daveyjo

Where are the pressure ports/ freon fill ports on a 2005 38' Holiday Rambler Scepter?

I only had one blowout with Goodyear tires. Then switched to TOYO - no more problems. Probably put 80,000 or more miles on Toyos. The last time I bought Toyos it was from Motorhome Tires.com, motorhometires.com. They came to my place and installed them. $603.30 each, including balance beads. Tires were a month old. Bought them in May 2020. Only 17,000 miles on this set so far.

Wow, great post. Thank you. It solved my issue. In the link, it said bush the little button to activate programming mode, BUT it also said to be raising/lowering the shade at the same time. I did, and bingo it chirped, I set the shade height and all works well! Thank you again!!

My 2005 HR Scepter had electric roller shades (black and white ones) and I am guessing they are aftermarket. I have changed several of them (burned out) over the years, and their instructions vary and are difficult to understand, but basically to adjust the up and down limit switches, you press a tiny push button switch for each shade and then set the limits by first lowering the shade to its lower desired position and then raising it to its upper desired position. (Could be backwards, don't remember for sure.) My front windshield black shade needs adjusting, and I can't find the right tiny switch to set it or else it doesn't work. Clearly it once did. Actually, I think I have found the appropriate switch and it doesn't activate the programming mode (but the window shade goes up and down just fine.) The switch comes out of the black shade end piece. There is also a tiny brown wire coming out from the same spot as the two wire switch and it goes nowhere (just a dead end wire) Then there is another pair of wires coming out of the same place as the other 3 wires which had + or - 12 volts depending on if the shade is switched for up or down. See photo. I am guessing that the programming feature no longer works but maybe somewhere else there is different switch to do it??? There are some similar switches down by the accelerator pedal and at least one of them is for roller shades by the entry door, and neither of them affects the black roller shade. Could there be some other cubbyhole where another switch lies lost and alone? Anybody have some advice? Maybe I just have to unmount the roller and manually roll it up? Thanks for considering my conundrum! Dave

I agree with you, Jim. Sometimes traveling is less than wonderful, but it doesn't last too long if it is bad, and then maybe I park for a week or two and driving isn't an issue. Costs aren't low but life is short and many experiences are wonderful. And it's really fun to read about some place and say, yes, that's cool - been there, done that. I started taking river cruises and foreign tours a few years ago and they have been GREAT. Even drove a rental car 1200 miles in Europe. Sorry I waited so long.

Sounds like a problem I had on an old GM vehicle. The starter solenoid had a copper disc that, when energized to start the vehicle, pressed the disk against the 2 battery circuit contacts and engaged the starter. I took the disk out and sanded it clean - poof, no more problems. Did that on several vehicles. I don't know if your starter works that way. I think my 2001 Diplomat had that system, but am not positive (can't remember). FYI.

I had a 2001 36" Dip for many years. It was a good coach but, like all of them, needed some maintenance. I took it all around the US. Up mountains, through Death Valley. Worked pretty good after I learned to downshift and control my downhill speed better in the mountains. Towed a toad. I can share my old maintenance log with you if you like. Email me at daveyjo439@gmail.com. Dave Jones

Well, I found it. A 5 amp fuse marked cable box/sat in the DC fuse box inside near the AC breaker panel. As I reread the fuse labels, it was the one that seemed most relevant. Thanks for all the ideas. Dave

My Winegard OTA signal amplifier has no 12 volt power. There is even a 12V cigarette lighter plug alongside part of the amplifier, which is located in the front side cabinet of my 2005 Scepter. (Voltmeter says zero volts in supply wires.) It has always worked in the past. It has a small push button on the amp so one can turn it on for OTA tv antenna signals or turn it off for cable tv signals. (They both feed into the small white device mounted on the back of the cabinet.) But the issue isn't the amplifier, it is the lack of 12 volt power. The 12 volt cord comes from in front of the compartment. I have searched through a bunch of schematics for 2005-2005 Scepter/Camelot coaches and can find nothing about Winegard amplifiers and power supplies. Anybody got any ideas where to find maybe just a fuse? Thanks in advance for the help. Dave Jones

