Hi All,
I have read threads on Kwikee step problems until my eyes are red and still haven't seen what I would like to know: Please put your thinking caps on and I hope others that have the same question, it helps you out.
History: New to me coach (97 London Aire), don't know much about it, no manuals - the web is my manual I guess
I've been working on the coach trying to revive her and the steps were working (open door, steps slide out, close door, steps slide in) all day yesterday until the end of the day.
What I did all day (I know it isn't about the steps but maybe someone will see something that I don't) - I spent an hour or more (and a can of lube) lubing all functions of the basement doors and the front and rear hoods - also the hinges on the main door - she really needed the lube everywhere.
Next was finding a ground lug broken off on the rear of the coach (leveler grounds) so we drilled a new hole and transferred/landed all of the grounds onto the new stud.
Next we drained the cooling system and refilled.
Finally we started to pack up for the day and noticed that now the steps don't retract when the door is closed even though they have been all day.
So, thinking back on what we did all day, did we cause this?
We called it a day and left the coach where she was for the night.
Today we started in on the steps and followed the troubleshooting for this Kwikee "42" model, which operates a little differently than most that I read about - it's a 2 step model that slides straight out.
The function is still the same as any Kwikee:
With over-ride switch off the steps slide in and out following the sensor on the screen door. Over-ride on, the steps stay out, not following the door and the engine start will pull them in automatically.
So, we started by breaking off half of the rusted bolts holding up the cover plate that covers about 3/4 of the slide area on the steps. We got that off and then started to troubleshoot, per the service manual and started assuming the motor was the problem. So we pulled that out and found butt splices with heat shrink on the motor wires so it's been replaced before (or assumed bad to find out it was still working). We cut the wires to the motor and put it on a 8/16 12 v battery that measured 12.5V. The motor ran fine and then I reversed the polarity on the wires and it ran fine the opposite direction. Hmmm.
Ok, so maybe the controller is bad. This is where the service manual is lacking on the info: exactly how does this controller work, what signals does it expect and in what combination.
We started by measuring the voltage in the plug coming from the coach to the controller. We measured, from ground, 12V on the red, the 3 other wires depended on the following:
-------Door open-Door closed-Over-ride on--Key On
Brown-----0V---------12V
White--------------------------12V
Yellow---------------------------------------12V
Been a long winded story but what I want to know is the truth-table for the controller - think about this:
There are three possibilities - door closed, the over-ride switch on and the key on - so 12+V on all three colors of the controller plug.
I played around with a 12V battery connected to the controller and the motor. I started putting + and ground on each wire and got the motor to run on a couple touches but not sure why.
Not wanting to get too technical what do you think the inputs on the controller need?
Does the controller, on the door signal, need a pos to neg transition along with a ground on the other 2 lines to function?
I think I can figure out the logic if the over-ride is high or the engine is in the on position.
Making the steps function with the door isn't making sense.
The service manual says that hooking 12V to the Red (with a ground already) makes the motor extend the steps. I think it is more complicated than that - I hook up the motor to the motor wires off the controller - I connect 12V to the red, ground the green wire:
I don't see any motor action. I reverse the wires on the motor connection and still get nothing.
I touched a + individually to the yellow, white and brown leads with no results.
The manual says to to bring the steps in to apply a ground to the brown wire.
I think my controller might be ok and we need a little more definition on operation to test and figure out which component is bad.
PS - I attached a known good controller and got the same results stated above so now I'm confused.
Not sure if anyone got this deep in this...
Linear Mode
