2001 Itasca HORIZON 36LD 14,000 mIles

Pirate wrote:
Know anything about this model? Mileage is almost too low. Cat 330HP?

Pirate,
In those years, around '00-07 or so, the Horizon, Meridian, Vectra and Journey were top sellers for Winne and Itasca. Thousands of them, even the older ones like what you're looking at, are still running down the road. The subject of ultra low miles on an older coach comes up on a semi-frequent basis and, as usual, there's debate on each side as to run away from one or, jump on the deal.

I myself, have never worried about low mileage, in an older vehicle, even a motorhome. Sure, there would be concerns about seals, hoses, belts, tires, and a few more things that can "deteriorate" over time. But, most of those are going to deteriorate even with more miles so, to me, again, no biggie.

You have a stout, well built coach there. If it does have the CAT 330HP, it's gonna be the 3126 version. Those engines ran for years and years. change the oil and filter on a frequent basis and, you're good to go. There's lots I could tell you to check out but, in short, Winne adheres the fiberglass roof to the coach along both drip-edges on each side of the coach, just below the roof radius.

That glue/caulking/adhesive joint, has potential for breaking free over time and, when that happens, you will have sections of the fiberglass that no longer is held in place. That is NOT GOOD. So, one of the first things to check out would be that roof-to-gutter seam, for the full length, on both sides for stability and attachment. The way you check it is, get on a ladder and of course be careful, and carefully press on the fiberglass just above the caulking joint. If there's any deterioration of that joint, the fiberglass will press AWAY from the caulking. You do that same test, for the full length.

If you find large, long sections that have broken away, you've got a bit of work to do. It's not a fun job getting all that older caulking/adhesive out and getting the area prepped for new adhesive/caulk.

Anyway, there's that. Of course, all the rest of the roof caulking on all the vents, front and rear cap joints, antenna seals and all that. It's a rear radiator coach so, the clogging of the radiator and CAC fins due to debris, dust, leaves, and more due to oil mist from the blow by tube, is a semi-often occuring event. Many, many threads on here and other RV forums that talk about that situation.

Of course tire DOT dates are important to see just how old those tires are. The fit and finish of most of those era Winnes was pretty darn good. Not too many reported issues of anything inside the coach falling apart. Many of that era Winnes and Itasca Diesels came with a 1500 watt Inverter/Charger that would only charge the HOUSE batteries when on shore power or generator power. So, folks have taken it upon themselves to install a very cheap and effective item called the "Trik-L-Start" that will link the chassis batteries to the house batteries for shore power charging.

Typically, those coaches would also have a super heavy duty, "dual" duty solenoid that had two jobs.

1. When the Auxiliary Battery Boost toggle on the dash was pushed, that toggle would energize that dual duty solenoid to link the house batteries with the chassis batteries to get augmented power for cranking the engine.

2. The second duty of that solenoid was/is, when the engine starts, via the ignition system, that same solenoid is energized to link the alternator to the house batteries for charging, while driving down the road. So, you can check out those systems too.

Things like water pumps, furnaces, lights, and all that are self explanitory. You'll also have a "basement A/C" unit on that coach. You will NOT have any roof air units. The Basement A/C unit takes care of both cooling and heating. About 99.9% of the folks that have them, like them.

Again, I could go on for pages but, you get the point here. A good, thorough check out of the air system to see if the compressor builds pressure to cut-off, around 125 psi, in a reasonable amount of time, usually 0 to 125 psi, at high idle, (around 1000 rpm) in about 1-2 minutes. Your "Low Air" buzzer should cease at or near, 60 psi. Your emergency or, "Parking Brake" auto-activates at or near 30-45 psi. You WILL NOT be able to release that parking brake, 'till you have over 30-45 psi.

On a coach that old, and if no one's paid attention to it, you may need the air dryer serviced. Not a big deal. The kit is around $130 plus or minus. You should have an HWH leveling and slide system on that coach. The parking brake is the interlock for that leveling system. If it's not engaged, your HWH leveling system will not work. Conversely, if it's disengaged before the store button is pushed, the system will automatically start to retract the jacks.


So, you've got some things to check out. They're nice coaches. We see many, many of those older Journeys on the road quite often.
Scott