Only one slideout moves

[CaptRon]

I loaned my 2001 Montana to a friend who needed it to be onsite while she was building a house. I went to pick it up and the two living room slides won't pull in. The bedroom comes in with ease and then the pump just runs but nothing else ever moves. I could be wrong but I would have thought that the pump would strain if the slides were somehow stuck but it doesn't. I tried pumping it manually as well but got now where.

Any idea?

[Keywestparrothead]

Hi Capn. My old Montana had shut off valves for the hydraulic slides, they were for shutting off a slide from opening. Could be that one of the valves nudged a bit off in the open position and now wont close the slide? Make sure they are all the way turned one way or the other.

[CaptRon]

Originally Posted by Keywestparrothead

Hi Capn. My old Montana had shut off valves for the hydraulic slides, they were for shutting off a slide from opening. Could be that one of the valves nudged a bit off in the open position and now wont close the slide? Make sure they are all the way turned one way or the other.

Any idea where they are located? I've never seen them.
If they were closed or partially closed do you think they would allow the fluid to free flow through the system? In my uneducated guess I would think that if fluid flow was blocked from the other two cylinders you would hear the pump strain when the bedroom slide was fully out or fully in. It doesn't do that which to me would lend to the idea that the fluid is being allowed to bypass those cylinders and just flow back into the pump as power steering fluid does when your not turning the wheel from side to side.

[chuckster57]

Where the pump is located there should be a fluid reservoir and a manifold. The manifold is most likely a large metal block with solenoid valves and lines attached. Some styles of solenoids have a lever on top that once flipped keep that one from operating. On other styles I have seen thumb screw knobs that can be turned off like a garden hose.

[CaptRon]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Where the pump is located there should be a fluid reservoir and a manifold. The manifold is most likely a large metal block with solenoid valves and lines attached. Some styles of solenoids have a lever on top that once flipped keep that one from operating. On other styles I have seen thumb screw knobs that can be turned off like a garden hose.

This one does have one thumb screw which the directions on the pump say to unscrew two turns to manually pump the slides back in. That didn't work either. I'll have to go back and take another look to see if the solenoids are right there at the pump. I don't remember seeing them but then I can't remember what I had for breakfast yesterday!!

[Keywestparrothead]

Originally Posted by CaptRon

Any idea where they are located? I've never seen them.
If they were closed or partially closed do you think they would allow the fluid to free flow through the system? In my uneducated guess I would think that if fluid flow was blocked from the other two cylinders you would hear the pump strain when the bedroom slide was fully out or fully in. It doesn't do that which to me would lend to the idea that the fluid is being allowed to bypass those cylinders and just flow back into the pump as power steering fluid does when your not turning the wheel from side to side.

Mine were on the driver side, next to the landing gear panel (there were three of them). I would "assume" that if they were turned after the slide was out it might not pull the fluid back out of the ram and the slide would stay out. But thats just me guessing :-)

[CaptRon]

Originally Posted by Keywestparrothead

Mine were on the driver side, next to the landing gear panel (there were three of them). I would "assume" that if they were turned after the slide was out it might not pull the fluid back out of the ram and the slide would stay out. But thats just me guessing :-)

It turns out that there were no valves that I could actually switch. The manifold had one line in and one out. Each had a T connection and went back through the floor of the trailer. I did notice that while trying to go in or out the cylinders on the slides that weren't moving would move in and out just a little but not enough to move the slides. So I decided to add some fluid to the pump. a few ounces at a time and try it. on the third addition of fluid the slides started moving. Once I got them all it I made me a little dipstick and it showed the tank to be half full. So far I've seen no sign of leaks. I'm hoping that they just never completely filled it from the factory and it just now became an issue.
The PDF file in this link is a service and installation manual for these pumps. Lots of good info there.
Thanks guys for all of your input!