Atwood Levelers Sticking

Well, got tired of crawling under to spin the motor every time the control locked up. This is what I found and how I fixed it! Removing the jack on my Fleetwood Flair was pretty straight forward. Just unplug it and remove the 4 1/2" bolts (3/4 socket with short extension). I ran the jack down until it was just a hair off the ground before I started to "land" it. This let me unbolt it and rock it back and forth to relieve any binding on the bolts as I removed them. Once the bolts were out, I was able to lay it down and drag it out from under the rig. There are 2 screws holding a plastic cover on the top...these don't need to be removed. The motor also has a plastic cover with two Torx screws securing it. You will need to remove the split corrugated wire loom cover from the motor wires as it will get in the way of pulling the cover off the motor and it's wires. Once you have the cover off, use some fine sandpaper to clean the motor shaft above the manual adjustment nut. You need to do this as when you work on the motor, you will be pulling the armature up and that part of the shaft will move up into the lower bearing. Best to minimize the dirt dragged into it. Next, with a marker or scribe, mark the two end caps and the main motor housing so you will get them back together in the same position. They do not have any locating pins so this is necessary as the relationship of brush position and motor field magnets must be retained. Also makes it easier to get the motor bolts back in proper position. Then you can slide the bottom motor cap and the motor body off together. The top cap is fastened to the gearcase and doesn't need to come off. Be careful not to lose the multiple washers that usually stick to the underside of the top cap. I padded the jaws of my vicegrips with tape and gently clamped it on the motor shaft between the bottom cap and the manual nut. This will let you pull the motor body off the armature without the armature trying to come with it. The magnets are pretty strong! The inside of my motor was pristine. I've seen some that have failed because the inside of the motor rusted and the field magnets came loose. Motor's junk if that's happened to yours. I could see the commutator on my motor was covered with black crud.. A combination of 10 years of brush dust and oil that had migrated up from the lower bearing. You can now take the vicegrip off and pull the armature up. I used a paper towel and alcohol to clean the commutator and also used a razor knife blade to CAREFULLY clean the gunk out from between the commutator segments. I then used some 600 sandpaper to polish the commutator. You can't get it too clean. CAREFULLY lift the springs from the brushes just enough to hook them over the back of the brush holder. You don't want to go reefing on them and bend them or pull them back so far you ruin their tension. Then you can pull the brushes out and clean them. Once all is clean, use a toothpick to put ONE drop of 20 wt motor oil on the motor shaft below the commutator and lower it back in place. Reinstall the brushes and springs. Put the vicegrip back on to hold the armature down and put the motor body back on. Put a drop of oil on the top bearing area of the shaft and slide the motor back on the gearcase, line up your marks and put the motor bolts back in. I found I had to tweak the cap and body back and forth a few times before the motor shaft was as free as when I started after it was tightened back up. Replaced the motor cover and wire loom and bolted the jack back on and so far, so good!