old autotrail tips

[d granger]

we had an elderly autotrail apache (89) for fulltiming for a year hers some tips that hopefully will be of use to owners of autorail and other elderly vans.

 

those air intakes under the windscreen need carefull attention besides they rust (and cant be replaced) the cab fan is a sucker rather than a blower so any bits of leaves or the like go in then are trapped by the heating radiator ,eventually it builds up and burns out the fan!!!

the fan is very expensive ((£95 in 2001) and replacing it is a total cab strip out !!

so protect those vents at all cost and cover them when parked up or overwintering.

 

another strange problem we found was the engine labouring and cutting out on a 1/4 of a tank of diesel .

luckily the fuel lines are clear and we spotted tiny air bubbles which only appeared as the tank become empty.

to cure it ,remove fuel tank (easy job on this model) and replace both fabric fuel line connectors to the tank ,while your at it (and the real cause of the problem) is to remove the fuel tank sender ! on the end of it is a large filter clean it well.

we found the fuel was entering through a small hole a few inches above the clogged filter and the engine ran normally but ofcourse once the fuel dropped below it fuel starvation occured.

 

another(hopefully rare) problem we found was a faint smell of gas near the fire or in the locker! despite two "certified" specialists giving the all clear it persisted .we found the gas pipe in the locker as it went through the floor was just a 90degree bend in the tube .

this had "perished" on the bend actually within the floor and had a pinhole.

we fixed that by replacing the copper tube, enlaging the hole and used a proper 90 degree bend to take the pipe to the fire and onwards.

a potentially lethal fault unfound by proffesionals using a drop test.

 

any other owners needing any elderly autotral tips dont hesitate to post i may have come across them

 

 

[Dave Newell]

Hello Mr Granger, sadly you forgot to tell us what the base vehicle was. I would assume it to be a Merc (208 perhaps). its worth knowing as the heater issues you mention will be particular to the base vehicle model involved, likewise the fuel tank problems.

 

D.

[d granger]

your right in both aspects ofcourse it is a merc 208 but the problem is common to that design in other mercs.

luckily the merc engine is easy to bleed in this case ,foot to the floor and turn the key it saves taking out that huge cover :-)

[Ranger]

Hi d granger, I was also wondering what your base vehcicle was, as I have an old Autotrail Cerokee, on a VW 2.4 TDI Automatic, and it drives like a dream, with none of the problems you mentioned. It must be the older ones that produce those problems, as my mate has an Autotrail on a Merc and has no problems with his, and is about to chop it in for a newer Autotrail on a Merc. Water ingress has known to be a problem on old Autotrails with that big creeking coach built luton roof.

[Dave Newell]

thanks for the clarification Mr. Granger. I know what you mean about the cover, i've fitted cruise control to a few of those old Mercs and its a right ba!! ache getting that cover out and then back in.

 

(lol) (lol)

 

D.

[d granger]

we had a slight bit of water ingress on the luton ,luckily it was the roof vents sealing compound that had dried out, the only other ingress we found was around the spare wheel holder for the same reason .

all the panel strips luckily were still water tight.

modern vans are far more waterproof having large plastic panels but set back by the cost of replacing half the van if one gets damaged :-)

we've sold ours but i am wary of getting another they all seem to be front wheel drive ,in 2001 it was a wet spring and we noticed straight away the new front wheel drive ones were nye impossible to get onto a pitch without bogging down or wheelspinning :$

we stayed on one site and whist we were untying the m/bike from the back a monster pulled up next door ,a few minutes later the side opened and a smart car drove out ,he didnt look so smug when a tractor was needed to get him back off the pitch :-D ours was old but left no marks beyond a dent most tried to plough their way to australia before asking for assistance.

 

another tip which can (and has been probably mentioned in the past on here) be used on any old van is improving the airflow around the rather badly designed fridges installed.

in ours it was no problem most can be done through the top vent ,first go underneath the van and enlarge all the air holes and fit bigger sheilds then remove the top vent and install a couple of 12v PC fans blowing out on a bent metal frame (we fitted a switch inline and luckily the wiring was easy to hide via the waterheater and along a shelf to the zig in this model) ,instant bit of extra cooling and being switched could stop overcooling in the less warm months.

for those with time fitting a shield behind the fridge that seperates the fridge back from the living area makes further improvement,we used tin from a very large catering oil can pop riveted together to allow it to let air in from the bottom and a hole cut to allow the air to be drawn out by the fans .a 7deg (30deg outside) drop in temperature not much but certainly worth the effort.strangely on this model (well ours anyway) lacked a bottom vent the same size as the top one but instead had two tiny holes underneath the vehicle :'(

drawing the hot air out rather than blowing cold air in had no effect on the gas cooling side of the fridge ,i suspect a breeze near the flame may have detremental as the little flame may have flickered and not gone up the little tube as it needs to.

[Bill]

Ranger - 2007-01-06 11:05 PM

 

Water ingress has known to be a problem on old Autotrails with that big creeking coach built luton roof.

 

 

I had an Autotrail Cherokee on a Merc 208D. The Merc was everything a Merc is (was?) cracked up to be, the Autotrail bits less so.

 

I too had a problem with a gas pipe corroding through, this one from the gas locker to the heater, but the worst problem by far was water ingress.

 

The joins in the aluminium roof were cleverly placed so that every time it rained a puddle formed right over them. Another puddle gathered around the roof-light. Surprise, surprise, water got in and rotted the wooden frame underneath.

 

The fridge, cooker and waste and fresh water tanks were all on the right hand side of the vehicle, which made it badly unbalanced.

 

Don't converters have any common sense whatsoever? And don't they test their products?

 

The 80bhp diesel was woefully inadequate, but I regarded the vehicle as being over-bodied rather than underpowered; i.e. the fault attached to Autotrail, not to Mercedes.

 

That said, the rest of it was excellent, particularly the interior layout.