2004 Adventurer Dash Vacuum Harness

cef2lion · 07-07-2021, 05:41 AM

My 2004 Adventurer Evan Dash AC unit is having issues in MAX AC mode. The actuator for the air recirculation valve and the hot water cutoff are not closing. Very little vacuum on the green line to the hot water cutoff. No vacuum to the blue line to the recirculation valve. I know the blue and green vacuum line are spliced together just off the control panel.

I found the issue with the blue line. Has a split in it under the hood. Age and heat.

Part number for the harness is:

103930-33-703 EA VACUUM HARNESS 036-0466

Lichtsinn RV says no longer available.

I searched and Comfort Air web site has a harness listed for Evans systems. Part number doesn't match up. The have another harness listed for Victory systems. Part number almost matches. Have an email into them.

anyone else ever replace there harness recently and was able to get the part? Or methods to repair the bad section?

Craig

BobC · 07-07-2021, 07:29 AM

If you're lucky, Comfort Air or Victory systems may have a solution for you. Complete replacement is ideal since, if one hose has cracked, others may be on the way.

If no replacement is available or if you want to buy some time, and since you know where the split is, why not just repair or replace that piece of tubing? If the split is small, and there's enough slack, you can just cut out the damaged piece and reconnect the remaining pieces using an appropriately sized straight connector. If there's not enough slack, you can splice in a piece of new tubing using two connectors. If the entire length of tubing is accessible, the best approach is to replace the whole length of damaged tubing.

The negative pressures involved aren't extreme and there are a variety of self-sealing tapes available that can repair this. Check with your local auto parts store. You have nothing to lose and such a repair could last for years.

If you don't want to DIY, any competent automotive shop should be able to repair this. They deal with vacuum leaks all the time.

cef2lion · 07-07-2021, 07:37 AM

Bob

Thanks. I plan to repair the blue line short term. There is enough slack. Just need to source a connector that will work.

The system wasn't working very well. Seemed to be blowing warm air. I had AC system serviced a year ago. Helped but still wasn't that good. I know to limit my expectations. Then I started looking at the hot water shutoff valve and air recirculation valve while in MAX AC mode.

Long term it would be ideal to have a new old stock harness. Will see what Comfort Air has to say. If one of those harnesses work I'm not sure they actually have them in stock. Web site says they do. They might not even know if the harnesses would work.

tderonne · 07-07-2021, 08:39 AM

Your system was from SCS Frigette (which doesn't exist in that name anymore) not Evans, if it's the same as my '04. That may help when looking at stuff from Victory.

cef2lion · 07-07-2021, 08:56 AM

Tim, thank you for that information. Helps and Comfort Air just got back to me an confirmed that. Going to call and see if they have there Vacuum Harness (SCS/VCS) 036-00466 in stock.

cef2lion · 07-07-2021, 12:46 PM

Anyone know the size of the blue/green tubing? Might purchase some of it along with soft connectors and replace what's bad. I have another email into Comfort Air to see if they have the harness they mention in stock before ordering. Around $70 for the harness. Shipping is high these days. Around $20 to ship it if they actually have it.

cef2lion · 07-12-2021, 11:13 AM

Bought some soft connectors at auto store. I cut out the bad part of the vacuum line but the rest of the line has issues as well.

Went ahead an ordered the harness from ComfortAir. Arrives tomorrow. Will see if its a match.

NeilV · 07-14-2021, 06:39 PM

The plastic tubing is extruded and very highly prone to UV degradation along the seam where it was extruded especially in the colors used in the harness. You can purchase replacement tubing in black labeled as Emissions Tubing from most parts stores. I get a length of black rubber tubing that the plastic tubing fits tightly inside to cut into 1 or so inch lengths for use as splices so I only replace the tubing that rotted by the sun or heat and not the entire harness. I use colored electrical tape or some cheap nail polish to mark the black tubing to somewhat match the original and make it easier to identify.

