[David and Teresa]

Hello all. I had a company come out and change the rear air bags on my 1999 today. I ordered the bags from Newell. Once done, I cranked the coach, hit the HWH and nothing. The travel light turned green but couldn't raise the coach. When you look underneath, you can see the bags aren't inflated. I suspect the six-pack, but I don't know. It's dark, so we left the coach with jacks so it doesn't bottom out. Any ideas?

[encantotom]

a few more questions....

does the front come up in either travel or level mode?

does the rear do anything in level mode? if they are flat, and you hit rear raise, you should see the dash air supply pressure drop quickly.

are the rear travel solenoids energizing? do the washer or screwdriver trick and see if they are magnitized.

are the rear level solenoids energizing?

you would not build air pressure if they didnt hook up the airlines to the bags.

the only thing common to all the rear bags are the travel solenoids.

tom

[bikestuff]

What Tom said...and

What does the air gauge in the engine compartment say?

Remember that the bags have a very small inlet, so it will take quite a while to fill them with air.

[David and Teresa]

Looked again this morning. I watched them all day and all the lines are hooked up. Checked the HWH fuses: good. The only thing the HWH control pad does is go into green - but the front bags don't level (rear either as far as I can tell). Screwdriver test shows the travel solenoids working. Air pressure in the engine compartment is about 115 - confirmed on the dash. The pressure only lost a few pounds in 12 hours) When I hit the raise button nothing happens (on the controller or at the solenoids).

I'm wondering if the HWH needs a re-boot? Is there a re-boot pattern?

[Richard]

Let’s not jump to HWH problems suddenly occurring when the air bags were changed just yet.

You said the coach was on jack stands. Is that still true? If so, what is the difference between the bottom of the fender wells and the ground? The point being that the coach may already be above the normal ride height. I am not trying to be insulting, just not there to do a quick visual check.

You said the travel solenoids were energized. You also said you have air pressure. It’s pretty simple, the only device between the air bags and the travel solenoid is the height control valve. Can you check to see if both of the rear ones may have been inadvertently disconnect at either the arm or the axle connection. Just shimmy between the tag and the drive wheels to get the best look.

As far as the HWH getting confused. Try pressing the emergency off button in the lower left corner. Now will it go into Level mode?

Are you idling the engine while trying to air up, or just doing checks with the key on engine off?

Call me 817 223 2056 if you like.

[David and Teresa]

Richard - The jack stands at the rear are at travel height. The front is below trade height. Height control valves are ok. I'm doing al this with the engine in fast idle. The HWH control doesn't react like it should. I'm still wondering about the link between the box and the display.

I haven't any more time to work on this for now. Next Saturday I'll hit it again.

I would like to call you when I'm at it again next week. Thanks.

[Richard]

The next thing I would try is very simple, but will tell you if the HWH is working or not in travel mode. You said the travel solenoids are magnetized, so the following is a simple sanity check.

Crawl between the tag and the drive tire, find the connection point on top of the rear axle where the control rod from the HCV attaches. Put a little grease on the nub of that connection. Now slide the control arm off. With the key on, engine off, push the control rod up. Air should flow into the air bag from the air supply. Pull the control arm down, air should escape from the HCV. This test will tell you if the travel system is functioning properly.

If the problem is that the HWH system will not go into Level Mode when you push the level button, then there is a very good trouble shooting sequence to perform. Look for trouble shooting manual for 600 or 680 series air leveling on the HWH site. I would just link it here, but I am not smart enough to use this iPad.

I am assuming the E brake is set. It wouldn’t hurt to pop it in and out a time or two. If the HWH isn’t getting a signal that the E brake is on, it will NOT go into Level mode.

[David and Teresa]

Richard,

Well I had time to look at this again this morning. The coach is level at ride height, airbags inflated, holds pressure for a long time and the pump comes on at 80psi, all normal.

I checked all fuses - OK. Then, I'm at the control panel (driver side, probably just like your coach 512). Checked all fuses - OK. Started tracing all the wires and then I found something. It looks like a rodent had built a nest in the front where the control cable heads to the control panel. I saw the control cable had been chewed, not all the way, but enough to show the brown, outside wire and possibly those next to it. Bare wire. It looks like I can get a replacement from HWH - at least I ordered the tagged number. Since my coach is outside, I have traps in all the compartments. It seems like the port of entry most used is the cable trough that runs from the engine compartment all the way to the front. However, I did'nt trap that front compartment. Now that I look closely, there are ways they could come in directly, which I'm going to deal with.

Anyway, I'll report after the new cable is in.

David

[Richard]

Good detective work.

I found colored zip ties to be a great tool when dealing with the HWH control panel because of the multitude of connections. Using two zips of different color combos gives a lot of different color schemes.

[David and Teresa]

I received a new cable from HWH and that was that issue. Coach raises, etc. Now, after a while, the coach settles very low in the back. This happens either when leveled or left in travel mode. Air pressure stays between 80 and 85lbs, so not leaking. If you replace rear air bags do you have to re-adjust the height valves between the drive and tag axle?