Steps stopped working

[Scubadilo96]

Glad you were able to find the problem. My question would be what caused the gear to rub on the casing to begin with. Were any of the mounting screws loose? You might want to lube all of the moving joints to make sure nothing is binding.

[shepardmike]

I replaced the entire step last week and tested this weekend. It's a night and day difference with the new steps. Smooth and quiet, I am now thinking the original steps were messed up from the start. I just didn't know any better. All the steps I had in previous motorhomes were the cheap Kwikee power steps. To be fair to myself, I did think something was wrong and mentioned it with my first encounter at RB.

[shepardmike]

New steps are still working perfectly and curiosity got the best of me so I took apart the original step motor and found some rust

Looking at the backside of the step enclosure, you can see how exposed the motor and gears are.

I took a left over aluminum plate and cut a hole in it to accommodate the motor as it sticks out the back and attached it to the back. While not completely water proof this should cut down on a lot of water getting into the enclosure.

Still pondering how to cover the protruding motor end

[alank]

It's been a few years ago since I've had mine apart, but my assembly had a couple spacer washers between the motor assembly and the step gear housing to keep those two gears apart so they wouldn't rub like yours did. When I put it together with no washers, the motor wouldn't fit properly but with one washer, everything fit and worked properly so I just left it that way.

[jandcr]

Not necessarily true. I had to replace our steps - just before the big step recall, but different problem - the motor was upside down and pinching the wires, so it all eventually shorted out. I got the very first new set of steps off the production line - actually built for me. Plug compatible they said. Well, yeah, the plugs were, but the wiring wasn't. I had to rewire the magnet switch the other way round for it to work. Now with the step switch "off" they stay closed and "on" they stay open (which actually makes more logical sense to me). Told the manufacturer, so DK if they corrected it on future production.

Originally Posted by Lt Dan

The magnet should not keep the steps from extending. If the door is closed, then the magnet engages the switch keeping the steps in. If the door is open, then the magnet would not be near the switch anyway so it should extend. The most common issue when the steps won't extend is the house batteries are low. Starting the coach up like you did last time may have boosted them up enough to extend the steps.

BTW, the magnet is on the latch side of the door, down low behind a plastic button.