2004 Vectra Service In Oklahoma

richart · 08-03-2022, 10:08 AM

Are there any RV techs familiar with 2004 Winnebago Vectra located in or around Oklahoma?

emiddleb · 08-03-2022, 02:12 PM

You should post a bit more info to get the right advice.

Generally, you are going to need two or three different types of RV techs/shops for your rig - one to handle the chassis/tranny/engine stuff (Freightliner in your case) and one for the house stuff (fridge, water pump, furnace etc, often a general RV tech.) Perhaps someone in the middle range who can work on things like the slide hydraulics, basement A/C etc. It's very rare to find someone whole spans the whole gamut.

So, having said that, what type of work do you need done? Engine? House? Other?

Morich · 08-03-2022, 03:28 PM

Also the term in and around Oklahoma leaves a very ,very wide range of places to suggest, so that needs a bunch more definition of "around" to get somewhere close to an answer.
Austin , Texas might be considered too far for most of us but it's right on the route if going down I-35 to San Antonio!
Likewise, Wichita, Kansas has lots of good repair folks that are pretty close to North Central Oklahoma.
Getting down closer to something like a local area, I see more than ten listed in Enid!

There are likely to be folks in all those areas that are willing to help but hey do need to know WHERE as well as what is needed?

richart · 08-03-2022, 08:46 PM

Yes, I should have provided more details. As for repairs:
1. The dash/engine A/C does not cool at all.
2. The RV/house A/C cools but not enough.
3. The chalking along roof edges is cracking. Old scraped out and new applied.
And I live in rural Oklahoma. Two hrs from Ok City, hr and half from Tulsa or Wichita. So any of those would work.

richart · 08-03-2022, 08:47 PM

Thanks for your help.

emiddleb · 08-04-2022, 08:32 AM

Well, I can't help you with specific service guys in your area, but let's talk about your issues.

1) Any auto A/C guy should be able to work on your dash A/C. Pretty standard stuff there. If you have any level of mechanical ability I'd suggest you give it a shot yourself first. Go to any auto store and pick up a couple cans of A/C stuff along with the hose. The A/C port is very easy to access... open up the front panel where the gen is located, and the port will be right in front of you slightly to the passenger side. Follow the instructions on the can (run the engine, put A/C on max, fast idle) and try topping off the coolant. You might have a leak or something that needs a pro, but odds are this will get you cold air. One hour easy job.

2) This gets a bit trickier as there are several possible things. Since you have some level of cooling things are mostly working. It's a sealed system so no adding of coolant unless there is a major issue. You want to check two things... the A/C has two compressors, you want to make sure both are running, and you want to check for air leaks. First, when you start it up, you should hear the first compressor start immediately. 15-30 seconds later you should hear the 2nd compressor kick on. If you are on 30amp or gen you can also watch your power draw on the One Place meter... you should see it jump to about 18amps at start, then spike to 24-28 when the 2nd kicks on, then settle back down. This will tell you if the A/C is working properly.

Then go to the back and open your engine access panel, stick your arm into the right where the ducts run up the back and check for cold air blowing into the rear cap. The ducts are famous for having the joint tape drying out and leaking cold air. Also check underneath the A/C. If you feel cold air you'll have to figure out how to have the ducts retaped.

Lastly, take a temp reading of the outside air and the cold coming from the inside vents. There should be about a 15 degree difference... i.e. 85 outside, 70 from the ducts. This is about what you can expect from that unit.

3) Roof caulk edge seals are very important to stay on top of and there is a lot of info out there, including a Tech Bulletin from Winnebago. Not complex to do, just a lot of work removing the old and resealing with the proper goop. It's very important you use the right stuff as it's what holds the fiberglass roof in place. Almost any RV shop should be able to do it, you can do it yourself if you can work on a ladder. Just labor intensive. Get the sheet from Winnebago for specifics.

Hope this helps.

richart · 08-04-2022, 09:04 AM

Thanks emiddleb for all your information. I will start checking these items today!

Morich · 08-04-2022, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richart

Yes, I should have provided more details. As for repairs:
1. The dash/engine A/C does not cool at all.
2. The RV/house A/C cools but not enough.
3. The chalking along roof edges is cracking. Old scraped out and new applied.
And I live in rural Oklahoma. Two hrs from Ok City, hr and half from Tulsa or Wichita. So any of those would work.

Ok, it helps a lot to know what type of repair as it is sometimes more a car/truck type repair and going to RV shops tends to be much more expensive and often much longer wait time. The auto air is one that I do not mess with much if it goes beyond some basic control issues.
Adding freon has never served me well as it has always had a leak and it wound up I would have been better to just pour it on the gorund as the quicker option!

There are a couple items that I do look at as somewhat easy to fix. Those are things I can see like the vacuum lines under the hood being really old and brittle so that they break if I move them around. That tells me they are leaking and may not be moving the controls for the heater and air. So I switch it on heat and then air and see if I hear or feel anything change.
There is also a chance that the air is working but there is a valve on the water line that can stick or stay open so that the heater is still working even though the air is doing all it can. In hot weather, the heater wins that battle.
So I do admit that I do some looking but for most air conditioner questions, I go to a car/truck shop as that is what we actually have in the RV for front air.

