Hydraulic leak, bedroom slideout, 05 Dynasty Countess

[granvillebarker]

I turned around on an incline in our driveway and notices a puddle of hydraulic fluid, it appears to have come out of the plastic loom they put around the hydraulic hoses going to the passenger slide out in the bedroom's front cylinder.   I haven't seen any hydraulic fluid inside the coach, so I'm guessing the fitting is leaking at the cylinder into the loom or the hose somewhere inside.   

 

My real issue is that I can't figure out how to get to the cylinder or it's hose connections.   This is on the end of the slide towards the front of the coach, and I have pulled off the wood trim but there's a cabinet below blocking any access and  the top of that cabinet has a piece of corian that connects over around the sink.  

 

Has anyone else with a countess had to work on the hydraulics on the front of their passenger side slide or seen anyone working on, any clues would be appreciated.

 

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Granville Barker

05 Dynasty

Edited June 18 by granvillebarker

[Cousin Eddie]

I'll share my experience with leaking hydraulic fluid on my 2003 Dynasty 2 slide coach and the repair I chose. The front side is hydraulic (2 pistons) and the rear is electric. I started noticing what I thought was diesel fuel on the top of my diesel tank. Upon closer examination it turned out to be hydraulic fluid dripping from the loom that contains the hydraulic lines. It was just a coincidence that the low part of the loom was above the diesel tank. The reason it was leaking was, due to the age of the lines, the fluid when under pressure (extending or retracting the slide) would leach through the wall of the line, not at the fitting. It was clear that the lines had lived their useful life and would probably continue to leak if I only attempted a "patch" type repair as opposed to a "take it all out and put in new lines" repair. It was a fairly pricy repair to replace all the lines but it fixed the problem. (Did I mention that I *hate* leaks). 

[granvillebarker]

I am down to replace them if I could just get to them.   I just added a picture, the cylinder is down under that lower arm.   Usually you can find a cabinet back that come out or something like that to get to areas like this, but nothing come apart around this area.   I also hate leaks!

[timaz996]

Have you pulled the sealing panel/s down in your under belly compartment/s un the bedroom? You should find all electrical and hydraulic lines there. 

[granvillebarker]

There are no compartments under my bedroom, I can see where the lines enter the sleeves just in front of and behind the back axles, but no way to access anything inside from under there.   

[Frank McElroy]

You should have an equalization cylinder under the coach.  It's often mounted on the back exterior of the last bay before the drive axle.  See if any of those hoses are leaking.  The hoses from that equalization cylinder feed the actual slide cylinders.

[96 EVO]

52 minutes ago, Frank McElroy said:

You should have an equalization cylinder under the coach.  It's often mounted on the back exterior of the last bay before the drive axle.  See if any of those hoses are leaking.  The hoses from that equalization cylinder feed the actual slide cylinders.

Frank, I've never seen any equalization cylinders for my two front hyd slides!

Do I definitely have them somewhere?

[Frank McElroy]

If you have hydraulic slides, you will have an equalization cylinder for each slide.  This is what keeps the two slide cylinders working in sync.  If I recall correctly on mine there is one in the fuel tank bay, one in a storage bay and  a third is on the exterior bay wall in front of the drive axle.  

[96 EVO]

Hmmm!

Wonder if mine are hidden between the chassis rails above a panel.

I'll have to ask Harry. I think he has had his hands on everything on his coach!

[granvillebarker]

I think this has gone sideways, if you look at the picture I posted, the hydraulic cylinder is down below the black arm coming up towards the countertop.   I can see the hydraulic lines where they connect to the cylinder, I can see the cylinder,  but have no way of getting to them to disconnect them or reconnect them to the cylinder.    There is no way to physically access that area that I can find.

This could be as simple as a loose hose fitting, but I can't get to the fittings to check them.

Perhaps we should discuss how I would remove the entire slide box.   Can someone explain how bedroom slides are removed?   I really don't want to go that route with the water lines and drain lines for the sink and washer dryer in that slide out, but that may be the only way to get access to the hydraulic cylinder.  

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Granville Barker 

05' Dynasty Countess III

[Tom Cherry]

1 hour ago, granvillebarker said:

I think this has gone sideways, if you look at the picture I posted, the hydraulic cylinder is down below the black arm coming up towards the countertop.   I can see the hydraulic lines where they connect to the cylinder, I can see the cylinder,  but have no way of getting to them to disconnect them or reconnect them to the cylinder.    There is no way to physically access that area that I can find.

This could be as simple as a loose hose fitting, but I can't get to the fittings to check them.

Perhaps we should discuss how I would remove the entire slide box.   Can someone explain how bedroom slides are removed?   I really don't want to go that route with the water lines and drain lines for the sink and washer dryer in that slide out, but that may be the only way to get access to the hydraulic cylinder.  

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Granville Barker 

05' Dynasty Countess III

Without being an antagonist, the procedure of a slide removal is simple.  Disconnect all mechanical devices, such as the slide cylinders” and then all the umbilical items such as 120 VAC, 12 VDC, Water, Sewer, Speaker (if equipped), Coaxial (if equipped) and Intellitec (if equipped) data buss.

Then, use 3 or 4 “T Jacks and raise the slide (extended of course) up about 1/2”.  Then have a crew of several men converge.  There needs to be a large, raised Dolly adjacent to the outer wall.  Then the crew lifts it off and puts it on the adjoining “flat, large” top of the Dolly.  Typically 4 or more depending on the weight.  Lighter slides can be carried to a fixed raised support frame and then sat down there.

However, the fundamental question remains.  Where are the cylinders and are the slide cylinders part of the slide or are they mounted on the body.  That varies.  There is always a “third cylinder” for each slide….in use to equalize or synchronize the extension or retraction.  

