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Charlie Brown

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Everything posted by Charlie Brown

  1. I had our Alphard weighed. It was 2220 kg. This included our kit for a weekend, a quarter of a tank of fuel and my wife and I. The logic of doing it this way was that this would be somewhere about the weight we would have if we were stopped by the DVSA (formerly VOSA) and it gives me some idea of what the all up weight is when we are travelling. We have a 2008, 2.4 ltr Alphard with a full side conversion, rock and roll bed and a pop up roof.
  2. My insurance with AXA with Lifesure as the broker has just come up for renewal. For our 2008 Alphard converted to a camper van the premium has gone from £323 to £423. I have full no clams discount and my cover includes fairly normal excesses. I have legal and NCD protection. I had to put in a claim for a broken window this year. I am 71. Looking on the forum, there doesn't seem to much about very recent insurance premiums. So would anyone like to comment as to whether they think this is in line with current insurance costs for an Alphard camper. Any comments appreciated. Thanks.
  3. The handbook states to use oils compliant with API SL/EC, SJ/EC or ILSAC GF-3. In the moderate climate we have in the UK SAE 10W-30, 5W-20 or 5W30 viscosities are recommended. Actually these days most reputable oil manufacturers will be on ILSAC GF-6 and API SP standards. In my opinion an oil from a reputable manufacturer, probably of 5W-30 viscosity would good to use. I believe the recommended oil change interval is 15,000 kms but am happy to be corrected on this. I think this is very conservative. Again, in my opinion, I think 15,000 miles between changes is more realistic. I hope this helps.
  4. Hello Our Alphard has a very neat installation of the leisure battery in the engine compartment, which I thought I'd share with you. Please see picture. This was done as part of the conversion. You can see it fits just behind the starter battery. There is not much room but an Autolite 75ah Leisure Battery ULTRA 80 85 just fits. You can buy them direct from Autolite on ebay. The split charge relay is close by as well. You can see it in the picture. I don't know if the starter battery is part of the original vehicle or whether that was part of the modification. Not sure about the heat from the engine, there's not much room in there. I hope this helps.
  5. I thought old fashioned thermostats failed open, which means the fluid circulates without restriction, therefore running cooler and therefore not boiling over as a fail safe. Modern electronics may have a different result.
  6. We ended up buying an Outdoor Revolution Cayman Air Low and are very pleased with it. We went to the Caravan and Camping show at the NEC, Birmingham, where a good half dozen or more were on display. Apart form getting one that is low enough for that type of van (low), another critical feature is the width of the fitting to the van. It must be wide enough to contain the open sliding door and the doorway that you need to get in and out of. Other features are personal preference, like number of doors and windows, price, quality etc. Definitely glad we bought an air beam type.
  7. I have pretty much the same rig as you. I also drive about 60 mph and in similar conditions I'm averaging about 27 mpg. I did get over 29 once. Fitting a cruise control made about 2 mpg difference.
  8. I replaced this bulb without removing all the panelling. In spite of being as careful as I could be I broke one of the small plastic lugs on the light. In my view these are not actually critical but that is for each to decide themselves. Please see the attached you tube videos. They do give a good idea of what you can expect and an honest evaluation of the problems for a DIY person. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ8mH-FhVwk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se0yZcCqCfE
  9. First there is the question of viscosity. SAE 5W-30 and SAE 5W-20 are recommended in the hand book. The Mannol oil you were looking at meets this requirement and Liam's experience is worth noting. If you decide to go down the route of a more recognised brand, then the big majors would be a good place to start. Shell, Esso, Mobil, Castrol (owned by BP, who also own Duckhams), etc. Don't buy from a garage, they will charge a fortune. Accessory shops (eg. Halfords) and Motor Factors (eg. Euro Car Parts) are good places to go, or look for a deal on the internet. I hope this helps and that I'm not stating too much of the obvious to you.
  10. This caught my interest as I used to sell lube oil for a living but have been out of it for over 15 years. Never heard of this German company but a few minutes on their web site I was quite impressed. It was very professional. https://www.mannol.de . They have a very complete range of oils across every market. They claim to have actual manufacturers approvals in quite a few instances. Product information is a backed up by H&S and MSDS sheets. Price is unbelievably cheap. I'm naturally sceptical but cannot see any catch, but If you have any doubts stick to a brand that you know. Even an expensive engine oil is cheaper than a new engine.
  11. Hello. I 'm selling a set of four Work Schwert alloy wheels with tyres. Wheels are in good working order. Will need some cosmetic attention to bring them to as new condition. Complete with wheel nuts including locking nuts. 245x45xR18. Two tyres have a minimum of 5mm tread, the two others have a minimum of 3mm. Will accept reasonable offers. Collect from Stroud or I will deliver if a reasonable distance from Stroud. PM me if you're interested.
  12. Hello All. My experience is very similar to this, I fitted cruise control, which works fine, but no cruise control light on the dashboard, (no ECO light either). I thought it was because I have a new speedo head fitted (which is in miles and mph) and thought they hadn't connected it up or something. Have others who have followed this process got a cruise control light on their dash or is this something that does not work with this method. Thanks.
  13. Hello. I followed this topic with keen interest as I also did not want to have anything permanently fitted. I bought several of the Parkside magnets. They really do work. Our awning was up in a filthy storm last weekend and the magnetic rail on the roof did not move at all. One mod I have done is to cut some slots in one of the magnetic bars and bend it slightly to follow the curvature of the roof at the front, see picture attached. It now sits firmly on the roof along its whole length. I think I might curve one for the rear, as it doesn't quite sit flat. I do love this forum for the ideas you get. Thanks All.
