Adding Coach A/C

[fladonb]

I am looking at a 97 Premier w/o coach a/c however; owner says there is a fan there and that the location is factory prepped to add a/c. Does anyone have any insight as to whether these coaches were indeed prepped at time of manufacture. Sounds like he believes you can simply remove the fan and place a/c unit, complete electrical connection and you are done. Also, if what he is telling me is accurate, is there any way to know for sure that this particular coach is indeed prepped for a/c?

Thanks for any insight,
fladonb

[Skillet]

I don't have an answer for you but I would imagine that it is prepped for it. I had a '93 Wrangler years ago that didn't have a/c. The area was available for it tho in case I had wanted to have it installed. I never did, however. I figure they would have to leave that space available in the manufacturing process.

[fladonb]

Thanks for your reply Skillet. I was just doing some more research this morning and found additional information from Fretz RV who posts some good information about Chinooks. The literature I read, which appears to be original from Chinook, indicates the a/c is optional yet all units are wired and prepped. I am now fairly certain the seller is accurate in what he is telling me. If anyone has any additional information on the subject, I welcome your reply! Thanks.

[Blue~Go]

Edited to add: I found a 1998 Chinook brochure and it does say that the 1998 Premier was pre-wired for air. I can't add another photo to this first post (three is the limit) but I will add a photo of that to the later post here with the dashboard photos. Again, this was a brochure for the 1998 Premier.
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I don't know for sure, but I have an idea for something you could check. My idea is based on my '99 Concourse, on which I removed the Air-Con.

On my rig, there is a microwave in a cabinet above the stove top. Removing around eight screws from the perimeter you can then just pull the microwave out. On the outside wall behind the microwave is a junction box that is marked indicating that the wire going upwards from it is for the Air-Con (and indeed, there was another AC junction box within the inside hood of the Air-Con when I removed it, see photos).

Most (all?) RV Air-Con units fit into the standard ~14" cutout that is the same as for a roof vent, so that part seems right. In fact, I'm putting a roof vent in where my Air-Con unit was (leaving it all so the Air-Con could be replaced if I or anyone else ever wanted to). I don't know if non-Air-Con Chinooks were pre-wired for it, but if you found that wall junction box with a wire leading up to the overhead, that would be a good bet. Although obviously the upper junction box probably isn't there (it doesn't seem like it would fit up on the ceiling with a roof vent in place in the hole). You could also check the AC breaker box - mine has a breaker dedicated to the Air-Con. One last thing is that if you remove the interior "garnish" from the existing rear ceiling fan (where the Air-Con would go), you might be able to see any wires (that would be four perimeter screws on the garnish).

Here are a few photos:

First, here is the Microwave "hole" showing the AC junction box on the outside wall that contains the wire leading to the Air-Con area on the ceiling. Getting to this point only required taking out a few screws around the microwave, so I can't imagine most sellers objecting (I wouldn't).

See that little junction box in the "back" of that photo? Here is a close-up of it:

So the AC wire goes from that box up to another junction box in the Air-Con shroud that hangs down into the coach. Here you can see that area before I completely removed the shroud. In these next few photos, I am "facing" the rear of the coach when taking the photos:

(Forum only allows three photos per post, so more in next post)

[Blue~Go]

Here is the same view with the interior plastic Air-Con shroud gone - you can still see the underside of the part of the Air-Con unit that sits on the roof. The junction box on the left is the one I believe is fed from the labeled junction box in the microwave hole. This box is where the AC wires that come with the Air-Con unit join the Chinook AC wires coming up from the junction box behind the microwave.

And here is one with just the wires. On the right (driver's side), those wires actually aren't just for the Air-Con. They pass-through and go to the light and fan just forward of the Air-Con unit. The white "romex type" wires on the left are the ones that fed the Air-Con via the junction box, and the other wires on the left are DC/etc. wires that went to the Air-Con for other reasons (thermostat, etc.).

