Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum - View Single Post

Dave Nowlin · 11-03-2013, 06:04 PM

Well it's that time again. Once again I have had a strange problem occur with my Monte. My wife and I decided to stay overnight at the Wal-Mart in Alabaster, Alabama on our way to Topsail Hill Preserve. About 3 a.m. she woke me up and said she heard a siren outside and she was afraid a storm was coming. I went to open the door to look outside and it wouldn't open. The red handle for the deadbolt just flopped around and did nothing. I said uh oh. My wife said how do we get out of here. I said calm down and I will figure this out. She wanted to call the fire department but I said no. They will destroy the door. I remembered the tool box down below had a screw driver in it. We have a 3295RK which has a dirty clothes hamper in the floor. I pulled the basket out and basically stood on my head and grabbed the tool box and pulled it up into the camper. The inside plate holding the lock set has 4 screws in it. I removed them and exposed an inner plate enclosing the lock mechanism. The screws holding the outer plate had been a bit loose and the screws in the inner plate were also loose. I ended up putting pressure on the lock set until I pushed it out of the door. Then the door opened. I went outside and got the lock set off the pavement and removed the 4 screws and found the dead bolt wasn't there. I said where did it go? I got my flashlight and looked under the steps up under the camper and there was the dead bolt and there was also an operating rod for it. This rod is about 1/8 inch diameter and has a 90 degree bend in each end. One end goes into a hole in the deadbolt and the other goes into a toggle of sorts in the operating handle for the deadbolt. With the slack afforded by the loose screws it had come unhooked from the deadbolt and that was why it wouldn't unlock. I put it all back together and tested it and everything was O.K. I went in Wal-Mart and bought some blue Lock-Tite and went back to the camper and removed the lockset again and took it apart. When I put it back together I Lock-Tited the 4 screws in the retaining plate and then reinstalled the lock set in the door. I would suggest you all do this to prevent this from happening to you. With the vibration of towing these things screws can back out. The strange thing about all of this is although our unit is a 2006 we bought it used in June of 2007 and typically take 2 trips a year to Florida. The rest of the time it just sits here at home. Many of you will haul your units more in a year than we have hauled ours since we have had it. The longer I have this thing the more I seem to learn about it. I have found that after letting it sit for several months if I try to turn the refrigerator on in gas mode it won't light. It will attempt to and then the check light will come on. This is because the line has become filled with air. I have found the best thing to do is bleed the air out using the stove burner. I turn it on and leave it on until gas comes through it. I test this by using a butane charcoal lighter to test when the gas starts flowing. After letting the stove burn a minute or so I then turn it off and start the refrigerator. It takes a couple of cycles to finish purging the air and then it lights and works just fine. Some would call a technician thinking something was wrong with the refrigerator. These are simply some tips I have learned. Hope they help somebody.

11-03-2013, 06:04 PM	#1
Dave Nowlin Montana Fan Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Savannah Posts: 270 M.O.C. #7253	Door lock Well it's that time again. Once again I have had a strange problem occur with my Monte. My wife and I decided to stay overnight at the Wal-Mart in Alabaster, Alabama on our way to Topsail Hill Preserve. About 3 a.m. she woke me up and said she heard a siren outside and she was afraid a storm was coming. I went to open the door to look outside and it wouldn't open. The red handle for the deadbolt just flopped around and did nothing. I said uh oh. My wife said how do we get out of here. I said calm down and I will figure this out. She wanted to call the fire department but I said no. They will destroy the door. I remembered the tool box down below had a screw driver in it. We have a 3295RK which has a dirty clothes hamper in the floor. I pulled the basket out and basically stood on my head and grabbed the tool box and pulled it up into the camper. The inside plate holding the lock set has 4 screws in it. I removed them and exposed an inner plate enclosing the lock mechanism. The screws holding the outer plate had been a bit loose and the screws in the inner plate were also loose. I ended up putting pressure on the lock set until I pushed it out of the door. Then the door opened. I went outside and got the lock set off the pavement and removed the 4 screws and found the dead bolt wasn't there. I said where did it go? I got my flashlight and looked under the steps up under the camper and there was the dead bolt and there was also an operating rod for it. This rod is about 1/8 inch diameter and has a 90 degree bend in each end. One end goes into a hole in the deadbolt and the other goes into a toggle of sorts in the operating handle for the deadbolt. With the slack afforded by the loose screws it had come unhooked from the deadbolt and that was why it wouldn't unlock. I put it all back together and tested it and everything was O.K. I went in Wal-Mart and bought some blue Lock-Tite and went back to the camper and removed the lockset again and took it apart. When I put it back together I Lock-Tited the 4 screws in the retaining plate and then reinstalled the lock set in the door. I would suggest you all do this to prevent this from happening to you. With the vibration of towing these things screws can back out. The strange thing about all of this is although our unit is a 2006 we bought it used in June of 2007 and typically take 2 trips a year to Florida. The rest of the time it just sits here at home. Many of you will haul your units more in a year than we have hauled ours since we have had it. The longer I have this thing the more I seem to learn about it. I have found that after letting it sit for several months if I try to turn the refrigerator on in gas mode it won't light. It will attempt to and then the check light will come on. This is because the line has become filled with air. I have found the best thing to do is bleed the air out using the stove burner. I turn it on and leave it on until gas comes through it. I test this by using a butane charcoal lighter to test when the gas starts flowing. After letting the stove burn a minute or so I then turn it off and start the refrigerator. It takes a couple of cycles to finish purging the air and then it lights and works just fine. Some would call a technician thinking something was wrong with the refrigerator. These are simply some tips I have learned. Hope they help somebody.