Rally Chat Thule moter step

[PeteBunce]

2012 Thule motor step.
Works perfectly on push but
If step is left out and you start the engine the alarm sounds and step retracts as it should, if you stop the engine for any reason, eg fuel stop, the next time you start the engine the alarm sounds and it tries to retract the step again and has broken the plastic gears, when observing the position of the plastic gears it tries to retract the step the full distance, not just a small amount . microswitch fine.

 

[Goodringtongeorge]

2012 Thule motor step.
Works perfectly on push but
If step is left out and you start the engine the alarm sounds and step retracts as it should, if you stop the engine for any reason, eg fuel stop, the next time you start the engine the alarm sounds and it tries to retract the step again and has broken the plastic gears, when observing the position of the plastic gears it tries to retract the step the full distance, not just a small amount . microswitch fine.

Hello Pete did you get any luck resolving this problem? My 2013 Tracker developed this fault a few years ago. The alarm stops so it’s nothing to do with the limit switch on the step. I suspected it could be a sticky relay in the Sargent control box, but I sent the box off to Sargent for testing (£££) but they say nothing wrong with it, but did give me info about what voltages to expect on the (very tiny) relay in the EC500, which I haven’t followed up. So I just live with the problem but sometimes forget to send the step out manually, after just stopping the engine temporarily. On restarting, the step “judders” - and eventually will strip the nylon gear I guess. Any advice or comment would be gratefully received. Many thanks George

 

[TheBig1]

Are you certain that the step engages the switch? The switch either works or not, as they are pretty fragile inside. All those I have seen, the lever that operates the switch is usually the issue as it does not fully depress the button underneath it, often caused by a build up of dirt or debris. The relay inside the sargent unit is quite capable, but again they can sometimes fail. This usually results in the step jamming out or in and will often blow the fuse for the circuit