting the second camera with all the current restrictions. Also want to add a camera to the passenger door for a bit of a blind spot camera.

So, we will spend the next few days doing projects and going for hikes. Still need to plumb the second fuel tank and hopefully finally resolve what seems to be my never ending quest for the correct fuel sender. Also want to wire one of our charge controllers to automatically heat the hot water. We have a 12v DC water heater element and if we are at the truck we run it. In about 4 hours we have plenty of hot water for 2 showers. Our charge controllers have a feature to have a divert load for when the batteries are full. Plan is to take advantage of that. Then of course I want some led flood lights on the back of the truck. I think I will mount them to the top of the motorcycle lift and wire them to a dash switch. There are more projects but that should keep me busy for a few days.

 

[Sitec]

Also want to add a camera to the passenger door for a bit of a blind spot camera.

A lot of Euro trucks have a blindspot mirror mounted on the passenger door pointing at the wheel for that blindspot... Might be worth finding one of those.. I plan to fit one to our truck.

 

[VerMonsterRV]

A lot of Euro trucks have a blindspot mirror mounted on the passenger door pointing at the wheel for that blindspot... Might be worth finding one of those.. I plan to fit one to our truck.

View attachment 576899

Thanks Sitec, this is a good idea, anyone know where you can get these in the USA?

 

[Ozrockrat]

Thanks Sitec, this is a good idea, anyone know where you can get these in the USA?

They are an option on Freightliners but I would suggest any reasonable truck parts supplier such as Fleet Pride would be a good candidate.

One word of warning though. All 3 of the ones we have had on our Ambos have been loose, rattled and really annoy the passenger. Silastic or Sika Flex stops the rattles. So does removing them .

 

[VerMonsterRV]

A little trip update, we are still in Tonto National Forest in one of the many dispersed camping spots. We have good access to a few different mountain trails so able to get outside and stretch our legs. Kind of strange camping out here, other than seeing the news, you would never know there was any sort of issue going on.



On my separate thread about the coolant loss we have been having, a local MB mechanic found the problem and we have a replacement radiator ordered from the UK. Will be really nice to get that problem resolved. Next I really need to hound Dometic Europe about our failed RTX 2000. Not sure if it is Covid related but my emails are getting replied that they "will respond soon" (response by an actual human being), but then no follow up. Been a couple of months with this kind of response.

 

[DiploStrat]

Thanks Sitec, this is a good idea, anyone know where you can get these in the USA?

I have one on our truck. Thought I would love it but it is basically useless in real life. Best use is probably for looking for bicycles/pedestrians in narrow European streets.

Any kind of convex mirror will work.

A convex mirror below the main mirror, on the other hand, is invaluable on the highway, especially when merging back into the right lane. (I use a stickon from the local autoparts store.)

 

[VerMonsterRV]

During our cab refresh I put

I have one on our truck. Thought I would love it but it is basically useless in real life. Best use is probably for looking for bicycles/pedestrians in narrow European streets.

Any kind of convex mirror will work.

A convex mirror below the main mirror, on the other hand, is invaluable on the highway, especially when merging back into the right lane. (I use a stickon from the local autoparts store.)

During our cab refresh I replaced our mirrors with ones with a built in bottom convex mirror (and defroster, though the defroster is not wired yet). They work well but I still have a small blind spot pretty much right at the passenger cab door.

So I tried contacting Dometic again, but in my internet digging it looks like I might be able to buy the PCB from Australia. It is around $250, so not too bad even though this thing is basically new.

Also, dug out my spares. A couple of the little interior led lights failed. They were cheap (I liked the compact design) and from China. I replaced them with my spares and the Chinese merchant is mailing me replacements free of charge. Wish Dometic was this easy.

 

[VerMonsterRV]

Guess it is time for a quick update. We have been spending more time in the national forest, it really has some spectacular camp spots. Here is the one we were just at. Really hard to beat this one.


We ended up returning to the small private campground yesterday as our replacement radiator from Denmark arrived (also Heather's replacement laptop which decided it did not want to power up anymore). So we spent the day today replacing the radiator. It is all back together awaiting a test drive. While greasy I decided to also do an oil change.

