urgent need of mechanic advice please

[karma87]

Hello good evening friends. I am the new owner of a chieftain with a 460. I'm having a bunch of issues, I'm trying to tackle one at a time but i kind of bit off more than i can chew with this. This is my first rv so I'm learning as i go. I work on my own car but this is much different. If anyone can possibly tell me what the names are of these parts I'm missing and need to replace? There is what looks to be a cap missing underneath the transmission. And a hose from what looks like a vapor canister but I don't know if either of those are correct. There is a lot more i need to fix like this driveshaft bolt wasn't even on i had to tighten it and not sure if the driveshaft should be showing that much of the grooves and wires that arent conected. and figure it out but those seem to be the most important at the moment. I appreciate and guidance thank you

[Morich]

Most of us have been in that shape and bit more than we could chew right away!
So we need to take it in smaller bites! One of those small things is how to get the best info.
The big difference in RV and trucks is what is built on top so we need to look for truck info! To get the right stuff we need to know what truck and what year as RV are often built on stripped chassis and the chassis may be a year older than the RV.

There should be a label next to the driver's side that tells lots of the important stuff like who built what and when! You may have 1999 Rv built on a 1998 truck, so we all need to know that when we talk about the parts! Sound like a Ford but what year? Then when you get to the RV part, everybody will need to know exactly which year Chieftain
as well as which model. All that should be on the label.

For the truck info, I would say you will be better off looking for truck sites and manuals as many of us are not up on the mechanical parts as much as truck guys with truck books!
Many of us are glad to help but just not been under the truck in years!
Best of luck in the chase!

[bigb]

Good advice from Richard, you will find a lot of info on the chassis and engine on a Ford truck and van forum. The most popular one AFAIK is FTE or Ford Truck Enthusiasts.

As far as your driveline I'll guess that it had to be towed before you bought it and the tow truck driver removed the driveline and got careless re-installing it. The splines on the slip yoke move in and out and are factory coated with teflon which wears out after the years go by so people apply teflon grease, however they should not be exposed, they should be in a rubber boot. The one below is from a Superduty but same idea. The boot keeps out the dirt and keeps in the grease, dirt is abrasive and you have constant in and out movement there.

[Ray,IN]

Hose to vapor canister would be gas tank vent line. The only cap-looking thing under an automatic transmission I can think of is the filter, but without it the transmission would self-destruct very quickly. Perhaps it is a wire connection cover??
Got a smart phone? A picture is worth a thousand words.

[Morich]

Stealing this picture from Brian's post above? Any chance this is what you are missing?
I can't think of too much that hangs below the transmission as I think of it as about as low as things get!

[bigb]

Originally Posted by Morich

Stealing this picture from Brian's post above? Any chance this is what you are missing?
I can't think of too much that hangs below the transmission as I think of it as about as low as things get!
Attachment 189506

Richard that's an after market Racor PS120 diesel fuel strainer/water separator that I installed to eliminate the troublesome in tank filter.

[wahoonc]

There is a vacuum modulator valve on the automatic transmission that has a vacuum hose attached to it...

Aaron