Kwikie Steps: Will Not Stay Extended

[dkoldman]

I have heard of others stating a long wait to get the shops as well. The dealer actually said I could have brought it in today. But the Service Manager I work with is not back until Monday. Also, I have even more time to confirm what I already know that my OEM line was looking voltage, now with the fresh 12.6vdc supply it is working like a champ.

The dealer says they expect to get to it no later than 2 - 3 days from when I bring it in. They also say the boom they had been seeing appears to be over as the sales are drawing and they have fewer repairs for honeymooners.

I don't know if they do under warranty or now, this issues has been erratic since I bought new, but it has progressively got worse where I had to do something. It was not the motor, not the ground, not the switch, nor the 6 amp breaker Wire from breaker to switch is all that is left.

[Morich]

Sometimes we CAN get lucky. Maybe you just had to sweat over it long enough to get some better luck going!

[dkoldman]

This issue has been random now for 2 years

When I finally got into a Winnebago Dealer they had it for a few months only to say they could NOT find the problem as the kwikee steps worked okay for them (so they say) So I had to pay $125 Diagnostic fee this time, whereas before they claimed to have looked at but never could see anything wrong.; So I left knowing I still had the problem. But of course Dealer say if I wished to bring it back they will check again but charge me to check it.

So I go to a none Winnebago Repair / Service shop who stated they would replace the ER wire from the Buss to the switch as that is where I was guessing the random short may have been. But that Dealer is 2 hrs away; so I thought I would give it one more crack given that I know my workaround wired direct from the battery to the Kwikee step switch works 100% of the time. So I get long wire and wired direct from the battery to the beginning of the ER wire direct at the 6 amps breaker on the other side of the coach. I let it sit overnight and problem still occurred (this was actually good news, because I was able to rule out the power source as a factor. So knowing there was break somewhere; I followed the ER wire inch by inch and found a large connector that the ER plugged into. There was 12.79vdc going in and 0vdc coming out I pulled the connector apart and saw the female pin recessed; so the connection was not good. The male pin also recessed easily as it seems to push the female pin back out of the connector a tad. I was able to force both pins back in and manually hold both while I tried to plug it back in and when it did plug... Presto the Kwikie step immediately extended working


I need to give it several days with steps extended to confirm they do not randomly retract. Even though it is working now; you can see where the wire is pushed back a little. I had made a mark with ink before plugging in to see how much it may push back. See the circled line.

Not sure what to do now. I reported this issue to Winnebago Ind 2 years ago. They always said I had to take to a Dealer. It has been looked at several times by a Winnebago dealer and they never could find the problem. They charged me last time; I now believe to make me go away. The issue all along has been a defective connection in that connector.

What would you do?

[Adven2011w24]

Thanks for posting the root cause. That makes the whole thread worth a gold star in troubleshooting and never giving up!