  14. In addition to what Rojie has said. No, I don't have a 24 volt system. It is 12 volt. The old charger has had it, it blows fuses as soon as it is switched on, so i need to move on from that. Funky Ram were helpful and told me what they now fit, which is namely a Victron Energy Blue Smart Charger 12 volt, 15 Amp. I've now bought one from BMS Technologies at Tewkesbury, who were very helpful and kindly looked over the whole system on our camper and confirmed that was a good choice and gave me some tips how to fit it. So once fitted that should be that.
  15. Hello I have a Funky Ram converted 2008 ANH10 Alphard that you converted in early 2022. The battery charger has stopped working. On removing it from the vehicle I have found that it is a 24 volt charger. Could you please tell me why a 24 volt battery charger was fitted to this vehicle which has a 12 volt system. The model number is BC2410. Many thanks.
  16. Hello Geralt Thanks for the information, very useful. I know its a 24 volt charger for two reasons. First, it clearly says so on the label, along with a model number BC2410. Also, I found the identical charger, with the model number BC2410 being sold by a company called Photonic Universe, see link https://www.photonicuniverse.com/en/catalog/full/350-10A-24V-Intelligent-automatic-multi-stage-mains-battery-charger.html . The spec clearly states 24 volts. Interestingly, they do a 12 volt version called a BC1210. Also of interest is that until it packed up, the charger usually showed a voltage of around 13 volts on the voltmeter connected to the system, which displays on the 12 volt switch panel.
  17. Hello Please see photo of a unit that is fitted to the the two batteries on our converted ANH10, 2008 Alphard. It is a voltage sensitive relay. I think these are sometimes known as a split charge relay. A couple of questions arise. 1) Is this a standard fitting on original Alphards or is it fitted as part of the conversion. 2) Do Alphards come with a leisure battery fitted for some operations. The reason I ask is not really to do with the Alphard vehicle but is to do with the Funky Ram conversion. The mains battery charger fitted has stopped working. It is completely dead. The thing that really confuses me is that is a 24 volt output charger. Is this right? I'd like to understand this before replacing it. Any knowledge insights are very welcome. Thanks
  18. Hello Josh I have a spare as I bought two for some reason. PM me if you like and we'll work something out.
  19. If you do scrap them, strip them first and keep the covers somewhere safe. The drivers seat had a split in ours and we manged to get it reupholstered by providing some of the original material from a set of scrap seats that luckily I had access to.
  20. We have bought an Outdoor Revolution Cayman Air Low. We have just returned from using it for the first time. All fitted to the van as expected. We researched quite a few before buying this. Provided that get one with the correct height, i.e. low version, I would expect the tunnel dimensions of all of them to be more or less the same, so it should really come down to personal preference. Good luck with your search.
  21. Hello Alan We are very pleased with our Funky Ram conversion. They are based in Avonmouth. I think they sell most of their conversions through JMT at Weston. We found both companies to be be very good to deal with. Lots of help, not much nonsense. Both have easy to find web sites. Funky Ram are also very knowledgeable about the mechanical aspects of the Alphard. They have a full maintenance workshop devoted to Japanese imports. We've had our Alphard for about 15 months. The only thing I might do differently is to ask about a scratch resistant work top for the kitchen area.
  22. Very pleased to say another successful installation of cruise control. If you follow this post you will see that I tried to go down the route of getting the left hand switches with the cruise control wires included. Unfortunately the one I got seemed to be off a vehicle with radar active cruise control and the wires to the stalk were different (see picture earlier in this post). Well, I tried it and it worked after a fashion. There were no warning lights on the dash display and resume would not work. So went back to the original method found on this forum where you have to alter the wiring. This proved very easy and the cruise control is now working as it should. One small thing is that there are still no CC lights on the dash, but I'm pretty sure that this is because the speedo head was changed to a new one reading in miles when the vehicle was imported and this light wasn't connected. If you contemplate this job and wish to use the left hand switches on the steering wheel make sure it has the correct leads. Actually, you don't need the switches at all, just the lead that connects to it, if you could get it separately. Anybody want a CC stalk and steering wheel switches for a model with active cruise control.
  23. Both stalks appear to be identical with 3 pins. Both white plugs fit in either. It is in the leads where the differences are. The left side buttons that I bought have the 3 wires going into the white plug that goes into the stalk that came with it. The separate stalk I bought has a lead with 2 wires in it. It seems quite likely from what you say that I have bought a set of buttons and stalk that came from a vehicle fitted with the active cruise control. I can fit it and see if it works, otherwise it should not be difficult to modify the lead going into the large black plug to copy the wiring in Jap Nuts video. Thanks for your help.
  24. Thankyou to everyone who has contributed to the various discussions on fitting cruise control to an Alphard. On the strength of those I have bought the necessary bits to do the job. I bought the stalk (8463234011 or 8463234017), but I then bought a stalk and steering wheel switches (75B037) so as not to have to cut into any wires. The thing is the wiring on the two stalks is different. The one I bought off ebay has a lead that has the red and black wire as shown in the YouTube video that is on this forum. The stalk that came included as a package with the steering wheel switches has a lead with 3 wires. There is an additional black and white wire and the red wire is in a different position. That is confusing me. Please see picture. Any help appreciated.
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