1996 U270 HWH Air Bag Leveling System Problems- Suggestions needed

August 28, 2013, 06:13:46 pm

I needed to do some maintenance work on the coolant system on my 1996 Foretravel U270 while up in Northern Michigan.

To work safely under the motorhome, I raised the body up in the air. with the air bags at full extension with the HWH controller.

I then inserted a set of 8 aluminum tubes about 6.5 inches long into the frame over special bosses that Foretravel has provided for that purpose, in the frame.

I turned off the engine and allowed the bags to hold the body fully elevated in order to work on various driveline components. There was an 1" clearance between the frame elements and the end of the tubes.
The tubes were there in the event of a catastrophic air leak while I was under the coach. I left the coach in the air for over a week.

After a week, I noticed that the frame had dropped down onto the front left set of tubes. Possibly some kind of air leak? After the valve? Bags are new so could be a fitting? Really slow leak ?

After the work was done under the coach, I started the engine and aired up the air system and then hit the RAISE button and lifted the body up and off of the aluminum tubes. Removed the tubes and then dumped the air from the bags to get the body down out of the thin air. I think I hit the LEVEL button after dumping all the air, and then I was going to level up manually, to keep the coach level close to the ground.

That's when everything started going bad...........

The air system did not seem to want to do what I was instructing it to do. I pushed an up botton and the coach dropped and I lost air pressure at an alarming rate. After pushing lots of different buttons, it seemed that some things were operating in reverse or at least that is what it seemed in the drivers seat with the engine running. The "excess slope" light was also coming on everytime I tried to do any action at all. I really was starting to get confused. I fumbled around with it for a few minutes and finally got it somewhat level and called it good for the time being. I quit messing with it. Maybe it would heal up overnight.

Wrong!

This morning I decided to do a diagnosis as best I could. Here is the result.
Coach is sitting in a nearly level spot. Passenger side might be an inch low from level..Not sure.
I aired up and when the popper went off, I shut down the engine.
I hit the DUMP button and that caused the Air Pressure to DROP significantly fast. Why?
When I hit the UP button on the front, I can see the front rise but, there is a loud sound of air excaping from under the coach. I played around with that for a while without gaining any additional info.

Then, I found out that with the engine air up and the engine off, the following would happen.
Turn on the system with the Level button and the panel lights up.
After less than 2 seconds, the Excess Slope indicator lights up. 3 seconds later the system trips off and goes totally dark except for the illuminated "TRAVEL" LED which still glows.

Air up, engine off and I hit the LEVEL button ONCE and then hit the Left UP button. The coach loses are immediately (I can hear it and see it on the gauge. The electrically powered air pump starts immediately, and the coach raises with the sound of air escaping.

I do not have anyone with good hearing available at this time to determine more exactly where the air is coming from when different buttons are pushed. I will have to wait for that assistance.

Have no idea why the Excess Slope is lighting up, as in the past, that only seems to happen when I am trying to level on a hill or slope. Mystery..........

Anyway, that is what is currently happening and I do not seem to have anything in my collection of data that relates to HWH Leveling Systems. I tried the archives and it was very time consuming and I didn't learn much while doing it.
I am hoping you might have info and research that you would share.

The coach seems to go to ride height without a problem.

Comments? Suggestions??

Re: 1996 U270 HWH Air Bag Leveling System Problems- Suggestions needed

Reply #1 – August 28, 2013, 09:02:40 pm

Jon,
Here's the HWH manual. It has a good troubleshooting section.
jor

Re: 1996 U270 HWH Air Bag Leveling System Problems- Suggestions needed

Reply #2 – August 28, 2013, 09:54:44 pm

Jon, You've probably already tried this, but first thing I would do is remove and re-seat the plug to the HWH control panel behind the dash. Then remove and re-seat the connectors to the HWH control box in the basement (in our coach, on the ceiling of the center compartment.)

Sure feels to me like an HWH control issue, rather than hose or 6 pack leak, but any chance critters have been eating hoses underneath?

Re: 1996 U270 HWH Air Bag Leveling System Problems- Suggestions needed

Reply #3 – August 29, 2013, 12:24:26 am

On my earlier model I do all my leveling with the engine running. Any leveling after the engine is turned off takes forever plus 3 days.

Re: 1996 U270 HWH Air Bag Leveling System Problems- Suggestions needed

Reply #4 – August 29, 2013, 03:15:25 am

Quote from: Dave Head – August 29, 2013, 12:24:26 am

On my earlier model I do all my leveling with the engine running. Any leveling after the engine is turned off takes forever plus 3 days.

WOW! THAT'S A LONG TIME!

Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 16, 2025 ...