fixer upper 1996 Winnie

[Sherrie]

I recently purchased my first Motorhome. I wanted one forever and this one is a fixer upper. The former owner assured me everything worked. Umm... yeah. So what I have discovered the shore power cord did not come with the motorhome. I found only a plug in one of the storage bays. Please clue me in as to where the best priced one would be and how do I install? it? Where does it connect to the motorhome. The only keys that were given to me were the ignition key. When we forced open the compartment for the Onan Generator we discovered it was in pieces. Wires showing everywhere and it appeared a large amount of oil spill. This is just one of the problems discovered. But it seems to be the most perplexing to me. Thanks all !

[hank857]

dont know where you are located but our local craigslist has generators and ACs fairly cheap, so may be the same where you are at, if not just make a bigger search.


Compartment keys are generally generic and most rv places have replacements or look at amazon or someplace for replacement locks etc. I have bought extension cords (HD) fairly cheap there also so that if need be I can reach a plug in. If there is a place for a hook up then wire in as you would for a house or have someone do it for ya. One of the extension cords can have the female end cut off to wire direct with the 30 amp male still attached. Camp world sometimes have them on sale also or you can just wire in the dog bone ones and use it as a receptical for the extension cord. Post a picture if ya can as to what ya got to work with.


It might also help if you tel folks what year and model that you got? Generally the electric drops are in a storage bay or have an outside door for it by itself normally about 8-10 inches in size.

[Morich]

Definitely need to post up the details of which RV you have and be as specific as you can as RV do come in a really wide range, year, make (brave,etc.?) model like 31KE and even build date will change the answers a whole bunch and that is before you get into what options each dealer bought at that time. Some have DVD, some VCR, while others may have CB!!
But if you are going to get deep, here are two sites which may prove very helpful as parts are one step and wiring is often another:
https://catalog3d.winnebagoind.com/menu/Parts.htm
Wiring Diagrams
Good luck on the project and for a guess on the cord, it may be in a compartment and somewhat near the generator as those tow are often alternates and the connections from the genset are often in an electrical box so the power cord can go out to the shore power or be plugged into the box for genset use. But that depends on which Winnie.

[al1florida]

The plug in the storage compartment may be where you plug in the shore power cord to get power from the generator.

The make/model/year of the motorhome would be helpful.

[al1florida]

Power cord: Go to Amazon and search for "replacement rv power cord 30 amp" they have some for sale.

Fixer upper?? I would suggest you try to total up the cost of all the repairs you will need to do before starting. You might find that it will cost more to fix it up that it is worth.

Don't forget you will need new tires, if the ones you have are more than 5-7 years old. That is a $2000-$4000 expense. Do and internet search for "tire dot number lookup" for instructions on how to determine the mfg date of the tires.

[Sherrie]

[QUOTE=hank857;3871842]dont know where you are located but our local craigslist has generators and ACs fairly cheap, so may be the same where you are at, if not just make a bigger search.


Compartment keys are generally generic and most rv places have replacements or look at amazon or someplace for replacement locks etc. I have bought extension cords (HD) fairly cheap there also so that if need be I can reach a plug in. If there is a place for a hook up then wire in as you would for a house or have someone do it for ya. One of the extension cords can have the female end cut off to wire direct with the 30 amp male still attached. Camp world sometimes have them on sale also or you can just wire in the dog bone ones and use it as a receptical for the extension cord. Post a picture if ya can as to what ya got to work with.





It might also help if you tel folks what year and model that you got? Generally the electric drops are in a storage bay or have an outside door for it by itself normally about 8-10 inches in size.[/QU

I am in Minnesota, I checked craigslist and there are Onan generators on there. I am checking into them. My Winnie is an Adenturer WCG34WA.

[Sherrie]

My motor home is a 1996 Winnebago Adventurer 34 Ft WCG34WA model . Thanks everyone for all your help.

[Sherrie]

yes , I have checked into the tires. They do need to be replaced. I am having the front tires replaced this week. I currently have it in storage. My plan is to keep it in storage and work on it over time.

[Sherrie]

i have all the maintenance records and all the manuals for it. The interior is in excellent shape. The original owner had kept very good records. The second owner was a mechanic by trade. So it runs and shifts okay. He replaced the power steering pump as part of the sale and replaced the engine battery. I don't think I overpaid for it. I see these models for sale in dealerships for 13,000. I am sure I will not be spending more than that. What is difficult is trying to find parts for it such as keys for the doors. I have the original paperwork for the door keys. I was able to get them made at the local Winnie dealer.

[Sherrie]

She is a 1996 Winnebago Adventurer WCG34WA .

[Sherrie]

Thank you, i will look into that. I had to break into the generator compartment. When I got the door open I see the generator had been partially disassembled. :(

[Sherrie]

she is a 1996 Adventurer 34 ft. WCG34A . with a chevy 454. it does have a cb radio and backup camera that does not work. solar panel, must have been quite the rig when it was new.

[Morich]

Okay, with the info I did a look at drawings and found you are likely to have a power cord which plugs into a recp. in a box which comes from the generator. It shows left side just in front of the wheels.
On this I marked the wheel well and frame in blue and green for the plug. Picture on bottom is what should be there in closer detail. This is drawn as looking down from overhead, down through the body and the access is likely to be a door outside on the left.
Not sure how this is expected to get you to a shore power plug, though??? Easy to see they plan for the plug to go into the genset connection for that but is it longer and will reach outside?
Good luck on the rebuild!

[Morich]

Some info that may help to find lots of smaller points is this drawing of the electrical:
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/1996/118839.pdf
We will assume the RV is US build, if so skip over sheet, 5-7 as they are for Canadian build or vice versus if not US!
And if that brings up questions, shoot, because that is what this group is all about and somebody will be along to try to figure it out.

[Sherrie]

Attachments[ATTACH][/ATTACH]

[Sherrie]

That is what the gen looked like when we pried the doir open .

[Sherrie]

Originally Posted by Morich

Some info that may help to find lots of smaller points is this drawing of the electrical:
http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/1996/118839.pdf
We will assume the RV is US build, if so skip over sheet, 5-7 as they are for Canadian build or vice versus if not US!
And if that brings up questions, shoot, because that is what this group is all about and somebody will be along to try to figure it out.

Forest City Iowa

[Morich]

Ouch! Does look like the little girl does need a good wash down and a bit of love! Not at all sure about that birds nest of wires but I am pretty sure the cover should be on that box, so it kind of makes one wonder if they were looking for some trouble and just gave up? But then on the brighter side, there are folks who just don't bother to put things back together. And a couple things that we might expect to get to once in a while is the fuel filter and it looks like it's right up front.
I'm not much of a generator guy but maybe it's not all that bad if you give it some time and attention.

[Sherrie]

The last owner is a mechanic. Lol with 3 locations. I see a plug in on one of these photos and all I found was the plug in a storage bay.

[Sherrie]

You all are amazing. I called Winnebago in Iowa and they are no help on a home this old.