Ok, on my 2007 Journey, the electric step started to malfunction. It goes in and out with the door opening and closing as it is supposed to. However, if you have the switch in the "stay out" position, it stays out all the time. When you turn the ignition on, it does not retract like it is supposed to.The manual for the step states that the yellow wire in the four wire connector should have 12 volts on it when the ignition is turned on. I disconnected it and measured the voltage at 2 volts. Not good. Well, about 6 inches further up the wires is another, identical 4 wire plug. I pull that one and the yellow wire has 12 volts! Now here is the puzzling part, in the wiring between the two connectors a green wire is spiced into the yellow wire. The green wire goes to a ground bolt. Between the yellow wire and ground there is a resistance of 1.8 Kohms. So it is obviously not a direct connection, but almost like there is a resistor or maybe a diode in the splice. The owners manual does not say anything about this wire. I removed this intermediary piece and connected the two 4 wired connectors together directly, eliminating the green wire. The step functions perfectly.Below are two pictures of the extension piece, and then one of the plugs with the extension removed.So what is the function of the green wire?thanks, jeff

1.8K ohms could be the coil of a small relay, especially if it's diode protected.

ScottG wrote:1.8K ohms could be the coil of a small relay, especially if it's diode protected. Scott, the 1.8 kohm is just measured from the yellow wire at the plug to the end of the great wire. No relay in there. I'm just worried that I've bypassed some necessary protection?Jeff

Mine is tied to the door switch. If the door is OPEN the steps will stay out, but if the door is CLOSED and I turn on the ignition switch they will retract. This is regardless of the position of the lock open switch.....Assuming yours was the same, it sounds like someone wired around this for whatever reason.....Dennis

Executive wrote:Mine is tied to the door switch. If the door is OPEN the steps will stay out, but if the door is CLOSED and I turn on the ignition switch they will retract. This is regardless of the position of the lock open switch.....Assuming yours was the same, it sounds like someone wired around this for whatever reason.....DennisDennis,THat is what is puzzling....it was working as it should, but then stopped retracting when the ignition was turned on.Something has failed.jeff

Spizzer wrote:Executive wrote:Mine is tied to the door switch. If the door is OPEN the steps will stay out, but if the door is CLOSED and I turn on the ignition switch they will retract. This is regardless of the position of the lock open switch.....Assuming yours was the same, it sounds like someone wired around this for whatever reason.....DennisDennis,THat is what is puzzling....it was working as it should, but then stopped retracting when the ignition was turned on.Something has failed.jeffJeff,Is your door closed and the steps stay out with the ignition on?

A real puzzler....electric step issue | Good Sam Community

ScottG
Nomad
Aug 04, 2014
1.8K ohms could be the coil of a small relay, especially if it's diode protected.
Spizzer
Explorer
Aug 04, 2014
ScottG wrote:
1.8K ohms could be the coil of a small relay, especially if it's diode protected.

Scott, the 1.8 kohm is just measured from the yellow wire at the plug to the end of the great wire. No relay in there. I'm just worried that I've bypassed some necessary protection?

Jeff
Executive45
Explorer III
Aug 04, 2014
Mine is tied to the door switch. If the door is OPEN the steps will stay out, but if the door is CLOSED and I turn on the ignition switch they will retract. This is regardless of the position of the lock open switch.....Assuming yours was the same, it sounds like someone wired around this for whatever reason.....Dennis
Spizzer
Explorer
Aug 05, 2014
Executive wrote:
Mine is tied to the door switch. If the door is OPEN the steps will stay out, but if the door is CLOSED and I turn on the ignition switch they will retract. This is regardless of the position of the lock open switch.....Assuming yours was the same, it sounds like someone wired around this for whatever reason.....Dennis

Dennis,

THat is what is puzzling....it was working as it should, but then stopped retracting when the ignition was turned on.

Something has failed.

jeff
gsf35099
Explorer
Aug 05, 2014
Spizzer wrote:
Executive wrote:
Mine is tied to the door switch. If the door is OPEN the steps will stay out, but if the door is CLOSED and I turn on the ignition switch they will retract. This is regardless of the position of the lock open switch.....Assuming yours was the same, it sounds like someone wired around this for whatever reason.....Dennis

Dennis,

THat is what is puzzling....it was working as it should, but then stopped retracting when the ignition was turned on.

Something has failed.

jeff

Jeff,
Is your door closed and the steps stay out with the ignition on?
teddyu
Explorer
Aug 05, 2014
Spizzer,

At www.kwikee.com you can get a .pdf of the manual for your steps. In the troubleshooting section it describes how to test the ignition override functions. Assuming everything was working right until now, something may have gone bad with the control module OR the signal was lost from the ignition. JM2¢...
Effy
Explorer II
Aug 05, 2014
Check your ground. Mine had a similar issue and found that they ground it on the frame of the stair box. Not much there. I found a good place on the chassis frame and never had an issue since.
Clay_L
Explorer
Aug 05, 2014
On many Winnebago's (mine for instance)there was an unused wire. It could be connected so as to turn the step light (under the steps) on when the porch light was turned on but Winnebago didn't connect it on some models. I wonder if that is what the wire was intended for and someone tried to use it?
Spizzer
Explorer
Aug 06, 2014
gsf35099 wrote:

Jeff,
Is your door closed and the steps stay out with the ignition on?

That is correct. It used to come in when the ignition was turned on, but something happened and it stopped doing that. In trouble shooting, I found that that unknown green wire was causing the voltage on the "ignition on" green wire to drop from 12 volts to 2 volts. I removed line and now it works perfectly. HOwever, I don't know what the purpose of that green wire is.

Thanks,
jeff
Spizzer
Explorer
Aug 06, 2014
Effy wrote:
Check your ground. Mine had a similar issue and found that they ground it on the frame of the stair box. Not much there. I found a good place on the chassis frame and never had an issue since.

Thanks, Effy. I will take a look at that and see if that could be the problem.

jeff