Stabilizer motor repair. - Montana Owners Club

Slufoot733 · 08-10-2013, 04:34 PM

As we prepared to depart for the Mid-Atlantic rally in Mt. Airy, NC, I noticed the stabilizers would not retract. The motor sputtered and died. Glad to have the hand crank backup. Anyway, after returning home I tore into the motor. As you know it's mounted behind the tire and is subject to water thrown by the tire from a wet road surface.

I removed the motor by removing the four screws and cutting the wires. When I got the motor on my workbench I immediately found brown, rusty water seeping out of the motor housing. I removed the rubber 'boot' covering the motor by slicing down the side and pealing it back. Then I removed the two long screws and removed the end cap. Next came the motor case with the two field magnets. More brown, rusty water pours our. Now I see rust on the armature and muddy water in the brushes and commutator. A continuity test showed no contact between the brushes. Further inspection showed the brush springs were rusted; one broke and the other was very weak.

I did a thorough cleaning. I polished the commutator, dressed the brushes, and replaced the springs with some little springs from my 'spare parts box'. After reassembling everything I applied power and the motor ran great. Both forward and reverse.

Once I was satisfied everything was good to go I applied clear automotive RTV silicon sealant to all the seams in an effort to prevent water from entering the motor again. I also plan to design some kind of shield just ahead of the motor to deflect as much road water as possible.

The motor is in a bad position but I cannot think of any other place to mount it. The best thing we can do is protect it from moisture as best we can.

If you have issues with your stabilizer motor then odds are it's from the water thrown from a rain soaked road surface.

HOOK · 08-10-2013, 04:47 PM

Good job Kevin!! Thought you would be successful when we talked at the rally.

bobsals · 08-11-2013, 12:03 AM

Mud flaps is a good place to start. Should be a factory standard.

NCFischers · 08-11-2013, 03:06 AM

I made a set of mud flaps and they really work well. Nice fix, Kevin

Exnavydiver · 08-11-2013, 06:24 AM

Are you talking about the rear stabilizers? The motor for the front ones on our rig is up inside the road side gas bottle compartment.

Slufoot733 · 08-12-2013, 04:23 AM

Yes, the rear stabilizer. Mine is on the passenger side about eight feet behind the rear tire. It's in a direct straight line with the tire and would be hit by all the cast off water from the tire when traveling on a rainy day.

I will be reinstalling the motor today (now that it runs and is sealed with RTV silicon. I also built a small aluminum shield from white roof flashing and mounted it in front of the motor. Hopefully this will deflect most of the water from the tire and prevent this issue in the future.

K0LCB · 08-12-2013, 05:09 AM

Kevin, sounds like you have handle on it. I will be interested to know how it holds up

Montana3800RE · 08-12-2013, 06:49 PM

I did the same repair on my wife's relatives Montana about a month ago, bad design for sure, saved them a lot of money from the cost of a new motor...

Slufoot733 · 08-13-2013, 03:41 AM

I priced a new motor on the Lippert website. The retail is $353. That's way more than I want to spend so I decided to try this repair. So far it seems good. I sealed the motor with the silicon so I hope the water will stay out of it.

drsmart · 09-02-2013, 04:59 PM

Hi Kevin. I've got my motor apart and couldn't move the plastic part that holds the brushes enough to remove the brushes. All the screws are removed. Did you remove the drive gear on the end of the motor shaft to free up the armature? That may be all I need to do.

Thanks
Dave

Montana3800RE · 09-02-2013, 06:35 PM

Hi Dave:

Yes you need to remove the gear reduction to get at the brushes, seems to come off pretty easy and back on...

drsmart · 09-03-2013, 04:40 PM

Thanks Ron

drsmart · 09-04-2013, 04:41 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Montana3800RE

Hi Dave:

Yes you need to remove the gear reduction to get at the brushes, seems to come off pretty easy and back on...

I've been trying to pull the small drive gear off the motor shaft. Don't want to damage the gear teeth. It's not cooperating. How did you remove the gear?

psomers · 09-04-2013, 02:23 PM

OK, I just took mine apart today. It quit working last week end. I had already read this thread and was expecting water and brush springs rusted out. No such luck. No sighs of water and what is wrong with mine is the magnets. The magnets looked like they were epoxy to the case and had come loose. When I pulled the armature out the magnets came out also.
The way I removed mine is by removing the two screws and removing case and armature together. The end of the motor is splined and slips right out of the gear box.
I am 1 month out of warrantee but dealer got ok to send me a new motor.

drsmart · 09-16-2013, 11:19 AM

Re-posted as new thread.

kdeiss · 09-16-2013, 01:02 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Slufoot733

As we prepared to depart for the Mid-Atlantic rally in Mt. Airy, NC, I noticed the stabilizers would not retract. The motor sputtered and died. Glad to have the hand crank backup. Anyway, after returning home I tore into the motor. As you know it's mounted behind the tire and is subject to water thrown by the tire from a wet road surface.

I removed the motor by removing the four screws and cutting the wires. When I got the motor on my workbench I immediately found brown, rusty water seeping out of the motor housing. I removed the rubber 'boot' covering the motor by slicing down the side and pealing it back. Then I removed the two long screws and removed the end cap. Next came the motor case with the two field magnets. More brown, rusty water pours our. Now I see rust on the armature and muddy water in the brushes and commutator. A continuity test showed no contact between the brushes. Further inspection showed the brush springs were rusted; one broke and the other was very weak.

I did a thorough cleaning. I polished the commutator, dressed the brushes, and replaced the springs with some little springs from my 'spare parts box'. After reassembling everything I applied power and the motor ran great. Both forward and reverse.

Once I was satisfied everything was good to go I applied clear automotive RTV silicon sealant to all the seams in an effort to prevent water from entering the motor again. I also plan to design some kind of shield just ahead of the motor to deflect as much road water as possible.

The motor is in a bad position but I cannot think of any other place to mount it. The best thing we can do is protect it from moisture as best we can.

If you have issues with your stabilizer motor then odds are it's from the water thrown from a rain soaked road surface.

Kevin I sold Wire, insulation and Parts to Motor Repair Shops for over 40 Years. Their is a great motor Repair Shop in New Castle Pa A Servedio Electric on Washington St. They would fix you up with replacement Brushes Springs Etc. They are good people and very reasonable. I hope you dried those field coils would not hurt to put in the oven at a low temp.

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