This has been a common problem with Montanas and as the Cougar is is a family member, the following may help you. These are two writeups on what two folks did for the symptoms you describe.
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Solution #1
Remote Control Receiver Problems and Fix
Maybe this will help some of you with this problem. The black box located in the forward storage compartment is called a lot of things. I will refer to it as the receiver since it receives the signals from the remote key fob/control to operate the slides awning, landing gear and rear stabilizers. The receiver has + and โ 12 volt terminals on the right side to supply power to the receiver. This power is straight off the battery and protected by one of the circuit breaker below it. On the top of the receiver are another pair of + and โ 12 volt terminals. These terminals are labeled โmanual switchesโ and they supply 12 volt power to the outside switches for the landing gear, rear stabilizers and inside switches for the slides and awning. The only logic for this wiring set up is that when the remote control is turned on, the receiver disconnects power from the top + and - 12 volt output terminals so the manual switches cannot be used the same time the remote control is being used. Who knows what kind of interference or problems this would cause if they were both used at the same time??
Here is the problem I experienced and my fix which so far has been working OK. After the warranty ran out (naturally) the outside switches for the Landing gear and rear stabilizers quit working. The inside switches for the slides and awning worked OK. After some meter work I found that the switches were getting power and working fine, but were not getting a ground. That is when I found that the top โ 12 volt terminal was not providing ground for the switches. I removed the wire from the terminal and attached to chassis ground and shazam everything worked again.
This worked good for a couple months then all of a sudden the outside switches quit working again AND the inside switches for the slides and awning quit working also, but the remote worked OK. Getting the meter out again I found that the upper + 12 volt terminal for the manual switches was dead therefore not providing power to any of the manual switches. So I removed the + wire from the manual switches terminal and connected directly to the + 12 volt terminal for the receiver supply. Now everything works the way it is supposed to again. The only thing I have to remember is make sure both the remote and the manual switches are not used at the same time.
I never tried rebooting the receiver as mentioned in another thread. But from what I read, it only cured the problem temporarily anyway.
Evidently there is a transistor or relay inside the receiver that fails and opens the + and - 12 volt manual switch power supply. Of course the dealer is not going to do this work around, they are just going to order you a new receiver which comes with new switches and remote whether you need them or not and replace the receiver, probably for a nominal $400.00 to $500.00. Chances are that they donโt even know how the system works and just change out the parts. By the way, Lippert who sells this system to Keystone was absolutely no help at all and neither was Keystone.
I hope this is some help to you, especially if your warranty is expired. Let me know if this works for any of you.
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More Remote Switches Fixing
The Landing Gear and Stabilizers only working with the remote control and not with the outside manual switches has been a topic of discussion here lately. When ours stopped working "zman08" directed me to a post that solved our problem. It involved removing the ground for the manual switches from the remote receiver and grounding it to the chassis. Apparently there is a "failsafe" circuit to keep the user from using the remote switches and the manual switches at the same time. The connections on the receiver in the front compartment only affect the landing gear and stabilizer switches. The failsafe will not provide a ground to the manual switches when the remote system is energized and will sometimes get "locked" in that position. That is what happened to ours. Like I said, I just moved the ground from the receiver to the chassis and everything works again. You can replace the receiver module, but I think Lippert wants around $150-$200 for it and it will probably just fail again. Our rig is out of warranty so this was the best economical fix for us. I have included a couple of photos of where the wires are for the manual switches and where I moved the ground to.
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==============================================================
Solution #1
Remote Control Receiver Problems and Fix
Maybe this will help some of you with this problem. The black box located in the forward storage compartment is called a lot of things. I will refer to it as the receiver since it receives the signals from the remote key fob/control to operate the slides awning, landing gear and rear stabilizers. The receiver has + and โ 12 volt terminals on the right side to supply power to the receiver. This power is straight off the battery and protected by one of the circuit breaker below it. On the top of the receiver are another pair of + and โ 12 volt terminals. These terminals are labeled โmanual switchesโ and they supply 12 volt power to the outside switches for the landing gear, rear stabilizers and inside switches for the slides and awning. The only logic for this wiring set up is that when the remote control is turned on, the receiver disconnects power from the top + and - 12 volt output terminals so the manual switches cannot be used the same time the remote control is being used. Who knows what kind of interference or problems this would cause if they were both used at the same time??
Here is the problem I experienced and my fix which so far has been working OK. After the warranty ran out (naturally) the outside switches for the Landing gear and rear stabilizers quit working. The inside switches for the slides and awning worked OK. After some meter work I found that the switches were getting power and working fine, but were not getting a ground. That is when I found that the top โ 12 volt terminal was not providing ground for the switches. I removed the wire from the terminal and attached to chassis ground and shazam everything worked again.
This worked good for a couple months then all of a sudden the outside switches quit working again AND the inside switches for the slides and awning quit working also, but the remote worked OK. Getting the meter out again I found that the upper + 12 volt terminal for the manual switches was dead therefore not providing power to any of the manual switches. So I removed the + wire from the manual switches terminal and connected directly to the + 12 volt terminal for the receiver supply. Now everything works the way it is supposed to again. The only thing I have to remember is make sure both the remote and the manual switches are not used at the same time.
I never tried rebooting the receiver as mentioned in another thread. But from what I read, it only cured the problem temporarily anyway.
Evidently there is a transistor or relay inside the receiver that fails and opens the + and - 12 volt manual switch power supply. Of course the dealer is not going to do this work around, they are just going to order you a new receiver which comes with new switches and remote whether you need them or not and replace the receiver, probably for a nominal $400.00 to $500.00. Chances are that they donโt even know how the system works and just change out the parts. By the way, Lippert who sells this system to Keystone was absolutely no help at all and neither was Keystone.
I hope this is some help to you, especially if your warranty is expired. Let me know if this works for any of you.
________________________________________
More Remote Switches Fixing
The Landing Gear and Stabilizers only working with the remote control and not with the outside manual switches has been a topic of discussion here lately. When ours stopped working "zman08" directed me to a post that solved our problem. It involved removing the ground for the manual switches from the remote receiver and grounding it to the chassis. Apparently there is a "failsafe" circuit to keep the user from using the remote switches and the manual switches at the same time. The connections on the receiver in the front compartment only affect the landing gear and stabilizer switches. The failsafe will not provide a ground to the manual switches when the remote system is energized and will sometimes get "locked" in that position. That is what happened to ours. Like I said, I just moved the ground from the receiver to the chassis and everything works again. You can replace the receiver module, but I think Lippert wants around $150-$200 for it and it will probably just fail again. Our rig is out of warranty so this was the best economical fix for us. I have included a couple of photos of where the wires are for the manual switches and where I moved the ground to.
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