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2004 National Seabreeze help while work in progress.

TJHUB
Explorer
Explorer
I am about to take ownership of this 2004 Seabreeze LX in a couple of weeks. My retired parents bought it a couple of years ago, and have decided a motorhome is more than they want to deal with. They are selling it to me, and it needs some TLC to get back to being a great coach.

I joined this forum some years ago when we purchased a pop-up camper. Since then, Iโ€™ve owned 2 new travel trailers, a 2008, and a 2010. I sold the 2010 in August of 2016 planning to move to a class A as the kids are now basically 18 and 20, and are nearly done camping with us. The point of telling you all this is that Iโ€™m not new to working on campers, but the motorhome is seemingly intimidating. That said, I am VERY capable of doing almost anything, I am just not well practiced in everything.

I used the motorhome last year for a 4 day trip with the family. On this trip, I learned that I really like the motorhome, but it hasnโ€™t seen the TLC it needs. There are also a few issues that need attention before serious damage starts. I need to both learn some things, and get recommendations on what to do. So Iโ€™m asking if I can start a thread to go through my entire process, or start numerous threads for each issue? Yes, Iโ€™ve been reading the forums the last week gathering information, but old threads donโ€™t answer new questions.

I will stop this thread immediately if it is considered against forum etiquette.

To start, almost all of the roof caulking is dried out and cracked. There have been a couple of instances of water inside. This past summer, the shower skylight leaked. I fixed it by scrapping the old caulking off the best I could (read โ€œdid a very decent job, but probably not correctโ€) and re-caulked with new stuff. There is also evidence that there is/was a leak by front passenger seat, from what I think is the seam where the rubber roof meets the fiberglass front. Iโ€™d like to redo everything on the roof, but the 3 other skylights seem in rough condition. The plastic shroud on the inside looks yellowed and aged. The screens are in poor condition, the bathroom fan is broken, and the Fantastic Fan one in the kitchen area runs, but the fan doesnโ€™t spin. Is now the right time for me to replace all 3 skylights with new ones?

Other things on my list are:

1. The AC outlets on the bedroom slide donโ€™t work.
2. There is a sort of green crusty **** that grows on the rear fiberglass cap.
3. There are some rust stains on the fiberglass and plastic lower facia.
4. The hydraulic levelers donโ€™t like to retract easily in the rear.
5. I donโ€™t own a towable vehicle, so Iโ€™m thinking some sort of scooter to haul without a trailer????
6. Do I want a Sewer Solution (seems very interesting).
7. Iโ€™d like to clean up or sand down and paint the lower compartments while they are still in decent condition.
8. The engine (Workhorse chassis with an Allison transmission) AC doesnโ€™t work, do I fix it or just live with running the AC units of the generator while driving (no more than 2 to 4 hour trips).

Iโ€™m sure there will be more, but these are where I need to start. Iโ€™m in Wisconsin, so the motorhome is in a storage building until the weather allows me to start working on things.

Thanks!
ME '68
DW '69
DS '98
DD '00
2004 GMC Yukon XL 5.3L (4X4)
2008 PUMA 27FQ
19 REPLIES 19

ArchHoagland
Explorer
Explorer
4. The hydraulic levelers are slow.....Spray with WD 40 or use transmission fluid on them. I lube mine every year.

6. Do I want a Sewer Solution...... NO

8. The engine A/C doesn't work....can be anything from low on R134 ($20) to a bad compressor ($1200).

You should convert the transmission fluid to Transynd if it hasn't been done already.
2004 Monaco La Palma 36DBD
Workhorse W22 8.1 Gas Allison 1000, 7.1 mpg

2000 LEXUS RX300 FWD 22MPG 4020 LBS
US Gear Brakes

TJHUB
Explorer
Explorer
TechWriter wrote:
TJHUB wrote:

What brand of roof vent should I consider? Can I go budget from Amazon, or am I better off with a more respected brand name? Thoughts?

If you plan to keep it for several years, I wouldn't go cheap.

Check out these forums:

National RV Owners (IRV2)

National RV (Yahoo Groups)

BTW, here's the 2004 National RV specs -- it's a fiberglass roof.


