Leveling Jacks

[bigred]

Hey Guy's :I am coming to you because of the wealth of knowledge which you are always willing to share.As most of you know from previous post's I have a bus and a motor home .This concerns the motor home which is a 1995 Fleetwood American Dream.I had a problem with the jacks retracting slowly (it has three).I took it to a local RV shop and they replaced the dump valve.This fixed the slow retraction however some how when I picked the coach up and brought it home I was going to level it in our drive and  but when I tried to level it ,the jacks came down to the ground as they should do .The coach was a little low in the front and on the left side.this is a Semi Automatic Power Gear set up.When I tried leveling it,no matter what button I pushed to try and bring it to level,all the jacks work simultaneously.I took it back to the RV shop and they have worked on it for a week .They finally reached the conclusion that all three solenoids have become inoperable .I suggested that since I did not have this problem before they replaced the dump valve (solenoid) that maybe they may have accidentally left a wire disconnected.Boy! that went over like a French kiss at a family reunion! To make a long story shorter,he is stumped and I thing the guy's at P G are too.Has any one on here ever had this problem ??I'm sorry ,but I just can't buy the fact that three solenoid's went bad right out of the blue!! 

[TedCalvert]

Hydraulics is not something that everyone who has a wrench understands.  There's a lot of opportunity for errors.  Kinda like wiring: many wrong ways, one right.   Keep kissing' your cousin, lol, respectively of course; I think you're on the right track.  The error may not be a misplaced wire; it could be a mixed-up valve.  Three or  4 valves on a manifold, may all look same but be different.  Like plug-in relays.  I've even seen, in my industrial career, valves modified by the machine builder from the spec of the valve makers, i.e. orifice plugs to limit flow rate inside the valve; hence the machine makers part number and not available from the valve company. 

Where I usta work, we had valves that controlled a 2" vacuum line for dry material transfer by means of 100# air on a 1/4" line.  Depending upon how the cover and gasket were assembled on the valve, it could be normally open or normally closed.  Like many things, simple if you know it, frustrating as hell if you don't.

[eagle19952]

my initial thought is that control has been subverted.... i will study more... IF the return solenoid was initially wired wrong...and then corrected.... my thoughts lean toward a fried controller...

http://support.powergearus.com/techdocs/82-L0331.pdf

[luvrbus]

What brand of jacks are they manual or computerized leveling 

[bigred]

Hey Guy's :Thanks for getting back to me! According to my RV repair man ,they got Kwikee(who now owns Power Gear)on the phone and they walked them through a bunch of test's that they say ruled out either a bad brain or a bad controller. This system is a POWER GEAR SEMI AUTO . It was used on Fleetwood products from 1994 until 1999.I'm told that this particular unit was a Fleetwood specific system.What the mechanic is telling me that the three leg solenoids have picked up trash and that is causing the problem.Now they did change the fluid when thay replaced the dump valve .The leveling system worked perfectly until they replaced the dump valve.The jacks just retracted very slowly. 




   

[Newbob]

It Seems probable that they could have kicked up some crap in the process of changing the dump valve and it traveled into the solenoids right? Seems plausible to me. Is it too much trouble to R&R those three valves - get them cleaned out and retry?

[bigred]

That is what they are telling me ,but for some reason they claim that these valves can't be cleaned.They have to be replaced and on a twenty  year old Coach ,that is quite an undertaking.I see spending a lot of time on the phone in my future!!

[eagle19952]

That is what they are telling me ,but for some reason they claim that these valves can't be cleaned.They have to be replaced and on a twenty  year old Coach ,that is quite an undertaking.I see spending a lot of time on the phone in my future!!

If a chinaman make one, a good mechanic ought to be able to take it apart and put it back together 

[luvrbus]

Did they check the leveling float or fluid sensor on those I was having problems with Power Gear on the Trek and all it was the plastic float broke

[bigred]

Don't know ,but I will find out.

[Utahclaimjumper]

 I have the same system, three legs each rated at 16K lbs.  You should be in the habit of spraying each leg shaft with silicon lube and wipe down with a clean cloth every 90 days,(I like 30)  (WD40 is acceptable & will do no harm).. Yours were slow probably due to dry seals and no lube on the shafts.>>>Dan

[Utahclaimjumper]

 You no doubt have the Spartan chassis and need to know THIS,, ALWAYS_ALWAYS raise the front of the coach (using the front jack) FIRST!!   this allows the coach to "tilt" when activating either rear jack and keeps the frame from twisting.. The frame twisting of a Spartan chassis is to blame for windshield breakage and movement.>>>Dan  (Don't ask how I know)

[bigred]

Yep !! That was one thing they actually told me when I bought it .I think I have had every thing imaginable happen to this coach except the wind shields Which is a little surprising since Fleetwood was pretty good at cutting the windshield openings a little to big!!

[TedCalvert]

bigred:

How did you make out on your original leveling jacks problem?

[bigred]

Well I'm waiting to get it back in the shop .They are looking for the solenoids so they say .Mean while ,I'm playing with the Prevost.Gotta get rid of one of these things !! They are killin me!! Will keep you advised how things shake out on the Dream.