2005 Auto Cruise Starburst user guide.

[Kevin915]

Recently purchase a 2005 Auto Cruise Starburst.  Where can I download a user information guide? I do not know where the drain taps are in particular to prepare for winter.  Any help would be much appreciated.

[Derek Uzzell]

Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums, Kevin.

I'm near certain that, nowadays, no Owner Handbook is available online for Autocruise "Star" motorhomes built in the first half of the 2000s and the earliest "Star" Handbook I can find is for 2008 models

https://manualzz.com/doc/1115549/autocruise-star-range-2008-specifications

(This won't be directly relevant to your Starburst but may still be useful.)

Online comments suggest that the fresh-water tank is drained by removing a rubber 'bung' inside the tank, with the bung reached by unscrewing a large cap in the tank's top surface. (It may be necessary to lift a ' flap'  in the floor to gain access to the cap.) There may, or may not, be other drain taps depending on the water system your Starburst has.

I'd expect the waste-water tank to be drained via a hose that emerges from under the motorhome's side-wall.

You'll also need to drain down the toilet.

[Derek Uzzell]

A forum search on "starburst" retrieves several earlier threads relating to this model.

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/search/?&q=starburst&search_and_or=or

There is a contemporary review of a 2005 Starburst here

https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/motorhomes/reviews/motorhomes/details/motorhome-review-2006-autocruise-starburst-on-22hdi-peugeot-boxer-al-ko/899030

https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/userfiles/file/MMM historic road tests/Autocruise Starburst on 2.2HDi Peugeot Boxer.pdf

and this states that a diesel-fuelled Eberspacher D5 Hydronic was fitted for air/water heating with hot water being stored in a 'calorifier' (blue tank in review Page 146 photo).

Draining the water system of an Autocruise Stardream with this heating system was discussed on the O&AL forum in 2020.

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/topic/50642-eberspächer-combitronic-heatingwater-system/

(One of the links I provided in that 2020 thread is now inactive, but the rest seem to work OK.)

[david lloyd]

Hi Kevin - your Starburst should be the same as my (Pioneer) Renoir and, if so, you should find the fresh water drain tap behind the swing out cupboard in the kitchen. There is a gap to the left of the water tank with a blue pipe linked to a grey drain tap that leads outside. Open the grey tap and also (with the pump switched off) open the kitchen/bathroom and shower taps in the midway position. I think Derek has covered how to drain down the Eberspacher unit.

David

[Grumpyman]

Hi Kevin

I had a Starburst fort twelve years Did you have a damp test done because the outside lockers can be prone to damp. This can be caused by the outside shower leaking without you realising. When I came to sell had to take a reduction against the  new Auto Trail VLine  which has now been replaced with a AutoTrail F68 due to wanting more room.

David J

[Derek Uzzell]

54 minutes ago, david lloyd said:

Hi Kevin - your Starburst should be the same as my (Pioneer) Renoir and, if so, you should find the fresh water drain tap behind the swing out cupboard in the kitchen. There is a gap to the left of the water tank with a blue pipe linked to a grey drain tap that leads outside. Open the grey tap and also (with the pump switched off) open the kitchen/bathroom and shower taps in the midway position. I think Derek has covered how to drain down the Eberspacher unit.

David

Thanks.

I wondered where the Starburst's fresh-water tank was and now see that its position is mentioned in the MMM review and that there's a photo showing part of it. As you've said, the tank is in the base of the kitchen furniture and I've arrowed on the image below where you've advised the drain-tap will be found.

[Tracker]

If you are, by any luck, close enough to a dealer that has one for sale you could always visit and ask to photy copy or scan and email yourself the important pages?

Unlikely I know, inpossible ish maybe, but not totally impossible!

[Kevin915]

Thanks for your reply guys. still looking for more info on my Starburst.  I do not have the version with the swing out kitchen surface.  My oven is above the fridge on the drivers side.

[Derek Uzzell]

That's odd...

The Autocruise Starburst model was MMM Magazine's Motorhome of the Year 2005 and the review I mentioned above refers to it as "...one of a recently launched range of models from Autocruise that utilises an ultra-low rear frame courtesy of specialist chassis manufacturer, Al-Ko". 

There are plenty of online adverts for Starburst motorhomes, but I can't find any relating to vehicles earlier than 2005. What is evident, though, is that photos of every Starburst advertised as being from 2005 to (as late as) 2010 all show an interior layout with a L-shaped kitchen on the right (driver's side) that includes a full-size floor mounted hob/oven, and there's a smallish floor-mounted fridge on the opposite side. This advert for a 2005 Starburst is a typical example and one photo shows the swing-out unit.

https://www.motorhomedepot.com/vehicle/autocruise-starburst-7

Although the swing-out unit does not appear to be fitted to any other 'Star' models, the norm for 'Stars' was to have a full-size floor-mounted hob/oven, and I can't find any with an oven high-mounted above a fridge.

It's rare (but not unknown) for major interior modifications to be made to motorhomes during their lifespan. Yours might be a prototype, or a 'special', or it might have been altered somewhere down the line.

How different is your motorhome from the one in the MMM Magazine review, or the one in the Motorhome Depot advert above? Does it have the diesel-fuelled Eberspacher Hydronic heating system? Is the fresh-water tank in the same place in the kitchen furniture?

Some photos (external and internal) of your motohome would be useful. If your Starburst is unique, that will impact on any advice on where water drain-taps might be.