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Topic: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out (Read 1685 times) previous topic - next topic

With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

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.
George Stoltz.  Retired from full-time living in a great Foretravel and now are back to living in a traditional sticks and bricks in Florida.

Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #1 –
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
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Mark and Tanya
Milton , Florida
US Navy Veteran (DV)
1999 U270 Special 40' CAI , 2015 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #2 –

Let me know when yer in Orlando. I may swing by and meetcha...
The selected media item is not currently available. Dave Head & Megan Westbrook
Titusville, FL - The Great Outdoors
'98 270 buying this month
Toad is a 2018 F150 XLT

Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #3 –
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.
1994 U225
build #4514

Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #4 –

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.  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 :)) :)) :))

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Dave and Nancy
1999/2013 U270 36' Xtreme
Motorcade # 16774
2013 Subaru Outback
KD0NIM

Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Dave Katsuki –
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.  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.
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George Stoltz.  Retired from full-time living in a great Foretravel and now are back to living in a traditional sticks and bricks in Florida.

Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #6 –
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
Jan & Richard Witt
1999 U-320  36ft WTFE
Build Number: 5478 Motorcade: 16599
2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited w/Air Force One
Jan: NO5U, Richard:KA5RIW
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Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #7 –
Correction: I was agreeing with Dave, not George about wiring up the new receiver.
Jan & Richard Witt
1999 U-320  36ft WTFE
Build Number: 5478 Motorcade: 16599
2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited w/Air Force One
Jan: NO5U, Richard:KA5RIW
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Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #8 –
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 :)

Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #9 –

Jan & Richard,
Was it the main brain or just the fobs?

Thanks,
George
George Stoltz.  Retired from full-time living in a great Foretravel and now are back to living in a traditional sticks and bricks in Florida.

Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #10 –
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. 
Jan & Richard Witt
1999 U-320  36ft WTFE
Build Number: 5478 Motorcade: 16599
2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited w/Air Force One
Jan: NO5U, Richard:KA5RIW
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Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #11 –
George, our coach's are like people, as we age things start wear out. :o
The selected media item is not currently available.Bill&Doris 97 U270 36'
University of Parris Island Class of 66
Semper Fi  Build# 5174 MC#17094

Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #12 –
Quote
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.

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.)
Dave and Nancy
1999/2013 U270 36' Xtreme
Motorcade # 16774
2013 Subaru Outback
KD0NIM

Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #13 –

Bill,
I am reminded of that every morning when I wake up and do an inventory of what hurts and what creaks.
George Stoltz.  Retired from full-time living in a great Foretravel and now are back to living in a traditional sticks and bricks in Florida.

Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #14 –
You can purchase a whole new receiver and a fob for $15 on Ebay.
FWIW,
Regards,
JON TWORK KB8RSA
Full Time RVer (10+ Years) & Dedicated Boondocker
Retired, Unemployed, Homeless Transients
1996 Foretravel U270-36 w/24' Timberwolf Trailer
I firmly believe that tomorrow holds the possibility for new technologies, astounding discoveries, and a reprieve from my remaining obligations.
Welcome to WeRV2 (Under Construction)
Find Jon: Via Satellite Tracker Datastorm Users
The Second Amendment is in place in case they ignore the others.

Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #15 –
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 Stoltz.  Retired from full-time living in a great Foretravel and now are back to living in a traditional sticks and bricks in Florida.

Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #16 –
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 Witt
1999 U-320  36ft WTFE
Build Number: 5478 Motorcade: 16599
2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited w/Air Force One
Jan: NO5U, Richard:KA5RIW
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Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #17 –
Jan & Richard,
Thanks for the words of encouragement. We will definitely plan on doing this ourselves.
George Stoltz.  Retired from full-time living in a great Foretravel and now are back to living in a traditional sticks and bricks in Florida.
 

Re: With an older coach you are gonna see stuff wear out

Reply #18 –
 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  :)) :))

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