Auto-level help please!!!

sbergherr wrote:
Hey all we have purchased our first 5er after months of waiting to come in from the MFG plant, we took delivery in December. Since day one the electrical system, ie most all outlets in coach did not work, that was finally fixed after 4 weeks and 2 trips back to the dealer. Turns out the outside kitchen refrigerator was bad, replaced and is fixed for now.

Now we have had a few issues with our auto level hydraulic system. This last shakedown overnight weekend trip the trailer began to pop in the front and actually lower itself, very minute increments, but was lowering. We were unable to sleep in the front bedroom due to the sound it made. Had to relevel trailer front/back several times throughout the night. I also noticed when towing back to storage the front landing gears begins to come down on its own. I contacted Lippert about these issues and was not a ton of help.

I have checked fluid levels and don't see any leaks... has anyone been through this issue?

Trailer is 2018 Sandpiper 383RBLOK.
equipped with touchscreen Lippert ground control system.
Can also control with phone, which is awesome and makes hitching a breeze.

There are several, more common, issues with hydraulic systems.

1) Air in the system. Air compresses and can cause "settling". It can also cause the popping noises. Fully extending/retracting all cylinders multiple times usually fixes this.

2) Leaking valves. Can be caused by bad/worn valves with voids/cracks in the mating surfaces that allows fluid to pass. Also, "crud" in the system causing the valves not to seat properly.

3) Internal leaks in the cylinders themselves. Can be bad seals or galling/scoring inside the cylinder, allowing fluid to pass. (Personally, I've also seen a cylinder tube that was very slightly =oval= from the factory. Suspicion was that it was crushed in shipping/handling.)

4) As noted, LCI's cr@ppy quality and outright idiotic mistakes.

Whatever you do, take it to the dealer to have them fix the issue under warranty. That way it's documented with the factory, so any future issues can be addressed under the same issue.

Lyle