Also watch out for a number of vacuum reservoirs that will be located around the front of the coach tucked around the framing/cross members as they have black rubber tubing used to splice the plastic tubing to them which tend to rot and may need replacing too.

HappiHenri · 07-15-2021, 10:45 AM

The next-to-engine vacuum control lines totally rotted away on our 2005 Adventurer. But I simply got some new 1/8" silicon vacuum tubing and replaced it and it works great (after cleaning and lubing the actuators.) The dash control switch looked like new when I accessed it.

This is what I used -
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

peggwn · 07-18-2021, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cef2lion

Anyone know the size of the blue/green tubing? Might purchase some of it along with soft connectors and replace what's bad. I have another email into Comfort Air to see if they have the harness they mention in stock before ordering. Around $70 for the harness. Shipping is high these days. Around $20 to ship it if they actually have it.

Please let us know if you are indeed able to get the harness. My personal concern would be how to get access to all the end points from the dash. Looks like 5-6 different colors of tubing that disappear in the maze of wiring under the dash and through the firewall and engine compartment. I really don't like the idea of color taping a bunch of black tubing. Good luck.

cef2lion · 07-19-2021, 05:14 AM

I did receive my vacuum harness from Comfort Air. There web site said they had 4 in stock. Quick shipment. Was surprised.

Vacuum Harness (SCS/VCS) 036-00466

Its an exact match to my existing harness. I got it installed over the weekend. Took my time. I removed the harness connector at the dash control switch first. Found there are two small nuts holding the connection on two plastic studs. The nuts had worked up into the harness connector. I had to pull the connector off the studs and nuts. Then I used a small socket to take the nuts off. I then connected the new harness to the control panel and secured with the nuts.

There are 3 vacuum lines that stay under the dash. And 3 that go out in the engine bay.

The 3 under the dash were not that hard to get to. Was able to wiggly my hand in and get them swapped. I did one at a time. I pulled one off and connected the new one. That way I didn't get the colors mixed up.

The black line that goes out to the vacuum canister passed through a grommet. I was able to get to the grommet from inside and pull it back under the dash. I removed the old black line and passed the new black line through the grommet. I then pushed the grommet back into place and connecting the back line to the canister.

The blue and green lines travel together to the engine bay. They pass through a large grommet with an electrical harness. I cut each of the old green and blue off the harness. I used each of the old lines as blue strings. Attached both new lines and got the grommet back in place and used some electrical sealing putty.

The system now works as it should. Each position directs the air where you would expect. MAX AC now works as expected. The hot water shutoff going to the airbox now closes. The recirculation flap to the air box now closes. AC now feels much better then I can ever remember. Not sure how long my vacuum lines have been like this. I bought my 2004 in 2010 and was never happy with AC performance and just accepted it. A few years back the system defaulted to defrost air flow. I found the black feed line from the engine to the vacuum canister had failed due to heat and age. I fixed that but didn't think to look at the vacuum harness itself.

I do need to look into my MotorAid heater system. That is controlled by the dash switch that sets that fan speed to low or high. Has the know issue where the fan wheel hit and blows out the resister pack. I have a new resister to put in. But getting access to the unit is very hard. No access panel on my 35U. I would have to pull the hot water heater. Some have fixed the fan wheel issue with washers to shim it if I recall. My water heater needs new inlet and outlet check valves. The output one fails in June on a trip causing no hot water flow. I got my hand behind the heater and was able to remove the check valve in question. I removed the plastic check valve inside its brass fitting. Solved the issue for the trip.

BobC · 07-19-2021, 06:44 AM

This has been helpful, thanks.

I haven't had any problems with my 2002 Suncruiser 35U but it hasn't been used in a while due to COVID and some non-COVID health issues. I checked the parts manual and mine uses the same harness as your 35U. I'll have to check the integrity of my existing harness.

peggwn · 07-20-2021, 07:58 AM

cef2lion - Thanks for the update. Congrats! I guess I'll have a new project later this year. I can't wait (tongue in cheek and eyes rolled).

Cheers,

George