urgent help needed with jacks

[padillas4life]

Also, where is my 2000 Winnebago Journey fuse box for the hydraulic levelers? I want to see if I have a blown fuse.

 

[PJ Stough]

"I have a follow up question. When putting the jacks down do you know if the "slow to retract" jack goes down at the about the same rate as the others, or is it slower going down than the others?"

The subject jack does not go down until the other jack is touching the ground, then it starts moving down. Hope this helps you diagnose my problem even better.

By the way, I implemented the "block" suggestion today. I will see how this will work when it's time to retract the leveler in two days. Exciting... Will let you all know.

Thanks for that information. I would start with John's suggestion, since it is the easiest.  If manually opening the solenoid doesnt help, then I think I would put the jacks down a couple of inches, then remove the hydraulic line at the top of the jack, and see if that speeds up the retraction. If that doesnt help, then I would do the WD-40 spray on the seal. 

 

[Ex-Calif]

The subject jack does not go down until the other jack is touching the ground, then it starts moving down. Hope this helps you diagnose my problem even better.

Pressure in a system is equal throughout the system - the "easy" jack will move first at a lower pressure.  When that jack hits the ground pressure goes up and the other jack starts to move.

Sticky piston is pretty much a spot on diagnosis. The solenoids are working otherwise you couldn't even jack the offending piston upwards.

It may take multiple applications of juice and multiple cycles to free up whatever is sticking.

The only other remote possibility I have is something in the cylinder or solenoid that blocks fluid flow in one direction. Something like a bit of broken seal.

If you have to go advanced you should be able to remove the hydraulic line,  remove the return spring and you should be able to manually exercise the piston up and down, I would think. If the piston doesn't stick when derigged - you could have something going on in the solenoid.

 

[John Canfield]

Jack extension and spring retraction times depend on the length of the hydraulic hoses to each jack all things being equal (jacks and components working nominally.)

 

[Ray-IN]

I'm assuming you have HWH hydraulic jacks, model unknown. Here is the HWH FAQ page, http://www.hwh.com/ml20673aafaq.html
it has links to further answer question within most of the numbered topics. My HWH system has 2 40A  inline fuses near the  motor/tank assy., but fuses are not the issue if you can force a jack cylinder to retract.  There will be 4 round solenoids with a Tee handle on the small end, on top or, or near the motor/tank assy., one for each jack. Since the jacks are not retracting, open one of the Tee handles and observe which jack retracts.
When you close the Tee handle, do not force it tightly shut.
Hope that helps.

 

[padillas4life]

Thanks Ray, I will try to find the valves with the T-handle to try to get the problem jack to retract manually. I have been looking under the chassis but I don't know where to look, or what the pump/motor looks like.Thanks for the link to HWH as well. Cheers.

 

[John Canfield]

There will be a black tank with a cap on the top, maybe a 12 inch cube. Attached to it is the manifold and solenoids. It's important to check the fluid in that tank once in a while - slides in and jacks up.

 

[cbeierl]

Thanks Ray, I will try to find the valves with the T-handle to try to get the problem jack to retract manually. I have been looking under the chassis but I don't know where to look, or what the pump/motor looks like.Thanks for the link to HWH as well. Cheers.

Don't know which model of 2000 Journey you have, but you can check out the Parts Catalog for your coach and look for HYDRAULIC LEVELING under the CHASSIS GROUP.  It looks like the HWH pump/reservoir unit is located on the driver's side, ahead of the rear wheels for all three models.

Also check out page 2-21 (page 41 of the pdf) of the Operator Manual for your coach which has pictures and info regarding the T-handles.

 

[99Chiefton]

Hello, new here. We started having issues with a front leveling Jack a few years back. (99 Chiefton) We finally replaced it and sent the faulty one to the place we bought the new one from to be rebuilt to replace the other front one.

Now the back one is not retracting. We have only run into issues when it is hot out. So instead of forcing it to retract we release them in the evening and by morning they are up. A few weeks ago in Eastern Washington the rear one would not retract. Perhaps the metal expanded in the heat so our bright idea was to give it a shot of canned air (which of course is cold). Did the trick. The Jack retracted!

probably not a good idea to keep doing this as it might cause issues with the metal, but we were able to get on the road quickly.

If someone knows if it will cause an issue, let me know for future reference.

 

[John From Detroit]

Electric or hydraulic?

 

[99Chiefton]

Electric or hydraulic?

Ours are hydraulic.

 

[John From Detroit]

ON hydraulics there is often a manual retraction valve you need to open two of em and springs pull them up. The shaft should be lubricatred but follow manual instructions as well (Piston shaft) Sometimes there is a ZERK fitting in the collar at the bottom of the fixed portion of the jack.

If all else fails (This will be messy) you can loosen a hose connection and let the line blead hydraulic fluid. NOTE you will likely need to add fluid to the holding tank after doign this and don't forget to re-tighten.

The valves are solenoid type and the magnet slips over the valve near the pump. Magnet can fail. Controls can fail. Vale can fail. hydraulic line pinched but lubricartion and broken sprintrs are top of my suspect list.

 

[John Canfield]

The retraction springs might be getting weak, I would replace all of yours as a matter of preventive maintenance. One of the rear jacks will always be the slowest to retract due to the length of the hydraulic hose but retraction times are usually much longer in the winter when the hydraulic fluid is cold and viscous.

Wipe down the jack shafts every so often which might help retraction times. Also pay attention to John's last paragraph in the above post - you could have a solenoid problem for that jack.

 

[Ray-IN]

You are correct in that WD-40 is not a lubricant, but the problem is not lack of lubrication of the jack rams, the problem is the seal where the rams go into the cylinder dries out and causes excess drag on jack retraction, and WD-40 works well to soften the seal. I see no need to wipe the WD-40 off the jack rams as the WD-40 that is on the rams is wiped off by the seal as the rams retract adding extra softening to the seal. HWH does not recommend using teflon spray on the jacks.

I have been using WD-40 like this for several years, and even with the original springs on my 2005 Winnebago, all my jacks retract in less that two minutes. YMMV

As a matter of fact, HWH states WD-40 is the ONLY approved cleaner they recommend.