Thanks for all the suggestions. I had verified that the cable was bad which is why I wanted to replace it. From the roof side I dug out all the sealant around the cable and could see there was a piece of flat metal shoved up against the cable to act as a clamp. But cleaning and poking around with a screwdriver from the roof loosed things enough that I was able to pull 8" of coax from inside the coach so I just attached a cable connector and made a new 3.5 foot patching cable to connect the now extended cable to the antenna, and all seems well. That was way simpler than I expected. Hooray! Then came some other issues. I hadn't used the TV since May and when I turned it on, there was no digital signal. It took me half an hour to remember I had last used the tv using an HDMI cable instead of over the air signals. Now almost everything works OK. I will post the new problem separately, but suffice it to say I have no 12 volts supplying the Winegard signal amplifier and I can't figure out where the fuse is. Thanks again for all the advice. I haven't made up my mind if replacing the now functional Winegard antenna will be worthwhile.

But my issue is getting new coax in place. I did see the writeups about new antennas and haven't decided what to do about them. When I looked at the antenna recently mentioned and looked at some of the negative ratings about it, those folks were not at all complimentary about it.

I have a 2005 HR Scepter and a crank-up TV antenna on the roof. The coax cable between the inside and outside of the coach has broken (apparently the inner wire) but the cable seems to be intact. The cable seems well sealed with sealant on the roof side. I am trying to figure out how to access the coax as it goes from inside the coach to outside. Is it possible to remove a/c covers to access it? If I can free up the cable, maybe I can just connect a new cable to the old one and snake it through. I haven't tried digging out all the outside sealant and see if it can free up the cable yet. I thought I'd post about it first and see if others have had any experience with it. Any thoughts? I am tired of climbing up on the roof and running a cable through the driver's window to the TV. Dave Jones

My thermostat seems to work OK, but the accuracy of it sure doesn't agree with a temperature indicator on a couple of portable clock/thermometers. Any thoughts? Dave Jones 2005 HR Scepter

I can sometimes see where states may list a road's condition, but actually understanding what the message means is another thing. Do truckers have some sources that might alert them? Something that might more clearly say " this road is terrible and has lots of potholes, or the road is so rough it shakes your rig to pieces, or verbiage like that? I took one of the freeways across PA some years ago. and the road was terribly rough, and I want to avoid another trip like that. I don't remember which freeway or freeways I took, but I am having to go that way again and I am concerned. I am traveling from Cape Cod to St. Paul and I can see several routes to take from along the great lakes to going through PA on a southern route. I am willing to go a couple hundred miles further to avoid shaking my rig to pieces, and state roads sometime are a great alternative. Anyone have some recent experiences they would like to share? Dave Jones

Both tries with Vaseline failed very quickly. The silicone grease has worked quite well for several days. I wasn't familiar with silicon grease, but found some at Ace hardware in the plumbing supply area. Apparently it is used in plumbing applications where there is water (like lubricating a faucet) involved. Great advice, thanks for the responses.

I tried Vasoline and it didn't work. Then I tried it again but using a brush to reach well into the blade groove and that seemed to work. Haven't got any silicone grease yet to try next. Thanks for the feedback. Dave Jones

My Aria toilet opens fine, and even closes fine, but squeaks as it closes. I put Vaseline on the sliding valve but it made no difference. Anyone have some experience with this issue? Dave Jones 2005 HR Scepter

I have been on the eastern part of the US as well, but frequently moving. Reconnecting to a new spot beam when we move has been the problem. Last time I connected was in Naples, FL and I am currently near Raleigh, NC.

Starlink sounds like the way to go, but maybe not yet. When it is available anywhere in the US, I'll probably pop for it. But not yet. I do subscribe to Dish - their cheap package that I can use on a monthly basis. Although I have signed up for the basic package, I use it. I signed up for their local channel access as part of it so I can at least access local channels even if my OTA TV can't get a good signal. When I invested in Dish equipment, Direct TV was too complicated to use and didn't offer local channel access for just the few months that I travel. BUT Dish has been WORTHLESS to me since late February when an apparent ransom attack shut down much of their satellite access system. It appears to still be broken as of 3/21/23. I cannot access local channels anymore, and since that is what I bought it for, it is worthless. Furthermore, I want to stop autopay since it doesn't work anymore and have been unable to do even that. Anybody have a better take on what is happening at Dish?

I put a 1" or so pressure treated wood spacer on top of my coach's 2 inch hitch and then put a 1-1/8" bike rack hitch on top of that, and secured it with 2 big U-bolts. That gave me enough room to comfortably hook up my tow dolly underneath the bike rack. Been doing it that way for two coaches and 20 years with no problems. 2 bikes and car on tow dolly. My bikes are not e-bikes, but I think I want to get two e-bikes which makes me wonder if my current rig would be adequate for the heavier load. I think my current bikes each weigh about 40 lbs. Any feedback?

