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Old 06-25-2008, 06:23 PM   #1
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Hi all,

We are tooling around in Colorado this week and have put on about 600 miles so far. Good news is the TripTek reports an avereage of 9.1 MPG with a lot of mountain passes between Denver and Durango and now we're in Gunnison.

The Journey is performing great, but we have a few issues that never seems to be resolved 100% even if the dealer has addressed them several times:

1) Front access panel to generator keeps coming loose. One of these days the cross-wind is going to blow it right off. Any ideas for a permanent fix?

2) The entry door becomes out of 'allignment' after a few hundred miles of bumpy roads. Is this common? I have the dealer adjust it every time we take it in for service, but it seems to be a permanent problem. Sometimes after a long day on the road I have to use all of my 220 lbs and a nice swing of the hip to open it. I am afraid that one of these days we're going to be stuck inside.

3) We have one jack (HWHs) that takes forever to retract. In the 'olden' days it was only a problem when it was cold, but now it happens even when it is 90 degrees outside. I have heard that some of you have gotten stronger springs, any info on this would be appreciated.

4) The light bulb for the water heater switch died in Durango, any ideas of replacement?

As always, thanks a bunch for all your input. We're headed to Breckenridge and Tiger Run RV Resort Thursday.

---
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Old 06-25-2008, 06:23 PM   #2
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Hi all,

We are tooling around in Colorado this week and have put on about 600 miles so far. Good news is the TripTek reports an avereage of 9.1 MPG with a lot of mountain passes between Denver and Durango and now we're in Gunnison.

The Journey is performing great, but we have a few issues that never seems to be resolved 100% even if the dealer has addressed them several times:

1) Front access panel to generator keeps coming loose. One of these days the cross-wind is going to blow it right off. Any ideas for a permanent fix?

2) The entry door becomes out of 'allignment' after a few hundred miles of bumpy roads. Is this common? I have the dealer adjust it every time we take it in for service, but it seems to be a permanent problem. Sometimes after a long day on the road I have to use all of my 220 lbs and a nice swing of the hip to open it. I am afraid that one of these days we're going to be stuck inside.

3) We have one jack (HWHs) that takes forever to retract. In the 'olden' days it was only a problem when it was cold, but now it happens even when it is 90 degrees outside. I have heard that some of you have gotten stronger springs, any info on this would be appreciated.

4) The light bulb for the water heater switch died in Durango, any ideas of replacement?

As always, thanks a bunch for all your input. We're headed to Breckenridge and Tiger Run RV Resort Thursday.

---
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Old 06-25-2008, 07:02 PM   #3
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">4) The light bulb for the water heater switch died in Durango, any ideas of replacement? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

See my posting here: Re: 110 volt water heater switch The switch is easily replaced and quite inexpensive.
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Old 06-25-2008, 07:25 PM   #4
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The things you're running into are typical of all RVs so pace yourself. The term "rolling maintenance" isn't merely humorous.

Anyways, I ended up drilling a hole and sinking a sheet metal screw to keep the generator panel on. Just pick a central location (along the top or bottom edge) to minimize the strain on the screw.

It sounds like the latch adjustment screws on your door are loosening. Many full-timers end up adding star washers, bevel washers, or any type of locking washer to screws and bolts that chronically come loose. Sounds like the ones on your door are a good candidate.

Start by calling HWH regarding the jack. Then type in "slow jacks" in the irv2 search system ("Find"). You'll be able to listen in on what others have done to tackle their problem.

The light switch can be replaced as cbeierl indicated but keep in mind, they burn out because they get too hot when left on all the time. They should have used an LED instead of a filliment-based bulb. At any rate, you may eventually have to learn to live without the light. After three replacements, we gave up and seem to be getting by. Sort of. Best of luck.

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Old 06-26-2008, 01:28 AM   #5
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Spraying your jack with silicone while extended will help. Bet its the left rear, this is the one that is farthest from the pump.Good Luck
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Old 06-26-2008, 02:47 AM   #6
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Call HWH about the springs and slow retraction. You'll need the part number off a front and rear jack; they're different. Easy to read on a label on the jack. Just crawl under with a rag in hand. The label is near the top of the jack.

