[Dick]

How old are the starting batteries? Have you checked the voltage of each battery? That is where I would start. Bad batteries can do all kinds of weird stuff.

[Jim]

Mark, new to Prevost and will have to locate batteries so I can check voltage in the morning

[Archived]

Is the starter completely dead? Your email did not say…

If you are not getting any turn on the starter, go to the passenger’s side of the engine and locate the starter. It is low on the side of the engine. Make certain that that huge nut on the end of the starter is tight. This nut can get loose… if so, it will act as if the batteries are dead.

Do not touch any part of the engine with a wrench if you have to tighten it… sparks…

Pres

[Chuck]

Chuck,

Your chassis batteries are under the stainless steel box for sewer hoses in the engine compartment.

Your batteries should read 12.7 and 25.4 volts respectively. The diagram is on the RH side engine door.

My concern is your battery balance light, and how long it has been on. If your battery voltages are not in the ratio stated above (12 volt side being 1/2 of the 24 volt side within 1/2 volt) it is an indication your battery balance light is not the monitor, but a real problem with balance.

Does the engine spin when you turn the key, but not fire or does it not spin?

I am on the road in about an hour so when you post the answers someone else may have to jump in here.

[Reagan]

To add to Jon’s post, the generator will charge the chassis batteries providing you have a chassis charger. You may or may not have a charger.

[Roy]

If battery voltage is good, check the ground strap connections.

[Archived]

Chuck:

I tried to email you and it bounced back. I had a similar problem shortly after buying our coach in 2014. Feel free to call me and I’ll try to walk you through some diagnostics. 262-365-9088.

[Jerry]

Dick, I did pick up your number off an earlier post so I will call you later. Right now I have the local fire dept gonna put a 24V charger on it and see if it will boost batteries to crank and then a local travel company that runs 48 Prevost is gonna check it out.

As I understand, I may have a chassis charger but it only works well on being plugged to shore power and not so well on the generator?

I am so impressed with this sight and all of the instant help that is available; a friend of mine actually called at 7:30 AM this morning after seeing my post to offer help.

Thanks everyone and will post results

[Hisham]

Chuck: Still feel free to call me before you start those processes. Maybe we can narrow down the problem and get you started in the right direction. The onboard battery charger needs 120 volts. 120 volts should be 120 volts whether it comes from shore power or your generator.

If there is a bad battery in the four battery chassis battery cluster, they probably won’t take a charge (mine wouldn’t charging them 24 hours with the on board, Liberty installed 1999 “24 volt battery charger” (aka “boat anchor”)). Bad battery could be because its old or (like I had) a relatively new battery (mine were five months old) that developed a bad cell. Its my understanding the only way to figure out if the battery is bad to is separate them, charge them overnight, and put a load tester on it. Do you have the NAPA card yet? Most NAPA stores should be willing to at least load test them.

Here is an easy one that you might have already checked. In the engine compartment there are two chassis master switches (one for 12 volts and one for 24 volts). Are they both on? If they are, try flipping them off-on-off-on-off-on a few times. One or both being “off”, or a poor connection in the switch (although these switches are pretty bullet proof) could be the problem.

Is the ground wire from the battery cluster “good”? Fastened securely? Everything tight on the batteries and where the ground wire attaches to the chassis?

When Jon gets back online from his drive I’m sure he’ll review and as appropriate, correct anything I’ve misstated.

Don’t be afraid to call.

[Richard]

CHUCK……….

PAY ATTENTION TO THIS…… YOU NEED TO ANSWER MY QUESTIONS AS TO THE VOLTAGES. YOU CAN CHARGE THE BATTERIES WITH 24 VOLTS UNTIL THE BOVINES RETURN HOME, BUT IF YOUR EQUALIZER HAS QUIT THE COACH WILL NEVER START AND IF YOU TRY JUMPING IT YOU RUN THE RISK OF CONVERTING A $5000 SLIDE CONTROL TO A WORTHLESS PIECE OF JUNK.

THE FACT YOUR BALANCE LIGHT WAS ON IS A CLUE OF RATHER SERIOUS PROPORTIONS.

I’M TRYING TO SAVE YOU SOME SERIOUS MONEY.

[Cliff]

He’s not yelling folks, his cap lock was on and he’s so happy to be on the road instead of in his pit he just missed it.

[Fred F.]

I was yelling because I got a strong sense Chuck is headed down the wrong path and that his help and advice might provide expensive lessons.

First, my concerns. A fellow PC member attempted a jump start when his coach would not start. The bottom line if I remember correctly was it fried his slide control and his slide pins fired when they should not have adding to the scope of the problem. Anyway what we all need is information from Chuck and the information availble so far related to the balance light.

To assess what that means is we need the voltages for the 12 and 24 volt chassis battery circuits. We need to know if the engine spins. If it does, based solely on the balance light being an important clue it is highly likely the equalizer is not functioning as intended and DDEC is not receiving the correct voltage for starting. If that assumption is correct charging or worse, jumping is not going to change anything.

This problem is not a big deal. But it does require a correct diagnosis. If it turns out the voltages are within an acceptable range then there are two problems, instead of one being the equalizer. The two problems are a bad monitor as he mentioned, and a starting problem that remains. But right now we don’t even know if the engine turns over. If the problem is not related to voltages controlled by the equalizer there is an abundance of other issues that could prevent a start but one step at a time.

[Corey]

Well as it turns out the batteries were the problem. We did get them charged enough to start the bus and batteries are being replaced (all).

Jon, thanks for your concern and I heed your advice!

Couldn’t do without this forum.

[neal]

Chuck just some advice…….When you have an issue the next time try to provide as much information as possible.

Your original post lacked very importabnt information, such as does the engine turn over (spin). I mention this because if it does not spin the concerns are totally different than if it spins and will not start. Going further nothing is as helpful as reading voltages.

It is difficult to solve problems over the internet, and even more difficult when key informationn is nto available.

[Jim]

Glad you got it all sorted out Chuck.