Dash heater on a Winnebago Journey

1ciderdog · 12-30-2015, 11:09 AM

The dash heater on my Journey puts out a lot of hot air when "vent" is selected and temp set to high but when floor is selected air flow is very low . My buddy Barry with the same year model RV says his works the same way. So, is this true of all journeys in the 2004 and there abouts year range. Has anyone addressed this and resolved the air flow? I've had the part of the dash off that covers the instrument panel but not the part that covers the dash heat. Any idea of how the panel above the heater is attached and removal suggestions? I'd be nice to have warm air near my feet.

Pelledan · 12-30-2015, 11:22 AM

I've got an '06 Journey, so the basic assembly is the same. I had a very similar situation on my dash heat and found that the main flex duct (about 2-3" in diameter) behind the lower dash had a 2" slice in it probably happened during the original assembly. Some duct tape solved the problem.

Dan

1ciderdog · 12-30-2015, 11:30 AM

Dan, Did you pull the dash cover and if so how is it connected?

SCVJeff · 12-31-2015, 02:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pelledan

I've got an '06 Journey, so the basic assembly is the same. I had a very similar situation on my dash heat and found that the main flex duct (about 2-3" in diameter) behind the lower dash had a 2" slice in it probably happened during the original assembly. Some duct tape solved the problem.

Dan

I had the same problem and simply aimed the lower house in the right direction

Pelledan · 12-31-2015, 06:45 AM

No, I didn't pull the dash cover. I was able to diagnose and repair by laying down in front between the driver's seat and the dash. The duct was visible from there.

Dan

LeeB · 12-31-2015, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1ciderdog

The dash heater on my Journey puts out a lot of hot air when "vent" is selected and temp set to high but when floor is selected air flow is very low . My buddy Barry with the same year model RV says his works the same way. So, is this true of all journeys in the 2004 and there abouts year range. Has anyone addressed this and resolved the air flow? I've had the part of the dash off that covers the instrument panel but not the part that covers the dash heat. Any idea of how the panel above the heater is attached and removal suggestions? I'd be nice to have warm air near my feet.

We are on our Shake Down 30 miles from home and found the same problem. I am assuming the Meridian and the Journey are the same (like GM and GMC)...
So I'll watching this thread to see what happens..

LeeB........ I have to crawl and look for the port to install a Scan Gauge D anyway LoL

grtharris · 12-31-2015, 11:16 AM

1ciderdog, I did a lot of adjusting on the heater plenum linkage when we had our 03 Journey. I did improve the air flow to the floor. If I remember correctly I was able to get to the linkage on the left side by by removing the cover over the instrument panel. Sorry I took a lot of pictures but cannot not find them.

inlineskater · 12-31-2015, 04:03 PM

my 2005 does the same thing. I need to lift up the dash and take a look.

FIRE UP · 12-31-2015, 08:01 PM

Well,
I might as well chime in, our '04 Itasca 36GD with the C-7 330 CAT has the same kind of "low" heat output in the feet area. And, the dash vents seem to put out normal high volume. Hmmmm. I'd doubt seriously there is damage to the lower hose, in all the units mentioned so far. And, I don't know about the workability area in the rest of your coaches but, laying down and worming around in front of the drivers seat and that dash, is darned near impossible, at least for my large body.

One of these days, I'm going to "up-root" that drivers seat and set it up so it's EASILY removable so that when I encounter situations when I need to LAY around in that area for work under the dash, (which I hope is seriously rare), it will make things way easier.
Scott

LeeB · 12-31-2015, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIRE UP

Well,
I might as well chime in, our '04 Itasca 36GD with the C-7 330 CAT has the same kind of "low" heat output in the feet area. And, the dash vents seem to put out normal high volume. Hmmmm. I'd doubt seriously there is damage to the lower hose, in all the units mentioned so far. And, I don't know about the workability area in the rest of your coaches but, laying down and worming around in front of the drivers seat and that dash, is darned near impossible, at least for my large body.

One of these days, I'm going to "up-root" that drivers seat and set it up so it's EASILY removable so that when I encounter situations when I need to LAY around in that area for work under the dash, (which I hope is seriously rare), it will make things way easier.
Scott

Boy Howdy that would be sweet.....

bluepill · 12-31-2015, 10:45 PM

Yup, removing the seat assembly is the best answer. As a young mechanic, I could make a pretzel of my 6' 2" body, but by my 40's I always pulled out the front seat when I had to do a Dash Dive.

lwasouth · 01-01-2016, 07:08 PM

On our previous 05 Itasca Horizon 36RD, I pulled the dash cover over the instrument panel and was able to get to most of the heater 2" hoses. They were routed as needed, but were quite kinked. I needed to remove the front most portion of the dash anyway to replace the padding and covering. To remove that panel you need to remove 4 nuts that are found outside under the hood. Then there are 4 (or maybe 3) you remove from the inside. 2 are on the left side , 1 is near the radio and cannot be removed (Must drill it out of dash) later replace with sheet metal screw. Last one is accessible by removing the air vent from the right side of the dash and feeling for the nut.
A rachett end wrench is very useful. It is not as bad as it sounds, about 30 minutes. You can now access all the lower hoses and smooth out all the kinks.

1ciderdog · 01-02-2016, 11:43 AM

Hey guys, Thanks for the replies.

grtharris · 01-07-2016, 11:51 AM

1ciderdog, I was doing some cleaning in the basement and found an old hard drive with the pictures I took of fixing the dash heater air flow. This was done by removing the lower panel in front of the passenger seat and the instrument panel cover. Did not remove the dash top cover. I removed the fan and the duct going to the plenum to take the pictures.

1ciderdog · 01-07-2016, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grtharris

1ciderdog, I was doing some cleaning in the basement and found an old hard drive with the pictures I took of fixing the dash heater air flow. This was done by removing the lower panel in front of the passenger seat and the instrument panel cover. Did not remove the dash top cover. I removed the fan and the duct going to the plenum to take the pictures.

Thanks for the information. Do you remember where or how that panel is attached?

grtharris · 01-07-2016, 10:29 PM

1ciderdog, start in the middle and work to the right. Once you have removed the screws from the large panel shift it to the right to release the right side. If I remember correctly the screw are not hard to find.

LeeB · 01-08-2016, 08:45 AM

Wow great info, on the plus side I can also do something with those 2 way radios because they are turning out to be useless