I promise that I’m not going to make a career out of writing about the Rialta, the one-size-larger-than-a-Westfalia Volkswagen Eurovan-based mini-RV that I bought a couple of weeks ago. However, I’m coming off the post-purchase punch list, and I do write about fixing stuff, so here’s the latest:
- On the drive home, the passenger door wouldn’t latch. I held it closed with a ratchet strap. A few days after I got home, I tried to take the door apart to expose the latching mechanism so I could repair it, but the push-clips that hold the door card on wouldn’t release. I began damaging the door card, so I stopped. I then closed the door, and it magically latched. Since then, the problem has been intermittent. When it misbehaves, I can usually get it to latch by engaging central locking. But I’m keeping the ratchet strap in the car as a backup.
- The air-conditioning in the cab wasn’t working. I hooked up my gauges and found that the system was clearly low on refrigerant. That generally means that it’s leaking somewhere. I hooked up my nitrogen tank and pressurized it to help find the leak, but the pressure reading held steady, and there wasn’t any sound of air gushing. In the morning, the pressure still hadn’t budged. I shrugged, evacuated the system, charged it with the correct amount of R134a, and to my delight, it blew cold and has stayed that way. If it’s got a leak, it must be a small one.
- I put a voltmeter on the battery to test the charging system, and found that when there’s a big electrical load at low rpm (like idling with the air-conditioning on), the alternator isn’t keeping up with the battery, dropping as low as 11.8 volts. It recovers when the rpm comes up. I cleaned every connection to and from the alternator, but it made no difference. The receipts show that the alternator and battery were replaced two years ago. I’ve bought an inexpensive voltage regulator to have as a spare, and I drive with one of my $6 cigarette-lighter voltmeters plugged in to make sure I’m keeping the combination of energized accessories and engine rpm balanced such that they keep the battery charged.
- The coolant-temperature gauge runs hotter than I’d prefer, but the receipts show a recent water pump and thermostat; the thermostat is opening, the fans appear to be turning on, I can’t find anything wrong, and the Rialta tech forum has posts saying, “Yeah, they do that.” I’ve got half a mind to spend the $125 on a new radiator and drop it in just so I can cross that off the list. Plus, any vehicle that doesn’t have a good old-fashioned mechanical cooling fan and relies on electric fans instead makes me nervous, so I wanted to install a switch and a relay to be able to bypass the sensors and turn on the electric fans manually. I stumbled on a post in the Rialta tech forum describing how to do this by tapping into the existing fan-control relay by splicing one wire and running it to a switch. Great minds think alike.
- Maureen (the previous owner) reported that the onboard 110V generator would start but not stay running; she had a suspicion that the problem might be due to a low fuel level (the generator uses the vehicle’s gas tank). I filled the tank and have had no such problem; the generator appears to work fine, and powers the RV’s 110V systems—including, mercifully, the rooftop air-conditioning unit.
- Maureen also said that there was a leak in the fresh-water plumbing. I found that one of the drain cocks had been left open. I closed it, filled the system, and the internal plumbing all seems to work. Never having owned an RV, the idea of having a vehicle with running water for a sink, shower, and toilet is an unbelievable novelty.
- The refrigerator has been the most recalcitrant component. The rig comes equipped with a three-way refrigerator. This always sounded like a secret code for a sexual act to me, but it means that it can be run off 110V AC, 12V DC, or propane. The idea is that you plug the refrigerator into shore power (or into the generator) for a day before leaving, in order to get it nice and cold, switch to 12V while you’re driving, in order to maintain the temperature, and then switch to propane when you arrive at your destination. The 110V AC and 12V DC modes were working, but the propane mode was not, as the burner wouldn’t light.
- I pulled the fridge out and discovered that the burner was a rusty mess. I replaced the burner and orifice, but still couldn’t get it to light. I verified the presence of propane at the burner, and needlessly replaced the thermocouple and the thermostat. I was at my wits’ end and posted the question to the Rialta tech forum, where someone reminded me that, as is the case with any combustion, I needed not only fuel and spark, but also air. It turned out that the intake tube into the burner was completely plugged up with acorns from errant mice who’d made the rig their home! Now it lights up easily. I still need to level the three-way fridge to see how cold it’ll get just running on propane.
- The upper corners of the windshield gasket had pulled away. I cleaned them and sealed them with silicone caulk.
So far, I’ve mostly used the Rialta to run a few errands. I drove it into Somerville to buy a mattress, which meant taking the rig down the big hill on Route 2 into Cambridge, and then back up the hill on the way home. With its 100-horsepower five-cylinder engine propelling the 7,000-pound vehicle, I, who had VW buses and Vanagon campers, felt right at home when the Rialta had to be popped into third with my foot mashed to the floor to maintain 45 mph up this one short but steep incline.
Fortunately, it’s pretty much all downhill to the beach. Unfortunately, our first trip in the rig is to the western Massachusetts hill town of Beckett for a weekend with some friends, and there definitely are elevation changes between here and there. I’m sure I’ll become acquainted with the right lane.
But the main thing I like about owning this rig is coming out in the morning and thinking that there’s an ice cream truck parked in my driveway.
Plus, for a week, I could say that I was getting a three-way going in the Rialta.—Rob Siegel
Rob’s new book, Ran When Parked: How I Resurrected a Decade-Dead 1972 BMW 2002tii and Road-Tripped it a Thousand Miles Back Home, and How You Can, Too, is now available on Amazon. Or you can order personally inscribed copies through Rob’s website: www.robsiegel.com.
