Community Forums

f6ber · 05-04-2017, 06:23 PM

Is there somebody that can explain where the reservoir for the levelling jacks is located. I have a 2009 Safari Cascade by Monaco. We are on vacation about 2500 miles from home and when I started the coach up, the "jacks down" light is on and the warning beeper is going. The jacks were up. For some reason the drivers side extension has stopped working also. There seems to be no power at all going to it. I am thinking the 2 must be related - maybe low on fluid but where in the heck is the tank??
Thanks in advance if anyone can help.

F6ber

micki49 · 05-04-2017, 06:34 PM

On my 2008 Monaco Knight it is behind the side radiator. It takes the round key to open.

f6ber · 05-04-2017, 07:18 PM

Thank you, I will check that out and let you know.

f6ber · 05-04-2017, 07:45 PM

I crawled underneath the coach and on mine I only see the reservoir for the slide outs only (I think)

micki49 · 05-04-2017, 07:47 PM

Do you have electric slidouts or hydraulic slidouts.

f6ber · 05-04-2017, 10:05 PM

Hydraulic slide outs.

f6ber · 05-06-2017, 08:32 AM

Sorry about not getting back sooner, poor wifi.
I followed the lines from the rear jacks and you are right, the reservoir is behind the rad. It took almost 2 quarts of trans fluid (dextron 2) to fill it.
The bad news is the jacks still won't and main slide won't work. I am stumped.

8.3Oilbuner · 05-06-2017, 12:01 PM

Hi f6ber; By any chance, did you get the owners manual with the Safari? There should be instructions on jacks and slide operation and some trouble shooting. If the slide and jacks do not work, something has interrupted the power to the pump motor. You might want to manually retract your jacks by opening the T valves on the pump manifold to let the pressure out of the lines which will retract the jacks. Those instructions should be in the manual. Next, if that does not work at least your jacks are retracted. I would disconnect power to the system for a reboot. This might reset the controller for the hydraulic pump. Worth a try. I don't know if your manual is online or not. Hope this info gets you going. Let us know what happens. Hope someone with you model will read this and chime in. Good luck. Also wanted to mention, I think most instructions for filling the hydraulic tank say to deploy just one jack half way and check or fill the tank. If all your jacks are deployed, don' know if you have 3 or 4, and you have filled the tank, it may overflow when the jacks retract and send all that fluid back to the tank. You could have a mess on you hands, so I would retract the jacks very slowly using the T valves. Hope everything works out OK!

f6ber · 05-06-2017, 05:06 PM

Thanks 8.3Oilburner, fortunately the jacks are all retracted. There are 3 and I had not lowered them for levelling the previous night. In the morning we were going to leave early so I brought in the slides, went to leave and the beeper and jacks down light went on. I tried the big roadside slide and it was dead. The tank (when I finally found it) was 2/3 full. It took almost 2 qts to bring the level close to the top. The beeper has stopped but the light jack down light is still on. Sometimes all the lights go on. The big roadside slide is still dead. I do have an on line manual. I have done a battery power shut down. The good news is I can still travel.

8.3Oilbuner · 05-06-2017, 10:27 PM

Good evening f6ber; Sorry I missed in your post that the jacks were up. As you said, at least you can travel. The lights being on at you jack panel is a mystery to me as I have never had that situation on my Windsor. Does the hydraulic pump turn on at all? Do you have to have the ING on or off for leveling or slide operation? Something is interrupting a component to be able to operate, like a relay or something. I can't come up with a really good answer at the moment. Hope someone else here has you coach and can give more model related info. Safe travels.

f6ber · 05-07-2017, 08:06 AM

Thanks, this really is a mystery and I appreciate your input. We are going to head for home. The hydraulic pump only clicks when then slide switch is pushed. We can drive and the bedroom slide works so we will be fine for now.
Cheers

ga traveler · 05-07-2017, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by f6ber

Thanks, this really is a mystery and I appreciate your input. We are going to head for home. The hydraulic pump only clicks when then slide switch is pushed. We can drive and the bedroom slide works so we will be fine for now.
Cheers

The reason your bedroom slide works and not the main slide, is because the bedroom slide on many coaches is electric and the main slide is hydraulic. If your low fluid warning is from the reservoir level, you have Power Gear jacks. There are no T handles. T handles are on the HWH jacks. If you can hear the solenoid click when operating the jacks, You most likely have a 12 volt problem and not a control panel problem. Start by checking the voltage at the solenoid on the pump. Have someone else operate the control panel while you read voltages on each side of the solenoid.

f6ber · 05-10-2017, 08:05 PM

Sorry ga traveler, we have been travelling and poor reception. What you are saying makes very logical sense. The click means there is power getting to the solenoid. I don't have a volt meter and this is just a little beyond my mechanical ability. I am not far from home now and will use this information when explaining to the mechanic. Thank you so much for your input. We had a great holiday in spite of the slightly cramped quarters.
Cheers

Geaux Tigers · 05-13-2017, 11:17 PM

F6ber, you might have the same problem we had on our HR Vacationer and the Lippert or LCI leveling system a few years ago. Check the electric motor attached to the hydraulic fluid reservoir to see if hydraulic fluid is leaking through it. If so, the motor is probably toast. There was a recall for this starting with 2009 units. My HR is a 2008 but the previous owner had replaced the system in 2010 so LCI covered the cost of the parts but I had to pay for the labor. System has not leaked over the last 3 years. You can probably do a search here for Lippert Recall and get more information. Good luck!

------- Jim