For the rear air, I might work up to that after finding a guy to look at the caulking. The caulking is one that I would just ask around a few places that do RV repair as it is lots different than cars! It takes a bit of knowledge to know how and how much to clean the old off, ont just keep adding more and it needs to be done with the right stuff, not just what the lumber yard carries. I suggest doing some calling and just ask if they are interested. If they are a jerk on the phone, I don't bother getting to know them! Most are okay and may offer up who they suggest for the item.

But then while I have a guy who knows something about caulking a roof seam, he likely does talk Rv talk with other guys in the area and they send each other work, so I ask him about what he knows about air or who he knows.

Sounds like a mobile guy out of Enid might be a good place to start?

emiddleb · 08-04-2022, 09:12 AM

I did slightly misspeak in #2 - you don't check the outside air temp, you check the inside air at the return air intake and compare it to what's coming out of the ceiling vents. It's a closed system, recycling inside air, not bringing in outside air. On mine it's in the rear under my washer, your floor plan may be different, but it's where the air filter is located for the basement A/C. Speaking of, make sure your filter is new/clean, and only use a standard fiberglass filter, not a high-number filter for pollens etc. You are just trying to keep the A/C clean, but you don't want to restrict the air flow.

richart · 08-04-2022, 05:17 PM

Thanks morich for the good ideas. I haver some calls into a couple of mobile RV techs now.

richart · 08-04-2022, 05:19 PM

emiddleb, thanks for clarification for checking the temperature of returning air flow. Makes more since than just knowing outside temps. I will keep you posted.

richart · 08-05-2022, 06:43 PM

Okay here is what I determined in my system test. The house A/C was left completely of overnight. When started today the outside ambient temperature was 104 with added heat index to 106.

When first started the amps pulled jumped up to 23 for just couple of seconds then settled down to 11 amps constant. After about 20 seconds it momentarily hit 34 then settled at 21. Left running rest of afternoon.

After 30 minutes rechecked the air temp at return air filter, showed 90 degrees. The roof vent outlet temp came down to 70 degrees.

The coach felt cooler but the room temperature never dropped below 76. Later in day the coach inside temperature had risen back up 85 but the temperature at the roof outlet was at 60. I also noticed the amps being pulled had increased to 23.

Any ideas or other things I could check? I did feel around the vent going out of the unit going up inside the rear cap. The duct did feel cool to the touch but no air leaks. At least as far up I could reach.

emiddleb · 08-05-2022, 07:58 PM

Honestly, my experience with the same year/model has been that your basement system is working about as expected. With temps above 100, getting the inside down to 75-85 is pretty normal. Power usage sounds about right. The only other A/C thing I would suggest is to make sure the radiator fins are clean to maximize efficiency. Other than that, I think you have done about all you can there.

I would suggest you switch your focus to doing everything possible to reduce the effects of the outside temps getting inside. Like most RVs the Vectra is still essentially a tin box with minimal insulation in the walls and ceiling compared to a sticks-and-bricks. Park in a shaded area if possible. If you don't have one, consider getting one of those outside reflective windshield covers... the big windshield is a big single-pane heat transfer device! Put out all your awnings to keep the sun from coming in the side windows. Consider purchasing a pair of vent insulators for your ceiling vents to stop heat from sneaking in there.

Those who camp in hot climates might have other tips for you.

Morich · 08-06-2022, 06:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emiddleb

Honestly, my experience with the same year/model has been that your basement system is working about as expected. With temps above 100, getting the inside down to 75-85 is pretty normal. Power usage sounds about right. The only other A/C thing I would suggest is to make sure the radiator fins are clean to maximize efficiency. Other than that, I think you have done about all you can there.

I would suggest you switch your focus to doing everything possible to reduce the effects of the outside temps getting inside. Like most RVs the Vectra is still essentially a tin box with minimal insulation in the walls and ceiling compared to a sticks-and-bricks. Park in a shaded area if possible. If you don't have one, consider getting one of those outside reflective windshield covers... the big windshield is a big single-pane heat transfer device! Put out all your awnings to keep the sun from coming in the side windows. Consider purchasing a pair of vent insulators for your ceiling vents to stop heat from sneaking in there.

Those who camp in hot climates might have other tips for you.

This may be totally true and as time has passed, my wife and I have come around to the idea that summer is no longer the fun thing it was when we were younger. The area we are currently living in is setting new heat records every few years and this summer is another one of those.
The future does not look good for RV use as they are currently designed.

**creativepart** · 08-06-2022, 08:15 AM

Living in South Texas we’ve learned to do all our camping in winter, spring and fall. In September we head to Colorado to a campground at 8,300’ elevation because Sept can be the hottest month here. Trouble is there are 2-3 very hot travel days to get there because we travel only 200-300 miles a day.

To deal with 100 degree days, we travel with the generator running and both A/Cs running all day. The key is to start the day cool, almost cold, and keep it that way as long as possible. Even with that by 5pm the RV creeps up into the 80’s.

The sun is your enemy. You need shade and window coverings as much as possible. We find morning sun less problematic and try to park with the front facing that morning sun even with the shade down.