Thanks for the info. I really appreciate it. I need to get better at searching. I worked on that roof and didnโ€™t even know it was fiberglass... Thats embarrassing...
ME '68
DW '69
DS '98
DD '00
2004 GMC Yukon XL 5.3L (4X4)
2008 PUMA 27FQ

TechWriter
Explorer
Explorer
TJHUB wrote:

What brand of roof vent should I consider? Can I go budget from Amazon, or am I better off with a more respected brand name? Thoughts?

If you plan to keep it for several years, I wouldn't go cheap.

Check out these forums:

National RV Owners (IRV2)

National RV (Yahoo Groups)

BTW, here's the 2004 National RV specs -- it's a fiberglass roof.
2004 - 2010 Part Timer (35โ€™ 2004 National RV Sea Breeze 8341 - Workhorse)
2010 - 2021 Full Timer (41โ€™ 2001 Newmar Mountain Aire 4095 DP - Cummins)
2021 - ??? Part Timer (31โ€™ 2001 National RV Sea View 8311 - Ford)
www.rvSeniorMoments.com
DISH TV for RVs

TJHUB
Explorer
Explorer
TechWriter wrote:
TJHUB wrote:
I am about to take ownership of this 2004 Seabreeze LX in a couple of weeks.

To start, almost all of the roof caulking is dried out and cracked. There have been a couple of instances of water inside. This past summer, the shower skylight leaked. I fixed it by scrapping the old caulking off the best I could (read โ€œdid a very decent job, but probably not correctโ€) and re-caulked with new stuff. There is also evidence that there is/was a leak by front passenger seat, from what I think is the seam where the rubber roof meets the fiberglass front. Iโ€™d like to redo everything on the roof, but the 3 other skylights seem in rough condition. The plastic shroud on the inside looks yellowed and aged. The screens are in poor condition, the bathroom fan is broken, and the Fantastic Fan one in the kitchen area runs, but the fan doesnโ€™t spin. Is now the right time for me to replace all 3 skylights with new ones?

My first RV was a 2004 SeaBreeze LX 8341. I liked it a lot. It was a good runner.

However, your 2004 is coming up on its 15th birthday so I'd suggest:

- Fix the roof first. Clean it thoroughly. As I remember, LX's have a good fiberglass (not rubber) roof. Run Eternabond tape along all the roof seams.

- Replace all the sky lights & the Fantastic fans.


Thanks. I will be starting with the roof. Iโ€™m fairly certain this roof is rubber. I will post pics later where you can see. I canโ€™t believe I would mistake it for rubber, but it might be possible.

What brand of roof vent should I consider? Can I go budget from Amazon, or am I better off with a more respected brand name? Thoughts?
ME '68
DW '69
DS '98
DD '00
2004 GMC Yukon XL 5.3L (4X4)
2008 PUMA 27FQ

TechWriter
Explorer
Explorer
TJHUB wrote:
I am about to take ownership of this 2004 Seabreeze LX in a couple of weeks.

To start, almost all of the roof caulking is dried out and cracked. There have been a couple of instances of water inside. This past summer, the shower skylight leaked. I fixed it by scrapping the old caulking off the best I could (read โ€œdid a very decent job, but probably not correctโ€) and re-caulked with new stuff. There is also evidence that there is/was a leak by front passenger seat, from what I think is the seam where the rubber roof meets the fiberglass front. Iโ€™d like to redo everything on the roof, but the 3 other skylights seem in rough condition. The plastic shroud on the inside looks yellowed and aged. The screens are in poor condition, the bathroom fan is broken, and the Fantastic Fan one in the kitchen area runs, but the fan doesnโ€™t spin. Is now the right time for me to replace all 3 skylights with new ones?

My first RV was a 2004 SeaBreeze LX 8341. I liked it a lot. It was a good runner.

However, your 2004 is coming up on its 15th birthday so I'd suggest:

- Fix the roof first. Clean it thoroughly. As I remember, LX's have a good fiberglass (not rubber) roof. Run Eternabond tape along all the roof seams.

- Replace all the sky lights & the Fantastic fans.
2004 - 2010 Part Timer (35โ€™ 2004 National RV Sea Breeze 8341 - Workhorse)
2010 - 2021 Full Timer (41โ€™ 2001 Newmar Mountain Aire 4095 DP - Cummins)
2021 - ??? Part Timer (31โ€™ 2001 National RV Sea View 8311 - Ford)
www.rvSeniorMoments.com
DISH TV for RVs