Community Forums

jblessin · 02-23-2025, 02:00 PM

Our Mountain Aire steps will not stay in the out position. I played with the switch a couple of times and they stayed out. 10 minutes later they retracted by themselves! I put them out a couple more times and during the night they came back in!! I checked the switch above the driver seat and it's fine. The wiring under the coach appears to be OK too. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Warhorse6 · 02-23-2025, 02:10 PM

Would assume the steps go in and out when you start the engine or open the rv door. That leads me to assume your step motor is good. I suspect your step switch may be faulty or you have a door sensor issue.

JMcG · 02-23-2025, 05:09 PM

jblessin
I had a very similar issue on my 2016 Ventana. It turns out the wiring harness going to the motor under the steps has a supposedly waterproof plug that you can unplug to remove the motor. On mine when I went to unplug it to check the motor I found it full of water. I cleaned out the plug and dried it and plugged the wiring harness back in. Everything worked perfectly after that. I did take some electrical tape and wrapped the plugin very tightly to keep out any water in the future. Never had a problem after that.

Kevin Bell · 02-23-2025, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jblessin

Our Mountain Aire steps will not stay in the out position. I played with the switch a couple of times and they stayed out. 10 minutes later they retracted by themselves! I put them out a couple more times and during the night they came back in!! I checked the switch above the driver seat and it's fine. The wiring under the coach appears to be OK too. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I would look at the entry door jamb switch to assure both the switch (coach side) and the magnet (door side) aren't damaged and are secure. If it's the round flat style magnet, carefully pry out the door side magnet and make sure the magnet is not loose in the black housing. The magnetic door switch is most commonly the source of your issue. Also, look at the control box under the step. Follow the 12AWG green wire up to its connection point on frame metal. This ground must make metal contact and if loose, corroded or damaged will cause malfunctions. Lastly, the control unit may be malfunctioning.

flyboy013 · 02-23-2025, 08:22 PM

Sounds like an issue with the override switch. I would go through the troubleshooting steps.

https://techsupport.pdxrvwholesale.c...-procedure.pdf

Psp6158 · 02-24-2025, 03:06 AM

E trailer has great video's on trouble shooting and even I could do it. Mine was the controller, same symptoms you have.

Dutch Star Don · 02-24-2025, 10:29 AM

When something acts mysteriously, you should always look for ground issues or water in a plug as mentioned above. There are two step grounds under the coach that screw into the frame. Even if they're not the issue, I would start there with removing, cleaning, tightening and then spray painting them.

Rev. Roy · 02-24-2025, 11:24 AM

When you said the steps wouldn't stay out, I immediately thought it's the controller. If it's set to not retract, then I don't see where the magnets would have any affect on this scenario.

Capt. Bill · 02-24-2025, 12:22 PM

As DSD has said previously 7 from my experience, I would clean & re-lube all ground connections. Use dielectric grease or battery terminal protectant.

Happy Trails

jblessin · 02-25-2025, 03:33 PM

Thanks for all the replies to my question about steps with a mind of their own.
I emailed Lippert Controls and they got right back to me with a couple of voltage checks and it turns out the controller was the problem. I kind of ruled out the door switch issue and reworked the ground wires to no but they were all fine. Paul at Lippert was great at helping me out.