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Need to get started by Morning!
I know this is a Prevost community but I was encouraged to join on another board and hope that posting and emergency problem I have witha non-Prevost is OK
My MCI 1987 Crusader II…
I am supposed to leave in the morning and was doing kind of a checkover of the bus.
It won’t try to start. Both batteries check fine. The warning sounds come on when I flip the master switch. But I push the starter switch and nothing happens. no clicks, no cranks, nothing. I put a jumper on it and did get just a twitch out of the starter motor.
We’ve been having lows in the 30’s and highs in the 50’s with no sun. My current theory is that the engine is just too cold to let the starter turn it. I have now plugged in the block heater and am waiting ’til the morning. It ran just fine the last time I started it up-during that freeze out where the highs were around 20 and I used the block heater.
I gotta get it going before noon tomorrow so any help would be appreciated.
R
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11 Replies
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temp should not be a big factor in 30’s check batt ery terminals and ground connection to frame. Also wiggle gear shift to insure neutral position. Also outide chance starter moto bolts are loose–for this to be a factor you could wiggle starter. If one battery is dead it will cancel out good ones. Does your volt meter show at least 24 volt? Also inside front electrical compartment there should be a ford like selenoid that takes the switch signal and transfers it to the starter selenoid in the rear. Remember your ddec is on seperate switch. Also fuel pressure switch–ck to see if wire is loose on it. That is several places to start looking.—I would bet low battery or bad connection–if it is a new problem.
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The batteries are new. The connections and cables are nearly new and well seated. The bus started with this exact configuration in one try on Nov 10 for a video I shot of it starting. I did not drive it after it started that time.
I will check the things you mentioned.
Thank you for your help.
As I am not good with engines, can you tell me where to find the starter. I know where one is on a car, but this engine is daunting to me.
Thanks,
R
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I would carefully check bettery voltage as Bob says.
Even new batteries can have internal failures. The fact you tried to jump start and got a grunt out of the starter points to the batteries.
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Ditto… Your batteries if fully charged should read about 25.6 as a resting charge. The only real way to tell is to unhook the cables and load test each battery.
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This is just a general comment, but everyone should understand a forum is a good place to get a variety of answers, some might even be correct (not trying to be funny), but what we all lack are clues.
If a problem pops up usually our presence at the coach provides us with visual or audible clues we will not get on a forum. Sometimes even being at the coach trying to diagnose a problem doesn’t provide clues that might have been building over time. Using this problem as an example we do not know if leading up to the failure to start the owner had some early indications such as a starter not engaging every time the key was turned. That might be a clue the starter solenoid was starting to fail.
While the owner says the batteries are new and the cables are as well, what is unstated is if any of the replacements took place between when the coach was last started and today. That might be a clue that maybe the cables were hooked up wrong. Were all the batteries new, or was just a previously bad one replaced? There is a reason for the replacements. What was that?
I also have a bad feeling about the owner’s ability to fully comprehend some of the suggestions. This is not a slam against the owner because a lot of folks are not mechanics, but I get a sense the mechanics of bus ownership are not the owner’s strengths and that he may be at the mercy of mechanics that also may not be up to speed. A starting problem involves so many switches, connections, and devices, all of which can affect the ability to start that a person diagnosing the problem has to have at least some basic tools such as an electrical tester and the understanding of how to use it so if the problem is to be properly diagnosed on a forum ample information can be provided to allow for better answers than just general guesses.
Often the answers are simple as long as sufficient information is provided. The hard part for those needing help it trying to figure out what information is relevant and important.
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First part is learning what question to ask to fix problem (most difficult). 2nd part is learning where to look for answer to part one. Keep asking questions! Starter is curb side toward front of bus on side of motor. Should be at least 24 volts to large pole on selenoid. The relay I was speaking of is below drivers side toll window in the front electrical compartment. It should have 24 volts to one side with switch off=turn switch on should have 24 volt to both sides. The sel will look like a small cylinder aprox 2 inches in diameter and 2 inch long with two large size wires running in the sides plus two small signal wires-one from ign switch. who was the converter? There might be a way to boost from house batteries. Also new batteries can discharge just like old. especially if a switch connecting the start batteries to the house system has been left on .. I keep my two systems totaly seperate.. Just a few ideas. Bob
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I had four brand new Interstate bus batteries installed by Jeff Rowe in May 2014. In October I couldn’t get the bus started … just a partial turn of the starter. Tried to recharge the four batteries, couldn’t get much more than 20 volts on the dash.
I pulled the batteries, took them to Interstate distributor. I was told my “problem” was unrelated to the batteries since they were new. However the distributor said they would charge the batteries, pull a load on them, and insure they were all OK.
When I called a few days later the distributor told me that one of the batteries had FAILED and would be replaced under warranty at no cost to me. Reinstalled the batteries, hooked them up, and the big Detroit fired right up!
Moral to the story … branch new batteries can fail!
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Hi R, What motor do you have? I had an old 80 MCI 9 that did the same thing. Wierd but the governor throttle lever on top of the 8V71 would get stuck in the open position and it would not crank. I use to have to go back to the engine and use a hammer to tap on them to get it in the close position before it would crank or shut off. FWIW
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“I would carefully check bettery voltage as Bob says.
Even new batteries can have internal failures. The fact you tried to jump start and got a grunt out of the starter points to the batteries.”
Well it turned out to be a bad battery. I did not reply sooner because new replies got shuffled off into Junk for some reason.
One of the batteries that showed OK on the volt meter could not handle the load. Thus absolutely no crank on the starter.
And to Jon… You were correct. A lot of the suggestions were over my head. I am 53 years old, a scientist who can explain the workings of an internal combustion engine but has never used the tools or worked on vehicles. Give me a computer or a camera and I can strip it down, find the problem, and put it back together again. But a volt meter itself confuses and infuriates me..
Thanks for ALL your suggestions and help through this crisis, although I did miss my travel window. Oh well, Next time!
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“I am 53 years old, a scientist who can explain the workings of an internal combustion engine but has never used the tools or worked on vehicles. Give me a computer or a camera and I can strip it down, find the problem, and put it back together again. But a volt meter itself confuses and infuriates me..”
I can identify with this guy, especially on the volt meter. I don’t like electricity, I don’t understand it very well, largely because I can’t see it. Mechical things, fluids, plumbing, and stuff like that come SOOOOOO easy.
I wonder how many chassis electrical issues have a bad battery (even thought new or recent) as the source of the problem. That was my problem a few months ago.
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Don’t know if there are any statistics relating to that but over the years I have learned on bad battery in either the house or chassis battery bank can drive a person crazy trying to figure out what is going on.
That’s one reason every 5 years I scrap a lot of good batteries and get another set from Tom. So far no new ones have gone bad and so far all have made it the 5 years I determined is the limit for me.
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