Lippert Leveling Hydraulic Leak

[Mike in AZ]

I picked up my Challenger from the storage lot this morning and drove to Sam’s Club and gassed it up. Everything seemed fine until I started her up to drive away from the pumps.

The LCI started beeping. It said error, retract timeout, and then said to return it to dealer for service.

I got out and checked, found a puddle of red fluid dripping from under the bay containing the batteries and hydraulic system. After verifying the jacks were up, I drove home.

Inside the compartment, it was dusty (as expected, storage yard in Arizona gets a lot of dust). There is hyspdraulic fluid on the floor of the compartment, and the reservoir appears to be down.

I cleaned up the dirt, it was dry other than on the compartment floor, which had some black grime. No sign of where the leak is coming from.

Any suggestions on troubleshooting the leak? My plan as of now is to start it up and have the wife attempt to lower the jacks while I watch for leaks.

I am planning to go camping this weekend with my son and his family, still hoping to salvage the trip.

[Mike in AZ]

Well, that doesn’t look good. Started it up, nothing happened at first. LCI went through it’s startup check, readout gave the error message again.

I told my wife to hold enter and retract at once for a couple seconds. That’s when the fluid spraying started. It appears to NOT be inside the battery compartment, but in front of it. There are hydraulic lines back in there, behind and just inside of where the left front tire is. I can not see the source, but it’s coming from one of those lines, either the hose itself or a connection.

I think this weekend is cancelled, will just hang around my pool and BBQ.

Mike

[Tearstone]

Sorry to hear about that. The jack system is not overly complicated and you should be able to trace the lines to where the leak is occurring. On my rig, the driver side front jack is pretty close to where the pump is. Perhaps with previous moves, something may have worn a hole in one of the lines.



Just as a FYI, all of the Lipper manuals are available online. It helps visualize and understand the system a bit more. Lippert Support Portal look for "LCI4A3LCD Hydraulic Leveling"

[Mike in AZ]

Thank you Russ, I will check out the manuals!

[Mike in AZ]

I can see there isn’t much interest in this thread, but I will post an update for anyone who cares.

We found the source of the leak. A red hydraulic line that runs, maybe 3 feet from the pump to the front left jack (at least that’s how it looks) has a small tear in it.

The lines hang just over a part of the chassis that has enough of an edge that, as the line rubbed against it, it tore the hole.

A simple zip tie securing those lines to another, vertical piece of the chassis would have prevented that.

I have a mobile RV service coming Thursday, he is experienced in replacing these lines.

Mike

[Tearstone]

Looks like your RV has as cut and is bleeding out. I'm glad you found the issue! Once this is corrected, that is one less you'll have to worry about from here on out.

[BradnKaren]

Thank you for posting! I hadn't seen this previously. We have the same coach. Something to look at on ours. I'm sorry your weekend plans had to be canceled.

[Mike in AZ]

Originally Posted by Tearstone

Looks like your RV has as cut and is bleeding out. I'm glad you found the issue! Once this is corrected, that is one less you'll have to worry about from here on out.

Thanks Russ. Yes, it’s definitely wounded! I considered using that As Seen on TV tape to seal it and go, but only for a second. It has to be under some high pressure to life the coach, so I just gave up and settled in for the weekend.

I plan to ask the repair guy to check the other lines and zip tie them as well, if similar conditions exist.

[Mike in AZ]

Originally Posted by BradnKaren

Thank you for posting! I hadn't seen this previously. We have the same coach. Something to look at on ours. I'm sorry your weekend plans had to be canceled.

Thanks, nice of you to say so. I suggest taking a look when you get the chance. It does require crawling underneath the coach (glad my son came over and helped me with that!). I am not a mechanic or engineer, but it seems apparent that a simple zip tie would have been the proper way to go during install. I am curious if others with the same RV have ties on their lines, maybe (as with some screws and other things) it was just missed on ours.

[RonMonica]

I really appreciate you following up with what you found to be the solution. My lack of response to your first post was due to the fact that I am not mechanically inclined and therefore had no solution to offer you - not because of a lack of interest. Having the same year/model as you, I always follow your posts and am glad you took the time to let us know what you found so that I can now check mine.

