'04 Journey LP Furnace Access

tomsm · 12-06-2009, 09:16 AM

My Journey has the LP furnace mounted behind a compartment door with only the air intake and exhaust plate protruding through the door.

I have removed all the screws around the perimeter of the big black plate and also the 6 screws in the intake/exhaust cover plate. I can work the edges of the big plate loose from the black goo that seals it except when I get to the area around where the intake/exhaust plate is mounted. I cannot get that small plate to come off and it appears to hold the big plate down.

I know I'm probably not describing this very well, but I'm hoping someone with the same model that has actually removed their furnace will understand my dilemma.

Thanks,

MrTransistor · 12-06-2009, 02:30 PM

Hi Tom,

You should be able to just pull the assembly off the furnace. I’ve had mine apart on both the Journey and the Horizon without any problems. The exhaust and intake trim piece should just slip over mating pipes on the heater. Yours may be rusted causing it to bind and stick.

tomsm · 12-06-2009, 02:54 PM

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the help! The intake/exhaust metal trim piece is attached to a fiberglass housing that just extends the trim piece out a couple of inches from the main furnace box. When I take the 6 screws out of the trim piece, I can slightly lift each corner of the trim piece. There are 2 rivets in that trim piece also and I can't budge the trim piece in that area.

Looking at the manual, it looks like the outer exhaust tube is attached to the trim piece and I'm guessing that's what the rivets are for. I guess if that exhaust tube is rusted to the furnace exhaust it would make it feel like the trim piece was firmly attached to the furnace even with all the screws removed...make sense?

MrTransistor · 12-06-2009, 10:58 PM

Hi Tom,

Is this what it looks like?

http://www.winnebagoind.com/service/...04/4wkp36g.pdf page 217

If so, it seems to be identical to the unit and installation on the 2004 Horizon. I’ve had ours open to retrieve objects that had fallen into the furnace area. I don’t remember it being that difficult to remove the panel except that the adhesive used made it really tough to peel the black plate away. This is similar to the 2000 Journey with the furnace in the rear wall of the coach with a painted exterior plate covering it. That setup was much easier to remove.

According to the pictorial on page 217, the outer vent cover should just pull straight off from the internal pipes of the furnace. Good luck, keep us posted.

tomsm · 12-07-2009, 05:07 AM

Hi Mark,

That illustration from the Winnie manual is a copy from the Suburban manual and, unfortunately, it doesn't show the Winnie unique part (the fiberglass molding). However, the fiberglass part just moves the whole intake/exhaust assembly out a couple of inches from the furnace faceplate. This is done to extend it through an opening in the compartment door that's just a bit bigger than the size of the i/e trim piece. They must use longer than standard intake and exhaust tubes.

Anyway, I don't think the fiberglass piece is the problem - it's just confusing the issue. I believe, as you said earlier, the problem is the exhaust tubes are welded together by rust. I can't see any, but since the outer part slips over the furnace exhaust, it wouldn't be visible from outside. There's also no way to get any solvent to the area.

When I lift/pry the intake end of trim piece, it does separate from the intake tube so I'm hoping I can twist the trim piece to break the exhaust tube loose. I'll start with some tapping and move on to banging - all the while trying not to mess up the paint on the fiberglass part or the trim piece. If that fails, I'll try heating the outer exhaust tube with a torch through the trim piece exhaust port.

I'm busy today, but will give it a go tomorrow and let you know what happens....thanks for the help.

MrTransistor · 12-07-2009, 08:11 PM

Hi Tom,

Can anyone else give us some advice? My memory of ours was that the intake/exhaust trim assembly just pulled away from the intake/exhaust of the furnace. I think I remember that the end of the trim tubes had springs or spring wire around them to hold them snug to the furnace tubes. Next step may be to call Winnie to see if they can give some advice. This should not be that difficult!

For the Journey, I made an intake shroud that allowed fresh air to be drawn in from both sides because the exhaust is directly below the intake and oxygen depleted air was being drawn into the intake decreasing the efficiency of the furnace. I haven’t made one for the Horizon yet but I am thinking I need to make the same type of shroud to improve the efficiency on this coach. I know it helped to reduce the propane use on the Journey. I’m not sure why Suburban designed these units with the exhaust under the intake.

tomsm · 12-08-2009, 10:47 AM

Good news, Mark...

The furnace is in the garage! I called Winnie this AM and they verified everything we were thinking, except he said there should be no rust as those parts are made out of a "pretty good metal".

I lifted the intake end of the trim piece and started tapping it to the side with a soft hammer and eventually got a little twist on the exhaust pipe. Was able wiggle it free after that. There was no "rust", but a light colored corrosion really had it stuck together.

Even after you get that trim piece off, there's plenty of wrestling left. But it's old guy doable.

Thanks for the help!

MrTransistor · 12-08-2009, 08:20 PM

Cool Beans!

Roadking · 12-10-2009, 10:47 AM

Tom, glad you were successful in removing the furnance. As you discovered the tough part is getting the intake/exhaust housing off and removing that black panel with all of the very sticky glue is not easy.

My coach has a Suburban SF-42 model and after pulling it a couple of times for cleaning I discovered an easier approach to removing it. On the SF models you can easily remove the furnance from the housing while the housing remains in the coach. The advantage of leaving the housing in the coach is you don't disturb the rear gasket that seals the housing to the heater ducting. To pull the furnance body from the housing all you need to do is remove the single screw in the center, bottom and then slide the furnance out from the housing. When pulling the furnance from the housing be very careful not to put any pressure on the squirrel cage blower as it can be bent very easily and will result in the blower being out of balance thus causing extreme vibration. Getting it back in balance is not easy. Don't ask how I happen to know this

tomsm · 12-10-2009, 02:52 PM

Roadking - now you tell me!

Mine is an SH-42, but seems to be the same as yours. I discovered what you're talking about after I got it home.

Sure would have been easier to just extract the furnace part. The outer case has a lip at the top that wouldn't clear the compartment door without disconnecting the hydraulic strut and holding the door completely vertical against the side of the MH. Of course I needed both hands to extract the furnace, so I had to hold the door open with my head, shoulder, elbow, etc.

To top it all off - I only needed to change the module board and it looked like it was buried way back in there. Turns out it's mounted to a metal bracket that's secured at the front of the furnace.....

So, I didn't need to take the furnace out at all, but I'm glad I did it once - satisfied my curiosity as to whats back there behind it. And I got to clean it up and look it over real good on the bench...

Hopefully, if anyone else needs to R&R their module board, they will read this first. You've still got to fight your way through that intake/exhaust port and that big outer plate though!