Are there recalls for the Winnebago Journey slides?

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Paul & Ann said:
I may have missed it, but where are you?  There may be better places to get your slide repaired closer to you.

There is no better place than Winnebago for Pat and Mary to take their coach to at this point. After all they have been through it sounds like Winnebago needs to get their hands on it! Too bad we didn't know of this last month, we could have convinced you to attend the GNR and get it looked at then. You could have been having fun while it was getting fixed.  ;)

Hang in there, this too shall pass. It's usually not the coaches fault, it's finding the correct people to work on them. For the most part we limit the house to us, and Winnebago if need be and the chassis to us, and Freightliner if need be. All others fail in comparison! Just sayin.
Good luck and PLEASE keep us posted.
 
Today we went over to the rv shop. They have only discovered in the 6 weeks that they have had it is this:
The slide motor burned out. They have replaced it or rebuilt it and it is now working all the slides.
The non house batteries need to be replaced because it failed to start (only because it has sat over there for so long). They say these are the original batteries to the coach.
One of the rear stabilizers now has a problem because it comes up slow. It was working ok when we took it there. They THINK its a loose wire somewhere so they are going to chase that down.

Still no closer to finding out why the slide is grinding and groaning when it comes up. Still hangs up and takes a really long time to come in. I see stranding in our future again. I will have that covered with calling our extended warranty insurance FIRST.

I was looking up on the Winnebago website and looking for specific Winnegago dealers and there is a dealer in Medford Or that is high on their list. I am trying to convince my husband to call them before making the trip to Iowa. We are in California. This is a 4000 mile trip using $1400. worth of diesel fuel for the trip out and back!!! If any of you can suggest a closer place that may work for us I would love to hear it.

This has been the worst experience in a vehicle. It is now going to be a big old spare bedroom for company because it will not be a joy to take out and have it break down each time. I have renamed our coach the MONEY PIT because that is what it is.

Any other suggestions welcome.
 
Ok, I hope you dont think this is too harsh, but the people working on your motorhome have idea what they are doing!  Will you verify that you have the HWH slide and jacks system.  To my knowledge, HWH systems only have one motor, and that motor runs the hydraulic pump that runs both the slides and the jacks.  There is no separate "slide motor".  I highly recommend that you call Paul Maddox personally, and not let the techs do it.

3-Ts in Lake Havasu Arizona is a lot closer that Moscow, Iowa, and they are both an authorized Winnebago repair place, and an authorized HWH repair place.  When we had work done at 3-Ts, Paul Maddox drove down from his home near  Prescott, Arizona, and provided guidance to the tech at 3-Ts.

http://3tsrv.com/

If you want to get your problem solved in a satisfactory manner, and in a reasonable time, you need to take control, and quit letting these people continue to put you off.

Please call Paul Maddox at 602-549-3638

Best of luck, and let us know how things go.  :)

 
tboss said:
Where is Forest City ?? It might come in handy some day...just purchased our 2002 journey 35U ..

Alfa38User said:
Forest City, Iowa  50436      where Winnebago's are made
As an FYI, Winnebago is moving or has moved production of Class A pushers (maybe gassers?) to Junction City, OR (the old Country Coach campus.) Factory service is in Forest City and also Winnie is ramping up factory service in Oregon to include Winnebago products.

-- break --

What Paul said (again.) You need to cut your losses with whatever dealer you are working with and follow Paul's advice.

It's highly unlikely your chassis batteries were original but if a device (search for Tril-L-Start Trik-L-Start) wasn't added to 'borrow' some battery charge from the house batteries, your chassis batteries will indeed go flat. Once they are that discharged, they are essentially only good for a little cash at the recycling facility.
 
What others have said about going to someone competent!  If your shop think a wiring problem can cause a jack to retract slowly they don't have a clue.  The wiring is to a solenoid valve.  If the valve opens the jack will come up.  If it's closed the jack will stay down.  If there's enough power to open the valve it will open all the way.  If there's not enough power to open it all the way it will not open at all.

