HWH Leveling system - pump blow out

[lymanlouis]

Just got our 2004 Itasca 40AD home a couple of weeks ago. While leveling for the first time the HWH system made a weird noise and hydraulic fluid started streaming out of the coach under the front steps. Some investigation has found that a pump seal is blown. That's easy enough: remove, have it rebuilt, and reinstall.

What I'm not clear on is the number of systems involved. In addition to the leveling jacks the slides don't work. That makes sense. What doesn't make sense to me (yet) is that I can't get the suspension to build up air. The coach builds air but the suspension won't rise. Clearly the system is still dumping the air (no bleeding air sounds).

Is there a way to make the suspension build air so I can better get around under the coach to work on it?

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

[skigramp]

I have to hit [store] for my rig to inflate the air bags. I am not sure what happens after I hit the button ... there must be solenoid that is activated somewhere ...

[Stevegd007]

If you have to hit "store" to fill the air bags, an this "store" should be the HWH system, then failure of the jack and slides to move....so "store" would not work...yes! An there you have it...no HWH system...no air bags.

[MaverickBBD]

Have you called Freightliner (1.800.FTLHelp) to see if there is a way to manually get air to the bags? You can manually open the solenoid valve to each bag but don't know if you have air to them.

[royinflorida]

This may be obvious, but are you aware that the top step will pivot up to allow easy access?.

I just had service done on mine and found that the mechanic did not know this and worked completely from under the coach.

[cbeierl]

Originally Posted by royinflorida

This may be obvious, but are you aware that the top step will pivot up to allow easy access?.

I just had service done on mine and found that the mechanic did not know this and worked completely from under the coach.

Actually the top two steps, at least on my 2005 Vectra.

[lymanlouis]

I have one step that flips up and gives pretty good topside access. Good thing because with the suspension dumped it's a tall order to get this big boy under the rig!

I'm away from home for a few days but I suspect that if I hit the "store" button it might seal whatever valve is open and allow the air to build up. Should have thought of that myself but I was buried in the question of "where's all this fluid actually coming from!"

[doorguy]

Ditto cbeier, top two steps also on our Journey

[lymanlouis]

Okay, so back at home and the job is done. First, and obviously , pressing the "Store" button allowed pressure to build in the suspension giving me room to move around under the coach.

I pulled the pump out of the coach. Nice little set up to get it out. Just one bolt forward and three rear allow the mounting plate to come down. Lots of hydraulic lines and a few electrical connections and she was free.

Once I had the entire unit on the bench I saw clearly that an o-ring was out of place between the upper and lower aluminum blocks. Odd that. Then, as I was looking at how the unit was put together, I noticed that of the three threaded rods that hold the whole system together, two were only hand tight. Both of those surrounded the o-ring that was out of place.

Long story short, I replaced the o-ring with a new one and tightened the threaded rods before putting the whole unit back together and reinstalling in the coach. I still have to work through the system to make sure all the lines are working correctly, but the slides came in with no leaks so now the RV is back in the shop. At least now I can work in it out of the rain!

Thanks for the advise. Got away with a $0.26 fix on this one (not including my labor).

[ChallengerRN]

You can't figure labor when you get that much experience !!! Lol

Russell