2018 Thor A.C.E. side entry step problem

[Warhorse]

Well guys, I'm a thousand miles from home, and getting ready to leave this camp ground in the morning. It has been raining steady here in east Alabama for three days straight. Last night I started hearing a strange noise that would come and go, thought maybe the guy next door was working on his rig, but never could see anyone there. Turned out the noise was my electric side entry step, what it was trying to do all on its own I do not know.

Anyways today I find out my entry step is not working... period, I can not get it to retract back up under, it will do nothing. even if I start up the motor home and retract the levelers. Any ideas on what happened overnight...is there some way for me to manually retract the steps?

[Soldier Girl]

I had a similar issue, but mine was due to the cotter pin rusting out twice in a row from last year's salted winter roads. I had to tie mine up w/bungee cords & turned off the power button for the retractor - next to the door w/all the other switches to keep it from trying to move. Anyway, because the step would suddenly drop, whether I was moving or stationary (depending on when the pin chose to rust thru), the step frame itself developed an almost invisible bend & could no longer retract fully, even after the pin was replaced. It also was a risk for ripping out my undercarriage if it dropped while moving. At 1st, Thor said it was my negligence, but after appealing it twice this past year & showing them the rusted thru pins, Thor reversed itself & now says I can have the steps replaced at their cost (when they manage to get the parts in...). In the meantime, bungee cords hold the whole thing up high enough to keep me from rippjng out the undercarriage of the rig, or so I hope as I'm a fulltimer. Here's hoping Thor doesn't take a year to approve any repair you might need...

[Wrpt58]

Try to disconnect the power system, then tie it up till you get somewhere you can work on it.
I replaced the motor on mine (KwiKee single step). If you can finagle the pin from the step connection, the steps are usually easy to move in and out, unless like SoldierGirl, they have been bent.
Go to lci1.com and look for the service, operation, troubleshooting info if yours is a Kwikee or LCI/Lippert manufacturer.

Hope this helps,

[Wrpt58]

you will have to disconnect the motor system from the mechanical extend/retract connection. Pull the pin

[Warhorse]

I took my A.C.E. to a dealer in Ocala about an hour from my next destination in Clermont FL. 2 1/2 hours later I was on my way with a new motor, control module, and a much lighter wallet!

Arrived at the campground in Clermont area, only to find my LCI levelers not working, and reservoir was empty. Filled up the reservoir with ATF, front levelers would now go down and back up, tried the rear levelers, one went down, the other side did not budge, and in the blink of an eye emptied my
gallon of ATF on the ground. RV service company came out and found where some critter had chewed through my hydraulic line. The hydraulic lines used these days are plastic and non repairable, they have ordered one from Lippert who has to make one to size (). Should be here by Friday they said, till then we are living tilted with just the bedroom slider out.

Come to find out this explains the weird beeping we would occasionally hear on the way here. Just my bad luck I guess, when it rains, it pours!

[Mousemate]

those critters also like propane lines .... check yours when you get a chance....

[Warhorse]

Originally Posted by Mousemate

those critters also like propane lines .... check yours when you get a chance....

Hush yo' mouth!