The entry steps on my motorhome have suddenly froze up..... they won't come out or attempt to move one way or the other..... they are very solidly in the "in" position. I get the feeling they are for some reason "just locked up". Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can get a "schematic" on these steps? It seems most of these steps operate about the same.Any help will be appreciated.

First thing to do is to lube everything. A lot of time the unit will fail if if detects too much resistance. When you open and close the door do you hear anything clicking or trying to move?

wildtoad wrote:First thing to do is to lube everything. A lot of time the unit will fail if if detects too much resistance. When you open and close the door do you hear anything clicking or trying to move?x2. Use compressed air and whatever it takes to clean all the joints. Then lube well. Use penetrating oil, not WD-40.If it turns out to be an electrical problem, you'll have the cleaning and lubing done.Please, let us know the problem when you get the steps working.

Battery voltage proper? Our's would do this in the winter when needing charging.

Check your magnet switch..it could be that the magnet switch is not releasing thus not telling it to release for the steps to go out..one in the door and one in the frame.

becker, There's a number of issues that plague those steps. As has been stated, a periodic lubing of all the pivot points is warranted to keep things moving as nicely as possible. Another problem of course is the small motor. They have lots of issues. They can freeze up due to corrosion (although it doesn't happen all that often) The brushes can get corroded over and will not have good contact with the commutator ring. The gear box is also known to cause problems. If the gears in there are worn to a point that a tooth breaks off, it can lodge in between the drive gear and, the driven gear. The link-arm can get seized up in its pivot points too. The connections to the motor, although are fairly sealed up, can on rare occasion, also get corroded. All of these various issues have caused problems to many folks. If I had to guess, I'd bet right now that your issue is not caused by the pivot points locking up. While it does make things work more smoothly when lubed, to completely lock up a set of steps because of non-lubing for a length of time, is not very likely. The problem with your situation is, the steps are in the retracted position and, that makes for hard to get to components to be analyzed for correct working operations. There is either a bent or, straight "link arm" that connects the motor to the gear box in your steps. What you need to do is, do the best you can to disconnect that link arm, while the steps are in that retracted position. Once that's disconnected, the steps will fall, due to gravity. Be prepared for that. But, once they're free from the connection to the motor and gear box, you can pivot them out of the way, so that you can start your analyzing of other components. And, while you're at it, and, they're disconnected from that link arm, you can see just how free they move or, don't move. Good luck and please report back to what you find. Good luck.Scott

Motorhome Entry Steps | Good Sam Community

24 Replies

bullydogs1
Explorer
Jul 10, 2015
Check your magnet switch..it could be that the magnet switch is not releasing thus not telling it to release for the steps to go out..one in the door and one in the frame.
et2
Explorer
Jul 10, 2015
Battery voltage proper? Our's would do this in the winter when needing charging.
gbopp
Explorer
Jul 10, 2015
wildtoad wrote:
First thing to do is to lube everything. A lot of time the unit will fail if if detects too much resistance. When you open and close the door do you hear anything clicking or trying to move?

x2. Use compressed air and whatever it takes to clean all the joints. Then lube well. Use penetrating oil, not WD-40.
If it turns out to be an electrical problem, you'll have the cleaning and lubing done.
Please, let us know the problem when you get the steps working.
wildtoad
Explorer II
Jul 09, 2015
First thing to do is to lube everything. A lot of time the unit will fail if if detects too much resistance. When you open and close the door do you hear anything clicking or trying to move?

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Motorhome Entry Steps

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