I have 8 new ones in the garage to install.
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Old 06-26-2008, 04:12 AM   #7
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by boulderado:
Hi all,

We are tooling around in Colorado this week and have put on about 600 miles so far. Good news is the TripTek reports an avereage of 9.1 MPG with a lot of mountain passes between Denver and Durango and now we're in Gunnison.

Excellent mileage!

The Journey is performing great, but we have a few issues that never seems to be resolved 100% even if the dealer has addressed them several times:

I have decided this is just going to be a way of life

1) Front access panel to generator keeps coming loose. One of these days the cross-wind is going to blow it right off. Any ideas for a permanent fix?

Unfortunately, not an uncommon problem. Search the forum for what others have done

2) The entry door becomes out of 'allignment' after a few hundred miles of bumpy roads. Is this common? I have the dealer adjust it every time we take it in for service, but it seems to be a permanent problem. Sometimes after a long day on the road I have to use all of my 220 lbs and a nice swing of the hip to open it. I am afraid that one of these days we're going to be stuck inside.

We have never had a problem with our door - we have over 30,000 miles on the coach

3) We have one jack (HWHs) that takes forever to retract. In the 'olden' days it was only a problem when it was cold, but now it happens even when it is 90 degrees outside. I have heard that some of you have gotten stronger springs, any info on this would be appreciated.

Also not an uncommon problem. You could have bad (or old) springs, or bad jacks. Extensively discussed in the past on the forum

4) The light bulb for the water heater switch died in Durango, any ideas of replacement?

Ours works sometimes, sometimes it doesn't. Not a big deal to me - it almost always stays on

As always, thanks a bunch for all your input. We're headed to Breckenridge and Tiger Run RV Resort Thursday.

Happy and safe miles!

--- </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
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Old 06-26-2008, 04:18 AM   #8
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> 1) Front access panel to generator keeps coming loose. One of these days the cross-wind is going to blow it right off. Any ideas for a permanent fix?
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>
When my coach was just out of warranty, my front hood bracket fell off and my Winnie dealer wanted to grind off all the epoxy and add fiberglass/resin over the bracket. That would surely be the strongest fix, but they wanted $300 for 3 hours labor, I declined. When I got the new bracket, I roughed up the mating surface with sand paper and use 3M 2-part epoxy (don't recall p/n). That was 3 yrs ago and has held tight for 20K miles.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> 3) We have one jack (HWHs) that takes forever to retract. In the 'olden' days it was only a problem when it was cold, but now it happens even when it is 90 degrees outside. I have heard that some of you have gotten stronger springs, any info on this would be appreciated.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>
We too had one slow jack - right rear - longest run from pump. After talking with HWH, & doing some troubleshooting, the problem seemed to be in the long hose. I bought two sets of newer springs to do both rears, from HWH - the new ones are tapered on the ends. That helped a lot but not completely. So then I added two helper springs in parallel with the standard springs. I bought two 1" x 12" springs from Lowe's for about $6 each and now this jack is as quick as the rest.
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Old 06-26-2008, 04:26 AM   #9
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">4) The light bulb for the water heater switch died in Durango, any ideas of replacement? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Knut, I'm on my 3rd one, and it "runs" cool, and I expect it to last. First 2 were too hot to touch, and would overheat the mount and bezel, so they would need replacement too. I guess I'm one of those guys that wants everything to work. 2 travel buddies, a Journey, and an Itasca, both 04's too, have had no switch problems. I dont think its inevitable.. Same with day/nite blinds, I have had 6/8 failures, them...NONE.. "Luck o the draw" I guess. ..rgr...
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Old 06-28-2008, 11:36 AM   #10
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Thanks for all your replies, guys. We are currently in Breckenridge and I am having an exterior windshield cover custom-made today. In the process the guy who is doing the install noticed a couple of other things to add to my list:

1) The paint on the awning box over the entry door is peeling off at an area the size of a dollar bill.

2) The front cap where the curb-side mirror is attached is really loose. I have heard a squeaky noise from this area for a while at highway speeds and I don't know if there is a relationship to the loose front cap.

We are headed back to town this evening and I guess I have to make a phone call to Winnebago for some advice.

Thanks again for your input.

---
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