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Old 11-18-2017, 01:01 PM   #1
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Crazy air gauge behavior!

I have an intermittent recycling low air warning on mainly the rear air circuit, but sometimes on the front circuit of my 2003 Journey DL. Gauges will jump from 0 to 150 and then eventually settle back to normal. Brakes and air bags are working fine but the buzzer drives us crazy! Any suggestions?
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Old 11-20-2017, 12:07 PM   #2
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Fill tanks, turn engine off, listen for air leaks under the dash, and around outside of MH. The under the dash could be the connector on the air guage. My 2008 had an air gauge leak and was fixed under warranty.
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Old 11-30-2017, 12:22 PM   #3
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I had a similar problem, where the buzzers would sound and the gauges go to zero and then come back to life (usually when we'd driven over a bump in the road).

I fixed ours by following the attached procedure (all credits to the authors), and it's cured mine permanently.

Hope this helps

Merv & Sandra
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File Type: pdf VDC_Repair FL VDU.pdf (235.5 KB, 312 views)
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Old 12-20-2017, 06:02 PM   #4
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This IS the correct solution to the VDC problem. It sounds difficult, but is not, if you know how to solder. The intermittent gauges drove us crazy for a while, but once we made the fix, it has been rock solid. Dont expect a mechanic to be able to do this. IT is purely a DIY , notinthebook fix.
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Old 12-22-2017, 11:36 AM   #5
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My soldering skills aren’t the best so I took my VDC to the local electronic repair shop, 5 minutes and $10.00 later it was good to go.
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Old 09-26-2020, 04:34 PM   #6
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2004 Itasca "Horizon" 40AD VDC Repair -- Many Thanks!!!

Many thanks to Merv-IOM who helped me fix my fluctuating air tank problem! ...Buddy, you saved me a lot of money!!!

...And FYI, Freightliner, Corpus Christy completely miss-diagnosed this repair.

Short Story: I took my RV to Freightliner, Corpus to fix this problem and they could do it. Then they tried to send me on my way with a $300 diagnosis fee and a $2,000 quote to replace my instrument cluster.

I did not bite, because I was able to drive my RV just fine... and FL confirmed my engine air compressor was working properly; and FL confirmed there was no moisture in my air tanks! So I left and continued on with my travels. ...But I also was not sure what I would do next?

I decide to wait until I could get to my summer RV campsite, where I would have more time to investigate this problem and where I would have full hook-ups and internet to do some research. So that's what I did.

My research allowed me to find this thread, and a few others, and that armed with thie knowledge to proceed.

So I easily removed my VDC and took it to a local TV Repair shop to do the job, because I did not feel comfortable putting a hot iron the the solder joints... on such an important component. The shop only charged me $50 to clean and re-soldier the 8 joints (on each air pressure switch for a total of 16) and I can tell he felt guilty charging me that much. He said it took 30 minutes to clean the contacts and only 2 minutes to fix the cold solder joints.

In hindsight I supposed I could have fixed it myself, because the TV Tech said he never removes solder when fixing a cold solder joint. You just need to reflow the solder and add solder if need be.

Note: Many of these old VDC are still available at FL in the $600 range and they have lots of stock, so there has to be other FL chassis that need this replacement. So if you you can't fix your VDC by re-soldering these joints, at least you know you can still buy one of these and do the R&R yourself; as the toughest part was just separating the red and green air lines.

...And it worked!!! ...Just make sure you put those 2 plastic washers on top of the air pressure switches, before you screw-down the metal cover plate!

So then, I wrote the GM at Freightliner, Corpus and asked for my money back. ...Which I am happy to report the GM promptly approved my request. So that was nice. I also shared the attached .pdf file so his techs can learn what to do.

But I really don't blame FL-Corpus for not knowing how to address this problem, because the VDC cold soldier joint problem went away 15 years ago after FL started installing MMDC units in late 2004 Freightliner chassis. However, that does not excuse them from trying to "get rid of me" by presenting me with a solution that was based on a misdiagnosis. ...And thank god I did not agree to that $2000 repair, because it would not have solved the VDC problem.

Note: FL Help & Tech Support (800)385-4357 was a great help and they knew all about the cold solder joint problem. So that was reassuring.

So I would like once again to express my appreciation to everyone who helped me solve my VDC air pressure gauge problem; and FYI, after this repair my engine temperature gauge is not reading more accurately.

That said, I even think my engine is running smoother. Why? I can't say, but if fixing the VDC cold solder problem also improved the accuracy of my engine temperature gauge, I would say that repair eliminated "noise" in the circuit; and since the ECM talks to the VDC; it's possible the voltage to the ECM is now "cleaner" and more usable, which explains why I think my engine is running smoother.

* Also, my air tanks use to take about 1-2 minutes to come up to 60PSI which would kill the buzzer, but after this VDC repair that time has been cut down to 10-20 seconds!!! I attribute this to regluing the VDC back plate.

Consequently, if you have minor concerns about the time it takes for your air tanks to come-up-to-pressure, I might say this VDC repair could be considered a PM Step you should do, for our 15+ year old RVs, because there seems to be several other benefits to re-soldering you air pressure sensor points and regluing the backing plate!