In my experience with HWH systems there are three things that will cause slow jack retraction; cold weather causing the oil to thicken, a bent jack leg, or old springs.  HWH started using springs that are coiled tighter at the ends so they have a taper over the last inch or two.  The older, weaker springs are cylindrical top to bottom.  If your springs are tapered at the top and bottom see causes one and two.

BUT - don't expect the jacks to all retract at the same speed, or at the same relative speed every time.  Sometimes my right rear is the last up, sometimes the left front is last, sometimes the right front.  And the differences day to day can be quite significant - often more than a minute between the first and the last.

I've had two jack legs get bent, both from slipping off insufficient cribbing that got pressed into the ground.  In both cases I had to use a little scissors jack to get them back up the last couple of inches until I got around to having HWH rebuild them.
 
The one jack problem was a wire and now they found a bad circuit board. So that is going to be fixed when we pick it up tomorrow. It now has 2 new batteries (12 volt) and it will have a new circuit board.

I do realize that the one motor runs all the slides and stabilizers so I knew what I was talking about. The motor is located under the stairs and it was a horrid burning smell when it went trying to get that one slide in. Thank goodness our stabilizers were up at the time of the burned out motor or else there would have been that too. Now you know there is a third thing that can mess with your stabilizers: a bad circuit board. We know our jacks well. They was a problem when we first bought the rig, they were rebuilt at that time. They have been working well until now. We keep them clean and rubbed down and that is keeping them working just fine. I hope none of you have to experience that kind of thing.

But, the slide issue remains. They are now thinking that it is a structural problem. Not sure what that entails but it sounds like a big deal.

Thanks for the tip about the Oregon place. There is a service center in Junction City Or not too far from the Winnebago factory that just reopened. It is a huge place and is on the Winnebago list as a preferred place. That would be our best bet I would think. I emailed the service dept at Winnebago in Indiana and am waiting for their call. We emailed them before about this problem and someone actually called us.

Once we get the coach back tomorrow we will start calling the different places. Hopefully we can get this fixed before our extended warranty runs out this year. We had planned to renew it but would like it at be least fixed before we do.

Thanks for all your help and information.
 
maryinredding said:
....But, the slide issue remains. They are now thinking that it is a structural problem....
That's a good sign but at this point you should have zero confidence in that dealer.

I emailed the service dept at Winnebago in Indiana and am waiting for their call. We emailed them before about this problem and someone actually called us.
That's Owner Relations in Forest City, Indiana is the towable division.
 
You might want to contact Winnebago at the Junction City location at the old Country Coach facility. They  are supposed to be doing repair work. Might be woth a call and explain the issues.

Winnebago ? Country Coach
135 East First Avenue
Junction City, OR 97448
Phone:
541-234-2167
 
I made a mistake. I emailed the Iowa site and stated what kind of Winnebago we had so it should get to the right people. Can you tell me what they might do if we a structural problem?
 
That is going to be a call when we get the coach back tomorrow. It would be great if they agree to take a look. That trip would be enjoyable right now since our temps are well over 100 degrees and we have family up there.
 
maryinredding said:
I made a mistake. I emailed the Iowa site and stated what kind of Winnebago we had so it should get to the right people. Can you tell me what they might do if we a structural problem?
You best call the Oregon facility directly. I have no idea what might be the root cause cause of the problem. I've been moderating this Winnebago board for years and never heard of a problem like this with HWH slides. Electric slides - yes, lots of problems with them when first used in production.
 
maryinredding said:
I made a mistake. I emailed the Iowa site and stated what kind of Winnebago we had so it should get to the right people. Can you tell me what they might do if we a structural problem?

They are going to tell you to bring it to an Authorized WGO dealership...as many have mentioned bring it to Forest City or even closer to you Junction City, OR....they are your best bet...end of story...
 
Finally got our rig back today. Still has a couple of things that it needs, circuit board ordered, so the stabilizers aren't working right now but we can live with that. Slide is working but still making grinding noise and has trouble getting up the ramp.

We have called and talked to Winnebago and they told us to call the Junction City people on Monday. Hopefully they will allow us to take it up there. Otherwise, they want us to bring it to them. They are still scratching their heads about the problem we are having. We were told if we needed to bring it to Iowa that we should get there on a Monday and they try to work it into their line and have it seen by Tuesday or Wednesday. They apparently have a rv park right there that they let you stay in while you wait and while it's being repaired.

