03 Journey Step Well Cover

[ernieh]

My 03 Journey DL has an electrically operated step well cover. If I look under the cover when it is extended, I can see the cables and motor.

My question is, "How do you access the motor if you have a problem"?

Fortunately, I don't need to get at it today, but for future reference I'd like to know.

[FIRE UP]

ernieh,
Well Sir, it just so happens, I know how to do that. That is, if, and it may be a BIG if, your Journey is close in design to our '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with a 330 CAT. I had trouble with our step cover. It would not go out, with either switch. So, some investigation revealed that if, you have a front generator, and if you're lucky enough that it's on a slide-out, then you should be in luck. You see, if you slide that generator out, and climb up in that space and look straight up, you'll see an access panel with a zillion screws on it.

If you remove all those screws and drop the panel, you have a worms eye view of that entire system. The motor, the cables, the pulleys, all of it. Now, if your Genny doesn't slide out, well, you'll have to determine if, you still have that access panel. If so, then partner, you'll have to get that Genny out of the way and then gain access to the panel. If you don't have a Genny up there, and I can't see a Genny in any other place on a D/P, then, again, you'll have to see if you have the panel and figure out what's needed to get to that panel. Let us know what you find. There's been lots of talk about that step slide cover and some of it's issues. Many think they're all air activated, well, some are and some not. Hope this helps. The pictures you're looking at are from underneith with the panel removed.
Scott

[ernieh]

Fireup,

Thanks for the info. Not what I wanted to hear because my gen doesn't slide (didn't think that yours did either). Other than the chassis changes between 03 and 04 (System 3 vs MMDC), our coaches are quite similar.

I guess that the good news is that the electric mechanism should be a lot more reliable than the old air system.

[FIRE UP]

ernieh,
Well, here's hoping you don't have to actually do anything to that system in the near future. As stated in my previous post, we DID have trouble with it. It would not go out. First is was just her switch, then, later on, my switch went bad too. So, I started tracing stuff, wires, plugs, connections etc. Well, long story short, and after moving the gen, and the access panel, I unplugged two different connectors and reconnected them and vuallllaaaaaaaaa. It worked and has worked since then. It must have been just a slightly bad connection in the plugs. So, it's fine now.
Scott

[cbeierl]

Just fyi, in 2003 the Horizon was the Itasca equivalent of the Winnebago Journey. In 2004 the Horizon name moved up to be the Itasca equivalent of the new Winnebago Vectra, and the Meridian was introduced as the new equivalent of the Journey.