While doing the radiator I needed to remove the intercooler as it bolts to the radiator frame. Wouldn't you know when I removed the 2 top corrugated air hoses that are connected to the intercooler there was oil pooled in the corrugations. I did turn the intercooler upside down to see if any oil would come out but it was dry. So, I am guessing that this is not normal and might indicate that the turbo is allowing oil by? We are using a bit of oil between oil changes so I am guessing this might at least contribute to it.

 

[Sitec]

While doing the radiator I needed to remove the intercooler as it bolts to the radiator frame. Wouldn't you know when I removed the 2 top corrugated air hoses that are connected to the intercooler there was oil pooled in the corrugations. I did turn the intercooler upside down to see if any oil would come out but it was dry. So, I am guessing that this is not normal and might indicate that the turbo is allowing oil by? We are using a bit of oil between oil changes so I am guessing this might at least contribute to it.

Hi Jon.

Great pic! Very envious!! Re the oil, it's more often than not, the engine breather not the turbo (which is a good thing!!)... This breather usually feeds into the inlet pipe just prior to the turbo somewhere... In engines that are slightly older they can 'breathe' quite heavily, which is often a moist or oily mist. There is something available called a Catch Can (Provident springs to mind), which lots of people put on newer cars and 4x4's to stop just what you are describing. Turbo's might weep a tiny bit of oil, but it's not normal. See if you can find your engine breather pipe (usually between rocker cover or engine side cover and the inlet pipe pre turbo. Remove the end nearest the turbo and run your finger inside. This is where the oil is coming from, and where the catch can needs to go.

Now for the scary bit.. Usually if turbo seals let go it all gets a bit exciting really quickly, as the seal lets go... which then lets neat engine oil into the inlet manifold, which makes the engine rev, which makes the oil pressure climb which in turn pumps more oil into the engine.... You get the picture... Suddenly a fast idle spirals to 3500RPM+, accompanied by lots of white smoke. When it happens, if you are quick and know what it is selecting a high gear and stalling the engine might save it. Google 'Diesel engine runaway' and you'll see some entertaining stuff!

 

[VerMonsterRV]

Hi Jon.

Great pic! Very envious!! Re the oil, it's more often than not, the engine breather not the turbo (which is a good thing!!)... This breather usually feeds into the inlet pipe just prior to the turbo somewhere... In engines that are slightly older they can 'breathe' quite heavily, which is often a moist or oily mist. There is something available called a Catch Can (Provident springs to mind), which lots of people put on newer cars and 4x4's to stop just what you are describing. Turbo's might weep a tiny bit of oil, but it's not normal. See if you can find your engine breather pipe (usually between rocker cover or engine side cover and the inlet pipe pre turbo. Remove the end nearest the turbo and run your finger inside. This is where the oil is coming from, and where the catch can needs to go.

Now for the scary bit.. Usually if turbo seals let go it all gets a bit exciting really quickly, as the seal lets go... which then lets neat engine oil into the inlet manifold, which makes the engine rev, which makes the oil pressure climb which in turn pumps more oil into the engine.... You get the picture... Suddenly a fast idle spirals to 3500RPM+, accompanied by lots of white smoke. When it happens, if you are quick and know what it is selecting a high gear and stalling the engine might save it. Google 'Diesel engine runaway' and you'll see some entertaining stuff!

Thanks for the tip about the breather, I will take a look. If it is maybe it is ok just to let the engine burn it?

That campsite was really amazing, and even though the entry road was a bit rough people did drag a few trailers in. I am amazed with people here in AZ with what they will put their traditional RV's and trailers thru.

 

[luthj]

Its normal for all engines to have some oil in the intake tract. The turbo itself leaks a small amount of oil past the compressor seal, but its fairly minor. The crankcase vapor recovery system ducts the oil mist and blowby into the compressor suction side. On big engines this can amount to 1 liter per thousand miles, but would typically be less. Small mercedes diesels will typically consume 50-200ml per thousand miles, most of which is getting pulled through the intake.

Are you seeing high oil consumption? If not, you have nothing to be concerned about.