Dash Heat 2011 Tour

Habit 7 · 12-12-2018, 12:33 PM

I have a 2011 Tour, but dash is standard across many Winnie panels. Recently noticing the air will flow, but no heated air comes through dash vents when dial selected in the "red" zone. A/c seems to operate normal. Trouble shooting tips...?

Diesel-Lover · 02-07-2019, 10:07 AM

Either your air control flapper is not moving to make air flow over the heat radiator or the liquid control valve in the engine coolant/water flow system is not opening the water flow to that heat radiator in the air flow box. Locate the valve in the radiator system to see if when you move the indicator to heat water is allowed to divert. if that is happening then its the flap in the air flow system

Jim_HiTek · 02-07-2019, 10:29 AM

Along with what Diesel-Lover said, if you had any work done on the engine back during warm weather, be advised that the techs sometimes shut off the gate valves on the engine block that supply water from the rear engine all the way up to the dash. Both my diesels on Freightliner chassis' had two gate valves. Top and bottom of the engine. One a Cummins engine and one a Cat. This is a safety feature of DPs if the hoses spring a leak (happened to me once).

If even one of those valves were turned off, no hot water to the dash.

Some owners would shut those valves off for safety reasons to reduce leak potential or to reduce the heat thrown off by those hoses (though hot water heat shouldn't make it inside the rig except if the heat gate valve is not closing all the way).

You can test this easily shortly after the engine is at temp and heat control is set to hot by pulling over and feeling the hoses under the front cowl. The hoses should be hot. If not hot, then one of those gate valves on the engine (or both) is shut off. (It's doubtful that the hose is kinked or smooshed closed somewhere).

If the hoses are hot, then it's likely your liquid control valve as Deisel-Lover suggests. It's outside under the cowl and just allows water to pass into the inside radiator, or blocks it. If the cable is broken or has come loose when it was closed, you'd have your symptoms.

Diesel-Lover · 02-07-2019, 11:36 AM

Jim HiTeK great point, forgot about those gate valves. Important cutoff system for the rigs.

Habit 7 · 02-07-2019, 01:06 PM

Thank you gentlemen. How can I locate/ID the gate valve on my 450 HP Cummins? Fairly easy to see/access to turn it?

Jim_HiTek · 02-07-2019, 01:47 PM

Access the top valve from the bedroom I'd imagine. And the bottom by climbing underneath. Some people let a shop do it. Doesn't cost much unless the shop has no idea where they are or that you even have them. That's not a good sign. And I've run into that.

Your chassis users guide might have a drawing of where they are as they are part of the chassis...it's unlikely Winnebago would have shown them anywhere but it's possible one of their techs might know if you called.

Easiest way to find them is to crawl under the RV, find the two big hoses (black rubberish) and follow them to the engine (there will be sections of steel pipe instead of rubber). The lower one is easiest to find and get to but if you have a smaller helper that can climb on the top of the engine, they should be able to find the upper valve easy enough. This is if that's what Cummins designed...one on top and one on the bottom of the engine towards the area of the water pump on the engine. This is typical.

The gate valves I've seen are high quality brass valves that look like garden valves sort of. The straight up and down ones. The valve is bolted to the engine and the water hose is clamped onto the outlet, not screwed on like a water hose. But of course Cummins could have done any number of designs to accomplish the same goal.

One thing that threw me with my Cummins valves was that the turn handle doesn't change position. I'd turn it and it would be at the same height. But I kept turning it CCW though and eventually it stopped. Still didn't have heat. But then found the lower valve and once I'd turned that fully CCW I had dash heat again.

NOTE: Gate valve might not be the right name for them. Be sure to check your engine manual and/or your chassis manual for correct terminology and position of the valves if you take it to a shop.

Habit 7 · 02-07-2019, 02:13 PM

Thank you; that helps me get going in the right direction. May try bedroom floor access to top of engine first.

Happy motoring!

oldwinnie · 02-22-2019, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim_HiTek

Access the top valve from the bedroom I'd imagine. And the bottom by climbing underneath. Some people let a shop do it. Doesn't cost much unless the shop has no idea where they are or that you even have them. That's not a good sign. And I've run into that.

Your chassis users guide might have a drawing of where they are as they are part of the chassis...it's unlikely Winnebago would have shown them anywhere but it's possible one of their techs might know if you called.

Easiest way to find them is to crawl under the RV, find the two big hoses (black rubberish) and follow them to the engine (there will be sections of steel pipe instead of rubber). The lower one is easiest to find and get to but if you have a smaller helper that can climb on the top of the engine, they should be able to find the upper valve easy enough. This is if that's what Cummins designed...one on top and one on the bottom of the engine towards the area of the water pump on the engine. This is typical.

The gate valves I've seen are high quality brass valves that look like garden valves sort of. The straight up and down ones. The valve is bolted to the engine and the water hose is clamped onto the outlet, not screwed on like a water hose. But of course Cummins could have done any number of designs to accomplish the same goal.

One thing that threw me with my Cummins valves was that the turn handle doesn't change position. I'd turn it and it would be at the same height. But I kept turning it CCW though and eventually it stopped. Still didn't have heat. But then found the lower valve and once I'd turned that fully CCW I had dash heat again.

NOTE: Gate valve might not be the right name for them. Be sure to check your engine manual and/or your chassis manual for correct terminology and position of the valves if you take it to a shop.

I'm having a similar issue with my 02 Ultimate Freedom - no heat. Water from the engine does heat the water heater. Does that mean that the valves at the engine are open?

Jim_HiTek · 02-22-2019, 02:43 PM

@OldWinnie: The valves in question are typically dash heat valves. In some RVs they also could be involved with the water heater and or floor heat. All depends on your model. So grab your users guide and see what particular items are part of the engine coolant loop. You could call the manufacturer and ask for a copy of the drawings of any engine coolant hose loops there might be.

There could be one, two, or three loops and it's possible the manufacturer could have put gate valves in each loop or just 2 or even just 1.

Like I said, it's best if you check your users guide for what features you have and than chase the hoses from that (or those) item(s) back to the engine. The manufacturer could have used any style of water valve too. But due to the heat near the engine it would likely be brass.