-
Dash Light
My dash light for the “bay door locks” no longer shuts off when driving down the road, even when all the bay doors are locked. For a while, it flickered and then turned off. Now it simply stays on.
I think it’s a lose wire since all my bay doors are locked. Not a big deal; however, I wouldn’t mind trying to find out where this lose wire is.
Has anyone tried to trace one of these wires, if so how did you do it? One of the wires behind the dash or one of the wires at one of the bay doors?
If not a lose wire, would it be something else?
-
24 Replies
-
I have the same problem Tim. There’s a little micro switch on each door and I think I have one of those that isn’t closing the contact. You access them through the panel on the inside upper door.
-
Raining today, but good to know to look at tomorrow!
-
Mmmm???? Sounds like a Marathon thing. I’ve had the same problem for the past 3 years. I had Marathon Florida try to fix the bay open dash light twice to no avail. I also had one of our PC advertisers fix it and I got 500 feet out of their driveway and the “Bay Open” light came on again. And so it stays on.
Part of my pre-departure checklist is to make sure all the bay doors are closed doing the “Prevost Bump” on each side of the door. Then I can drive with peace of mind that the doors are not open as the dash light catches my eye continually down the road.
-
As a follow-up,
Checked all my bay compartments, per Tom’s recommendation, to ensure no lose wires. They were all good so the problem isn’t there.
Then checked wiring diagram and noted that Relay R71, rear compartment-driver’s side, controls the dash lights for the door locks. Changed out Relay but still no change.
Called Prevost Action Service who said that there is also an “F5” fuse which controls this as well. However, at least on my coach, the “F5” fuse is labled “Airdryer” so this can’t be related.
However, this problem is not enough of an issue for me to pay Prevost to fix it, so I’ll live with it for now …
-
Tim,
What I’m going to do is try to determine which door is not locking, then focus on that door. If the lock mechanism doesn’t work with the “all lock” buttons, the micro switch can’t close.
Try this… After pushing the lock button, go out and see of any of the doors are unlocked. If so, use your key to lock the door, then check if the dash light has gone out. You may narrow it down to just one door.
-
I had the same problem on an 01 H that I had previously. What it was…………one of the door lock actuators was actually loose, so it would not activate the micro switch. The bolts, if I remember right, were bolted into a plastic housing. I gently tightened them with a little loc-tite, and it worked until I sold the bus.
Raise the door up half way, and let it down on a 5 gallon plastic bucket, so you can get to the inside of the door, remove the panel in the center, and you can see what I’m talking about.
I guarantee you one or more of them is loose, and it probably won’t be the micro switch being the problem.
Wish I had pics, but it’s been too long ago………
-
I’ve got time this week, so I’ll pursue your suggestions …
-
Good info Jerry, I’ll be doing the same thing.
-
Jerry,
When I opened up the compartments I checked the red wires for connections and the plug-in connection, which I thought was for the actuator.
However, I didn’t really check the bolts you were referring to so I’ll look at the compartments again to ensure the actuator is tightly bolted in.
-
You might also lube the locking bolts. One of them may not be seating all the way. Enough to lock the door but not enough to activate the micro switch. Let us know what you find.
Doug
-
I looked at the electrical schematic. I think it’s an electrical ground issue.
It will take some time to trace down in one of the 10 bay doors; however, if I simply remove Relay “R71” it turns off the dash light indicator.
R71 only controls this so I if can’t track it down, I’ll just keep R71 unplugged since it doesn’t control any other lights.
-
Befopre you start, take a look at Marathon long term maintenance schedule and perform whatever 16 year maintenance is called for while you visit each bay door. Keep us aprised as to what surprises you come across!
-
Dick,
This is a Prevost issue, not Marathon. All door locks, actuators, relays, and fuses are Prevost. The relays probably don’t match on your coach, but I’m sure H’s of my era they are the same.
-
Tim,
Pulling that relay only effects the warning light and not the lock feature?
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
That’s correct. There are two separate relays to lock and unlock the doors, R69 & R70, both 12v.
R71 for the door locks-dash light indicator is 24v.
Log in to reply.