MOTORHOME MAINTENANCE - Replacing A Kwikee Step Motor

Although right now it's the middle of winter, I had these photos in my files, as well as a video, of replacing the step motor on our Kwikee brand power steps on our 2016 Winnebago View. 

From our helpful friends on our Facebook Group for the View and Navion motorhomes, we learned that the step motor is nothing more than a window crank motor for a door for a Ford vehicle!

We ordered it through Amazon, and it was only $38.  We looked at the original brand for replacement as well as one from the E-trailer website. They were many hundreds of dollars!

Here is the link for the one that worked for us:

(290) 300-1406 RV Entry Step Motor

Be careful when ordering one, make sure that you look at your original one. There are two different lengths of the little shaft on the drive motor. You have to make sure you get the right one!

We checked ours over and compared it to the one we had and yes, we had ordered the right one. Ours is the shorter shaft for the 2016 Winnebago View.

Steve got started by collecting all the tools that he needed, and laid out a foam yoga mat for doing the replacement.

He took the old one off. Now it was time to put in the new one. 

MAKE SURE THE STEPS ARE EXTENDED OUT AT THE FURTHEST POINT BEFORE YOU ATTACH THE NEW MOTOR. 

OTHERWISE YOU WILL NOT BE IN SYNCHRONIZATION WITH THE GEAR AND THE DOOR SWITCH. 

Another HINT--- Steve quickly figured out that to keep the little spacers in place, using some green painters tape to temporarily hold them was a lot easier. Once they were into place on each of the three bolts, he could pull the green tape away and finish tightening up the bolts.

Now he could easily lift the little motor up into place without dropping the spacers all over on the ground. The spacers are actually 2 nuts and a washer per bolt, and you need to get all three of them up there at the same time. We thought it was kind of hinky, but that's how our previous one had been mounted. So he wanted to mount it back the same way.

Before bolting it up into place, he temporarily connected the cable and we tested it. Just to make absolutely sure that the motor was in perfect working order and that we didn't get shipped a defective one.

Caution! If you are going to test it, make sure you unplug it before you proceed any further with the installation. Make sure the electric step switch is OFF while you work on it, because the steps fling in and out with extreme force. You wouldn't want to get your arm or hand in the way of any of the moving mechanisms.

While the steps were in the OUT position, Steve was laying on his back underneath to one side. He carefully mounted it up into place and made sure he got each of the three long threaded bolts lined up with the holes on the mechanism.  He lined up the gear, making sure it meshes correctly with bracket on the step.  It helped to have another person on hand to move the steps slightly in one direction or the other until he could line up the gear correctly.

Once he got each threaded bolt started just a few turns, he was able to reach in and pull off the green painters tape.

He tightened up each bolt and then plugged in the wire to the existing connector. Be sure the wire is up over that bar and not down underneath it where it could get pinched. He also used some pieces of zip ties to keep the wire up and out of the way of the step mechanism. 

Now it was time for the final test....

OUT!

IN!

PERFECT!!!!!

NOTE:

It's important to rinse your step mechanisms well after driving in a lot of gravel and dusty terrain. It's also important to lube them multiple times each year with a spray lithium grease on all the moving joints.

Here is the YouTube clip that goes along with today's blog. It also has a segment about visiting the Mercedes-Benz dealership to have some things looked at as well as stopping off at a few of our favorite places as we ran our errands. It finishes up with some of my painting on the front porch. Nice to look at in the middle of winter...

I know this was all filmed and photographed back in August. But I feel it's a helpful post for anyone else that wishes to change their Kwikee step motor, no matter what brand of RV you have. 

We saved a lot of dollars by doing it ourselves instead of having an RV dealer replace it. Also we saved a lot of money by ordering an aftermarket motor from Amazon rather than the Kwikee name brand which was big bucks! 

Even if this $38 one only lasts a couple years, that's a lot cheaper than paying for the name brand and having someone else install it. 

I'm so thankful that Steve is able to do these maintenance projects, and I'm the helpful gopher with all of the parts and pieces as well as the filming and the photography. 

I hope you enjoyed this blog and the video that goes along with it. 

Now back to our winter hibernation wait to finish up the rest of our health tests so we can leave and go south in a couple weeks!!