Rear bedroom slideout mechanism problem?

[Letsgoagain]

Evening,
Was in Gatlinburg over the Christmas holiday and while there the road side bedroom slide wouldn't retract all the way. Had to assist it in by pushing while the wife operated the switch. No obstructions or anything obvious from the outside of things that would bind it up.
Does anyone out there know the internal workings of the motor and I suppose a gear that meshes with the toothed track that drives the slide out. I'm describing it that way without really knowing because I can see the toothed track from the outside underneath the slide.
The slide will move several inches and then stop and won't move any further unless assisted by me pushing it.
When I do push it you can feel the dead spot and a then a movement in the whole slide out like going over a bump as I push.
I plan on investigating it further tomorrow but thought someone on here might know how the mechanism under the bed actually works and what I might look for.
Any suggestions appreciated. I already called Monaco and talked to a tech but that was just to get the slide in and not what the problem is.
Thanks, Keith

[Letsgoagain]

Evening,
Was in Gatlinburg over the Christmas holiday and while there the road side bedroom slide wouldn't retract all the way. Had to assist it in by pushing while the wife operated the switch. No obstructions or anything obvious from the outside of things that would bind it up.
Does anyone out there know the internal workings of the motor and I suppose a gear that meshes with the toothed track that drives the slide out. I'm describing it that way without really knowing because I can see the toothed track from the outside underneath the slide.
The slide will move several inches and then stop and won't move any further unless assisted by me pushing it.
When I do push it you can feel the dead spot and a then a movement in the whole slide out like going over a bump as I push.
I plan on investigating it further tomorrow but thought someone on here might know how the mechanism under the bed actually works and what I might look for.
Any suggestions appreciated. I already called Monaco and talked to a tech but that was just to get the slide in and not what the problem is.
Thanks, Keith

[Diplomat Don]

Keith.....On my roadside bedroom slide, you can access the drive motor thru the vented A/C condenser door. Obviously, yours may be different, but on mine the slide motor, jack pump and fuel filters are in that compartment.

There is also a plate on the top of the wheel well that when removed gives access to some adjustments.

Hope this helps.

[bullydogs1]

My roadside bedroom slide has the cables, so cables push it out and bring it in. By the previous descriptions, this particular slide is not a cable slide.

[Pusherpilot]

Our 04 Imperial has the same rack and pinion type drive and has failed once due to teeth breaking off the pinion gear. Luckily we were covered under PowerGears 2yr warranty. On ours the bed is fastened to the slide by a flimsy piece of angle aluminum and the screws were working loose every few months. This allowed the slide to enter the opening in the side of the coach at an angle which bound it up. What I did was thru bolt the angle aluminum pieces to the slide with round head bolts inserted from the outside bottom. I also thru bolted the bed pedestle side boards to the angles in the same manner. This has worked perfectly since I did it 3yrs ago. What's funny is I've shown it to several Monaco techs since then and they all say the same thing, "I can't do that or comment on it but it'll work".
Another thing to consider is the slide topper awning. If it is binding it'll give you a bind on extension.

[alan1]

On our rig the same thing happened, and it was a nylon gear inside the PowerGear housing. Once you get past the missing teeth it starts going again. On ours access is under the bed. The gear housing is replaced in whole. $350 or so for a 10 cent nylon gear.

[-Gramps-]

Yikes, ours is under the bed as well. I try my best to not hold the button too long. It makes a racket when the slide stops and the motor is still running.

[Letsgoagain]

Thank you all for the replies.
Pusherpilot and alan1, your description is likely the cause of my problem with the slide operation. Ouch I knew this wasn't going to be a cheap fix.
Bright side is no trips planned for a couple of months so I'll have time to deal with it.
Thanks again for the help.

[alan1]

On reflection I think it is a Lippert gear housing. And yes the less you hold the button the longer it will last. The sound you hear is the nylon gear slipping against the metal gear. I guess it acts as a sort of clutch .