Older Seneca entry door window

[Robbbyr]

Prior to the 2016 model year, Senecas with frameless windows still had an "old style" framed window in the entry door. Once I saw a 2016, I told my wife "we need that"! She just shook her head, knowing what that meant. Some time later another Seneca owner posted that they upgraded theirs, that sealed the deal!

I got a new window from my local dealer last year, but never got a chance to remove the door last season. But I got it done today, and I (and the wife) are very pleased with how it came out.

Before and after pictures below.

[Grumpy]

Looks good

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

Looks good

Thanks Grumpy!

[Rustynuts]

Looks much better now!

[Mark S]

Nice job Rob. The window looks a lot bigger. How was it cutting the door?

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by Mark S

Nice job Rob. The window looks a lot bigger. How was it cutting the door?

Piece of cake. The door is just a piece of Styrofoam with the smooth outside surface and the textured inside surface bonded together. Then the aluminum frame is affixed to the outer edges. Taped it all up to minimize chipping, then my saber saw made quick work of enlarging the opening. There is no internal structure at all, somewhat disconcerting.

But it still was painful to take a saw to it! But I had cut my unit up before, first to install my Atwood 10-gallon water heater and later to drill a 4" hole for my dryer vent. So it wasn't quite so scary!

[Lost and Found 2022]

Hey Mr. Rob,
On to another one of your upgrades! I ordered this window from RecPro. What size is the window you put in yours? Did you put any sealer or adhesive between the outside of the door and the frame? Thanks as always for your advice and guidance.

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by Lost and Found 2022

Hey Mr. Rob,
On to another one of your upgrades! I ordered this window from RecPro. What size is the window you put in yours? Did you put any sealer or adhesive between the outside of the door and the frame? Thanks as always for your advice and guidance.

Not exactly sure of size, it is the window that Jayco put in later year Senecas that I ordered from Jayco via my local dealer. We used the VIN from a newer unit because when they looked up my VIN only the older framed window came up. So it's an OE window, just not original to mine.

As far as sealing, my new one did have an integrated foam seal around where it would sit on the door skin. I supplemented that with a bead of Geocel ProFlex RV sealant inboard of the foam so it got pushed into the opening as I seated the window. The foam is still the first thing sealing, backed up by the Geocel. Been in a number of driving rainstorms, not a drop inside!

The new window is so nice, matches the rest of the coach windows, and allows us to see if someone is at the door. Coupled with the MCD pull-up shade attached to the screen door, it all worked out great.

[Lost and Found 2022]

Thanks Rob. We are going to be living in ours for a few months in a stationary position and the window will give us a much better view of the mountains from the couch. I will check into the pull up shade.

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by Lost and Found 2022

Thanks Rob. We are going to be living in ours for a few months in a stationary position and the window will give us a much better view of the mountains from the couch. I will check into the pull up shade.

Here's a link ro the shade manufacturer. Each shade is custom made to your order specifications. You can select different colors. I sent them my measurements and a few days later they called to get my payment info. Got the shade in about 3 weeks.

Be careful when measuring, it has to clear the latch side of the inner door frame since it swings open in an arc. So the width measurement needs to be less than the width of the inner door frame. If you call them they were very helpful.
https://mcdinnovations.com/screen-door-pull-up-shade

[Lost and Found 2022]

You are the best! Thank you.

[Lost and Found 2022]

Hey Mr. Rob,
Finally got the window installed. Install went just as you described. The only issue I had was that my jigsaw blade was just barely long enough to cut through the door. Anyone doing this mod should make sure to get a longer than standard blade. Thanks again for your help. Attached are a few pics.

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by Lost and Found 2022

Hey Mr. Rob,
Finally got the window installed. Install went just as you described. The only issue I had was that my jigsaw blade was just barely long enough to cut through the door. Anyone doing this mod should make sure to get a longer than standard blade. Thanks again for your help. Attached are a few pics.

Nice job! Sure is traumatic to take a saw to our nice doors, but the outcome is worth it. I even can glance over my shoulder now and look out the window to monitor traffic I can't necessarily see in the mirror.

