How many of us are there? Owners of Dodge based RV's?

[whiteknight001]

I'm new here, and curious.

How many of us in Class C own Dodge B300 incomplete
cab/chassis based RV's? I know two others- Steve aka
Ripsaw, with a 1977 Brougham, and Leroy aka 1978_Dodge
_Delta who owns a 440V8 powered sharp looking 1978
Delta RV. I would like to ask, and offer, help, idea
swapping and comparing notes on our particular RV's
which are based on the Dodge B300 van chassis.

Yeah, I know. These are low tech, podgy old RV's that
would be considered "entry level" for folks like me,
but I have a deep and abiding respect for the quality
of these old "monsters of the open road". And anyone
wanting to pick brains, joke about, share notes or just
brag about our old A- Dodge-io's are certainly welcome
to PM or email me. Between all of us we can form a real
good support group, and help each other with problems
we know we'll encounter with an older vehicle.

Sure. I'd love a new RV. But I'd rather have an older
one already paid for, and a lotta great memories. Call
me frugal, an old hippie, or whatever you will. I'm proud
of my old land yacht.

Mopar Madness Manifest in the flesh,

Mark aka White Knight

P.S. Mine's a '72. Is there an older one out there someone's
motorvating in? Maybe even a Travco? W/K

[Griff_in_Fairba]

It sounds like you have an aftermarket oil pan, in which case you're kinda on your own ...

The two big blocks (a 383 and 413) I have access to are difficult to reach. (The 383 my daughter's going to put in her '59 Savoy is at her place and there's a bunch of stuff piled on the doghouse over the 413.)

Maybe Vintage Mopar or Leeann can help a bit, at least to determine if your set-up is OEM or aftermarket. Also, get under there, clean the pan, and look for a label or stamp on the pan ... or plugged bungs (looking like a drain) on the side of the pan versus under it.

The car and truck big and small blocks are essentially the same. Oil pans are different for cars and trucks, due to axle location. However, to the best of my knowledge, dipsticks are more or less straight up and down, through the block. I cannot recall ever seeing a dipstick that makes a 90 degree turn, on Mopar, Chevys, Fords, or Internationals.

Take a look at Milodon 22080.

[haroldpo6]

The oil dipsticks you listed will not fit my engine, maybe fits a car 440 engine. My oil dipstick tube threads into the side of the oil pan with a 90degree fitting. My dipstick is 36" long, total.
Another thread says it needs to be 27" total. With 7 qts the oil is 2 qts past full on my stck.

[haroldpo6]

Griff in Fairbanks wrote:
@haroldpo6 - Assuming you have an OEM oil pan (versus a large capacity aftermarket pan), 6 quarts plus one for the filter.

Milodon Stainless Steel Oil Dipsticks 22070, while a bit pricey, is a candidate. I found it on Summit Racing Equipment -- ***Link Removed***

I used Mopar 440 cu. in. RB big block engine for the search limiter and oil pan dipstick for the key words. Reviews are mostly favorable.

Another, less expensive candidate is Mopar Performance Chrome Engine Oil Dipsticks P4349629, also ***Link Removed***.

You don't have to buy from Summit, other places (like Jegs) carries the same or similar products so shop around.

Another possibility is the Parts Department at your local Dodge dealer, although a replacement dipstick may be "No longer available."

[Griff_in_Fairba]

Motorhome Electrical Systems continued --

Common ground systems can cause just as many, or even more, problems as "supply-side" wiring and connections in motor vehicle electrical systems. (Obviously, that includes our motorhomes.)

First, people tend to overlook this very important second connection that completes the circuit. Compared to the clearly visible wires on the "supply-side" connections, the ground-side is not readily apparent and people often don't consider the problems they're trying to fix may be on that side of the circuit.

(I have fallen prey to this lapse, although repeated experience has taught me to keep it in mind.)

The same problems that arise on the "supply-side" connections due to dirty, loose, or corroded connections can occur on the ground-side. When these problems occur on the ground-side, it becomes much more laborious to find and fix the problem due to the difficulty in identifying connection paths.

Metal bodywork and chassis is less than ideal for connections versus copper wires. Likewise, the absence of a clear connection path can lead to inadvertently interrupting the connection. Furthermore, almost all the metal in a vehicle is effectively a ground and can lead to unwanted connections, usually in the form of a short circuit.

[Griff_in_Fairba]

@haroldpo6 - Assuming you have an OEM oil pan (versus a large capacity aftermarket pan), 6 quarts plus one for the filter.

Milodon Stainless Steel Oil Dipsticks 22070, while a bit pricey, is a candidate. I found it on Summit Racing Equipment -- This link should take you to the item listing.

I used Mopar 440 cu. in. RB big block engine for the search limiter and oil pan dipstick for the key words. Reviews are mostly favorable.

Another, less expensive candidate is Mopar Performance Chrome Engine Oil Dipsticks P4349629, also available through Summit.

You don't have to buy from Summit, other places (like Jegs) carries the same or similar products so shop around.

Another possibility is the Parts Department at your local Dodge dealer, although a replacement dipstick may be "No longer available."

[Griff_in_Fairba]

haroldpo6 wrote:
I got it from Camping World and they said it was a small block 360cu engine, not. It is a big block for sure. Engine runs,starts like new.
Distributor is in front right side engine.

