Jayco Sportster 8ft - Renovation

Manfred65 · Apr 14, 2015

Unfortunately our "Roll Out" was not very successful. We had some problems with the fuel system but i hope i can fix the problem next weekend. So we went to the meeting with our small Fiat.

Some more pics from the rig:

+ interior + details made by Viola

Our "Lobby" + door catch

+ the most important details of all:

takesiteasy · Apr 14, 2015

Camper looks great! I'm sure you'll get the fuel thing sorted soon and be on the road. Have fun!

alano · Apr 14, 2015

I like the cowboy hats and especially the vase of flowers. I hope your Spring and Summer are filled with lovely warm evenings for you to enjoy in your hard-earned rig.

Alan

Manfred65 · Apr 16, 2015

Ordered all filters ( Fuel, AIr, Oil ) from www.rockauto.com on sunday. Delivery in Germany Wednesday 1:00 p.m. GREAT!
Expensive shipping + custom taxes All incl. but delivered!

Replaced the fuel filter:

Old filter opened:

(Seller told me he changed the filter a few weeks before......how much "few" weeks 100??? )
The defective fuel pump wiring is now completely new: Battery+ via relay with integrated 20A Fuse, connected to the fuel pump.
And it works, engine is running. Test drive tomorrow.

Wandering Sagebrush · Apr 16, 2015

Manfred, are you using a fuel additive? Because of the ultra low sulphur diesel here in the U.S., my Ford service department recommends using an additive. I am using Stanadyne.

As I recall our trucks are of the same vintage, so you may want to ask if it is also a good practice in Europe.

Manfred65 · Apr 17, 2015

Thank you for the hint. I will ask our US-Ford-Dealer via E-Mail. Which problems did you have without the additive ?

I know the inverse Problem: Most of the newer Diesels (EGR / DPF ) have bigger Problems running on high sulphur Diesel.
This creates expensive trouble with the electronic and DPF. But this nearly only in the russian countries, eastern turkey and north africa. Not in europe.

Wandering Sagebrush · Apr 17, 2015

Honestly, I did not have issues, but my Ford garage said it would keep the injectors in better/cleaner shape, and help them last longer. So far, so good. I don't add with every tank, but most. I did notice that my truck starts faster when being religious with the Stanadyne.

They also recommend not using a completely synthetic oil and going for high mileage between oil changes. I understand there is a build up of water, in the oil, from the combustion process that affects injector timing. I'm changing oil about every 3000 miles (4800 km).

Manfred65 · Apr 18, 2015

Our US-Ford -specialist in Germany Ford-Beck at Wildflecken/bavaria told me that an additive is not needed with our fuel. But i will check this out.

My Fiat Doblo with it´s common rail system got 6.5 fl oz of high quality 2-stroke-oil per tank ( 13 gal. )
It runs very smooth, without any hard knocking diesel typical sound with this mixture.
This oil burns with the diesel 100% and doesn´t produce any soot. When i arrived back home after the first try my wife immediately asked what i have done to the engine. It runs so quiet!

Oil changes every 3000 miles ? For me this means twice a year because it is not my daily, but in the states you have other distances. I live in the south of germany and if i´d like to go to the danish border (the longest way through germany) there are 547 mls on my odometer. For you guys this is a "short hop" i think.

We use a high quality oil especially for commercial diesel engines. We change it in busses and trucks every 100.000 km/ 62.000 mls. If i change it once a year ( i do not use the rig in wintertime ) i has to be enough....

poriggity · Apr 26, 2015

Wow, I just read this thread from top to bottom, and I love the work you did on this, and it looks great! Impressive work!

Manfred65 · Apr 30, 2015

We are pleased that you like our work.

This weekend we try a new start: New fuel pump arrived today + new spring for the fuel pressure regulator. We hope the best...

EDIT:
A few more pics from our first load of the camper.

We tried 4 Chinese HiLift-Jacks with custom made adapter plates. This method of loading a camper is not for the faint of heart!
The trailer´s height was 20", the truckbed 36". If we unload the camper later we have to lower it only to 32" because we built a trolley from freight pallets.
This idea was born because the jack brackets of the old Rieco-Titan-Jacks destroyed the corners of the old camper and we searched for another solution. The Rieco-Titan tripod would have been ideal. But far to expensive incl. shipping + customs taxes.

alano · Apr 30, 2015

Sure looks like you don't want to load/unload on a windy day!

Alan

Manfred65 · Apr 30, 2015

Hi Alan,
i checked my posts the last minutes and i posted some pics of the load a few days before ....

Sorry for this repetition

Load/unload is only at home and there it is possible to do this inside the barn. The lower part is 9´9" high , 13 ft wide and 32 ft long.

Room enough to unload in bad weather....

Manfred65 · May 2, 2015

Fixed the trucks fuel problem today. We installed a new stronger spring in the FuelPressure Regulator:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Ford-Powerstroke-Fuel-Pressure-Regulator-Spring-7-3-FPR-F250-F350-E350-Diesel-/290849857717?hash=item43b800a0b5

...and a new fuel pump from www.rockauto.com . This is a great source for us with only 2-4 days delivery time to germany via FedEx!

Engine runs very smooth and powerful now. Test drive successfully finished!

~~I also reinstalled the original 12V+ connection to the pump ( via inertia-switch ) and it worked!! I don´t know what the previous owners have done to this truck ??~~

Truck died at Test drive. "Re-" connected my "emergency-connection" and now it works again.

But i have to make a small change: Originally the fuel pump is shut down by the PCM after 20 sec while the engine isn´t running. In my setup the pump runs as long as the key is "on". I think about installing a "kil-switch" between ignition and fuel pump relay to stop the pump from useless work. And it is a simple "Anti-theft" system too.

The happy owners:

Manfred65 · May 18, 2015

We succesfully finished our first trip to our annual truck camper meeting. It took place at the border Saxonia-Anhalt / Thuringia.
This is a very nice region with beautiful nature and lots of cultural POI´s. But nevertheless for a lot of people it is not a preferred travelling region. So the meeting was much smaller than the last few years.

"Rennsteig-Garden" where you can find mountain palnts from the whole world:

Naumburg - Dome

Wandering Sagebrush · May 18, 2015

Manfred, that looks like a beautiful place, and the Jayco looks great as well!

billharr · May 18, 2015

Interesting looking campers at the rally. Keep the trip reports coming and enjoy your hard work. I will do a Europe trip next years, daughter just accepted a post doc position in Basel Switzerland.

takesiteasy · May 18, 2015

Great to see you out and about with the Jayco. Thanks for the pics!

highz · May 18, 2015

takesiteasy said:
Great to see you out and about with the Jayco. Thanks for the pics!

x2! Glad to see you are enjoying the fruits of your labor. The rig looks great!

ski3pin · May 19, 2015

highz said:
x2! Glad to see you are enjoying the fruits of your labor. The rig looks great!

X3!

Manfred65 · May 20, 2015

Thank you for your comments. I hope i am able to post some pics of the upcoming trips!

@billharr: Let me know if you come to switzerland and germany. Basel is not so far.....

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