Sylvan Sanctum (?) - Ford E350 7.3 Powerstroke Type III Ambulance - Family Van

[Sylvanus41]

With indirect inspiration from two books ("Manly Dominion" and "Do Something"), and encouragement from my wife, we took a unique opportunity and bought an ambulance listed on craigslist by a volunteer fire company.

We had been looking off and on for a mini-van (preferably with a tow package) for our growing family (and the versatility of hauling options). We had also been considering large travel trailers with the hopes of buying land and living there while building an ideal (underground) home.

But I was searching craigslist for diesels in our price-range and ran across this ambulance and went to look at it.


I was thinking we would have to find bench seats with belts to make it usable as a family van. I had a vague notion of a partial camper conversion and a side-business as a handy-man. At least it would get my tools and spare parts clutter out of the back porch! I also wanted the tow-hitch option.

So without much debate - only a few phonecalls (DMV for legalities of registration, etc; insurance for a quote; window-washer who uses the same van for work - a satisfied owner), a little bit of prayer for wisdom, and a sleepless of night the jitters for me - we bought it. It was loud on the drive home because the inside engine cover wasn't properly seated, but otherwise performed just fine.

The details as far as I know them:
1996 E350 7.3 Powerstroke Diesel, 79k miles
Type III Ambulance - McCoy Miller module)
Bought new by a volunteer fire/ambulance company
Sold to a second volunteer fire company for use as a utility truck about 2012/13

A few more shots pre-purchase:

 

[Sylvanus41]

After about 4 hours in 35 degree (F) weather:




The white lettering on the back was the worst - all the glue stayed when the vinyl came off. The big ouches were possibly due to poor paint adhesion or a little too much pull on my part - but overall, the drivers door decal and the big side lettering came off in big easy sections. More to do - and today's nearly spent!

 

[patoz]

You have a thread now, so you officially have a build going on!

The cold weather is what's kicking your butt on those decals. About 70° - 80° would be much better. I used a heat gun set on low and pulled the vinyl part off with as much adhesive as possible. That's where playing with the heat temperature comes into play. Too little and the glue stays, and too much and the vinyl stretches and tears.

I used TURTLE WAX® LABEL & STICKER REMOVER to get the majority of the glue that remained off, and then followed up with lacquer thinner to remove all traces of it. If you use lacquer thinner, test it on your paint in an inconspicuous spot first. I also used those blue paper towels that are made for shop use, and change them out pretty often as they load up with glue residue.

Last night, I came across a 2015 thread of another McCoy Miller ambulance owner, and he stated he contacted them and they were "more than happy" to send him a wiring diagram for his vehicle, so you may be in luck there.

That's a nice looking rig with lots of potential. I wish mine had those recessed tow rings on the rear like yours does!

~Pat

 

[huskyhauler]

You can cover the places the paint pulled off by designing your own logos and having Fast Signs or a similar sign shop print out some all-weather decals.

 

[Sylvanus41]

Question: Do I have a problem?

I started the ambulance this morning to see what bulbs were out and which switches I'd have to disconnect, and it immediately went into "charge protect" high-rpm idle -and continued for the ten minutes I had to mess around before work. When I got home, I fired it up again and let it run another 15 minutes and it never dropped down to regular idle, and it never read above 11.7 volts on the digital read-out.

 

[Buddha.]

That sounds like a problem to me. I'd check to make sure the connections at the alt and batteries are tight and clean. Check to make sure you don't have a parasitic draw from all the electrical in the back. You could pull the batteries and alt and have them tested as well.

 

[patoz]

Before I did much of anything, I would disconnect the batteries and connect an external charger to each one, and slow charge it separately at 2 Amps overnight or until the charger indicates it's 'Charged'. Check the voltage before and after, preferably with a Volt Ohm Meter (VOM) if you have one. Don't rely on the gauges in the vehicle. An alternator will NOT fully charge the batteries if they are very low, which 11.7V is. Once you know the batteries are fully charged, you'll have a baseline to work from.

Even if you know the history of those batteries, you may still have one that's going bad. Being a used vehicle, I'm guessing it didn't come with new batteries.

 

[Sylvanus41]

Update: Got out my ohmmeter. Watched a few youtube videos to find out how to use it. Checked the batteries - both reading around 11V. Found my trickle charger, new-in-box never used for the motorcycle I had and sold. Read the warnings etc and went out to hook it up. Thought I'd take a look under to see where the ground wire connected - and -

discovered why the batteries were low.

The serpentine belt was dangling. Upon checking from above, I could see the tensioner pulley sitting at a strange angle with the remaining bearings showing... That would be the odd click/chirp I heard the first day I checked it out. Is SOUNDED like bearings because it was.

So what to do? Is a tensioner hard to replace?

 

[patoz]

Yep, that'll do it every time!

After you get it repaired, I would still use the trickle charger or the Vanner charger to bring the batteries all the way back up. Normally, a tensioner is not that hard to replace on an engine, but that being a diesel in that short nosed van, I don't know. Maybe, someone else who has the same setup can give you better info on that.

I'll see if I can get you some help.

 

[Sylvanus41]

Electrical questions

Do the batteries need to be disconnected in order to use the trickle charger to best advantage? (The charger instructions say to clip black to a ground point rather than the battery terminal.)

