Community Forums

1ciderdog · 06-14-2016, 02:22 PM

I have fluid coming out of the hydraulic jack/slide motor or reservoir. On my 39.6 foot Winnebago Journey that motor is located in front of the right front tire and under the door steps. I can lift the steps and get to the top side of the motor but can't see where it is leaking. I know there is a reservoir but don't know exactly where it is. I am traveling (about 3000 miles from home) and do want to be able to continue using jacks and slides. In the morning I'll get down there with a mirror and see if I can locate the problem area.

Has anyone experienced this and if so what was the problem?

Background: About two weeks ago I had an engine problem and was at a CAT dealer in Tennessee. The engine problem was resolved but during the process they had me extend all the jacks so they could roll around under the RV. When done the mechanic hit the store button and the RV dropped pretty quickly. When I retract the jacks I do it slowly. A couple days later the slides would not retract - so I tried the jacks and they worked then I tried the slides again and they worked. Slides and jacks seem to operate correctly but I'm still getting fluid on the ground. Not quarts or gallons but I'd guess maybe a quarter cup or less. My initial thought was that when the mechanic hit the store button it dropped in a manner that created an air pocket and that it would work out. I'm concerned I'll be remote somewhere and not be able to retract the slides. Am I worrying for nothing? Presently I'm in Alexandria VA and not having success at locating a repair facility. The closest Winnebago told me they don't work on HWH and couldn't suggest anyone else. (Lousy service but??)

PJStough · 06-14-2016, 03:46 PM

The important thing is to keep the reservoir full enough to operate the jacks and slides. The leak could be from several sources. One of the most common is the failure of the O rings on the cap screws covering the poppet valves on the top of the pump. You could have a leak in a line or a connection near the pump, or as my case a few weeks ago, one of the solenoids for one of the jacks started leaking.

1ciderdog · 06-15-2016, 08:04 AM

Thanks for the reply, Paul, I looked at it this morning, pretty messy but no real point of obvious leak. I'll go buy a packet of cleaning towels and wipe it down as best as possible, the run the slides or jacks and look for seepage. I'll also get a container of a DexronIII equivalent so I can add more fluid as needed and a little mirror so I can try to see the out of sight parts.

1ciderdog · 06-15-2016, 04:22 PM

Tried cleaning and looked for leak, nothing obvious. Decided to bring in slides and move spots. Bedroom came in but on drivers slide motor runs but no movement. Same on passenger side (It's in but I tried extending it - motor runs no movement) Called HWH and they suggested I go onto the website and call RV shops they list. I did and none can help until two or three weeks. Called Winnebago and they talked to me for a while and emailed the HWH manual. I've loosened all the valves on the pump/motor. The book says the slide should crank in but it doesn't. I went underneath and loosened hydraulic lines under the slide but that didn't let me move the slide in. ANY suggestions out there?

PJStough · 06-16-2016, 09:52 AM

My first thought is to make sure their is enough fluid in the reservoir to run the pump. There should be because you were able to put the slides out, unless enough fluid leaked out as you were putting the slides out that there is not enough to bring them back in.

My second thought is that the shuttle valve is sticking or broke. It can be bypassed to operate the slides, but the fact that one slide came in is confusing.

What I would do, remember this is not professional advice, is to add a quart of fluid to the reservoir, close the valves that you have manually opened, and try to bring in the remaining slides in the normal manner. If you hear the pump running, but yet the slides do not come in, I would then check to see if large amounts of fluid were leaking onto the ground. If no large fluid leaks, then I would try and determine which solenoid valve on the pump went to which slideout. If unable to make that determination, I would open one at a time, and try to bring the remaining slides in. If that failed, I would then look to the shuttle valve as the possible problem.

Are your jacks up? If not, and you are on a fairly level spot, I would then try to bring them up in the normal fashion. If you are afraid of tweaking the RV if you bring the jacks up, my next step would be to bring in the slides manually. This is done by turning the nuts on the end of the long bolt on each end of the slideout. If you open the compartment doors, you should be able to see the nuts. Before turning them, I would open all the solenoid valves on the pump for the slideouts, if you are not able to determine which valve goes to which slide out.

Let us know what happens, or if you have more questions.

1ciderdog · 06-16-2016, 10:22 AM

Paul, thanks. One of my friends suggested I contact AZPete on this site. He was a HWH employee and is very familiar with the system. After discussion with him I'm replacing the shuttle valve - the oil seepage was minor, no puddles on the ground, etc. Just messy around the pump and the HWH system. It'll take a couple of days for me to get a shuttle valve and I'll do a follow up message after I install the new one. Thanks for your input.
Bob

MaverickBBD · 06-18-2016, 12:08 PM

Yep, experienced it. "O" ring split. Just make sure you replace with Viton avail. at any auto parts store.