I have replaced the control board on my 2005 HR Scepter twice. I found the correct replacement board from Veurinks (164889 Electric Step Control Module REV 1 $149.99) and Lippert, the manufacturer, confirms that it is the correct board. The first replacement quit again after a year or so. The second replacement quit recently, but when I crawled under to check it I found the board connector had come apart and and all it required was to plug it back in. It was hard to get it correctly plugged back in, which is why it came apart to start with (I did it poorly). But that is probably not your problem. You can easily check the motor by applying 12 volts to it's two leads and then reversing them to get it to run the other way. But neither of the two replacement boards would work in my coach until I modified the boards by reversing the red and yellow leads. Maybe it was that my coach was wired incorrectly, or that Lippert is wrong. But the solution was simple, and it only took me a couple days to figure it out! Here is the post I published in June, 2020 after solving the problem. Hope it helps. Also attached are three publications about Lippert steps. Good luck! --------------------------------- Power step problem identified. Thanks for the suggestions on my controller board problem. I recently posted about problems with a new control module for my 2005 HR Scepter power step. I spent several days trying to solve my step issue, and thought I would post my solution in case someone else encounters the same problem. I bought a Lippert Electric Step Control Module, REV 164889. The package label says it is for all Lippert steps, but clearly it isn’t. I installed it but it did not work. After testing it against a Lippert test procedure, it appeared defective so I got a new one, which tested the same way. My conclusion – I must be doing something wrong, so I went back to the drawing board. I discovered that the Monaco wiring harness in my coach didn’t match up with the new control board, i.e., the red and yellow leads on the new module were reversed from that on my old module at the 4 prong connector, as well as reversed from the coach side wiring harness color code. I reversed the red and yellow leads on the module, and it now works mostly. (The coach red was +12V dc, the yellow 0 volts with ignition off, +12v with ignition on.) The only issue now is that, after extending, the steps won’t retract unless I turn the ignition on, which makes it hard to store the coach with the steps retracted. But even that can be overcome if I turn the chassis power off, then back on while steps retract, and then off again. The only module I could find for my 2005 Scepter is the one I bought, but there must be another module that would match the coach side connector and my old defective module. FYI, Lippert does sell a different shape module for 2006 and newer coaches, so I clearly didn’t have the 2006 and newer module. I hope this will help someone else solve a step issue. Electric_Step_Instructions_Lippert_052620171159am.pdf Kwikee_Electric_Steps_reg___888_Owner_s_Manual.pdf kwikee_svc_manual.pdf

This is probably not relevant, but I had a hard to find air leak. Turns out it was a leaky air bag. I just had to run my hand over the bag and it was obvious.

8/14/21 - 2005 HR Scepter - coach headlights use H9 tungsten filament bulbs in, surprisingly, both hi and low beam lamp fixtures. The low beam fixture looks like it has an opaque filter/lens in front of the bulb, and the high beam lens is crystal clear. Replaced all 4 bulbs with LED headlight bulbs from H4. HEADLIGHTS-H8/H9/H11-V6s Version 6s Headlight Kit, $75 per pair. 8/14/21. Seem to work OK. I also asked the forum about the subject around August, 2021. Lots more discussion there.

Thanks. I saved it for next time.

Well, I "fixed" the stairwell cover retraction problem. It had been cold and rainy so I didn't do much looking for the problem. I couldn't see a solenoid under the coach or any relays is the front run box, but I was moving south so I thought I'd wait for warmer weather. Finally got south to Atlanta, and on a relatively warm day (maybe 65 degrees) I started sleuthing again. I had an old stethoscope so I kept listening to the solenoid go clunk as I kept actuating the switch, hoping to figure out where the solenoid or switch was, when suddenly the step cover started slowly coming out. I started the engine to get more air pressure and the step cover has worked normally ever since. Why did it start working?? Maybe things thawed out more, or maybe things just came unstuck. What ever it was, it remains a mystery as I quit searching for a solution. And clearly is was air actuated on my 2005 Scepter coach built in 2004. So, thanks to everyone for your analysis and suggestions. What a great forum this is!!! Dave Jones