Slides will not operate with rear switches

dwaynederose · 10-12-2015, 12:22 AM

I have been working to get my slides and jacks to operate consistently on my 2002 Journey. I believe my major issue was a faulty ground to I bought #2 gauge wire at Home Depot and added another ground strap back to the battery box. The jacks work consistently now yet the slides are not good yet. The front slide works all the time with the dash switch yet is intermittent with the mid coach switch. The same for the bedroom slide. I checked the wiring diagram for the under dash control box and discovered my coach does not have a plug for the slides, yet they still operate some of the time. When they are not working, the system acts as if there is no power. Is there a possibility that the slide switches attach to another control box? If so, I cannot find it. Any help with this will be appreciated.

Iron Horse · 10-12-2015, 06:06 AM

For what it's worth department. We have a 2007 Winnebago Journey 36G. We were having trouble with our slides and jacks working intermittently. Mostly the bedroom slide. Under the entrance steps is the hydraulic motor which controls the system. There are ground straps connected to the frame just behind the front bumper. They are connected to the frame on a stud welded to the frame. I took all cables off and cleaned everything with a wire brush and then tighened them back and sprayed them with battery protector. I did the same with the ground straps attached to the frame back in the battery compartment. Everything has worked great since. Hope this helps.
Iron Horse

dwaynederose · 10-12-2015, 05:40 PM

Thanks for the reply. As you have done, I have cleaned all the connection points I could find. My motor and related hardware is under the front slide so it is fairly easy to get to. My dilemma is related to the other switch for the front slide and the bedroom slide. They work intermittently while the dash switch for the front slide works great, all the time. I was wondering if someone knew if the connection points for the rear switches could be at a different location. Thanks again for your reply.

TDInewguy · 10-12-2015, 10:20 PM

I've had the same issue - where my front slide works fine with the dash switch, I only have a dash switch for my front (large) slide and a bedroom switch for the bed slide.

All the systems (jacks and slides) operate on the same HWH hydraulic motor/pump and I have traced down the voltage - with the rear slide switch there is only about 8-9 volts that make it to the solenoid at the pump motor. The pump motor is getting the 12v through the solenoid, so it's just not enough power to engage the solenoid. If I have the main engine running and the alternator is putting out enough voltage, then there will be just enough power at the solenoid to engage and keep it running in.

If I push the rear switch and nothing happens, I can have an assistant just tap the dash switch and it will kick over the solenoid to engage it, and the lowered voltage will hold it so the slide will operate.

So long story longer, there is a voltage drop somewhere and I have not found enough of a schematic to lead me to where the real issue is.

The connections at the slide motor and solenoids are good... they have all been wire brushed and sprayed to keep them from corroding.

Somewhere between the physical switch and the solenoid in the power or ground circuit I've got a marginal connection causing the issue.

If anyone else solves the issue I'd love insight... but there is nothing else in the coach that I can tell of that is having the issue with the low voltage.

Iron Horse · 10-14-2015, 06:52 AM

I think I would suspect the switch in the bedroom to be bad. Shouldn't be too hard to remove and test with a voltmeter.
Iron Horse

bonfield · 10-14-2015, 11:19 AM

I have a similar question in that when i operate the front switch i have to touch the jack pad to get the pump on which is not a problem with the front as they are together.The rear switch operates in a similar way but with them being so far apart i have to use two people one to operate slide switch and the other to hit jack pad.2001 adventurer 32v.

dwaynederose · 10-14-2015, 11:45 PM

It sounds like we are all having similar problems. I will do a voltage check at the solenoid and also attempt to trace the wires from the switch to see if I can locate a weak point in the circuit causing the a possible voltage drop. Thanks everyone for your input. I'll report back with my findings.

dwaynederose · 10-14-2015, 11:51 PM

As a note, adding the #2 ground strap helped my problem significantly. Before that, everything was pretty much inoperable. As someone told me, try using jumper cables to first to see if that helps. I tried different chassis and coach grounding points till I found one that helped. Make sure your connection points are clean.

azpete · 10-17-2015, 09:01 AM

dwayne, winnebago uses its own switches. hwh does not supply them.
i carry an extra switch with me all the time. the switches are not very reliable.
i believe thats your problem. not the solenoids.

dwaynederose · 10-26-2015, 03:27 PM

I went out last weekend and all slides and jacks worked great. I hope the problem is gone. I am still stumped as to where the slide switches connect to the control box or boxes.