Mitsi Rosa tacho issue

[BigSkyBrad]

Currently in NZ and have been getting about in my parent's Rosa motorhome. It's a 1997 with the 3.9l engine, and is for all intents and purposes a Canter chassis and engine.

The tachometer randomly cuts on and off, possibly when going over bumps so there could be a dodgy connection somewhere.

Where does the tachometer receive it's signal from - the crankshaft, alternator or somewhere else?

 

[BigSkyBrad]

 

[SkiFreak]

As you say Brad... the Rosa is mechanically very similar to the Canter. To that end, it could possibly suffer from the same earthing issues.
First thing I would do is to check all of the main earthing points onto the chassis; there's a few of them.

 

[BigSkyBrad]

Back in the UK, after a forced extension of eight days due to the floods in Dubai. We were very spoilt with the ride quality of the Rosa with it's torsion bar independent front suspension - driving the Canter back from the storage facility was like driving a full concrete truck. It also dramatically highlighted the atrocious state of the potholed roads here in Scotland compared to the lovely ribbons we travelled along in NZ.

 

[SkiFreak]

Did you sort out the tacho issues, or did you leave that to your parents?

 

[BigSkyBrad]

Didn't get round to it in the end, and my Dad reckons he drives by engine noise anyway, knows where the sweet spot is.

We had other repairs to do anyway. It's the second time they have owned the bus - they sold it three years ago because they thought it was getting too big for them (they're in their early 80s) and bought a Ducato camper, then a Sprinter camper but complained there wasn't enough room. The bus came up for sale a few months ago, so they bought it back. They made on all three sales, and got the bus back for less than they bought it for originally! However, the guy they got the bus back from was a mechanical idiot so we had a few jobs to do. He (paid someone else to) had swapped out the LPG heater (only needed a new solenoid) and roughly put in a Chinese diesel heater - so that needed tidying up and the confusing digital controller changed for a simple on-off-thermostat control. Also, we upgraded the water pump to one that doesn't require an expansion tank (which was full of water), and changed the four engine belts as two were threadbare.

 

[SkiFreak]

Sounds like a fun, relaxing holiday.