We have never been that far east yet so hopefully the weather will hold out. I am just hoping it will be Oregon that we will go to.
 
maryinredding said:
... We were told if we needed to bring it to Iowa that we should get there on a Monday and they try to work it into their line and have it seen by Tuesday or Wednesday. They apparently have a rv park right there that they let you stay in while you wait and while it's being repaired.
-- The Junction City Techs are in the process of being trained on Winnebago products but they should be competent on HWH systems.

-- Factory Service in Forest City has about six techs that are slide specialists - that's all they do and aside from HWH, this is the number one service choice.

-- If you go to Forest City, plan on arriving mid-day Sunday, much greater chance of scoring a good spot near service. Otherwise you have to park about 1/4 mile away on Rally Grounds. The hookups are electric only but there a dump and water is available. They take your coach at 7 am and you get it back about 3-4 pm.

-- Forest City is a great little town, we always enjoy being there. About a 30-45 minute drive away is a casino for some recreation.

We have never been that far east yet so hopefully the weather will hold out. I am just hoping it will be Oregon that we will go to.
Time to expand your horizons, you are missing out.
 
We finally got in touch with the Winnebago place in Junction City, Or. They have agreed to fix our coach for us. We got an appointment for September 28th. They have RV parking in an lot that is very close to the service department. It's a small town, only about 6,000 people so it should be great to explore on our bikes. We have two small dogs so we will take a trailer and have them come with us for the day. We also have a parrot and I guess he can stay in the coach as long as it's away from the slide that they will be working on. Should be interesting. Who knows if they can't figure it out maybe they will have someone come from the Iowa plant to help. The customer service specialist at Iowa was very interested in our problem. He said he's never had a complaint like ours before that couldn't be fixed easily. He said the engineers would be interested too. But, we are not too interested in going the 2,000 miles if we don't have to. Winter is fast approaching and it would not be good if we got caught in that. If it was earlier in the summer, maybe we could have made it part of a trip but not now. We are looking forward to having everything work right before going out this winter. Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada would be our places that we will be going this winter.
Thank you for all the great advise and suggestions. It has really made a difference. I will report back when we return.

Oh, the circuit board in our coach that made the rear stabilizer run slow is being BUILT by HWH. For some reason they don't make that particular circuit board anymore. That is being put in on Monday. 
 
maryinredding said:
...We also have a parrot and I guess he can stay in the coach as long as it's away from the slide that they will be working on.
You better check with them before you assume the parrot can stay aboard. Factory Service in Forest City has a policy of no pets aboard while in service.

Oh, the circuit board in our coach that made the rear stabilizer run slow is being BUILT by HWH. For some reason they don't make that particular circuit board anymore. That is being put in on Monday.
Those are usually built to order. My HWH control box was replaced three years ago, an $800 part  :eek:

Glad you have made progress.
 
Do you know if they have a waiting area when you go to Winnebago for service? Maybe we could take him in there to wait. He would be in a cage so maybe they don't like pets in the coach loose because they could get away if they went in and out. I will have my hubby call up there and see if we can do that. Otherwise, he will have to stay in the car. Hopefully it will not be as hot as it has been here in Redding at the end of September. Who knows it may be raining. Wouldn't that be nice. There is a park across the street from the service center so that might be some place we can hang out for the day. Thanks for info.
 
There is a nice customer lounge at Forest City and I assume there is also one in Junction City. We travel with two cats and a dog, the ladies at the parts counter always let us park the cat carriers behind the counter. The summer hire college kids enjoy petting the cats during the day. Dogs are okay in the lounge as long as they stay off the furniture.

Call Junction City and ask them about pet accommodations. In fact, you should have lodging lined up if they need to keep your coach overnight.
 
Fortunately for us we have relatives an hour and 45 minutes away so we may just go there for the day. If they need to keep the coach inside the shop over night we have a place to stay. We tried calling the service center today and speak to the wonderful customer service person we are working with but she wasn't there today. We will call again tomorrow.
 

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