Kwikee Steps Won't Extend

[Rangerman375]

Currently on the road and the Kwikee Steps on my 2006 Damon will not extend. Everything was working fine on the entire trip. Stopped for fuel and steps extended and retracted just fine. Arrived at campground and steps will not extend.

The amber light under the coach by the step lights up when the door opens so I think that tells me the door switch/wiring is ok, right? Checked the magnet on the screen door and the switch on the door jamb and they seem to be lined up.

Crawled under the coach and tapped on the motor (being careful not to be near the steps) but that doesn't do anything.

Unscrewed the green ground wire from the frame and cleaned it with sandpaper and reattached.

Anything else that i can try to extend the steps until I can get the motorhome where it can be serviced?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[MrWizard]

They all run both directions, window up, window down , step out. Step in,
If its trying yo go the wrong direction , just swap the motor leads,
I haven't studied car window motors enough to know if there is a difference in attached gear boxes , from left and right side doors , so only one side is angled correctly for the steps

[Ray_IN]

Kwikee Products Service Training Manual Contains everything you need to know about your steps.

[willald]

Gjac wrote:
Kwikee has a nice troubleshooting guide on their web site, once you perform the simple steps you will know if it is a door magnet, a motor or the control board. Mine was a control board issue, mine are 28 years old and motor is still good. Straightened bent linkages, reglued magnet, and cleaned grounds over the years to keep them in working.

You've had much better luck with step motors than I have.

My last coach, a 2012 Georgetown, I owned 9 years. During that 9 years, the step motor quit and I replaced it, twice.

My current coach, a 2021 Newmar (see signature), at just 2 years old, the step motor just went out, replaced it the other day.

Now, I carry a spare motor with me for the steps. Of course, now that I have a spare motor for the steps, it'll be something else that breaks next time, haha.

[Gjac]

Kwikee has a nice troubleshooting guide on their web site, once you perform the simple steps you will know if it is a door magnet, a motor or the control board. Mine was a control board issue, mine are 28 years old and motor is still good. Straightened bent linkages, reglued magnet, and cleaned grounds over the years to keep them in working.

[ferndaleflyer]

Drivers side runs backwards I think. They used the passenger side

[Yankee_Clipper]

At the risk of sounding argumentative, I lube my Kwikee step joints with CRC Power Lube w/PTFE. I also use this lube on my slide my slide gears.
BTW - I used a '96 Taurus driver side power window motor on my 97 Coachmen, resulting in the new motor chewing the stuck gears into pot metal rubble.
HTH,
Jack

[RLS7201]

Between the motor and the controller is a plug in connector. It is exposed to road crud. Clean the connector. Cheap try.

Richard

[ferndaleflyer]

80s Bronco, F-150 truck passenger door window motor was what I got to replace mine. About $40 at autozone and pretty easy to fix, maybe 30 min

[Johnny_G1]

Blaster Man wrote:
Be sure the steps are well lubricated. My manual says to lube them every month.

All lube does is gather dust and dirt, never lubed mine in 22 yrs and they still work and are nice and clean, Just my thought's.

[Blaster_Man]

Be sure the steps are well lubricated. My manual says to lube them every month.

[dougrainer]

RUN THE ENGINE. Then have someone open and close the door while banging on the motor. IF bad motor it will eventually operate, but replace it. It will fail again. Running the motor gets an extra volt or 2 to help pop the motor armature to make contact. Doug

[bob_nestor]

Two fairly common causes of the Kwikee steps not extending or retracting. One, it could be the magnetic sensor in the door frame not sensing the door is open or closed. This usually causes the steps to not retract. Testing for this is simple - take a strong magnet and bring it in close proximity with the sensor in the door frame. If the steps retract then this is most likely the issue and either replacing the sensor, the magnet in the door or adjusting the sensor placement solves the problem. (If the gap between the door magnet and the sensor is to large the sensor won't detect door closed. This can happen as the door gets a bit mis-aligned due to vehicle vibration, etc. My fix is to just place a garden hose washer behind the sensor so it protrudes a bit more.)

Second, for the steps no extending. The motor used in the steps can develop a flat spot on the armature from vehicle vibration while traveling down the road. In this case the motor needs to be replaced. One simple test of this is to rap on the step motor a bit to see if it "wakes up" and the steps extend. BE CAREFUL DOING THIS! Watch where to put your arms, hands and fingers while doing this as you can loose body parts if they're in the wrong place when the steps decide to work.

[RambleOnNW]

We had that happen on our 2006 a number of years ago. Kwikee steps worked until they didn’t. Picked up a folding chair at Walmart and used that for the rest of the trip as a ‘step’.

The key to getting the steps working was unbolting the motor and verifying the motor would turn both ways when opening/closing door, which it did. Putting the motor back in and the steps started working again. Must have been jammed. The controller limits the max current the motor can draw so if steps are jammed nothing will move. Sprayed a lot of Kwikee Kwiklube on all the joints.