Mr4aces Posted August 3, 2021 Report Share Posted August 3, 2021 I have a 2018 Pace Arrow diesel on a freightliner chassis. Its has an intermittent problem that causes big headaches- intermittently.This is the scenario: Occasionally running down the highway the air brake alarm will starting beeping, which is the alarm that is supposed to tell me that the unit has the air brake released but not in gear, or conversely that the unit is in gear but with the air brake engaged. I can relieve this alarm by sounding my air horn, thus releasing some air and the alarm goes away.Also- and more of a headache- sometimes the Powertrain leveling jacks do not recognize that the air brake is engaged, so the control board will not energize. More often than not this also can be relieved by hitting the air horn. Which my camping neighbors appreciate. However on one occasion I could not get the powertrain levelers to recognize the air brake, thus the slides would not retract and the levelers were stuck down. Even putting the unit in drive gear did not retract the jacks. After a lot of plugging, unplugging, hot wiring slides, etc, the jacks retracted. But the mobile service tech and myself are not sure what we did to get this to happen.So- frustrated and scared of getting stuck again- I sent it to the freightliner service center. After $900 and a lot of troubleshooting, they determined it was a fleetwood problem, everything on the freightliner side checked out, Just for my own satisfaction I personally replaced the air brake switch under the dash for $ 40 but it did not change anything. So then I sent it to an authorized fleetwood rv service center, who in turn can not find the problem but say it must be on the freightliner side.That is my dilemma. Has any fleetwood owners or freightliner owners had as similar problem? Does anyone have any suggestions what to troubleshoot next?Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Star Dreamer Posted August 4, 2021 Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 On our Freightliner HDT, there is a manifold with a number of air switches on it. It is possible one of those switches that was probably added by Pace to control the slides and levelers. You will need to determine which one of those is that switch and maybe replace it. Quote 2005 Freightliner Century S/T, Singled, Air ride ET Jr. hitch 2019 46'+ Dune Sport Man Cave custom 5th wheel toy hauler Owner of the 1978 Custom Van "Star Dreamer" which might be seen at a local car show near you! Check out http://www.hhrvresource.com/ for much more info on HDT's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr4aces Posted August 4, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2021 Thanks for the reply. I will try to check this out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr4aces Posted October 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2021 Ok! I'm not sure anyone cares but I will post this info in case some other poor soul encounters my problem and the ultimate fix. As I said I went to REV in Oregon. This is a good service center with good staff. They never really identified the problem but unplugged and replugged my harnesses, did a hard reset on the leveler panel and the system worked as it should ..... until we moved about 30 miles to a new campsite. Then, it was the same problem: Powergear would not recognize my parking brake on until I tapped the air horn a couple times. Called back and the service advisor suggested the powergear control boards. Frustrated I said I'm heading 1000 miles home and I will have a local tech check that out. But the RV gods intervened! (is there such a thing?) On the way home I got a radiator hose leak and took the unit to Freightliner for repair. I mentioned the air brake switch alarm, and during their repair the tech had to hit the horn to open the rear slide to access the radiator hose, This led the frieghtliner tech to run a diagnostic check and eventually found that an 80 pin communication connector located on the bulkhead(right under the air horn!) had not been seated properly and damaged pins were causing misreads. He unplugged, repaired and replugged. All is well! Evidently blasting the air horn either vibrated the connector enough to allow the electrical connection or perhaps sent some electrical charge thru the affected plugs. What a blessing to use my jacks and slides without having to wake the whole campground up with an air blast. So far so good and it was worth the trip to finally solve this problem. For folks with a freightliner chassis this connector plug is up under the dash behind the air brake switch. Accessed thru the inside of the coach. Not easy to get to but what is in a motorhome? If you took the time to read this- Thanks and happy motoring! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray,IN Posted October 25, 2021 Report Share Posted October 25, 2021 Mr4ac4es, I have seen that transfer plug through the firewall green inside with corrosion. The local HDT repair shop had the right front fender completely off and a pile of other stuff so they could remove that transfer plug and clean away all the corrosion. The RF tire had been throwing water onto that plug with every rain. Thankfully it wasn't mine. Quote 2000 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom USQ40JD, ISC 8.3 Cummins 350, Spartan MM Chassis. USA IN 1SG retired;Good Sam Life member,FMCA ." And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. John F. Kennedy 20 Jan 1961 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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