Bedroom Slide will not go out

aztrooper · 01-04-2018, 07:21 PM

We did our once every three week trip to the RV dump location. All three slides came in but were a little slow with the cold weather. Got home and the two front slides went out, again, slowly but the bedroom slide didn't go out. I can hear the jack or what ever it is running but no movement on the slide. I tried pushing on the inside of it while my wife pushed the switch but it wouldn't go out. tried pulling it in to see if that would make any difference. The slide motor lugged down like it always does when it is in all the way. They I pushed the switch for it to go out and it just runs without any resistance. Help me. My wife is really upset because she can't get to her clothes in the closets. If it makes any difference, it was the last slide I tried to put out.

KRedburn · 01-04-2018, 07:43 PM

The seals may be frozen if you have cold weather. Wait till it warms up some.

KRedburn · 01-04-2018, 07:47 PM

or use a hair dryer to warm the seals up (if frozen)

you will risk tearing a seal if the moisture has frozen and the seal is stuck to the slide

once you get it open treat seal with silicone.

Are you connected to shore power? If not your batteries may be run down.
Run your generator or keep mh engine running till all leveled and slides out. Saves you batteries.

aztrooper · 01-04-2018, 08:16 PM

I am connected to shore power and tried it first with the genny running. It came in slow when we left to dump our tanks. Had the two heaters on the whole time. Now it will not go out. The jack motor is running and it sounds like there is no load on it like when I tried to move it in more. Where is the jack motor? I may have to check it in the morning to see if any bolts have broken or ???

wrapperman · 01-04-2018, 08:34 PM

I have a 2013 378xl and all of my slides are hydraulically driven. The pump unit is under the steps. May be a bad solenoid or a solenoid valve may not be closed, which you can manually do. What brand of hydraulic system do you have. Mine is Lippert Components and on their website they have manuals that have troubleshooting pages. Also they have been very friendly with helping me find my problem over the phone. Nice people at Lippert Components.

aztrooper · 01-04-2018, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrapperman

I have a 2013 378xl and all of my slides are hydraulically driven. The pump unit is under the steps. May be a bad solenoid or a solenoid valve may not be closed, which you can manually do. What brand of hydraulic system do you have. Mine is Lippert Components and on their website they have manuals that have troubleshooting pages. Also they have been very friendly with helping me find my problem over the phone. Nice people at Lippert Components.

Just found the manual for the slideouts and leveling system. I'll have to go thru it and see what I can find out. It is a Lippert Electronic/Hydraulic leveling and slideout system. Thanks

aztrooper · 01-05-2018, 12:06 AM

Well, I can't confirm it tonight but I think I know what the problem is. I thought about this hydraulic system (thought it was electric motor with gears) and had the idea that if the hydraulic fluid was low, it would sound like it was sounding and since the bedroom slide was the last use of the system, the hydraulic fluid might be low. I then thought of a way to test that thought. I would see if I could retract the right slide which would put fluid back in the tank. If that worked, I would then see if the bedroom would go out and if so, then try to get the right slide to go back out.

When I tried to bring the right slide in, it wouldn't come in further confirming what I had thought. No fluid to retract it in so I started the engine and powered up the leveling system. I pushed the retract all button and the right side of the MH went down. It didn't do anything after that and then all the lights on the left side of the leveling control panel started flashing. It wouldn't respond to any button I pushed then. I turned off the engine and turned it back on again but all lights started flashing again. I checked the parking brake and it was on all the way. I then shut the engine off and tried to take the battery cover off (on the steps) but it wouldn't open. Frozen maybe. I will have to wait until morning to get it off. I then thought that if the two leveling jacks had come up, that put fluid back into the pump reservoir so I tried the bedroom switch. It slid out very quickly with no hesitations. I then tried the right slide switch and it too slid our quickly. With out confirmation of the amount of fluid in the reservoir I will not know until tomorrow if my theory was correct. I will probably have to call Lippert tomorrow to find out how to clear the leveling system warning lights.

dkwalsh · 01-05-2018, 09:01 AM

When ours was slow, it was low hydraulic fluid. Filled up the reservoir and we were good to go. Hope your problem is as simple!

ncvet · 01-05-2018, 03:50 PM

I had similar issue last year with the levelers and Forest River was most helpful. I needed to reset the panel and I did that by turning on the system while pressing the four leveler buttons.

aztrooper · 01-05-2018, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ncvet

I had similar issue last year with the levelers and Forest River was most helpful. I needed to reset the panel and I did that by turning on the system while pressing the four leveler buttons.

I called Lippert this morning and that is what they told me to do. I pushed all four corner buttons at the same time and held them in. About 3 seconds later, they all went out. The Lippert tech also told me since it was so cold out, I should add a quart of either Honda or Yamaha motorcycle "fork oil" to the hydraulic tank. That would help in the cold and also keep the hydraulic arms from "chattering".

aztrooper · 01-09-2018, 04:04 PM

I found the location of the hydraulic pump and tank yesterday. It wasn't under the steps but in a basement compartment under the left living room slide out. It was inside of a compartment of it's own with one screw in the top of the "door". Removed that screw and the door hinged down to give access to the whole system. On the door was glued a diagram of the system with labeled hose connections. Sure enough, there was only about 1/2" of an inch of hydraulic fluid in the tank. Going to get a couple of quarts of Dextron III transmission fluid and a quart of Honda fork fluid to add to it. That should fix that. Love it when things come together.

wrapperman · 01-09-2018, 07:33 PM

Sounds like you found the problem. My pump was under the steps, apparently FR put it in a better accessible location.

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