My pop up wont crank down....HELP PLEASE

[Arkansas Camper]

I just purchased a late 70's to early 80's Coleman Sequoia. It is in great shape but when I went to pick it up we cant get it to crank down. It has 2 cranks on the front. 1 in the middle behind the tongue and 1 up towards the corner of the door side. I got under neath it and sprayed liquid wrench in the cover covering up the block the cables attach to but still nothing. I was told that the little Y shaped piece of metal next to the center crank had to be turned counter clock wise but still nothing. I tried to take the cover off of the block the cables attach to on the under side but it is wedged in there. {Was later told not to remove this while the camper is in the up position or I may never get it back on}. Can anyone help me???  I have 2 teenage boys chomping at the bits to go camping! Thanks, Adam

[RhinoDave]

If it has been sitting open for awhile, it is possible the chain that runs from the upper crank to the lower one has rusted to the point the links have frozen. It's like a bicycle chain. The little key on next to the lower point is the release key for a locking rachet lever. If it is rotated to far counterclockwise, it will not hold the locking rachet away from the lower sprocket and could fall out. There should be a small screw and spacer from preventing the key from turning too far. It has to be positioned so the upper arm of the key is pointing to about the 1 oclock position. I just posted some pictures of the key in another post.
Here's a picture of the crank mechanism behind the front panel.

Top view of the rachet assembly

Bottom view of the assembly

Hope these help you .

[Arkansas Camper]

That is great information and a great help. Will I have to remove the entire shell to access this chain? Or is there any easier fix for this? The camper was in the up position for a long period of time, you guesses that one correct! Thanks for all the help!

[RhinoDave]

The easiest way to access the chain assembly is to remove the front panel. It's pretty easy to do. You will have to remove the screws along the underside of the front panel and remove the cover plates over the crank points. The little ratchet lever key will also have to be removed before taking the panel off.

[EZDUZIT]

Looks like rust is a big factor.  An old mechanic told me about ZEPRESERVE http://www.zep.com/products/products.aspx?CatalogMode=1&CategoryID=3&SearchTerm=zepreserve when I was working on old cars as a teenager.  It eats up rust and has penetrating oil that keeps things moving.  Good stuff if you can find it.