For more details on how I completed this repair, see the attached .pdf.
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File Type: pdf 2004 VDC Repair (KEEP) (PDF).pdf (1.24 MB, 78 views)
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Old 09-26-2020, 08:46 PM   #7
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How The VDC Communicates With The Message Center (MC)

I found theses charts in the Medallion Message Center Manual you might like to keep for reference and trouble shooting someday if you ever have trouble with your gauges. (See attached pdf.)

And if you ever wondered what units your Transmission Temp Gauge and Amp Gauge is based on? ...See below.

These charts indicated my Transmission Temp Gauge get's its information from the ECM. So when I explained that my tranny gauge read more accurately after I fixed the VDC solder problem; and that tells me it's entirely possible that when I fixed the VDC, that may have removed the switching noise on the J1587 data bus connected to the ECM; and consequently, I'm saying after I fixed my VDC, now my engine is running better!!

Note: This also means that when I cleaned the VDC electrical connections with Electric Contact Spray, that there was NO corrosion issues I cleaned away either, because the Tranny Temp Gauges gets its information from the ECM and I did Not touch the EMC. So it was all about fixing those cold solder joints in the VDC!!!

...And now I am a very happy camper!!!
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File Type: pdf Medallion Message Center + Gauges & VDC testing (KEEP).pdf (127.9 KB, 42 views)
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Old 09-28-2020, 03:35 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by imnprsd View Post
Many thanks to Merv-IOM who helped me fix my fluctuating air tank problem! ...Buddy, you saved me a lot of money!!!

...And FYI, Freightliner, Corpus Christy completely miss-diagnosed this repair.

Short Story: I took my RV to Freightliner, Corpus to fix this problem and they could do it. Then they tried to send me on my way with a $300 diagnosis fee and a $2,000 quote to replace my instrument cluster.

I did not bite, because I was able to drive my RV just fine... and FL confirmed my engine air compressor was working properly; and FL confirmed there was no moisture in my air tanks! So I left and continued on with my travels. ...But I also was not sure what I would do next?

I decide to wait until I could get to my summer RV campsite, where I would have more time to investigate this problem and where I would have full hook-ups and internet to do some research. So that's what I did.

My research allowed me to find this thread, and a few others, and that armed with thie knowledge to proceed.

So I easily removed my VDC and took it to a local TV Repair shop to do the job, because I did not feel comfortable putting a hot iron the the solder joints... on such an important component. The shop only charged me $50 to clean and re-soldier the 8 joints (on each air pressure switch for a total of 16) and I can tell he felt guilty charging me that much. He said it took 30 minutes to clean the contacts and only 2 minutes to fix the cold solder joints.

In hindsight I supposed I could have fixed it myself, because the TV Tech said he never removes solder when fixing a cold solder joint. You just need to reflow the solder and add solder if need be.

Note: Many of these old VDC are still available at FL in the $600 range and they have lots of stock, so there has to be other FL chassis that need this replacement. So if you you can't fix your VDC by re-soldering these joints, at least you know you can still buy one of these and do the R&R yourself; as the toughest part was just separating the red and green air lines.

...And it worked!!! ...Just make sure you put those 2 plastic washers on top of the air pressure switches, before you screw-down the metal cover plate!

So then, I wrote the GM at Freightliner, Corpus and asked for my money back. ...Which I am happy to report the GM promptly approved my request. So that was nice. I also shared the attached .pdf file so his techs can learn what to do.

But I really don't blame FL-Corpus for not knowing how to address this problem, because the VDC cold soldier joint problem went away 15 years ago after FL started installing MMDC units in late 2004 Freightliner chassis. However, that does not excuse them from trying to "get rid of me" by presenting me with a solution that was based on a misdiagnosis. ...And thank god I did not agree to that $2000 repair, because it would not have solved the VDC problem.

Note: FL Help & Tech Support (800)385-4357 was a great help and they knew all about the cold solder joint problem. So that was reassuring.

So I would like once again to express my appreciation to everyone who helped me solve my VDC air pressure gauge problem; and FYI, after this repair my engine temperature gauge is not reading more accurately.

That said, I even think my engine is running smoother. Why? I can't say, but if fixing the VDC cold solder problem also improved the accuracy of my engine temperature gauge, I would say that repair eliminated "noise" in the circuit; and since the ECM talks to the VDC; it's possible the voltage to the ECM is now "cleaner" and more usable, which explains why I think my engine is running smoother.

* Also, my air tanks use to take about 1-2 minutes to come up to 60PSI which would kill the buzzer, but after this VDC repair that time has been cut down to 10-20 seconds!!! I attribute this to regluing the VDC back plate.

Consequently, if you have minor concerns about the time it takes for your air tanks to come-up-to-pressure, I might say this VDC repair could be considered a PM Step you should do, for our 15+ year old RVs, because there seems to be several other benefits to re-soldering you air pressure sensor points and regluing the backing plate!

For more details on how I completed this repair, see the attached .pdf.
So pleased you've sorted you buzzer problem and saving a fortune to boot and I'm really happy to have helped a little. Merv
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