JunieMoon22 Posted February 11, 2023 Share Posted February 11, 2023 Hi, we have an Autocruise Starspirit '05 plate, we were wondering if the electric steps should automatically retract when the engine is started? Ours never have and we have been beeped (several) times letting us know we've left them out - oops! Can anyone tell me please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninian Posted February 11, 2023 Share Posted February 11, 2023 It isn't retracting because it hasn't been wired correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GandJP Posted February 11, 2023 Share Posted February 11, 2023 Not quite the same Autocruise model or year but mine certainly did but I did have to keep it well lubricated and I mean very often. I would try a 3in1 spray on the runners both sides, that might just be all it needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JunieMoon22 Posted February 11, 2023 Author Share Posted February 11, 2023 Thank you, we'll have to look at it all and see if we can see what's going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted February 11, 2023 Share Posted February 11, 2023 It's quite possible your van doesn't have auto retract, but I would have thought if this was the case then it would have a warning buzzer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikethebike Posted February 11, 2023 Share Posted February 11, 2023 hi We have an Auiocruise Starspirit on a 53 plate and our step hasn't retracted for many years. After numerous so called fixes we gave up and acquired a plastic caravan type step. Works for us. cheers mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 It would be normal to expect a factory-fitted electric step to retract automatically when the motorhome's engine is started. This 2021 MotorHomeFun thread makes it near certain that Autocruise would have included 'step auto-retraction' in a 2005 Starspirit's standard specification. https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/retractable-step-not-retracting.245168/ An electric step failing to auto-retract on engine-start is a fairly common issue. A GOOGLE-search on motorhome omnistep step not retracting will retrieve many discussions about the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 Often the step auto retract is tied in to the fridge 12 volt 'engine running' power supply so does the fridge operate correctly when the engine is running? If not then start by checking the fuses and relays often located near the starter battery. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 6 minutes ago, Derek Uzzell said: It would be normal to expect a factory-fitted electric step to retract automatically when the motorhome's engine is started. It is certainly quite common, Derek, but not by any means a given. I've had at least a couple of vans where this was not (by design) the case. If they don't auto-retract, instead, they generally have an "intrusive" alarm to warn that the step is still out when the engine is started. My current 'van is a case in point, with an alarm and no auto-retract (but at least Herr Hymer has gone to the bother of providing the driver with an additional, easily reachable, manual-retract button). I have heard it theorised that this is a safety measure, preventing anyone exiting the vehicle by the hab door after a short engine-on manoeuvre (such as driving on/off chocks) only to find the expected step isn't there, and thereby breaking their neck/leg (other body parts are available). I'm far from sure I subscribe to that theory (but it certainly appeals 🤕). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 2 hours ago, Robinhood said: It is certainly quite common, Derek, but not by any means a given. I've had at least a couple of vans where this was not (by design) the case. If they don't auto-retract, instead, they generally have an "intrusive" alarm to warn that the step is still out when the engine is started. My current 'van is a case in point, with an alarm and no auto-retract (but at least Herr Hymer has gone to the bother of providing the driver with an additional, easily reachable, manual-retract button). I have heard it theorised that this is a safety measure, preventing anyone exiting the vehicle by the hab door after a short engine-on manoeuvre (such as driving on/off chocks) only to find the expected step isn't there, and thereby breaking their neck/leg (other body parts are available). I'm far from sure I subscribe to that theory (but it certainly appeals 🤕). Another possible reason for either auto retract or at least a warning buzzer is it saves chopping off all the legs of pedestrians at the kerb edge 😀. But, yes, there should be one or the other. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GandJP Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 On 2/11/2023 at 5:49 PM, colin said: It's quite possible your van doesn't have auto retract, but I would have thought if this was the case then it would have a warning buzzer. And I would think a button on the inside to operate the step as Robin Hood has suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 The habitation entrance door of my 2005 Ford-Transit-based Hobby T-600FC motorhome had a high cill and Hobby - in their infinite wisdom! - fitted a manually-operated slide-out Omnistep (oddly, labelled as being appropriate for a Mercedes.). To enter that motorhome without pulling out the Omnistep required either a separate external step - as mikethebike uses - or Olympic athleticism. As should be plain from the following image, retracting the extended step from inside the motorhome was impracticable. It was known that the T-600FC would have an electric step as standard for the 2006 model-year, but even though my motorhome had yet to be built, this improvement could not be included. There was no audible warning that the manual step might still be extended when the motorhome was being driven, just an insignificant dashboard light that illuminated when the vehicle's engine was running. (Presumably Hobby's logic was that blind people can't drive, but deaf people can.) I replaced the manual Omnistep with an electric slide-out version. I decided not to add auto-retraction, instead fitting a very loud warning 'buzzer' in the cab area. A 2005 Starspirit also had a high habitation-door cill and Autocruise installed a double swing-out electric step. Presumably that step has the usual Up/Down operating switch (or switches) just inside the habitation entrance. All the circumstantial evidence points to this step having auto-retraction when the motorhome was built, but I don't know if Autocruise included any visual or audible means to warn that the step was still out when the motorhome's engine was running. My 2015 Rapido 640F's slide-out step auto-retracted, but I don't recall any warning being given when this took place and I used to look in the outside mirror to check this had actually happened. I vividly remember driving through the narrow streets of a crowed French town behind a French-registered motorhome with its step extended and overlapping the pavement. I followed the vehicle for some distance and eventually, after much headlamp flashing, managed to get it to stop. I walked round to the driver's door and warned the driver that the step was sticking out and he said "Is it?". I said "Can't you hear that noise?" (I could clearly hear a warning buzzer sounding inside the vehicle.) and he replied "I wondered what that meant - we hired the motorhome this morning." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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