Which engine for a used Winnebago Journey?

[siguccs]

I'd like to buy a 36 ft used Winnebago Journey. For the price I can afford, there are two engines available, Cat 7.2 liter or Cummins 5.9 liter.
Do you think one is significantly better than the other? My main concers are power in the hills and reliability.

Thanks!

[glamisorbust]

Myself and two of my family members own DP's of the same vintage. All holiday rambler endeavor's 38' in length. Mine and my brother's are both '99 models with the 275HP cummins ISB. My dad's is the C7 CAT with 330HP. I have driven all three. All three perform great. The CAT does have slightly more noticeable power but not a heap more.

I like my cummins ISB. It has 660 LB/FT of torque. The power is more than adequate and pulls hills with ease, even heavily loaded. All of ours have the allison 3000 series 6 speed. Great transmissions!

Mine gets a hand calculated 9.63 MPG. This is combined flat, in the hills, and quite a bit of generator usage. My dad's with the C7 gets about 7 max. So yes, he has more power, but he gets less mileage.

Would I rather have the CAT? Not sure. I do like my fuel mileage better than his, and mine gets me where I need to go with ease. Pick the cleanest rig you can find and don't worry about the engine.

[RayChez]

mike brez wrote:

bobman wrote:
which is easier to service for a do it yourselfer

changing filters etc??

.

A side radiator makes things a whole lot easier.

About the only thing that it does make it easier to change would be the fan belts if it had any. The filters on mine are outside the rear radiator and just inside the hood (easy to change out).
The side radiators do not have a belt, they are hydraulic operated. So probably the only thing easier would be your alternator/ power steering pump and air conditioning serpentine belt. That I will say would be a lot easier to change then with the rear radiator.

The Cat engine is much better then the ISB Cummins, more torque. The Journey probably has the Cat engine.

[RayChez]

Generally Winnebago's have the AC/heat pump where the side radiator goes.

More expensive chassis has nothing to do with side radiators or larger engines. My friend in Florida has the exact coach I have and he has a side radiator and mine has the rear. Same chassis except mine has the Cat 3126 E and his has the ISB.

[RayChez]

wolfe10 wrote:

bobman wrote:
does the engine type determine if its a side radiator?

thanks

Generally speaking NO. Suspect the Freightliner chassis Winnebago used with either engine is REAR radiator.

Side radiators are found on more expensive chassis and generally those with larger engines.

[wolfe10]

FYI, the Caterpillar 7.2 will be between 275 and 330 HP, most with 860 lb ft of torque at 1,440. Perhaps 375HP is in a marine application with unlimited cooling, but not in an RV application.

[Gypsy1]

The Cummins ISB 5.9 Engine is a good engine and is generally combined with the Allison 2000MH trany. The ISB 275hp (5.9) is a flat land engine when in a coach. the Allison 2000MH tranny is limited to 600FP torque and Banks enhancement would exceed the limits of the tranny. Unless you are exclusively east coast flatlander like me, go with the 375hp Cat.

[wolfe10]

bobman wrote:
does the engine type determine if its a side radiator?

thanks

Generally speaking NO. Suspect the Freightliner chassis Winnebago used with either engine is REAR radiator.

Side radiators are found on more expensive chassis and generally those with larger engines.

[RayChez]

I have a Cat 3126-E and filters are easy to change out, about the only thing that would be hard when ever it needs changing are the two fan belts. That is where the side radiator really helps having. But I have sixty thousand miles on my Cat engine and had it in for service at Freight liner Las Vegas and they told me the belts were still good. So I bought the two belts anyways to carry in case I have to change them out. Other then that I just changed the oil and oil filter. Fuel filter is very easy to change out since it is outside the radiator and just inside the hood. Air filter is not bad to change out.

Both engines will last you a long time, so go for the floor plan that fits you.

[bobman]

does the engine type determine if its a side radiator?

thanks

[mike_brez]

bobman wrote:
which is easier to service for a do it yourselfer

changing filters etc??

.

A side radiator makes things a whole lot easier.

[bobman]

which is easier to service for a do it yourselfer

changing filters etc??

[wallynm]

Cat will have more hP and torque.
5.9 will get better MPG but be a little slower

I would buy the one my wife like best

[RBabb]

I have a cat and it seems like a good power plant. If given a choice I'd prefer a cummins, but there are more important things.

[siguccs]

It turned out that the motorhomes in our price range that we liked the most didn't really offer us a choice. We had to buy a CAT, so we did! (We didn't end up with a Journey after all.)

All we can say so far is that the CAT is definitely far better than our old Chevy gas model.