Hello, my 2002 Winnie Journey LD dp has developed a leak in the heater core. It looks to be nearly impossible to even remove the cover as there is A) almost NO clearance to the front of the box and the front cowl B) the A/C lines are installed on the box as well and would require dismantling that system also. It just doesn't seem to be physically possible to remove the heater core cover box to get to the core without a major dismantle of the front end. And I foresee a HUGE repair bill should I take it to a shop.
Unless someone can suggest how this can be done without reinventing the front of the coach, I am likely going to install 2 ball valves in the feed and return coolant lines from the engine. I relied on this post for my info:
https://www.irv2.com/forums/f104/maki...er-152494.html
The only change I am making is that it is no longer necessary to buy 3/4 in plumbing valves and fir with 5/8in threaded barbs. For about $20 I can buy a pair of ball valves with 5/8 barbed adapters on each end making the job simpler and cheaper.
The upside is I will not have a leak. The downside is, I will not have a cab heater. This is certain to be a problem for my wife who likes to be WARM. Although we live in coastal southern NC, we DO travel in the winter months. I just completed a 500+ mile trip and lost about a gallon of coolant and the leak seems to getting worse (used to just be a regular drip, drip). I rather dislike the idea of running the furnace to keep the whole coach heated when the price of propane is approaching the level of Unobtainium.
Anyone have any past experience/thoughts on this issue? From what I have been able to research on this forum and others is that the dreaded heater core failure is fairly common.
Thanks for any and all help.
Linear Mode
