MARKER LIGHTS (wiring)

[Phil M]

I have a 2013 Vista 26he. Has anyone ever removed the panels over the dashboard?


I lost a marker light forward and a second with no power to it. there was insufficient wiring to grab on to. Looks like I will have to go at it from inside and will most likely rewire the forward lights up top corner to corner. In addition, direct replacements are no longer available. But I digress. Have purchased replacement LED lights and will replace the center 3 to maintain a consistency.



Anyhow, looking at the plethora of screws holding the panels plus those holding the curtain slides up have me a tad worried. So if anyone has tackled a similar task up over the dash, I would love to hear all about it. Thanks ahead of time.

[creativepart]

Those are officially called Clearance Lights.

I don't know on your Vista but on my Adventurer there are cabinets above the driver's compartments and inside there is "mouse fir" covered cardboard to make up the inside of the cabinets. There are screws that hold the back, top and sides to wooden 1X2 "studs."

I have removed the inside of the cabinets and seen the back of the clearance lights but there were covered in very thick sprayed insulation. You could only see the bulges where the individual clearance lights were positioned.

Here's a photo that shows the back of the front cap and you can see one of the clearance lights covered in foam. By the way, the foam is sold, not like Styrofoam. The Clearance light is that bulge top center of the photo.

[Phil M]

Thank you for the pics. The vista has the tv mounted over the dash and behind that is just the vinyl covered panels screwed up across the entire dashboard. Above those panels I do not know what to expect. I hope just air space to the front brow exposing the wiring to the lights. Just looking for a heads-up before I break out the screw gun.

[meyeet]

On my 2010 Vista 32K it is just airspace behind the cabinets and the TV. I replaced all 5 of the lights because of the same issue, missing covers and replacements no longer available. Not a fun job but not complicated, just tight and awkward to reach. Looked the same as what Creativepart posted. I took down the television to make it easier to gain access as well as removed the backing boards from the cabinets.

[Phil M]

Thanks again for the replies. Since the 26he was considered an entry level class A, it did not have overhead cabinets up front back when introduced.. Just panels. I will assume it is all airspace for me to work in (I hope). Will post how it goes.

[Phil M]

Can anyone suggest how to remove the foam insulation over the clearance lights wiring as photographed by Creativepart of his Adventurer. Any advice is appreciated so I will cause minimal collateral damage. Thanks to all.

[Morich]

I had a chance to look above the panels on a 2015 Vista and it was pretty much open space after passing the thin little "panels in the cabinets above the dash.

My actual problem was they were simply laid on top of the side panels and after a few years had bowed down and keeping them up was my problem, so I did not really look at the wiring but just pretty much empty and full of hot air!
A heavy duty stapler solved the problem.

When it comes to getting the foam off stuff, that is one I have done a number of times and found it not fun if you don't want to ruin what's underneath the foam!
Tempted to use a torch but rejected the idea and went with pushing a screwdriver into the foam to "feel" around to locate the body of the light and try to then more or less gently pry the stuff off.

Doing it now, I might try my new favorite tool as it lets me cut things without lots of danger involved! Any chance you have an "oscillating tool"?

I'm finding lots of uses for it that I never imagined before I got one. I first got one as a gift of a Dremel brand and it died way too soon but I liked what it did well enough to replace it with a cheap one!

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hyper-Tou...Grit/735286612

This one has all I need and has paid for itself many times. For foam or caulking, I love it as I don't have to push hard so it gets into too much force and I gouge things but the idea is that the blade moves in such tiny, super fast movements that it lets me clear foam off stuff without actually cutting nor gouging. Works great on RV caulking! Just tiny little strips as I get close to what I want to save?
Taking tiny little bites is really not bad--- if you are taking 20,000 bites per second!
It will be a mess but at least it might be a QUICK mess.

It's the only tool I can cut small wood with and know it won't cut my fingers! The skin on fingers has enough wiggle that it has never done any damage!

[Phil M]

As a follow-up to my Clearance Lights issue on my Vista 26he, I did the following:


Removed the TV for access which is all I needed to do as I was changing only the 3 center lights and I could reach in around the tv mounting bracket.



I found the foam covering the wiring is similar to the spray foam you would buy in a can at Lowes and comes off with minimal effort. I was able to reach in with a long screwdriver and chip away the foam around the wires allowing for needed slack in the lines.


Upon removing each light, I pulled the slack through the holes outside giving me several inches free wire. Using straight crimped wire connectors I was able to attach the new lights and feed each wire back through the holes into the coach.



Luckily, the screw holes in the coach matched the new lights so installation was painless. A bead of clear silicone calk around the base of each light and I was done.



As a precaution, I also added calk to the holes where the wires fed through from inside. Hope this helps anyone with similar issues.


Side note: I purchased the LED lights (5 pack) from "PartsAm Lighting And Accessories" Through Amazon for $13.99