Slide removal is usually the LAST option for any type of repair….the disconnection may (will) also require some major cabinetry removal as the trims or flanges of the cabinets often are wider than the slides….and were installed AFTER the slide was fitted and “fastened” in place.

The above comes from experience as my simple “TV side/cabinet” slide had a problem with the “cable” and one of the 8 cables was frayed and would have snapped.  Yes….yours is hydraulic. But the same approach is used.  The side trims and the overhead and the “crown molding” had to be removed.  Fortunately, then after 4 hours of pulling off the cabinets and countertops, removal was not necessary.  I was there and watched….with high anxiety. Yes..SOME CW do have good folks.

The interior wood work removal  was a 4 hour job by an expert with 30 years experience and had been “checked out” by some local references, including the ex GM of a HR dealership that had tried on several occasions to hire him. The tech had a fulltime helper.

I also knew another tech at the HR dealership that was a friend.  They swapped techniques and “how to” info.  I had a bad hose on a gasser Winnebago many years ago…..and the HR tech spent time on the phone with the CW guy and Winnie dealer tech support.  He was told how to unhook and what to remove and where to access the hose and fished it out.  They then had a new hose made up and used the “heavy wire” fish they pulled in place during removal to get it back into the “innards” of places that were inaccessible.  That was an 8 hour job…Sr. tech and helper….each spent a day.

Someone that has had a hose removed or had the hose leak diagnosed might chime in.  You may need a flex phone or tablet camera to fish and maneuver inside to start to determine where the leak is.

Good luck….that’s the extent of my two “major slide” issues…

 

 

[Frank McElroy]

3 hours ago, granvillebarker said:

I think this has gone sideways, if you look at the picture I posted, the hydraulic cylinder is down below the black arm coming up towards the countertop.   I can see the hydraulic lines where they connect to the cylinder, I can see the cylinder,  but have no way of getting to them to disconnect them or reconnect them to the cylinder.    There is no way to physically access that area that I can find.

This could be as simple as a loose hose fitting, but I can't get to the fittings to check them.

Perhaps we should discuss how I would remove the entire slide box.   Can someone explain how bedroom slides are removed?   I really don't want to go that route with the water lines and drain lines for the sink and washer dryer in that slide out, but that may be the only way to get access to the hydraulic cylinder.  

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Granville Barker 

05' Dynasty Countess III

I know it's tight but with the front facia removed and the sliding door closed there should be just enough room working with one hand to access the cylinder connections.  The slide might need to be moved in the best position and or the lower cabinet removed to gain the easiest access.  Experience has shown, that in most cases, it's not a loose connection but a failed hydraulic line at the connector where the inner liner is internally leaking thought the outer liner.

[granvillebarker]

On 6/22/2024 at 11:03 AM, Tom Cherry said:

Without being an antagonist, the procedure of a slide removal is simple.  Disconnect all mechanical devices, such as the slide cylinders” and then all the umbilical items such as 120 VAC, 12 VDC, Water, Sewer, Speaker (if equipped), Coaxial (if equipped) and Intellitec (if equipped) data buss.

This slide has 120v, 12v, water, and sewer.

On 6/22/2024 at 11:03 AM, Tom Cherry said:

However, the fundamental question remains.  Where are the cylinders and are the slide cylinders part of the slide or are they mounted on the body.  That varies.  There is always a “third cylinder” for each slide….in use to equalize or synchronize the extension or retraction.  

It's an HWH space saver slide, the cylinders are vertical at the bottom of the mechanism where it mounts on the wall.

On 6/22/2024 at 11:03 AM, Tom Cherry said:

... then after 4 hours of pulling off the cabinets and countertops, removal was not necessary.  I was there and watched….with high anxiety. Yes..SOME CW do have good folks.

The interior wood work removal  was a 4 hour job by an expert with 30 years experience and had been “checked out” by some local references, including the ex GM of a HR dealership that had tried on several occasions to hire him. The tech had a fulltime helper.

Your post helped, I think the sink cabinet will need to be removed to get good access to that cylinder.   I would either have to cut part of the cabinet to get it out over the drain pipe or cut the drain pipe for the sink.   It looks like they added the drain pipes after the cabinet.  

I think I will first try to cut an access hole in the back of of the corner cabinet to see if I can get sufficient access to the bottom of the cylinder and make a new fake back for that cabinet.

Thanks for the pointers!

 

Any tips for avoiding the mess from the transmission fluid?  

Here are some pictures for more context.   One shows the cabinet, one shows the cylinder in the hole behind the cabinet, and the other shows the cylinder up close at other end of the slide.

[granvillebarker]

In reading the HWH docs that say you need their swagging tool to make up the hydraulic lines and you need to you their lines, what is the groups consensus on this? 

I don't know if the original lines came from HWH, or Monaco swagged the ends on with a HWH tool or what, but the bottom line is these lines are failing, and if HWH lines / swagging are going to fail why order them instead of having a local hydraulic shop make up lines with  their own tools.   

HWH does not impress me as a very well run company.   When customers have to wait days or weeks for a call back, something is not right with the company.    If this were just a one-time thing I could understand it, but every time I have called HWH over the 20 years of having my coach, it's been the same backlog.

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Granville Barker 

05 Dynasty Countess 

[Ivan K]

Just my opinion, if I was to replace a line, I would replace at least the two having same function as far as extension or retraction and made the the same lenght so that the sync cylinder does not run out of range. But I did not have to do it yet.

[Twomed]

Have you figured out access yet?  Looked at mine on the left/fwd end and ???  I have had the closet side/driver side front off, and the wood fascia is Velcroed and a couple of headless brads at the top.  Not sure that will get to the hyd lines though unless maybe they used a shorter slide mechanism on sink side. 

Pics please whenever you do get it apart as we will all be in there someday.  Thanks