FIRE UP · 06-20-2016, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1ciderdog

Paul, thanks. One of my friends suggested I contact AZPete on this site. He was a HWH employee and is very familiar with the system. After discussion with him I'm replacing the shuttle valve - the oil seepage was minor, no puddles on the ground, etc. Just messy around the pump and the HWH system. It'll take a couple of days for me to get a shuttle valve and I'll do a follow up message after I install the new one. Thanks for your input.
Bob

Hey Bob,
Glad you're getting things repaired. I have a MAJOR hydraulic leak in the forward ram of the bed room slide. I had the same leak about 4 years ago when we first purchased the coach. My son and I went through some of the most agonizing pain humanly possible in removal and replacement of that particular ram. I'd almost rather pull the motor on this rig than do that again but, I have no choice, it's leaking that bad. I open the shore power compartment and the hydraulic oil pours out onto the ground, from the door seal.

It's getting worse. We too are on a trip and we've cut it shore due to this issue. Wish we were close to Moscow Iowa and HWH so I could pull into their parking lot and say "fix it". But, we aint so, I'll limp this thing home to Lake Havasu and do what it takes to get this major leak repaired. But, my post to you is, I'd like to be able to get to AZpete so I could be guided by his wisdom on this repair. Can I get any contact info from you? I'd surely appreciate it. Thanks,
Scott

azpete · 06-21-2016, 09:12 AM

hi scott, i sent you a pm. you can call me at 1-602-549-3638
paul maddox

1ciderdog · 06-21-2016, 03:25 PM

Scott, sorry I didn't timely respond but I saw Azpete responded when I read your post. I want to thank him for spending a lot of telephone time with me trying to figure out my problem. I'm presently on the east coast and he's in Arizona. Trying to get help from either Winnebago or HWH was extremely frustrating and no results. I had a slide out so it was impossible to drive to some RV shop to have it looked at and none of the RV places locally were helpful and I couldn't find a mobile RV mechanic. I think I had a couple of issues, first is the shuttle valve, second is a leak at one of the solenoids, and I have to move solenoid switch to get slides to move in or out. Azpete is using his contacts to try to find someone in Florida (or Georgia, or somewhere down there) who can trouble shoot the system to resolve the problem. We are roughly 3000 miles from home and if we can't get it resolved I'm thinking about driving back and stopping at either the Winnebago factory or HWY so they can look at it. That's a last resort. Again I want to thank Azpete.

PJStough · 06-21-2016, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1ciderdog

Scott, sorry I didn't timely respond but I saw Azpete responded when I read your post. I want to thank him for spending a lot of telephone time with me trying to figure out my problem. I'm presently on the east coast and he's in Arizona. Trying to get help from either Winnebago or HWH was extremely frustrating and no results. I had a slide out so it was impossible to drive to some RV shop to have it looked at and none of the RV places locally were helpful and I couldn't find a mobile RV mechanic. I think I had a couple of issues, first is the shuttle valve, second is a leak at one of the solenoids, and I have to move solenoid switch to get slides to move in or out. Azpete is using his contacts to try to find someone in Florida (or Georgia, or somewhere down there) who can trouble shoot the system to resolve the problem. We are roughly 3000 miles from home and if we can't get it resolved I'm thinking about driving back and stopping at either the Winnebago factory or HWY so they can look at it. That's a last resort. Again I want to thank Azpete.

So did you ever get the slide out in?

1ciderdog · 06-21-2016, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PJStough

So did you ever get the slide out in?

Yes, I have the slides in and am able to travel and actually traveled about 300 miles today. The glitch is I'm hesitant to try to extend the slides again and end up with slides out and a problem getting them back in. We are traveling kind of like with my previous motorhomes that had no slides.

On my HWH system there are 10 solenoid valves, four for jacks and six for slides. Each solenoid has a lever or a release valve that allows pressure to bypass. I made a drawing of solenoids then released pressure on each valve one at a time and my wife would hit a retract switch. So on the drawing I noted any action or lack thereof and I found the solenoid that controlled the extended slide. When trying to bring in that slide one of the positions extended a different slide. Keeping on with the valves I was able to get the slides in but a glitch is when the valve is in the position to retract that slide nothing else works, that slide does not retract and the other two slides don't function.

PJStough · 06-21-2016, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1ciderdog

Yes, I have the slides in and am able to travel and actually traveled about 300 miles today. The glitch is I'm hesitant to try to extend the slides again and end up with slides out and a problem getting them back in. We are traveling kind of like with my previous motorhomes that had no slides.

On my HWH system there are 10 solenoid valves, four for jacks and six for slides. Each solenoid has a lever or a release valve that allows pressure to bypass. I made a drawing of solenoids then released pressure on each valve one at a time and my wife would hit a retract switch. So on the drawing I noted any action or lack thereof and I found the solenoid that controlled the extended slide. When trying to bring in that slide one of the positions extended a different slide. Keeping on with the valves I was able to get the slides in but a glitch is when the valve is in the position to retract that slide nothing else works, that slide does not retract and the other two slides don't function.

Have you changed the shuttle valve, or is this your work around?

1ciderdog · 06-21-2016, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PJStough

Have you changed the shuttle valve, or is this your work around?

I changed the shuttle valve. The pump motor was running but easy to tell there was no load on it. When I changed the shuttle valve the sound changed and I could tell there was a loan on the pump.