By the way, welcome to this thread. I hope we'll hear from you often and you'll become a regular.

Distributor in front, towards radiator = big block.

Distributor in rear, towards transmission = small block.

Sparkplugs in middle of valve covers = Hemi.

That's it, all you need to see to tell which an older Mopar V8 is.

It's very unlikely there was an engine swap somewhere in the past. Because, you have to also change transmissions to go from a small block to a big block or vice versa. The bell housing bolt pattern is different and, on automatics, the gearbox case and bell housing are one unit.

Just as with the V8 engines, you can tell whether an automatic transmission is for a small block or big block by measuring how far apart the top two bolt holes on the bell housing are. On big block transmissions, the bolt holes are closer together. On small block transmissions, the bolt holes are farther apart. (Can't recall exact dimension, because I have enough experience to tell just by looking.)

By the way, many people think the "A" in A727, A518, and so on, means automatic ... it doesn't, it means aluminum case. When Mopar introduced automatic transmissions back in the 50's, they had iron cases and the bigger, heavier duty one was sometimes listed as just 727, with out the A. The TorqueFlite label started with the iron case versions and was carried over to the aluminum case versions.

If I get a chance, I'll try to track down a source for a new big block dipstick for you.

[haroldpo6]

I got it from Camping World and they said it was a small block 360cu engine, not. It is a big block for sure. Engine runs,starts like new.
Distributor is in front right side engine.

[Griff_in_Fairba]

Very likely wrong dipstick. Could be dipstick from small block, with previous owner not realizing difference between small and big block engines. (Don't be surprised, I've seen it happen ... person bought small block water pump for big block engine ... had to ask him where the distributor was ... and explain what a distributor was.)

[haroldpo6]

New here and need to know how many qts of oil I need to put in a (new to me) 1977 Dodge Sportsman 27ft 440cu motorhome w/filter? After I changed the oil for the first time and put in 5qts to check and add as needed, the oil pump wouldn't even pick the oil up. I added 1 more qt and oil pressure went to 65psi,good. At 5qts the dip stick said full, at 6qts it said a little over full, must be wrong dip stick? After looking around the web I have found anywhere from 6qts to 9qts for this engine.

Thanks Harold in Florida

[Griff_in_Fairba]

There's an aspect of most motor vehicle circuits that tends to confuse people. These circuits appear to have only one connection rather than two between the source and load. Simply put, you can follow a wire from the source to the load but that seems to be the end of it.



Compare this diagram with the Basic Electrical Circuit diagram I posted previously. The second (bottom) connection is missing, replaced with a pair of lines ending in symbols like this:



Motor vehicle manufacturers use the metal bodies and chassis for the apparently missing second connection, in a way that is generally called a common ground. This is represented in circuit diagrams with ground symbols. Whenever you encounter a ground symbol, interpret it to mean the source or load is connected to a common ground.

If you add a plus sign (+) above the source black box and a minus sign (-) below the source box, you have an accurate diagram for all motor vehicle circuits.

(This applies to modern motor vehicles using a negative ground system ... very old motor vehicles sometimes used a positive ground system that turn out to be less efficient and more problematic.)

[Griff_in_Fairba]

Yes, your example is a bit less socially acceptable but apt in terms of real life.

However, if you arrange the people in a circle, the shoving energy will eventually reach all the way around the circuit and back to the source. So, your example has the potential of demonstrating direct current better.

Now, all we need to do is round up a bunch of people that don't like each other and film it.

[Wolf_n_Kat]

I'm thinking Newton's Cradle is a better example than the one that I thought of...

Imagine riding on a crowded train/subway car, or a bus, and someone in the back shoves the person in front of them. That person bumps into the one in front of them, etc etc etc.

Nobody actually 'goes' anywhere, but the energy of the initial shove gets transferred to the front of the train/subway car/bus.

[Griff_in_Fairba]

When the first ball is released, it hits the second ball and stops. For a split second, it appears that all the balls are motionless but what's actually happening is the energy the first ball had is transferred to the second ball. The energy, that the second ball now has, is transferred to the third ball and so on until the energy reaches the last ball. The last ball, not having anything to transfer the energy to, uses the energy to fly away from the other balls,

This transfer of energy, in one direction only, is a reasonable representation of what happens in direct current. Think of the first ball as an atom in a circuit's source, the three balls as atoms in the circuit's connection, the last ball as an atom in the circuit's load. (To complete the representation of a direct current circuit, we would need some way to transfer the energy the last ball receives back to the first ball, so the energy would continue to travel in one direction through a kind of loop.)

If we allow the Newton's cradle to continue, the last ball swings back into the fourth ball and the energy is passed back through the balls to the first ball, which flies away from the others just like the last ball did when it had the energy. This back and forth transfer of energy, in alternating directions, represents what occurs in a segment of an alternating current circuit. (As with the previous paragraph, we'd need some way to "connect" the first and last balls to represent a compete circuit rather than just a segment of a circuit.)

That's as far as we're going to go, at least for now, in mentioning alternating current. Instead, we're going back to focusing on the direct current (DC) circuits in a motorhome.

[Griff_in_Fairba]

Here's the animation:


(Source: Wikipedia - Newton's Cradle)

[Griff_in_Fairba]

There's an animation on Wikipedia's page about Newton's cradle that illustrates what I described in my previous post on electricity. (The animation is in the upper right corner of the page.)