Newbie question, Itasca Meridian

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

Scott....I'll rephrase my statement about it being easy, it's easier than pulling the radiator which some do. When I assisted my brother in law in cleaning his, we used a garden sprayer with Dawn dish soap and sprayed between the two repeatedly. We then made a pvc pipe sprayer, like the ones you buy to clean your RV toilet, but we added several holes on both sides. We connected the homemade device to the water heater of the BIL's house. Between the spraying with soap, the sprayer and rinsing with hot water, it's not that hard of a job. My BIL's coach was really bad, so it took a lot to get it clean, once it was clean, it was easier to do each year.

I had a 2005 36' Diplomat and launched my 22' SeaRay for many years with my coach. It was great for launching. The rear wheel overhang prevented the tires from ever going in the water. The traction of a DP with duals is tremendous and the horsepower is great for pulling the boat out.

Obviously, it doesn't work on a tiny ramp, but we've launched at Lake Shasta, northern California and Lake Powell.

Hey Don,
I pretty much figured you knew what you were talking about. It's just that on our coach, the actual access to anything but the rear of the radiator (back of the coach) is pretty much virtually impossible. I've not had the "pleasure" of trying to access the motor on any other Itascas but mine. My fan shroud is pretty much sealed up against the front of the engine and the other end of course is sealed against the radiator and CAC. Then there's all the rest of the components, structure, hoses, and more.

Yes, I'm one of those that pulled the radiator but, not just for cleaning. It had a leak. And while yep, it was definitely a pretty fair amount of work, I learned a lot. Knowing what I know now, even though I'm A BIT older now and a bit LESS FLEXIBLE, I'd probably pull those two again, if for some reason I had to. Like maybe replacing the fan hub bearing!!

And your comments about you launching your boat with your 36' unit, yep, it's not all that hard with a ramp that can handle that kind of length and turning needs. And yes, the overhang is of great value in that circumstance too. And traction, there's almost none better than the weight of that unit on boat ramp.
Scott

[Stripe34]

Originally Posted by Sandy Swede

A Class A MH launching a boat at the ramp? Never seen that. OP, be sure to post photos or video of that. If others on this thread have done so, please do the same, if you have 'em. You are giving me ideas! Thanks.

We have pics from a few years back of a large class A launching a boat into a lake in the Adirondacks.

He misjudged things and ended up with rear end overhang VERY submerged. We pulled him out with our class A chieftain. Will look for photos...

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by Marko3002

I was actually glad this model has basement ac, that is a plus ,right? At least you don't see the units on the roof. So it has two compressors? I tested the ac today and it seemed to blow pretty cold all the way thru.
Standing at the back of the coach with the motor running there was quite a bit of air flow coming out and yes, there is one fuel filter visible right at the back of the motor easily accessible.
It's great to hear all the comments about these things especially being new to pushers. I made em an offer today so we'll see what happens. Thanks for all the info, believe me I'm taking it all in!

Marko 3002,
Just some food for thought here. It can be a tad deceiving by standing at the rear and feeling the air from the fan through radiator. That fan is designed to move a ton of air. Even with a really fin-clogged radiator and CAC, ad idle those still put out some substantial air. The real important thing for you to do upon actually purchasing this coach and getting it home (or where ever you plan on storing it or parking it) is to do as close of a thorough, closeup inspection of the INSIDE sections of the CAC and radiator as you can get to.

On some coaches, it's not as hard to do all that. But on some, it's a real bear. I have one of those inspection cameras with the long, 3' snake-like lens that you can feed into far-away or tight places that you cannot normally get a regular camera into. It's the only way I can get a really good, very close proximity look at those CAC and Radiator fins.

So, enough of that for now. The basement A/C on those is also a heat pump, if you didn't know it and, both systems work outstandingly well. The unit, as you know, sits in the right rear of the coach. The ducting for it, exits the unit and, immediately turns straight up and runs between the back cap of the coach and the internal back wall of the coach. There are some reports of that ducting having some separation at various points, in that vertical run. I myself, in our coach, have had no such problems.

Most of the reports indicate that the potential leaks can be felt or, possibly even semi-repaired by removing the tail light on that side and feeling around.
But, this is all stuff for a later date. The thermostat for that unit also controls the gas furnace. It's a fairly simple but, a tiny bit, complicated system. I won't go into the operations of, all that will be in your books, if the previous owner still has them. Good luck.
Scott

P.S. By the way, just because you see the one fuel filter at the rear, does not mean you DON'T have a second one where I described it is. You will need to either look for that second one or, call the Freightliner Customer Assistance line and with the last 6 of your VIN ready, they will answer any and all questions pertaining to the build of and, any all all parts of your coach.

[Marko3002]

Great info, thanks!