Winnebago Brave 31' 1997
My story of buying and bringing the Winnie back to live.
Bought it with 44k miles on it from someone who got it from a friend where it has been sitting for awhile.
The seller replaced all calipers, brake pads, the master brake cylinder and put new front tires on it.
He sold it because of health issues before he could use it.
Excited about our RV and against my better judgment, we took it for our first trip before doing the basic checks and maintenance.
Long story short, we got stranded with an overheated engine.
overheating was caused by a plugged catalytic converter and sludge in the cooling system.
we ended up replacing the engine with another 454 from Jaspers,
also replaced the radiator, water pump, thermostat, spark plugs, spark plug wires , hoses, and greased the whole P37 chassis.
our second trip went awesome, without ay mechanical problems and a cool running engine.
just now replaced all rear valve stem core's since I was slowly bleeding some air.
The onan generator needed some work. the air filter was plugged, so I changed the air filter, oil filter and oil.
would do the spark plugs also, but just cannot get to the second spark plug. any tricks??
also, I know you can run the generator while driving. The Winnie has a switch where you can choose to turn the coach batteries on. I know that is to charge these. now with the switch on, would the engine alternator and the generator when running, both charge the coach batteries at the same time? Could this cause some problems?
I think I just leave the switch in the off position while driving with the generator on.
inside we upgraded the tv with a flat screen, replaced the micro wave.
also the fridge in there was a so called residential fridge. ended to be a residential freezer.
I found a residential fridge freezer combo that will fit exactly in the original opening. it should arrive this week sometime.
the front ac was working, but the compressor didn't shut off when the fan did.
ended up being a relay on the circuit board.
leveling system is a hwh 200, 2 of the jacks need some manual assistance to come down or to go up, but are getting better with usage.
replaced all hallway and overhead light fixtures and am using led's.
replaced the awning fabric and replaced 2 hinges on the awning arms (two step).
headlights are also replaced and some other minor stuff.
The roof was just resealed, but it looks like a poor job done. It is not leaking anywhere, but I probably going to add another layer on top.
oh looks like the front has some additional billstein shocks, the original air bags where gone.
I added some Air Lift 1000 Kit. not easy to install.. could not get the bottom protectors in place.
Bought it with 44k miles on it from someone who got it from a friend where it has been sitting for awhile.
The seller replaced all calipers, brake pads, the master brake cylinder and put new front tires on it.
He sold it because of health issues before he could use it.
Excited about our RV and against my better judgment, we took it for our first trip before doing the basic checks and maintenance.
Long story short, we got stranded with an overheated engine.
overheating was caused by a plugged catalytic converter and sludge in the cooling system.
we ended up replacing the engine with another 454 from Jaspers,
also replaced the radiator, water pump, thermostat, spark plugs, spark plug wires , hoses, and greased the whole P37 chassis.
our second trip went awesome, without ay mechanical problems and a cool running engine.
just now replaced all rear valve stem core's since I was slowly bleeding some air.
The onan generator needed some work. the air filter was plugged, so I changed the air filter, oil filter and oil.
would do the spark plugs also, but just cannot get to the second spark plug. any tricks??
also, I know you can run the generator while driving. The Winnie has a switch where you can choose to turn the coach batteries on. I know that is to charge these. now with the switch on, would the engine alternator and the generator when running, both charge the coach batteries at the same time? Could this cause some problems?
I think I just leave the switch in the off position while driving with the generator on.
inside we upgraded the tv with a flat screen, replaced the micro wave.
also the fridge in there was a so called residential fridge. ended to be a residential freezer.
I found a residential fridge freezer combo that will fit exactly in the original opening. it should arrive this week sometime.
the front ac was working, but the compressor didn't shut off when the fan did.
ended up being a relay on the circuit board.
leveling system is a hwh 200, 2 of the jacks need some manual assistance to come down or to go up, but are getting better with usage.
replaced all hallway and overhead light fixtures and am using led's.
replaced the awning fabric and replaced 2 hinges on the awning arms (two step).
headlights are also replaced and some other minor stuff.
The roof was just resealed, but it looks like a poor job done. It is not leaking anywhere, but I probably going to add another layer on top.
oh looks like the front has some additional billstein shocks, the original air bags where gone.
I added some Air Lift 1000 Kit. not easy to install.. could not get the bottom protectors in place.
