Low front air warning light

stardalo · 05-05-2013, 09:46 PM

Hi- The front air dash gauge on my 2003 winnebago journey dl on a freightliner chassis keeps jumping between 0 and 150. It's a very fast jump, air pressure feels fine. Im pretty certain its not losing air and the gauge is giving me gaulty readings. I listen outside and no air is being lost. I got it to reset itself for a bit by unplugging my hwh controller panel but this does not seem to always work. Anyone have the same issue? How did you fix / troubleshoot? Thanks.

FIRE UP · 05-05-2013, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stardalo

Hi- The front air dash gauge on my 2003 winnebago journey dl on a freightliner chassis keeps jumping between 0 and 150. It's a very fast jump, air pressure feels fine. Im pretty certain its not losing air and the gauge is giving me gaulty readings. I listen outside and no air is being lost. I got it to reset itself for a bit by unplugging my hwh controller panel but this does not seem to always work. Anyone have the same issue? How did you fix / troubleshoot? Thanks.

Well Sir,
A couple of things here. First, I'm perplexed as to why you'd think HWH has anything to do with the air gauges in the first place?? Second, when you say that disconnecting the controller for the HWH panel "resets" it, what exactly do you mean, does it go to around 150 and stay there, if so, for how long? Hmmmm.

Now, third, I'm not sure when the main gauge controller went from what's called the "VDC" to what's called the "MMDC" but, as I understand it and, have read about quite a few times on here, the VDC units had some "problem" solder joints on the inside where the air lines were introduced to the printed circuit boards. Some have had success at re-soldering them. Some didn't. Maybe, it might be possible that your VDC, if you have that model, has a defective front air transducer inside and, it's making contact every now and then, causing the gauge to go from 0-150. Just a thought here. Good luck and post what you find please so others may learn.
Scott

Skip426 · 05-05-2013, 10:31 PM

Many posts on similar problems, including do it your self repairs on poor soldering, internal in the VIM, VDC, MMDC , or what ever they're calling it this week. What the module does is collect info from all the chassis and engine systems and broadcasts it to the dash.
Fred Cooper has posted the Freightliner , service bulletin that relates to tests for the system, and others have detailed the repairs. I'll try and track them down.The posts are in the Freightliner Forums.BRB.

Skip426 · 05-05-2013, 10:37 PM

Look in the Freightliner Forums
For " Freightliner vdc repair instructions one page 1 " and one of those post has the instructions for a download , post #6 ,I think will tell you where to find them .
I found, The Freightliner Bulletin it only covers to June of 2002 production, so may not apply. I have the PDF file in an old computer.Still trying to find it in the forums.
If checking the VDC repair info doesn't work. Try the FREE Freightliner help line. Have your serial number handy. 1-800-FTL-HELP.

stardalo · 06-06-2013, 08:32 PM

OK. Thank you all for the suggestions. Reason why I thought maybe the HWH Panel had something to do with the issue and restetting it may work is because that is what the CoachNet tech guy on the phone told me to do. And it seemed to work because problem disappeared for the rest of the 6 hours of the ride to Disney. However, it started going nuts again on way home. And it drove me insane with that buzzer (ended up disconnecting). Anyways, I pulled the VDC out as soon as I got home and re-soldered it with a pencil solder gun. Took it out for a hour drive, hit bumps, played with braked while stopped to drain down air and problem did not re-occur. So, knock on wood, I think I fixed it. My suggestions, (that are not in the amazing instructions already) to those that attempt this are:

1.) Spray wd-40 on compression fitting ring holding air hoses to vdc
2.) Work on it in a well lit area with magnifying glasses. The solder joints are tiny
3.) reseal it with thin butyl tape

FIRE UP · 06-06-2013, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stardalo

OK. Thank you all for the suggestions. Reason why I thought maybe the HWH Panel had something to do with the issue and restetting it may work is because that is what the CoachNet tech guy on the phone told me to do. And it seemed to work because problem disappeared for the rest of the 6 hours of the ride to Disney. However, it started going nuts again on way home. And it drove me insane with that buzzer (ended up disconnecting). Anyways, I pulled the VDC out as soon as I got home and re-soldered it with a pencil solder gun. Took it out for a hour drive, hit bumps, played with braked while stopped to drain down air and problem did not re-occur. So, knock on wood, I think I fixed it. My suggestions, (that are not in the amazing instructions already) to those that attempt this are:

1.) Spray wd-40 on compression fitting ring holding air hoses to vdc
2.) Work on it in a well lit area with magnifying glasses. The solder joints are tiny
3.) reseal it with thin butyl tape

Well Sir,
Hopefully you've got it fixed. Those solder joints have caused many folks grief. It's amazing that there were so many with bad soldering joints. But, it happens. So, again, good job and hopefully you'll have problem free driving from this point on, at least as far as that unit is concerned.
Scott

bachler · 06-17-2013, 03:47 PM

This was a common problem , It is a box that is about 6"X6" with a lot of wires pluged into it with air lines. BAD newsThat needs to be resoldered, Good NEWS It is not a danger to drive it that way;; Good luck. I had mine Resoldered Then my camera quit working. I had to wire/jumper it. Now everything is good. I think It is the VCU. box $250.00 to $550.00 Plus Instulation. about $350.00

stardalo · 06-17-2013, 07:32 PM

So I got in my RV and drove 10 hours from NY to Outer Banks, NC. No problem, the front air gauge and low air warning light were totally normal. I get to the campground, drop my air and level. Leave a week later / today for the journey home, it starts acting up again. I stop for gas half way through my journey, when i start back up, problem gone again for the rest of the 5 hours home. Can this be related to something other than the VDC? Should I just replace vdc unit or is something else possibly going on?

Skip426 · 06-18-2013, 10:45 PM

At the top of the page, to the right of " User CP " open the drop box " Files " then open the " Electrical " section and download the VDU/VDC Repair PDF.
If there is a similar control box in your coach , pulling it out and repairing the solder connections is not at all difficult and preferable to the $$$ of replacement.

stardalo · 06-19-2013, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skip426

At the top of the page, to the right of " User CP " open the drop box " Files " then open the " Electrical " section and download the VDU/VDC Repair PDF.
If there is a similar control box in your coach , pulling it out and repairing the solder connections is not at all difficult and preferable to the $$$ of replacement.

Thanks but I guess you did not read post #6, where I explained how I removed the vdu and re-soldered.

Anyone else have any ideas here?

Skip426 · 06-19-2013, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stardalo

Thanks but I guess you did not read post #6, where I explained how I removed the vdu and re-soldered.

Anyone else have any ideas here?

Sorry

. Do wet roads factor in , to when the system acts up ?

cuemaker · 09-30-2013, 05:26 AM

I took the Buzzer off the rear air alarm and let it go on my 2003 journey.. Went under the bed took out the control board and checked for poor solder.. after not finding any I just put it back and let it go... 2 years ago.