Community Forums

GCS · 07-08-2014, 07:15 PM

We have a 2008 HR Endeavor 40SFT. Both of the front power seats, driver and passenger sides, are taking turns working and going dead. They don't alternate, either one or the other works, both work, or visa versa. This problem just started. Both fuses are in tight and obviously work. I've looked and proded around under the chairs and don't see any obvious loose or chafed wiring the might be making a short. I don't have my multimeter with me, either. Hoping to hear from someone who may have encountered a similar problem and what they did to correct it.

Thanks ~ standing by.

Guy and Cindy Sorensen and our Shelties Buddy and Natalie
2008 HR Endeavor 40sft towing a 2009 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

sfdladder11 · 07-08-2014, 11:12 PM

I have a 2008 Diplomat. It occasionally does the same thing only it is only the passenger seat and it is only the raising of the foot rest that misbehaves. I am interested in any input also.

danes-on-tour · 07-09-2014, 05:30 AM

Have a look at this thread that I started recently.

I have not had the opportunity to personally check the issue, but I am placing my bet on poor connections. A way to find out if this is the case probably is to check the continuity/resistance in every piece of wire that is used in the chairs.

Use of a multimeter - continuity and resistance explained.

H. Miller · 07-09-2014, 05:39 AM

Try "contact cleaner" (Radio Shack) on the plugs, mentioned by Henrik, under the seat...

Flanagan · 07-09-2014, 05:44 AM

I would check ground wires. Intermittent operation without blowing fuses frequently indicates poor ground connections in a 12V system.

YC1 · 07-09-2014, 01:48 PM

Exercise the plugs that are located under the seats. Take them apart and put them back together several times. WD40 on them if you have some.

When you press the buttons do you always hear a click? If not you are losing power and the culprit is probably the connectors. If it is really bugging you and since you don't have a voltmeter or a simple test light (less than $10) and should be one of your favorite tools, either cut the connectors off and twist the wires together and tape until you can crimp them or even use wire nuts in this case. The wire nuts are not in a area they would cause you grief.

With a test light you could do a couple of practice tests to be prepared when they fail. Find a good ground such as a mounting bolt. Then test the wire in a place away from the connectors several inches. If the light comes on bright and the seat does not run then probe the other wire. If the light comes on at all your ground wire is not working.

GCS · 07-10-2014, 07:51 AM

Thanks to all for the input. At the moment, everything is working. We are at a campground now for a few days and will be heading out to buy another multimeter to do more testing. (The one sitting on my workbench at home just doesn't seem to work out here!) Will also clean and exercise all of the under chair connectors and check the grounds.

YC1 · 07-10-2014, 12:27 PM

GCS, a multimeter can fool you sometimes. A test light will put enough of a load on the circuit to avoid this. I'm an ET with 40 yrs diagnosing vehicle electrical issues. Own a telecommunications company and train techs. In place of a test light we use a good analog meter like a Simpson 260 when in doubt. I carry one in the RV as well as a test light. Put the tester across a battery for a reference first. Then test away.

ShapeShifter · 07-12-2014, 09:11 AM

It's unusual for BOTH seats to have an intermittent problem. Did this start happening for both seats at about the same time, or was one seat flaky for a long time, and then another seat started acting up? It's unusual for two such similar yet not directly related systems to have problems at the same time. If the onset was independent of the two, then checking the plugs and wires around each seat makes sense, even though it's unlikely.

But if the onset of the two seats was about the same time, I'd look for something that was common between the two. Looking at the wiring diagrams, it appears that there are two power seat circuits, so it would seem that they have separate fuses and power supplies. So I would think it's unlikely that a fuse, or the seat connectors, or the wiring between them would be bad. The only single point of failure I can see that would affect both seats is in the electrical panel in the outside front bay below the driver's side window. Connector C406 (top row of plugs, fourth from the left) supplies power to both power seats. Perhaps this connector is loose, corroded, or otherwise not making good contact? This connector also feeds the storage bay lights, the service light (the firewall light above the generator?) the power cord reel, and the water hose reel. Are any of these items also acting up? If so, I would definitely check out things in the vicinity of that connector!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfdladder11

I have a 2008 Diplomat. It occasionally does the same thing only it is only the passenger seat and it is only the raising of the foot rest that misbehaves. I am interested in any input also.

I also had just the passenger footrest intermittently fail. Traced it out and found the motor was getting power, but wouldn't move. If I manually moved the motor a little bit, it would work again. I figure the commutator had a broken wire, resulting in a dead spot. As long as the motor was moving, it would coast past the dead spot and keep going. But if the motor stopped on the dead spot, it wouldn't move until an external force (pushing on it, or vibration from driving) moved it off of the dead spot. I replaced the motor and never had a problem since.

GCS · 07-29-2014, 12:15 PM

We just finished our 3,000 + mile journey without any additional front seat problems. After checking everything out (and, there is also a test light in the motorhome toolbox now, thanks Myron!), pulling apart and cleaning each plug under the seats with contact cleaner, there has been no additional seat problems. Sometimes some of the little problems we encounter in these RV's can be real head scratchers and a little extra think help is really appreciated! Cleaning those contacts seems like a good thing to add to the annual preventive maintenance schedule!

Bob&AnnaMari · 07-29-2014, 01:08 PM

Guy,

Quick question. Did you have to remove the seats to do the cleaning or were you able to access the connectors without having to do that. We don't have a problem now, but when I was looking under the seat (for another reason) I did not see any connectors dangling down where they would be easy to get to. I'm just wondering how difficult it is to get to the connectors.

Thanks,
Bob

GCS · 07-29-2014, 06:43 PM

Bob,

I was able to access each of the connectors without removing the seats. Laying on the floor for the drivers side, I found where the main cable came up from the floor and tracked it to the connector, pulled it apart and sprayed it liberally with the contact cleaner, then connected/disconnected it several times. I used the Radio Shack contact spray cleaner ~ just be careful you don't get a face full! On the passenger side, I was able to sit in the stair well. There were two connectors under the seat, one for the foot rest and the other to the chair. I basically did the same on the passengers side as I did on the drivers side.

I would consider this an easy job overall. Hope this helps you.

Best,
Guy

GCS · 07-29-2014, 06:49 PM

One more quick thing, Bob, I turned the 12V power to the coach off during the cleaning process. I don't know if that is a necessary step, but I felt more comfortable doing it that way.

Guy

Bob&AnnaMari · 07-29-2014, 07:42 PM

Guy,
Thanks a million for the info. I will have to look around on our coach. We have a 2003 Beaver and some of the contacts are starting to show their age. This sounds like something to look at proactively. My wife said something about the co-pilot seat not working correctly on our last trip. But, I sort of dismissed it to operator error. I will look into this and clean the connectors.

And I think turning off the power is an excellent idea. I will make sure everything is off before I do it.

Thanks again,
Bob