[BradnKaren]

Originally Posted by Mike in AZ

Thanks, nice of you to say so. I suggest taking a look when you get the chance. It does require crawling underneath the coach (glad my son came over and helped me with that!). I am not a mechanic or engineer, but it seems apparent that a simple zip tie would have been the proper way to go during install. I am curious if others with the same RV have ties on their lines, maybe (as with some screws and other things) it was just missed on ours.

Will check it out this weekend. RV is elsewhere for the summer and we only see her on the weekends. DH is very mechanically inclined and should be able to check this out and resolve if it's an issue. I'll let you know what we find.

Again, thanks for sharing! You may have saved some of us a serious headache!

[Mike in AZ]

Originally Posted by RonMonica

I really appreciate you following up with what you found to be the solution. My lack of response to your first post was due to the fact that I am not mechanically inclined and therefore had no solution to offer you - not because of a lack of interest. Having the same year/model as you, I always follow your posts and am glad you took the time to let us know what you found so that I can now check mine.

Thanks Ron. I guess I worded that poorly, I was not meaning to whine, LOL. Thanks for the kind words.

[captmetal]

you have no leak, this is from the jack retracting fast under the weight of the coach, the tank is bit overfilled, this fluid is coming out of the breather hole during rapid retract.

clean up the area, put a clean baby diaper under the hydraulic unit to catch any over flow when you use the level jacks under more slower motion

[halfprice]

Thanks for posting this Mike. You know what Ill be doing tomorrow morning. Glad you found the problem and hope the fix is to expensive for you.

Jerry

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by captmetal

you have no leak, this is from the jack retracting fast under the weight of the coach, the tank is bit overfilled, this fluid is coming out of the breather hole during rapid retract.

clean up the area, put a clean baby diaper under the hydraulic unit to catch any over flow when you use the level jacks under more slower motion

Did you read the thread?

[Mike in AZ]

Originally Posted by captmetal

you have no leak, this is from the jack retracting fast under the weight of the coach, the tank is bit overfilled, this fluid is coming out of the breather hole during rapid retract.

clean up the area, put a clean baby diaper under the hydraulic unit to catch any over flow when you use the level jacks under more slower motion

So the tear in the hose in the pics I posted are just my imagination? SMH.

[Mike in AZ]

Originally Posted by halfprice

Thanks for posting this Mike. You know what Ill be doing tomorrow morning. Glad you found the problem and hope the fix is to expensive for you.

Jerry

Thanks. It is still under the original first year warranty (by a few weeks) so my costs will be fully reimbursed by Thor. I have authorization from them for the repairs. The dealer shops they suggested are booked until August, and I don’t like using them anyway. With the mobile tech, he will come to my house Thursday, complete the repair that day (he estimated less than one hour). I pay him, submit to Thor, ship them the torn hose and they send me a check. So much better than having it sit for three months followed by who knows how long sitting at the dealership.

[jpmihalk]

Thanks for the info. I will be checking our lines as soon as it stops raining!

[Mike in AZ]

Just closing the loop on this thread... had a mobile tech come out today. Bullseye RV Repair, out of Glendale, AZ. I would recommend him to anyone.

He removed the torn hose, took it to a local hydraulic supply store (~ 20 miles from me) where they cut a hose to length and crimped on the compression fittings. Seems there are two types of fittings commonly used, my coach’s LCI uses both. The one that had to be replaced was, of course, the one he can’t crimp himself.

Came back same day, installed the new line, purged the system (a great thing I learned today, my Lippert system is self purging, just lower and raise the jacks a few times and it removes any air in the lines!) and tested. He also tied up the line and the adjacent line so they won’t continue to rub on the frame. He confirmed that was the cause. He added 1 quart of fluid and it’s ready to go.

Total cost, just under $200. I will send the hose and the invoice to Thor Customer Care, and they will reimburse me. All in all, other than missing the weekend camping trip we had planned over Memorial Weekend, it was not all that painful.

Mike

[halfprice]

Awesome Mike. $200 is pretty reasonable imo for what he did and his time

I still havent checked mine but plan on doing ut when i change the oil and lube up the front end. Hooefully thus weekend

Thanks for being this to our attention

Jerry