That is one other consideration. At least on my rig, the "Comfort Control" thermostat (on upper cabinet just behind driver area) controls both the furnace and the Air-Con unit. Not sure what a "pre-wired" rig would have but something to check. The Comfort Control in my vintage rig is a four-button model, but newer ones are five-button (four button is no longer available new, I don't think).

Hope this helps - happy shopping, and if you find "your" Chinook I hope you will continue to be a part of our gang here.

PS: One other thing, unrelated to the Air-Con topic. You may already know this, but with RV's they can be either on the "same year" chassis or the previous year. This is because vehicle chassis mfgrs (Ford, etc.) are not always on the same year/change-over schedule as RV makers. So, for example, a 1997 Chinook could be on a 1997 Ford chassis or a 1996 Ford chassis. Usually this is not a big thing, but Ford made a big change for the 1997 model year. This may not matter to you, or you may prefer one or the other. You can find out by checking the VIN, but also the 1996/1997 dash and engine are completely different, so it is pretty obvious.

Amongst the main changes are the engines (went from the 460, etc. to the 5.4 Triton V8 or Triton V-10), and the fact that the cab got a passenger airbag. Also, the 1997 doghouse takes the modern consoles, so you can use any console right up through 2014. The older consoles were more minimal. You can't tell by the body style as that went to the modern one in 1992.

I would guess that most 1997 Chinooks were on the 1997 chassis, as customers would have wanted it; but I have seen at least one 1997 on the 1996 chassis.

[fladonb]

Great information all. I will use this information to explore further. Thanks much!

fladonb

[Blue~Go]

1996-and-earlier dash (not the best photo, but you get the idea):

1997-2007 dash (although the same consoles will fit from 1997 to 2014, and this shows what I call the "cup ejector" console - I recommend a different one! You can get them on eBay pretty easily and they take about five minutes to install - no tools required):

Edited to add: Here is a snip from a 1998 Chinook Premier brochure. You can see that they say it is pre-wired for air in the last line shown.

[Skillet]

My bad thinking he was talking about the a/c behind the dash. But I will still believe that everything's been pre-done inside the walls.

My chassis is an '01 but the tub is an '02 and considered an '02.

So you're saying Blue that I can swap my console over the doghouse with something more modern (as far as holding cups go)? Plug and play, so to speak? My heated and cooled cup holders were working until they took the doghouse off to work on the engine. I'm thinking they didn't plug something back in. I was going to take it apart to see but I don't have any cups that fit in that tiny holder anyway.

[Blue~Go]

My bad thinking he was talking about the a/c behind the dash. But I will still believe that everything's been pre-done inside the walls.

My chassis is an '01 but the tub is an '02 and considered an '02.

So you're saying Blue that I can swap my console over the doghouse with something more modern (as far as holding cups go)? Plug and play, so to speak?

Absolutely. Totally plug and play. See link below for a thread I started on the topic,
"Ford van consoles/replacement, 1997 and newer chassis."

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=19

I had the "Beverage Mate" as well and couldn't take it out fast enough. It sounded like a good idea, but as it turns out all my cups do not have those tiny bases, and I tend to drink out of insulated flasks anyway, for hot or cold (Hydro Flasks specifically, in my case). The Beverage Mate had very little storage or "counter space" besides the cup holders. Anyway, might be great for some folks, but didn't suit me.

The only slight caveat is that, as you may have noticed, the installation instructions for the Beverage Mate blithely call for the installer to (paraphrased) "drill out rivet, remove hold-down clip, and throw it away; then screw the Beverage Mate in place." The hold down clip is a Ford part that (three guesses) holds down the console. I dropped into a Ford dealer but it is not a part they sell separately. I'm sure there are tons of them in junkyards though. On the other hand, I found that the new console sits down quite tightly on the three "knobs" built into the doghouse, so the clip is not really needed.

Anyway, yep, the world of consoles is your oyster, and eBay is full of them. Ten minutes and you, too, can have any 1997 to 2014 console that strikes your fancy

[Skillet]

Thanks for that link, it was a good read. I'll have to keep an eye on Ebay. The cheapest console they had was $145. Don't have any junkyards that are near but fortunately I'm not in a big hurry.