BEDROOM SLIDE HAS MIND OF IT'S OWN

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I have an '05 Adventurer 35A with three slides. It's a hydraulic system. The bedroom seems to inch itself in over a few days. Then we can push the button and it goes fully back out and gives us back our floor space. Anyone know why it self retracts  v e r y  slowly, over and over again?  Okay, sounds like an old rock song.
 
Try tightening the valves located on or near the hydraulic pump/reservoir. They'll likely have a T-handle at the top which can be turned to tighten the valve.
 
that was my thought to tom but im no mechanic so i didnt want to make a dumb suggestions. my mechanic friend showed me where mine are in case my levelers or other hydraulics wouldnt operate. just open those valves and operate them manually. it might be bypassing a little if the valve isnt tight.
 
On our coach, the hydraulic pump is located in the rear engine compartment. The pump is usually inside the reservoir, which is a cylinder approx 4-5" in diameter and 8-10" long, laying on its side. Adjacent to the reservoir, or attached to it, there will be a manifold with the 3 valves attached. Each valve will have a small T-shaped handle sticking out the top, not a separate tool.
 
Hopefully, someone with that model or chassis will chime in.
 
Another thing to consider, Max, is air in the lines. I am assuming you have HWH slides, and they instruct that slides always be run out/in the full amount of travel and not to do partial extensions and retractions. When the slide is fully out, or in, continue to run the motor for a count of three to five to fully pressurize the system and force any trapped air out. Following these guidelines has greatly reduced our bedroom slide creep. It seldom happens anymore, but when it does we run it fully in and then back out and we are good again.

If it continues to happen, or if the amount of creep is substantial, I would suggest that you look for a loose hydraulic fitting or leaking line. The first place to start in this case is at the solenoid as the other responders have suggested. Easiest to check and correct if that is the problem.
 
on my 2000 adventurer 37g you open the front drop down grill under the windshield (outside the mh at front) you will see the hydraulic pumps and the solinoid valves. mine are about 7 inches long and inch and a half wide, they have little t handles on the top. i believe mine has one solinoid for each leveler jack and a seperate one for the slide. (i only have one front slide. ) turning these t handles opens the valves manually in the event the pump broke and you couldnt get your levelers back up or your slide in. hope this helps. i would look at my coach and be more specific but it is in storage for the winter and i am working from memory. good luck . let us know
 
Another thing to consider ... is air in the lines.
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Good point Bill. The reservoirs are self-bleeding, and your full in/out advice is right on.
 
The suggestion on purging air (and never opening/closing a slide part way) is sometimes helpful. If that doesn't cure it, the most likely cause is a failed/leaking extend solenoid. It is not an uncommon failure, and is easily replaced by someone who knows which one it is.
 
mine has only one slide so it is easy to identify. the way we identified each of the individual leveler solenoids is we leveled up the rig and opened each t valve one at a time. which ever corner went down was the solenoid for that jack. not sure about identifying slide ones. you might be able to trace the hydraulic lines. my friend is a master mechanic so luckily i can call him with all my problems. hes always impressed that i am somewhat imformed about the problem in advance thanks to you fine folks here at the forum.
 
Got to thank everyone as usual. Wow -- have a problem and there is a wealth of info here. I am going to run it in and back out -- holding the switch for four or five seconds each time.

I too have had the living room slide out about an inch while sitting in storage. There is a chrome latch thing on the slide wall, but nothing anywhere else to use a strap to attach to.

 
mine has two corresponding latch locations on the floor in front of the wall ones. my manual shows retaining straps, but none were found with the mh when we got it . the latches on the floor look like they are just screwed down with wood screws. does look like it would hold much. haven't had any problems so far. just curious if anyone ever had one creep out while driving. could be a problem if that happened.
 
Actually, I have had the curb side slide deploy partially on the interstate entering Phoenix. It came out at an angle and jammed in place with the forward edge out about ten inches. We were able to limp to a service facility. The issue was a hydraulic line that had worn against a piece of metal until a hole was formed and fluid leaked out. Big mess in the basement, but a bigger problem was avoided. Luckily the extended warranty folks picked up the tab. So, no pressure means nothing keeping the slide in or out depending on which side of the system the failure is in. The same condition could occur, I suppose, if the solenoid relief screws back off. If you have some form of slide lock I suggest you use them.

That said, the straps Winne used to perform that function are often gone along with one of the fittings they attach to. All it takes is forgetting to undo them once. The strap will hold them in against giggling out while on the road, but can not stop them when being powered out hydraulically.

By the way, I had that same slide fail while out. Same reason, just a different line a year later. We were able to power it back in, but it sprayed fluid in the process. We did a Rube Goldberg slide lock and continued to HWH for repair.
 
I have my original front slide strap somewhere ...I never used it, and eventually removed the clip in the floor so no one else could attach it. If the slide moves it won't move much. On the other hand, if the strap were "in place" when the deploy button was pressed, the slide wood trim would be immediately ripped off. There was no strap provided for the rear slide ...and I am not concerned about it either.
 
afchap said:
I have my original front slide strap somewhere ...I never used it, and eventually removed the clip in the floor so no one else could attach it. If the slide moves it won't move much. On the other hand, if the strap were "in place" when the deploy button was pressed, the slide wood trim would be immediately ripped off. There was no strap provided for the rear slide ...and I am not concerned about it either.
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You too Paul?  :D  My strap is somewhere in the coach.  Haven't used since 2006 when DW extended the slide with the strap in place.

Winnie (HWH?) had a problem several years ago with slide creep on a few units that defied a permanent fix, so I believe the strap was an inexpensive although not very sophisticated way to address that issue.
 
In my experience the hydraulic pump on a Workhorse chassis usually gets located in the left (driver side) front wheel well. It doesn't have to go there, but that is the convenient place for the coach builder to install it.
 
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