Jim,
Something quick to try with the jack. On the bottom of the jack motor there is a flat nut apx 3/4" wide. With your fingers, spin it a few times and then try it. Also there is a large connector plug going to the jack on the top side of the motor. Wiggle or replug it. I'm assuming you have the electric jacks and haven't already tried this.
Also there is a complete jack reset procedure available if you need it. I have the same highly intermittent problem with the same jack position.
Pat
* This post was
edited 04/15/12 08:15am by FreshAir *
Thanks. That nut is the manual extend/retract nut. You put a 1/2" socket on it and 500 revolutions equals 1" of movement, up or down.
Just climbed under mine this morning, can't move it with the manual nut...so gears are stripped. Same problem I had with my left rear.
Time to order another head. At this rate, I think I'll order two. I think I paid about $250 the last time, so might just start travelling with a spare.
This is ridiculous though.
If I didn't have a garage full of tools and wasn't afraid to dig into stuff like this, I can't imagine how many thousands of dollars I'd have spent so far at a service center. The main controller was $500, would have been $1,000 from Atwood. Jack at service center was $1500, so there'd be 2 of those now...all in all I bet I'm up to $5K of charges just on the jack system.
Jim
* This post was
edited 04/15/12 09:32am by Lobstah *
2005 Pace Arrow 36D
Very Understanding Wife
2 Boxers
4 Cats
Jim
Sounds like you've had your share of jack problems. I carry a socket and drill for that nut should I have to do a manual retract. I have been able to get mine going by spinning the nut a few times then push the retract front and retract left side buttons at the same time and let it slam and ratchet a few times trying to retract while in the full up position.
What's involved replacing a head? Special tools, time wise, etc. When replacing can you see the bad gear? Also where are you buying the head and is $250 the normal price? A spare might just be a good investment.
I had to tie one jack up once, left front, replaced under warranty.
No special tools. The jack is bolted to the frame with 4 bolts. Disconnect the wire connection and take the 4 bolts out and you've got your self a jack. I put something underneath them so they can't fall while you're unbolting them.
The motor head is pretty straight forward. I think there are 4 screws that hold the cover on and 4 screws/bolts that hold the motor/gear assembly to the jack. Atwood buys the motor/gear assemblies from someone else, which I guess is why they won't sell an individual gear, which is what was wrong with my last jack...stripped the gear.
Jim
* This post was
edited 04/15/12 04:14pm by Lobstah *
Update...
I called Atwood yesterday to order a new jack motor. The woman I spoke with this time was great...and asked if I was certain it wasn't just the "torque" gear that was stripped, as they DO now sell just that one gear. I told her I'd have to call her back, as I hadn't taken the jack off yet.
I moved the mh to a different campground yesterday afternoon. When I got here I turned the jack system on so I could manually override the fault and get the other three jacks down.
When I turned it on, no alarm. Hit Extend All...and all 4 jacks go down. So I guess when I put my drill on the motor and couldn't get the jack to move, it was because it was in the "unclutched" state, NOT because a gear was stripped. So me putting my drill on the jack was the same action as FreshAir's trick of spinning the nut.
Anyway...all my feet are down, and Momma's happy, cuz I'm not cussin' Atwood
FreshAir wrote: Seems like someone once posted a pic of the location?? I couldn't find it.
Best position to see the black 1" angle iron that is welded to 1" square tubing is on the drivers side as there are less cable bundles obstructing your view.
The angle iron, which has the small undersized screws, runs vertical and is spot welded to the square tubing also running vertical against the firewall. The angle iron is attached by the screws to fiberglass body.
On my Pace, when I lift the hood I can put my thumb on the side of the hood opening and with my fingers extended,reach in at about a 45 degree angle towards the side of the coach and touch the angle iron were talking about. Same thing on passengers side.
I replaced orig. screws, some were missing, with much larger, I think 1/4" hex head screws. Can't remember length. I also drilled and added more. Like said before, be careful on length as you don't want to screw thru fiberglass side.
Jim, I don't know how you would jack up the body to fix this. Maybe the whole thing is at rest where it should be and the stress is greately reduced now. If everything looks OK and seems aligned alright, it might be best to secure it where it rests now with larger screws?
I looked at mine again yesterday while replacing my chassis battery that was 8yrs old. My screws on the passenger side are definetly sheared off, and the "body" is hanging about 1.5" low on that side. There is a metal plate where the front ferring attaches to the rest of the body. I may be able to take a 2X4 cut to length and a scissors jack to put some pressure on it and see if it's solid enough to lift into place.
I'm thinking the 1/4" hex heads sound good, and I'll probably go with 3/4" length. Feels like there's room for that.
Haven't looked at the driver's side yet. Glad I have a 90deg drill.
Hey folks.
I just installed my 2 newly purchased Starlight 1000 outdoor lights.
They came from the same vendor, but are slightly different in that one has an incandescent bulb, while the other has an LED bulb installed. I purchased these lights because finding replacement lenses for my stock lights were impossible, even from Fleetwood. So if I had to replace the lights, I wanted something with a slightly bigger "footprint" to hide the old location and cover up any lines.
Anyway, now that I've got them both installed, it occurs to me that one of the things stuck in the back of my mind is that the rear light on the drivers side, over the plumbing compartment, has never worked. I've never attempted to use the light, and assumed it was just a dead bulb.
I was wrong.
My question now is where is the switch for this light located? I assumed it would come on with the porch light switch by the door, but it doesn't. My second guess was "Luggage lights", which was also wrong.
Lobstah wrote: I purchased these lights because finding replacement lenses for my stock lights were impossible, even from Fleetwood.
I just purchased 3 of the OEM porch lights for my 2004 PA from Walt's RV Surplus. $10/each, plus shipping. Call Walt's at (909) 421-1107. Their web site is http://waltsrvsurplus.com/
Jachinator and Freshair - thanks for the help with my dash! Took my RV out this past weekend and your suggestion fixed my issue. Have been trying to solve it for 2 years and very happy its fixed....now I just have to isolate the other squeeks ;-)
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