Community Forums

zaa · 03-08-2015, 02:29 PM

Hello,

I'm looking for some suggestions, and if anyone knows of a source parts for the 1986 Winnebago Elandan Limited Edition. It looks something like this one:

This thing has its share of problems, most of which I can handle on my own. I've done brakes, I got the digital instrument cluster working again (almost), the front heater and AC works now, I installed new plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor, I fixed the stove that wouldn't get warm, I've fixed lots of little electrical issues, the motorized step works now. I still need to deal with the exhaust manifold studs broken off in the heads, oddities with the goofy instrument cluster, carburetor trouble, the generator needs points, the fuel gauges don't seem accurate... the list goes on.

The main things I'm after first are:
Interior door handles for the driver and passenger side.
Plastic screen door slide.
The refrigerator has an AC / DC / and gas setting. As far as I can tell, neither the AC or DC settings work. The lights come on, but it never gets cold. I haven't had time to fiddle with the gas setting yet, but I don't have high hopes.
Furnace troubles. (see the end of the post for that)

Annoyance items:
The large passenger side canopy is completely missing :(
Passenger side windshield, it has a crack which is low enough so it doesn't really interfere with your vision, but eventually I'd like to replace it if possible.
Passenger side rear bumper end cap.

The plastic dash and door panel parts appear to have been sprayed or "washed" with some sort of chemical which left lighter streaks pretty much all over. My experiences in the past with painting interior plastics have been less than stellar.. are there any other options?

Furnace:
This vehicle has two propane heaters, one under the stove, and another under the seat just beside the fridge. The first thing I did was install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. When I got the vehicle, they both seemed to work well enough, though the one under the sink made a low "whooop .. whoooop" noise when it was running. For that reason, I only ran the one under the seat for our few camping trips last year.

The unit was CONSTANTLY cycling in and out while you were trying to sleep, so I installed a programmable thermostat, which made a huge difference. Unfortunately, something has started to go wrong with that heater now. As we were sleeping, I awoke to a strange noise, the blower motor was slowly groaning slower and slower. I removed the furnace, and tried the blower motor with direct power, it works fine. The circuit board doesn't show any visual damage to any of the components, and it doesn't smell like burned electronics. I found a troubleshooting guide for it, but haven't had time to work on it. I'm considering setting up a bench test with a regular propane tank. For the record, the one under the stove still works, aside from the noise I mentioned earlier. I'm just throwing all this out there in case anyone else has experienced this, or has any ideas before I waste a bunch of time.

Thanks for reading!
Z

MattC · 03-09-2015, 01:17 PM

Zaa,

There is a Winnebago site and more than a few Winnie groups, one is here and others are on the web. I suggest you go and make friends.

Good Luck

Matt

spritz · 03-09-2015, 02:31 PM

Wow I like it.
Its a Chev isn't it? 454? front wheel Drive?
Sweet,
Tim

zaa · 03-09-2015, 05:47 PM

Spritz,

Apparently, there were only 300 of this model released. That may be a blessing or a curse. Here's the PDF brochure:
http://media.gowinnebago.com/models/...landan-bro.pdf

It is a Chevy 454, which, while thirsty, has a considerable amount of power for the size of the vehicle. It's rear wheel drive with a single axle, dual rear wheels.

I rather wish I had more time and money to get it back in shape. I'll just keep tinkering with it as I can.

Mine has the dual twin beds. I'm impressed with the layout of the floor plan. There are the two beds in the far back, the dinette area transforms into an area large enough for two, the couch folds out and will sleep two, maybe three if the middle person doesn't mind the lump in the middle, plus there's a drop down bed area above the driver and passenger seats.

While none of the repairs needed are insurmountable, there are enough to keep me busy for a good while.

Thanks for the comments.
Z

zaa · 03-09-2015, 06:31 PM

I found another brochure for this thing, but it's not for the limited edition like the one I'm working on, but, it's entertaining anyway. They sure were proud of them!
http://media.gowinnebago.com/models/...landan-bro.pdf

MotorPro · 03-09-2015, 07:05 PM

If you go to the classic Winnebago and vintage rv forum they have a brochure for the special edition

spritz · 03-10-2015, 08:10 AM

Love that interior. Do you plan on leaving the interior as is and the exterior? We have the same curtains. I agree with the power out of the 454 4 barrel.
Dose yours have a rear heater that works off the antifreeze from the Radiator? Same goes for the Hot water after driving all day it is HOT water. Neat options.
Hope you post Pic's as you proceed.
Good Luck with her.
Tim

MotorPro · 03-10-2015, 11:03 AM

Mine is very similar . 86 but not the special edition. Mainly no digital dash. We love ours!

zaa · 03-11-2015, 10:24 AM

I don't have plans to modify the interior, other than the sliding doors between the bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen areas. The doors themselves were in rough shape, and the mounting hardware was missing for one. We're currently just using some long sewn curtains in the existing tracks. It works, but it's not the best solution. I'll work out something better, but it's not on the top of my list.

Ours does have the rear antifreeze heat, but to be honest, I've never tested it. I was not aware that it's connected to the water heater, that's interesting, I'll have to look into that.

There are some other differences about the SE, but as I said before, I'm not sure it's a good thing that it is the SE model, those special parts are pretty near impossible to find. I took the digital dash apart, there were sections that weren't lighting up. There were some solder connections that were coming apart, so I repaired those. It all works now, but once in a while, after starting the vehicle, the instrument cluster doesn't seem to 'load' correctly, maybe it's short on power during cranking. I'm going to try adding a capacitor, and or an inductor to the power to the cluster. Just something to keep it powered during cranking.

Something else I've noticed, I installed a car stereo between a couple of the upper cupboards on the port side. When the shore power is plugged in, the 12v DC supply under the fridge kicks in, and causes the stereo to shut down. I hooked up an oscilloscope, and the signal coming from the supply is extremely dirty. I built a filter using a full wave rectifier (yes, it's that bad!) and a couple capacitors and diodes for the stereo power. This works, but still, I'd like to replace the 12v supply unit with something better. I don't know if I could build a filter with the parts I have on hand that could handle the rather large current load of all the lights and other DC devices in the vehicle.

Off to work, thanks for the comments!

spritz · 03-12-2015, 08:01 AM

"Ours does have the rear antifreeze heat, but to be honest, I've never tested it. I was not aware that it's connected to the water heater, that's interesting, I'll have to look into that.

" Sorry" you misunderstood. The rear heater works off the 454 coolant.
The water heater also works off the 454 Coolant. I believe they are run on separate lines.
I kind of have the same problem, If I use the Bathroom fan, it affects the TV up front otherwise it and the new Stereo work fine.
Tim