Kwikee step not working.

[bneiva]

Heck Domo - Ft Myers??? That's the auto junk park in your area where I do all my shopping!

Small world!
Bill

[gnvrvin]

This is to funny! LMAO

Been there done that...Now I wait for the delivery driver


Originally Posted by bneiva View Post
Let me understand something…..

Somebody sat down to their computer ( in Air conditioning, I’m sure) and took 30 minutes of their valued time to research and order a NEW $79.00 motor. Then he drank beer for two days waiting for the new part to arrive before simply installing it.

copied from another post:

On the other hand…

At a cost of $40.00, I spent a full day in an auto junk yard where I had to pull at least 10 motors before getting what I was looking for! I sweated my butt off because it was so dang hot! Then it took another full day to take apart all the motors in order to make a good one. Afterwards, I lost another four days to allow my left hand to recover from a bad cut I got in the junk yard!

I think the guy who spent $79.00 on the new motor got robbed!!

Bill
Jacksonville, Fl

Reminded me of my first car. No mechanical skills per say but rebuilt the transmission. 3 spd. Went into reverse smoothly on the second rebuild

greg

[Burker99]

I did a diagnostic on my steps and everything pointed to the controller. I installed a new one and the step did not work. I have read there is a fuse somewhere for the step switch by the door that may have blown. Does anyone know where the fuse is on a 2001 Monaco Knight.

[Modela1]

I had the same problem. I took my motor home (Itasca Navion) to the local dealer. The supposedly fixed it and charged $70. He told me that it was dirty (supposedly he cleaned and serviced it) I took it home where it sat in our garage for about 3 months. We were ready to take it out and then I found out it did the same thing.


My conclusion is that basically these are not that good of a product. I went through the manufacturer to find a troubleshooting guide and thought I was finished.



By the way, our Navion is a 2012 and has 25000 actual miles. We purchased it brand new.



This went on and on, checking controller, motor, and switch. Finally, I replaced both the motor and the controller. It worked for a while and quit again. I changed the ground wire directly to the chassis battery. I noticed that as the mechanism went up it contacted the frame before it hit the rubber bumpers. I ground it down. I then really cleaned it up and lubed it.


So far, so good, but my basic conclusion is that these steps are pretty poor quality. In addition, they are on the underside of the chassis which means they are exposed to the outside.


The motors are available through any parts store at a greatly reduced price. I purchased the controller from etrailer.com. They are great people to deal with.

[S2kskibum]

Old thread, new post!

I know more about Kwikee steps than I ever wanted. Ran all volt meter diagnoses, all looks good electrically but have a question. I only get a quick volt reading when the door opens on the red wire that goes from the controller to the motor - it varied as the voltmeter doesn't respond immediately, but I saw at least 10V, and am guessing it was getting 12+... It would seem to me that it is sensing an obstruction and immediately cancelling the power to the motor. Or perhaps the controller is bad. 13 year old Itasca Sunova, double step, 13000 miles. Steps operated a tad sporadically once in a while but a lube always brought them back.

Thanks for any insights!

Bonus points if you can tell me how to get them open just to make access easier - I can not reach the cotter pin to release the steps from the motor...

I did wack the motor a few times, no love.

[S2kskibum]

Originally Posted by S2kskibum

Old thread, new post!

I know more about Kwikee steps than I ever wanted. Ran all volt meter diagnoses, all looks good electrically but have a question. I only get a quick volt reading when the door opens on the red wire that goes from the controller to the motor - it varied as the voltmeter doesn't respond immediately, but I saw at least 10V, and am guessing it was getting 12+... It would seem to me that it is sensing an obstruction and immediately cancelling the power to the motor. Or perhaps the controller is bad. 13 year old Itasca Sunova, double step, 13000 miles. Steps operated a tad sporadically once in a while but a lube always brought them back.

Thanks for any insights!

Bonus points if you can tell me how to get them open just to make access easier - I can not reach the cotter pin to release the steps from the motor...

I did wack the motor a few times, no love.

Update: finally got the cotter pin out and steps released, phew. Will bench test the motor manana.

