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Replacement for old Amana Fridge – 2001 Marathon H
At 12 years old, the Amana side by side has died. New control board and likely new compressor will be same costs as new fridge, so replacement fridge is the choice.
The Old Amana was 28D x 35 3/4 w x 67 tall. I’m struggling to find a replacement refrigerator of the same dimensions. I called Marathon and they are now using JennAir, but seems like the dimensions are varied as well.
They did tell me that it was fairly easy to mirror the fridge by having a local glass guy glue on 1/8 inch mirrors.
Anybody recently done a refrigerator replacement and if so, what did you use?
Charlie
2001 H3-45 Marathon
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43 Replies
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You know, my lady friend (and me at 63) would really like to take all the mirrors out of my coach. She swears she sees body parts in them that don’t belong to her.
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OMG…..that response is priceless
LMAO
AL
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Charlie.
We had a 97 Liberty with an Amana that I nursed far too long in an effort to retain the decorative door panels and trim to match the coach colors and decor. But after the 3rd or 4th serious repair I bit the bullet and using the internet researched the dimensions of all refrigerators eventuially identifying about half a dozen that would work.
Since several was sold by Sears we visited the local store and looked at those in person. We settled on a Bosch that was pricey ($2700) but had in our opinion the best features.
I used Russell Coach in Knoxville for the grunt work. I did most of the prep work myself. I stripped the Amana, removing everything not welded in place. Doors, shelves, trays, etc. I had Sears deliver the Bosch to Russell.
I took the dining room table out, the sofa on the passenger side and the co-pilot seat out also. When I got to Russell’s I pulled the refrigerator out and slid it to the living room, then we proceeded to pop out the windshield. With the help of two guys in the coach and two outside we took the shell of the refrigerator out the window. Russell’s guys had stripped the Bosch and it was put in the coach through the window. The only glitch was that although the refrigerator was the same width as the Amana in reality the sidewalls bulged a little so Russells had to rout the opening a little on the sides and take some off the top header over the opening. They had the tools and skills to work on Vitricor and not mess it up.
Bottom line is I waited around too long to replace the refrigerator and should have done it a few years sooner.
I don’t remember what Russell Coach charged me for their help, but it was not excessive and it was worth every cent.
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Charlie,
You probably want to shop for a “cabinet depth” fridge. I replaced the Amana in my 94 Liberty with a standard cabinet depth fridge and shopped for one that had the closest dimensions to the Amana. I also found a like laminate to cover the front and trim, so it was a really close match. I had the appliance company deliver the fridge to my bus barn.
I did abuse my son and son-in-laws though, they provided the muscle and not a scratch!
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As an option to 1/8 glass mirror, look at the mirror laminates.
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Recently replaced with a Samsung countertop depth from Lowes. Out the windshield & all went well.
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We got a new 24″ deep Samsung 3 door at Sears 3 years ago and it went right through our door with the doors removed and the hand rail on the second flight of stairs… old one out and new one in an hour.
Also discovered air condiitioning behind it and did a good clean up !!! Very successful project overall !!! -
Lady Byrd,
Now we know another advantage of owning an “H”, fhe fridge won’t require removal of that giant windshield.
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Tom, really. I thought exterior glass had to be removed in any coach to replace a residential refrigerator. An H’s door and entry well must be huge!
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Like I said we did have to remove frig doors and big freezer drawer which made it easier to handle & install & it made the frig a lot lighter our clearance on each side was about a 1/2 inch at the door way then went straight up the first flight of stairs where we stood it up …then up the second flight…. we did remove the handrail on the second flight of stairs which only took a few minutes. also easier in a coach with slides as you can move around. I taped towells to the door ways and dash..then put plastic over that so it would slide and it worked very well.
I had three strong guys helping… I just called the shots !! hehe
Diane
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Diane,
I missed reading your earlier post. With doors removed I’m guessing you were at 21″ or less. That’s great news! I might even be able to get that through the door of my XL. Our’s is original at about 14 years, so even though they made more dependable (simpler) refrigerators then, we are probably on borrowed time.
Thanks,
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Gil, Don’t do it. You may in fact be able to get the room, but the risk of damage to your dash is significant.
A window is out in 5 minutes, and back in in 20 and there is plenty of room going through the windshield with minimal risk of damage because it is a straight shot into the living room. Coming up the steps you experience a very difficult time holding, lifting and positioning the refrigerator so you can get it into the living room.
No matter how you do it, the passenger seat needs to be out, and any furniture on the passenger side should be out also just to minimize risk of damage and to make handling easy.
I’ve done this twice. Each way. I will never try it through the door again.
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Gil…I would take Jon’s advice. The H is very different than the XL and our door way may be wider than yours… if I recall correctly ours is 27″ or 28″ wide. Also a previous owner had taken some big stuff in and out of our coach and scuffed up several areas around our dash and doorway so I wasn’t as worried as I might have been had it been perfect.
Take Jon’s advice by all means !!
Diane -
Diane,
Glad to hear you could make it out through the door of your H. Our Amana is going to be old enough to drink legally soon so we are keeping a sharp eye on it. My impression is that ours has never been turned off which may help it last longer. On the other hand, it does make you wonder how much electricity it has consumed. -
If or when I need to replace the refrigerator, it will likely go through the window. Having replaced the couch through the door was a very tight fit.
As for taking the windshields out being easy, I’m not longer drinking that kool-aid. Both of my windshields were just replaced and it took professionals about 3 hours and they didn’t even have to save the gaskets, which would surely would have extended the time. It could just be because I have a XL. The XL windshields are in the gasket with a sealer; a butyl product I’m told was used by the factory. I don’t think mine were factory installed units, but still in there pretty good with a sealant. Not having to save the gasket they cut the gaskets the point where the glass fits into the U of the gasket such that the glass was fully exposed right up to its edges. They then used a special tool to get between the glass and the back side of the gasket. They even broke one taking it out. Of course, they didn’t need to be too careful given it wasn’t going back in. Then the installation of the new gaskets and glass was not easy. With the suction cup handles firmly in place they worked the windshields hard towards the center of the coach to seat them deeply in the gasket on one side and forcing the gasket at the same time into the frame of the chassis. With some beating, grunting, and time the windshields were set, sealed and look great. FWIW, this was actual Prevost glass and not third party glass, so the fit should be as good as it gets. As for the installers experience, they do most of the RV windshields in FL and are the installers for Coachworx/Parliment. I’m pretty sure they know their stuff.
I was told that newer chassis don’t use any sealants, which will obviosly make the job much easier.
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