I'm completely new to the RV world. I just purchased a 1989 Winnebago Chieftain 27 foot. Chevy 454 with 47K miles.
Everything SEEMS to work well... The guy I bought it from was the 2nd owner (I have all records from him and 1st owner) and rarely used it. In fact, he had a hard time explaining how to use everything.
I have the manual and I am mechanically inclined and am definitely learning my way around the vehicle...
My question... I drove it home which was about 400 miles away from where I purchased it. Ran great -- drove about 60 miles an hour and maintained an approximate 13 miles a gallon from what I could tell.
I got home and shut it down. Next day, battery is dead. Bought a new battery today because I took the old one out and the acid was very low and it only had 575 cold cranking amps so I bought an 800 CCA battery today.
Of course before I replace the battery, I'm trying to figure out what I did wrong... Something tells me when I shut the RV down when I got home, I was still drawing power from the battery.
I called the guy I bought it from and he tells me that after you shut the engine down, I want to make sure I hit the switches for the engine battery. They are simple rocker switches and though I can hear a click when I hit them, the battery was dead the next morning.
Plus, when I hit the switch for the aux batteries in order to start the vehicle, there wasn't enough power from them to start the engine either... So I assume I need to charge those two batteries up as well.
The manual is a little vague about this so I was just wondering if anyone could give me a little more info as to how to PROPERLY shut down the RV so there is no power draw after you park -- assuming you're not using it.
My other question is parts...
This vehicle needs the left rear window (all the way in the back) replaced and I'm having a hard time finding a replacement... I also need the right exterior rear view mirror glass.
I did contact a Winnebago Parts dealer in Iowa who promptly explained to me that Winnebago no longer carries replacement parts for this vehicle so it's up to me to find them on my own.
I appreciate the help...
filmy
Everything SEEMS to work well... The guy I bought it from was the 2nd owner (I have all records from him and 1st owner) and rarely used it. In fact, he had a hard time explaining how to use everything.
I have the manual and I am mechanically inclined and am definitely learning my way around the vehicle...
My question... I drove it home which was about 400 miles away from where I purchased it. Ran great -- drove about 60 miles an hour and maintained an approximate 13 miles a gallon from what I could tell.
I got home and shut it down. Next day, battery is dead. Bought a new battery today because I took the old one out and the acid was very low and it only had 575 cold cranking amps so I bought an 800 CCA battery today.
Of course before I replace the battery, I'm trying to figure out what I did wrong... Something tells me when I shut the RV down when I got home, I was still drawing power from the battery.
I called the guy I bought it from and he tells me that after you shut the engine down, I want to make sure I hit the switches for the engine battery. They are simple rocker switches and though I can hear a click when I hit them, the battery was dead the next morning.
Plus, when I hit the switch for the aux batteries in order to start the vehicle, there wasn't enough power from them to start the engine either... So I assume I need to charge those two batteries up as well.
The manual is a little vague about this so I was just wondering if anyone could give me a little more info as to how to PROPERLY shut down the RV so there is no power draw after you park -- assuming you're not using it.
My other question is parts...
This vehicle needs the left rear window (all the way in the back) replaced and I'm having a hard time finding a replacement... I also need the right exterior rear view mirror glass.
I did contact a Winnebago Parts dealer in Iowa who promptly explained to me that Winnebago no longer carries replacement parts for this vehicle so it's up to me to find them on my own.
I appreciate the help...
filmy