Graham,
I am surprised that the generator uses the same coolant system as the engine. In the Series 2000 Newells, the generator has its own radiator. There are some 1" lines running from the engine to the front but they are for the dash heat. If the hoses are accessible through the bays, changing them out may be somewhat of an effort but certainly doable.
We must be giving you bad locations for the battery cutoffs. I would have thought that they would be either near the batteries or near the engine. I don't know when Newell quit putting in propane water heaters but the late 80's on that I have seen have an electric water heater with the heat exchanger. Until about '94, some had only engine heat, others had Primus which was a propane fired equivalent of the diesel fired AquaHot. Then Newell switched to AquaHot for heating. The biggest problem with installing a propane water heater would be the necessary outside venting. This would most likely take up bay space and require a vent being cut in one of the bay doors or the unit installed in a cabinet inside with a large vent cut in the sidewall of the coach. I find the electric/heat exchanger unit works very well in my coach (20 gallon) but it would not be as good for dry camping since it would require the generator to be run for an hour or more prior to using hot water.
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