Now it's time to pick out another project, we're never "done"!

[Lost and Found 2022]

Yes Sir,
I got the uprate on my Cummins done and also had Allison change the shift schedule. Huge difference! I am working on changing all the compartment lights to led strips and relocating the switches for the lights so they are all easily accessible and in the same place for each compartment. I will post on the mod when I get finished.

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by Lost and Found 2022

Yes Sir,
I got the uprate on my Cummins done and also had Allison change the shift schedule. Huge difference! I am working on changing all the compartment lights to led strips and relocating the switches for the lights so they are all easily accessible and in the same place for each compartment. I will post on the mod when I get finished.

The uprate and transmission update also really "woke up" my rig. Money well spent! And if anyone questions you about how the transmission will hold up after turning up the power, I can attest "it does fine". I've run mine with those mods for several years now and last Fall I had a trans fluid sample analyzed by Blackstone Labs. Mileage at that time was 45,000 running the original Allison synthetic fluid.

Results were that everything was fine; no particulates, no metals out of range, and the total acid number (TAN) was fine. Told me to keep on running it!

[Lost and Found 2022]

The man at Allison happened to be a relative of a guy I know from our department. He told me that the trans would easily handle the uprate and not to worry about it. I am anxious to see how it does in the mountains.

[22Seneca]

Just happened to see this thread and read about BOTH topics.

We had a 1G Seneca and that is an upgrade I wish we had done to the door. The factory window didn't have a shade and it was so tiny. Very nicely done on the retrofit!!

Now we have a new Seneca and one of my gripes is with the factory transmission programming. In almost a thousand miles of driving in changing terrain and I still haven't found a way to get along with it. The standard programming is so slouchy I can barely get up to merge speed on a flat highway because it shifts so early. "Mode" -mode is so touchy it's in/out of 5th and 6th all the time. And the exhaust brake "ON" means rev the snot out of the engine and bring the vehicle to a stop. I just can't with this one --yet!!

[Lost and Found 2022]

This thread inadvertently moved off the original subject. Sorry for that. Maybe we should repost in the thread about the uprate and transmission schedule change. I am not totally familiar with the newer seneca transmissions but I believe them to be similar to ones that are in our fire trucks. If so, pushing the mode button would put it in a manual shift mode and selecting the up or down arrow you could choose the highest gear it would shift into. Is that how yours works?

[22Seneca]

Originally Posted by Lost and Found 2022

This thread inadvertently moved off the original subject. Sorry for that. Maybe we should repost in the thread about the uprate and transmission schedule change. I am not totally familiar with the newer seneca transmissions but I believe them to be similar to ones that are in our fire trucks. If so, pushing the mode button would put it in a manual shift mode and selecting the up or down arrow you could choose the highest gear it would shift into. Is that how yours works?

It's the same idea, probably the same or similar control pad. "Mode" on the Allison 3000mh is still fully automatic but adjusts the shift points to be more performant. Not-mode is designed for fuel economy. In either setting, using the up/down arrows limits the numerically highest gear the transmission can be in.

Our 1G Seneca had a 5-speed with a standard PRND32L column-shifter and an "overdrive lockout" button that effectively limited the transmission to 4th gear.

But yes, different topic.

I love the work you guys did with the doors...such a huge improvement, and so much more functional with a shade. Had we kept ours I wished we could have replaced all of our windows with deep-tinted frameless. The old ones were fogging and didn't have enough daytime privacy.

[Lost and Found 2022]

When I was driving a fire truck and was in a real hurry, ie going to a fire, I would shift manually starting out in say 3 and letting the engine wind up and then hitting the up arrow and going to 4 ect. I was able to get much better performance out of the truck but you really had to be mindful of your rpms and careful downshifting. I believe that the transmission would not accept a downshift if it indicated and engine over rev condition but I never tried it. Not sure if it will work for yours but thought I would share that. Your transmission manual should give you good info or a call to Allison could help as well.