Gary,

Boy, was I off on the location of the valve and discription! I took pictures just now and will try to post them as soon as I can.

The valve is IN FRONT of the front suspension just behind the generator. It is about 4 inches by 2 inches. It is mounted on a crossmember in front of the two air tanks as I mentioned before, but it is mounted vertically. You'll see in the pictures.

The solenoids are as I described, but the air lines are different. Two air lines are at the top and go into one line into the valve. One air line goes into the bottom of the valve.

Hopefully I can get these pictures posted within the hour.

Ron,
Thanks for the pictures. They were very helpfull in identifying the different parts. My parts are the same as yours, just located in slightly different locations.

Lady luck is not with me on this problem. I started the coach this morning and it aired up! arghhhhhh! Once the coach airs up, it will continue to perform until, for what ever reason, it decided not to perform.

I got under the coach and found all the parts shown in your photos. I did a little plastic hammer tapping, just to see if anything would happen. Nothing happened.

At least now I have a bit more knowledge and will just need to wait until it does it again. I'm going to the Newmar International rally and will place a warranty service request. With luck, it will not air up when the service tech comes to the coach. I'll have to see what Vegas says the odds are for the failure to occur when the service tech is at the coach.

Gary,


You're welcome. I received the new valve today and I sent you an email with pictures of the new valve so you could see it uninstalled.

Just finished installing the new valve. Took about an hour and a half including testing. Was about like I thought it would be.....easier than taking the coach to a shop and waiting.

Works normally, at least for now. The old valve was very corroded. If my coach was 10 years old, I could understand it, but it is less than 2.

Oh, well. It's working and it didn't cost anything to fix it.

This is an update. It took two + weeks with many stops to get to the Newmar International. The airing up of the chassis was flawless. At the rally, the chassis aired up like it was on stage for American Idol. At the rally, Spartan showed me what the problem was (most likely). There are three levers that control if the coach airs up. One in the rear and two in the front. There is no adjustment for these levers. Their main purpose is to keep the air system from constantly pumping air into the bags as the coach moves down the road. When the height of the coach goes below the spec, the lever position tells the valve to feed air to the bags. When the coach reaches the spec height, the lever position tells the valve to stop feeding air to the bags. It seems, when my coach air is dumped, the levers are in a "dead zone" saying the coach is at the right height, therefore no air gets to the bags, even though the air system is pressurized. There are several (ride height, air bag pressure, weight distribution via the air system) that need to be looked at to determine what is causing the levers to be in the "dead zone".

Because the coach was working properly, they would not work on it at the rally.

After the rally, I stayed a few nights in an Estes Park, Colorado CG. Today we left and...... you guessed it, the coach would not air up

I need to think about this. My head hurts.

The Suspension Gremlin is messing with you! You have my sympathy.

Go figure Gary. Mine too worked flawlessly the whole time I was at Newmar (16 days). Then, 3 days down the road, back to not airing again.

Sounds like a trip to Charlotte is in my (and your?) future.

Mark

Gary,

Since I changed my air valve, mine has been working fine. I have since had my old air up valve rebuilt. You wouldn't believe how corroded it was at the end where the solenoids attach. The valve body itself was fine.

If you've been driving on roads treated for ice and snow, might be worth a look.

Ricre,
The coach does not drive where there is ice or snow.

This is an update. I greased the chassis today. While under the coach I found the links that determine if air is fed to the bags. It is like Spartan told me. There is no adjustment for these links. Nothing looked out of place, bent or broken. I sprayed all three links with lubricating oil. The kind that leaves no residue. I also sprayed the levers, pivot points and anything else I could see that is supose to move. Upon completing the grease chore, I air up and dumped two times. Everything worked. Only time will tell. I'll report back in a couple of months,,,,,unless there is another failure.