My shore power port is a male L5-30. All I have available is house current - and 100' 13amp extension cord. Do I just need an adapter? And would an L5-20P adapter work since I won't be pulling 30amps anyway? Will that heat the block, too? (I don't have the wall switch behind the seat.)

Thanks!

 

[patoz]

I asked a friend about the idler wheel replacement, but his is a 1992 model and he has individual belts going to everything. I've replaced them before on other engines (gas) and it wasn't really a problem. If you aren't sure about how to go about it, you can pick up a Chilton's manual for that vehicle at any auto parts store, or just look on YouTube for a video about it.

No, the batteries do not need to be disconnected for the trickle charger to work. I suggested that as a testing procedure before you found out about the broken idler wheel. Since it's a 1996 model (old technology), and if the key and the master switch to the rear module are off, then there should not be any drain on the batteries. Although, manufactures sometimes will install a circuit(s) to the rear for the purpose of charging the Heart Monitor, portable suction unit, rechargeable flashlights, and portable radios, etc. This circuit will bypass the master switch to the rear, and can cause a small constant drain on the batteries. If in doubt, you can disconnect the batteries, but I would try it first without doing that.

Although the L5-30 and the L5-20 look alike, they are not. The blade spacing is different and that is done so you can NOT connect them together.

I have one of these Marinco 30A / 125V Locking Connector & 15A / 125V Straight Blade with Locking Screw Male Plug Adapters that I use, but it's a little bit expensive. Another brand is the Conntek 14205 RV 1.5-Feet Pigtail Adapter Power Cord 15-Amp Male Plug To 30 Amp Locking Female Connector , which is about half the price and half the quality too.

How far away is the outlet you want to use, from the normal ambulance parking place? You can use an extension cord, but it should be a good quality one with at least 12 gauge wire with a ground. Using an extension cord with a pigtail adapter also poses the problem of it being weather tight for extended use.

Another solution is to purchase a one piece RV Power Cord 100 foot 15 amp to 30 amp Adapter with Hubbell Connector L5-30R. which is way too expensive (this cord does come in 25' and 50' also which are cheaper), or build your own custom cord by duplicating it. Just buy a good quality 12 gage cord, which is no longer than it needs to be, cut off the female end, and replace it with a L5-30R female plug. Just remember, length of cord = resistance = voltage drop = damaged electronics.

As far as things like the block heater and Vanner battery charger overloading the circuit and heating things up, the breaker in the house should trip before any damage is done. However, I would try it in the daytime while I was checking on it before I would go to bed with it plugged in.

I have no idea what the engine block heater pulls amp wise, but if you have a Vanner Inverter/Charger Model 20-1050CUL-DC or 20-1000TUL-DC, it pulls a maximum of 12 amps. This would only be if the batteries were really depleted and the charger was working at full capacity. But remember, you will only have 15 amps to work with and that is only if the outlet you plug the ambulance into is the only thing on that circuit. If you plug into the laundry room or thru a window in the kitchen or a bedroom, anything in those rooms are sharing the load also. If you own your home, your best bet is to run a dedicated 30 amp line to an outside 30 amp outlet, just like in a camp ground, and plug in there using a 30 amp cordset.

 

[emtmark]

The connection between ambo and vanner should be inspected majority use a gfci for self protection. They trip for whatever reason and everybody goes nuts never think to check it. Alt should charge once you get the belt and tensioner back on. I have a M&M clock around somewhere


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[Sylvanus41]

Thanks, again. Trying the tensioner solution today - if weather and family time don't prevent.

We rent - the off-street parking (for such a large vehicle) is at the back of the lot - the 100' cord reaches the alley with a little left over - I've been using it to run the hair dryer for removing the lettering. I run it from a properly grounded power strip that also runs our tiny chest freezer. I have no idea what else runs off that fuse (yes, fuse).

And now it's raining on my wife's hairdryer... :-/

 

[patoz]

Thanks, again. Trying the tensioner solution today - if weather and family time don't prevent.

We rent - the off-street parking (for such a large vehicle) is at the back of the lot - the 100' cord reaches the alley with a little left over - I've been using it to run the hair dryer for removing the lettering. I run it from a properly grounded power strip that also runs our tiny chest freezer. I have no idea what else runs off that fuse (yes, fuse).

And now it's raining on my wife's hairdryer... :-/

I understand; it's a bad situation at best, but you're stuck with it. What gage wire is the extension cord you're using now? Unless you have an industrial grade power strip, most of them are built very cheaply and are a weak point in the system. You're best bet, given the situation, is to invest in a good quality 12 gage extension cord, if you're not already using one, try to bypass the outlet strip, and plug into an outlet close to the panel directly.

One other option for charging the batteries while it's just sitting, is to go ahead and get a couple of solar panels and use them for this task, which will bypass using the onboard charger all together. If you're planning on installing a solar system anyway, you can get the bare minimum now and always expand it later.

 

[Buddha.]

It's good you found the problem now. The tensioner is gonna be a bear to replace I imagine, might as well replace the belt while you're in there. A 2amp battery maintainer on it for a couple days should have it back up and running.