[WatchMeRV]

The controller will automatically shut the power after 5 to 10 seconds without a load. Also, if no voltage from the controller, there is a reset, If I recall correctly, you need to open and close the door 8 times quickly, the 9th time, the controller resets. Chances are the controller is ok. Bench test the motor directly eliminating the controller. If it works and the controller works, check the gearbox. Be careful down under those steps.

[S2kskibum]

Originally Posted by sbkahn

The controller will automatically shut the power after 5 to 10 seconds without a load. Also, if no voltage from the controller, there is a reset, If I recall correctly, you need to open and close the door 8 times quickly, the 9th time, the controller resets. Chances are the controller is ok. Bench test the motor directly eliminating the controller. If it works and the controller works, check the gearbox. Be careful down under those steps.

Thank you - had not heard about a reset for the controller. I'll start there tomorrow!

[WatchMeRV]

I learned a lot by calling lippert when my steps would not extend. Their step support is great. They told me about the reset and the voltage cut-off, I've never seen it documented anywhere.

[rarebear.nm]

10 volts is pretty low to expect 12 volt motors to work well under any load. True, DC motors reduce speed with low voltage and not totally fail.


A common issue with any electrical under an RV is corrosion electrical connections. The ground connection is a common trouble spot. I'd take the the ground wire off the grounding point and clean all surfaces really well then reassemble. Keep in mind the corrosion may extend up in to the green wire from the connector. Frequently a ring connector. I like to cut off the connector and replace it. All connections should be suspect. I found bad ground connections to be the trouble in many cases.



Many folks consider if they get 12 volts the power supply side is good. Not necessarily true. You need both voltage and current. Say you have a 14 gauge stranded wire and only one or two strands are making good contact. You will get the expected 12 volts but will never get enough current. Again a common connector issue.



If your volt meter is flaky, stop and get you a new one. A bad meter giving wrong information is worse than no meter, IMO. Test voltage at the battery. You should see the same voltage on the red motor lead. The controller does not vary the voltage, all on or all off.



I have never heard of a reset sequence for the Kwikee controller.



Strongly suggest you download the Kwikee trouble shooting instructions. They are very good step by step. There is a test cable to use going in to the controller that makes the testing much similar. I also have a second cable to attach to the motor i cut oof a bad controller.



Some times the gears in the gear box get stripped and can cause jerky or no movement of the attached arm. Some times the gears may need to be greased again.



Hint, when you reassemble the system wait to attach the cotter pin until the arm is fully extended. This way you have easy access to the end of the arm and step where the cotter pin goes. Also no real need to bend the cotter pin very much, just a little on both sides. This will make future removals much easier.

[S2kskibum]

No success with controller reset- I get 12.7 volts on the yellow wire when door closed, nothing goes through the red when the door opens. Guess new controller is in order. As for the motor, I get nothing when directly attaching it to a fully charged battery. There are no identifying labels or marks on the motor. The controller has its original stickers. I'll be researching parts now.

[S2kskibum]

Parts ordered - not Kwikee. Gearbox looks new inside, so new motor and controller - $110. Easy, and will be here Wednesday!

At least I hope it is easy...!

[rarebear.nm]

I agree that the controller is prime suspect. The motor also sounds iffy since it does not operate on a battery.



That motor is commonly used on a variety of car windows and such as well. A pretty common part, some folks have bought replacement at auto parts stores. I bought mine on Amazon. What ever makes you happy.


In reality once you understand how these steps works they are not all that hard to service. There is some variation on some models, like ties into the ignition system, manual cutoff, etc. Getting that cotter pin out may be the hardest step IMO.


Good luck and happiness soon...

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by S2kskibum

Update: finally got the cotter pin out and steps released, phew. Will bench test the motor manana.

Here is the Kwikee Products Service Training Manual, it covers every model# of steps Kwikee ever made.
FWIW over 80% of all 12V issues are the result of a poor/missing ground. Kwikee steps are always "hot", the controller switches the ground to control the motor.
Since the step are exposed to road water spray and grime, the connections can get corroded, clean all of them while cleaning the ground connections.