I think what we are experiencing is due to our coach going on 11 years old. And we have over 115,000 miles -- so age and use are taking their toll.
Our latest problem is the remote door locks. Both fobs no longer work. Both have brand new battereis, but over the past few months I noticed that I had to get closer to the coach for the fob to actuate the locks. Fortunately, the interior switch still works. This repair is very low on my list of priorities.
I hear ya George. We bought ours in May and are just now getting geared up to travel in a few weeks. Fortunately I am pretty handy and thanks to the forum I have been able to fix just about everything myself. The Forum sure is a blessing. I just replaced the dump valves yesterday and we are all ready to go now. We are going to the Brooksville pre rally then to Josam for an alignment. Should be fun. To be honest I have been having a lot of fun working on this old coach. They sure are well built rigs.
Regards, Mark :D
Let me know when yer in Orlando. I may swing by and meetcha...
What kind of key fobs did Foretravel use with your coach? Maybe a set of new fobs. Or maybe the antenna connection is bad at the ecm for the door locks.
Our keyless entry did the same thing - got progressively less sensitive, and then finally stopped working. I replaced it with one of these Amazon.com: Autopage RF225 2-Channel Alarm (Black): Electronics (http://www.amazon.com/Autopage-RF225-2-Channel-Alarm-Black/dp/B002QCHH42). Didn't use the alarm feature, since all we wanted was the remote entry replacement. Not totally trivial to install, but not too hard, either, and we can now unlock almost from across the parking lot!. Main installation issue was getting the right mapping between the old connections and the new ones. Lots of unused features. E.g. I elected not to install the valet parking switch :)) :)) :))
Dave,
Am I correct in assuming that with your coach it was the fobs that died? Also, where did you have to be when you made the installation? That is, on your back in a bay???? Do I need any special tools?
I am encouraged to give it a try. The cost of new fobs is very reasonable.
I recently had the same situation on my '99. Since it was both key fobs that slowly quit working at the same time (even though they both had fresh batteries), I assume it really was the receiver/main brain that was failing. The main receiver is located behind the panel that covers the fuses and relays, just inside the entry door, which makes the replacement rather comfortable compared to most jobs. I agree with George that the only hassle was sorting through the myriad features of the new system and only connecting up the ones I really wanted. Good luck
Correction: I was agreeing with Dave, not George about wiring up the new receiver.
My comtroller was replaced with the PLRB-Pro Controller ID M3FL by HDC Inc. Purchased from MOT for about $215.00 with tax.
More complex than I wanted to tackle, Mike provided the conversion wiring diagram and Mr Weaver in the MOT shop hooked it up in about 2 hrs.
Glad he did it. It now works better than before, a little different, but great.
Mr Weaver is another jewel from FoT, glad he is at MOT.
Amen :)
Jan & Richard,
Was it the main brain or just the fobs?
Thanks,
George
George, Quite frankly I do not know for certain. I believed that the system had failed so I replaced the brain and fobs. Problem was solved.
George, our coach's are like people, as we age things start wear out. :o
On ours, it was the "base unit" that died and no tweaking of the fobs helped. The receiver and controller for ours is behind the front panel on the stair well (the one with all the 12v breakers) and is a small black box close to the outside corner, so access was sitting on the steps...
Here's a pic of the new controller (it's the small black box on the right.)
Bill,
I am reminded of that every morning when I wake up and do an inventory of what hurts and what creaks.
You can purchase a whole new receiver and a fob for $15 on Ebay.
FWIW,
Regards,
Replacing the remote door locks.
I am willing to buy the control unit and two fobs. A few questions for those who have done this on their own.
1) Would it be easier if I bought the same brand (assuming it is available)? Seems to me that following where to connect wires and the 12 Volt supply to the same terminals would help me do the job.
2) Right now. the key fobs don't work, but the single switch on the control panel to the left of the driver seat still can open and close all locks. If I screw up the installation of the remote control unit )in back of the panel near the stairwell where our control unit is located) will I lose the ability to lock and unlock all doors from this single switch?
3) Finally, I don't mind if the job is tedious, but do new units come with installation instructions? I have zip, nada, zero background in electronics.
Thanks for your input.
George, I had my new controller installed at MoT, but wish I had just done it myself. The unit they installed is called Pro Controller, model PLRS-Pro 1. Their web site is at poplocks.com
The kit included everything you need as well as instructions, plus their web site has downloadable manuals. The wiring harness has a couple dozen wires, which is a bit intimidating. However, you only end up using a half dozen of them. As I recall you use negative and positive power wires, an additional ignition switch activated positive wire, and a wire each for the open and latch solenoids. There is a "siren" that you mount in the same area as the controller which emits a chirp when you lock or unlock the doors with the fobs. It also chirps certain codes if you wish to modify the internal program, which you really do not need to do. Finally there is a little little button that you stick up in the same area. It is used in the programming process (which you will not use) as well.
The unused wires are for all kinds of elaborate security features: motion detectors, intrusion detectors, tilt sensors (in case someone lifts the front of the vehicle to tow it off), vibration sensors, and who knows what else.
Bottom line, you have half a dozen wires to transfer form the old controller to the new.
Jan & Richard,
Thanks for the words of encouragement. We will definitely plan on doing this ourselves.
Hi George, The new system on my 01, 320 uses a new style remote control on door, it uses rf radio signals, the origional used about 12 wires, that is where the whole thing got started when the wires got chomped to remove the door and burnt up the origional controller :)) :))
Do not sneak any cookies !
Enjoy