05-15-2015, 10:25 AM
today i changed the front room extend solenoid. in talking to hwh here is a few tidbits.
from what they said, they believe because of the size of our salon drivers side slides, that there are two rams in the slide. one on each end. so.....there are 3 things that can cause slide creep out. the extend solenoid, a leaky ram itself, and the check valves. the manifold on my coach only has one check valve for everything, so since nothing else was creeping, it is not the check valve.
supposedly, if the slide is creeping out at BOTH ends, then it is likely not a ram, because the chances of both rams being leaky at the same time are very small. mine was creeping at both ends....although a little more at the front than the rear. but not much more. so....i feel pretty confident it is the extend solenoid.
let me share my experience. start with the slide in.
1. first of all, it is possible for the slide to move out just a little bit....when you release the pressure on the extend solenoid. so i let the air pressure out of the slide seal so if it did go out some it wouldnt roll the slide seal out. in my case, the slide did not move. so, i left the ignition key on, the engine off and the key for the slide in the on position. any other combination seemed to inflate the slide seal.
2. to get at the front drivers side extend solenoid, it is the 3rd one from the front of the manifold on the left hand side. i have the small solenoids (RAP 90729) that have the pressure release 1/4" nut on them. some have a small T handle that does the same thing. the end of the solenoid has two holes a bout a half inch deep in it that allows for a special tool that hwh sells to put in the end to rotate the solenoid out so you dont have to take any others out to get at it with a water pump pliers. i have a pretty extensive snap ring pliers kit and found one that would fit in the holes. more on that later.
3. next you have to release the pressure on the solenoid. it is normally closed. hwh is very specific. put a 1/4" nut driver on it and turn it 4 1/2 turns counter clockwise. sometime during backing it out you should hear a firm hiss as the pressure is released. that is good. no hiss is more work.
4. using my snap ring pliers, i could not break the solenoid loose. so i had to take the first 2 out to get at it with a channel locks. so i released the pressure on all 3 valves. the first valve on mine is the front room locking pin down one, the second is the floor up. the extend and floor up valves released the pressure when i backed the nut off. the lock pin one did not. so....remember there is a lot of pressure in hydraulics. so, i put a small pan under neath it and back the valve out slowly using the channel locks. just a bit....fluid started coming out in a steady stream i let it come out until it stopped. probably about a cup of fluid. then i took it out the rest of the way. be patient. if you back it all the way out while it is still streaming...the pressure will shoot the valve off the manifold and spray you with fluid. no fun. btw, the second valve i was able to loosen with my snap ring pliers.
make sure you mark or have markings on the wires for each one. i would also suggest putting the solenoids back in where they came out.
the o rings are really funky on these things. there are round and flat ones.
5. now i have all three out, i put in the replacement solenoid first. being careful to not have one of the o rings get in the way. you can see that with a flashlight as you are gently putting them in. they are snug so i had to gently use the channel locks to get them in and then just snug once they hit the end. be sure to tighten the pressure release nuts back up just lightly snug.
6. do that for all you have taken out, then put the plugs back on (in the right order)
7. wipe it all up and give it a go. i had darlene checking for leaks while i ran the slide in and out. no leaks. and the slide pins went down.
so now the real test will be if it still creeps out. this last time it did in about a week.
the whole thing took me about 90 minutes with a real slow pace.
tom
from what they said, they believe because of the size of our salon drivers side slides, that there are two rams in the slide. one on each end. so.....there are 3 things that can cause slide creep out. the extend solenoid, a leaky ram itself, and the check valves. the manifold on my coach only has one check valve for everything, so since nothing else was creeping, it is not the check valve.
supposedly, if the slide is creeping out at BOTH ends, then it is likely not a ram, because the chances of both rams being leaky at the same time are very small. mine was creeping at both ends....although a little more at the front than the rear. but not much more. so....i feel pretty confident it is the extend solenoid.
let me share my experience. start with the slide in.
1. first of all, it is possible for the slide to move out just a little bit....when you release the pressure on the extend solenoid. so i let the air pressure out of the slide seal so if it did go out some it wouldnt roll the slide seal out. in my case, the slide did not move. so, i left the ignition key on, the engine off and the key for the slide in the on position. any other combination seemed to inflate the slide seal.
2. to get at the front drivers side extend solenoid, it is the 3rd one from the front of the manifold on the left hand side. i have the small solenoids (RAP 90729) that have the pressure release 1/4" nut on them. some have a small T handle that does the same thing. the end of the solenoid has two holes a bout a half inch deep in it that allows for a special tool that hwh sells to put in the end to rotate the solenoid out so you dont have to take any others out to get at it with a water pump pliers. i have a pretty extensive snap ring pliers kit and found one that would fit in the holes. more on that later.
3. next you have to release the pressure on the solenoid. it is normally closed. hwh is very specific. put a 1/4" nut driver on it and turn it 4 1/2 turns counter clockwise. sometime during backing it out you should hear a firm hiss as the pressure is released. that is good. no hiss is more work.
4. using my snap ring pliers, i could not break the solenoid loose. so i had to take the first 2 out to get at it with a channel locks. so i released the pressure on all 3 valves. the first valve on mine is the front room locking pin down one, the second is the floor up. the extend and floor up valves released the pressure when i backed the nut off. the lock pin one did not. so....remember there is a lot of pressure in hydraulics. so, i put a small pan under neath it and back the valve out slowly using the channel locks. just a bit....fluid started coming out in a steady stream i let it come out until it stopped. probably about a cup of fluid. then i took it out the rest of the way. be patient. if you back it all the way out while it is still streaming...the pressure will shoot the valve off the manifold and spray you with fluid. no fun. btw, the second valve i was able to loosen with my snap ring pliers.
make sure you mark or have markings on the wires for each one. i would also suggest putting the solenoids back in where they came out.
the o rings are really funky on these things. there are round and flat ones.
5. now i have all three out, i put in the replacement solenoid first. being careful to not have one of the o rings get in the way. you can see that with a flashlight as you are gently putting them in. they are snug so i had to gently use the channel locks to get them in and then just snug once they hit the end. be sure to tighten the pressure release nuts back up just lightly snug.
6. do that for all you have taken out, then put the plugs back on (in the right order)
7. wipe it all up and give it a go. i had darlene checking for leaks while i ran the slide in and out. no leaks. and the slide pins went down.
so now the real test will be if it still creeps out. this last time it did in about a week.
the whole thing took me about 90 minutes with a real slow pace.
tom
2002 45'8" Newell Coach 608 Series 60 DDEC4/Allison World 6 Speed HD4000MH