[Walter]

Hang in there Harry. There will be bugs to work out with all coaches of our vintage. The no crank will most likely something simple. Do you have power on the chassis at all (Headlights etc)? As you know Jon is on Sr. time so his first available flip phone troubleshooting appt is 4:30 a.m. Have your multimeter fired up!

[Archived]

Cranked and then didnt crank anymore? What is the battery voltage at the batteries? What is the battery voltage during a crank(or attempt) cycle?

[Archived]

Hi guys and thanks. The guy did have me put the lights on including the brights and said they were fine! As for voltage etc I have no idea. I now have to decide what to do, do I have the battery guy take the batteries out and check them? Or have the Diesel engine guy come out?

I say Diesel engine guy, all I know is the battery guy said they are guys who know their stuff with diesels etc. Keep in mind this is a small town with few options. But also a place filled with good reliable people. I just need to figure out what to do first? I’d appreciate your feedback, I feel like I’m on the high wire without a net!!!

Harry

[Archived]

Without voltage information to start any advice you get here is guessing.

You can describe your efforts and what happened more precisely, such as did the engine turn over? Will it keep turning over? Or did it turn over and then just start clicking like it would with a bad battery? Or will it not spin?

If it spins, leave the key on and use the rear start just to eliminate the rear selector switch from the list of potential problems. If it spins but won’t start verify CB 19,20, and 21 have not tripped.

There are a lot of other possible issues but if you don’t have a good multi-tester we cannot talk you through some diagnosis. Can you start by providing us much more detailed info?

[Archived]

Hi Jon,

The engine seemed like it started to turn over and then stopped, no clicking or anything of the sort. There was a sound of something electrical running from the engine compartment when I tried to start, But nothing associated with the engine. I opened the big gray box above the engine and there’s a selinoid in there that was black and a tester showed it dead on one side. That has since been replaced with a new one.

The guy working on the coach said he believes the problem is in the starter motor and is what blew out the selinoid. They have been trying to get the 3 bolts off the bottom of the starter and one off the top with limited success! After a half hour only one has come off so far. It was obviously put on with a nematic wrench and they just do not want to budge.

They seem to know what their doing and I pray that’s true because I certainly don’t. I had one of the guys talk to Jim Lane and Jim seemed to think the guy knew what he was talking about so that’s good!

Harry

[DON]

“ I opened the big gray box above the engine and there’s a selinoid in there that was black and a tester showed it dead on one side.”

I cannot remember all the relays or solenoids in my first coach, but I believe I remember a solenoid (relay) that was for the engine start. With the key off it is only going to be hot on one side. With the key on and the starter button engaged it should be hot on both sides. I am assuming it was checked and found to not be passing current?

I believe the diagram for the electrical box will be helpful in diagnosing the problem and long before I started even thinking about pulling a starter I would be checking for power all the way down the line. If you are working in the rear I assume you are aware of the rear start feature so with a tester you can check almost everything without running up front?

[Gary]

Yes Jim told be about the rear start function. You flip the switch up and push the button! I don’t remember, do you need the key in the ignition in the run position for it to work?

BTW they got the bolts off and the starter is being rebuilt as we speak!

Harry

[Dick]

On my bus you don’t need the key in the ON position to get the bus to start and run from the rear. But when you move the rear switch from “rear” back to “front” it will die unless the key is in the ON position.

[Fred F.]

Depends on the vintage. My 87 did not need the key on to start from the rear. Later models did.

[Dick]

OK Jim, What’s the answer on the 91 Beaver Coach? To “key or not to key”, that is the question?

It’s either

1. Flip the toggle switch on the rear panel and push the button. Or

2. Put the key in the on position and then perform the above?

Give it up Jim, inquiring minds want to know!!!

Harry

PS. Not heard from the mechanics working on my bus yet, hopfully soon!

[Dana]

In less time than it took to type your question you could have found out by doing step one.

[Will]

Apparently great minds still do think alike. As I read what H.J. typed, I thought the same thing as Jon did.

H.J.: Once you figure it out, use a Brother label maker to put a small placard by the switch telling whether the key needs to be ON or not. Then you’ll never forget.

[Archived]

Great thoughts from great minds but you may have forgotten I can do nothing until the starter is attached! Man, and the things I could have done if I didn’t have to type this? 🙂

[Roscoeapproved]

H. J., here is my two cents. When I first purchased my first and only coach I also encountered a start issue. Since the batteries were only six months old I initially did not think Batteries. I call a service provider and requested a jump start. That was around 9:00 AM in the morning. By 6:00 PM and several more calls, telling the phone person it was a 24 volt system, 3 field techs had shown up and gone away. The reason, they were not equipped to jump start a 24 volt system. True or not at that time I had no knowledge to say otherwise. The last tech that came wanted to do a load test of the batteries. All cables were disconnected, labeling each BEFORE removing them from their post. Turned out one battery had a bad cell. I called an Advance Auto, now I’d call NAPA with the PC Discount Card, we brought all four batteries to AA and they retested them. Same result. Bought four new batteries, since I did not want to go through this again, returned to the storage building, the tech installed them, and the engine cranked and started. By now it was almost 8:00 PM and too late to make a run.

It was really nice spring weather so we simply sat outside the storage building that day and enjoyed each other’s company. If I were you I would have started with the batteries before getting into removing a starter and getting it rebuilt. If you think the bolts were actually installed with an air wrench, you had best look closely at the tabs on the starter housing through which the bolts pass. You just might have one or more cracks in the housing.

Did the repair shop perform any tests on the starter before taking it apart? I had an alternator on my generator stop generating while at Owl’s Head Museum several years ago. NAPA did not have a replacement and it would have been three days for delivery. I asked about any local repair shops. I was referred to: The Starter Shop, 101 Western Road in Warren Maine 207-273-2161, in case you find yourself up there with a similar problem. The problem was diagnosed and a total rebuild was complete before 8:00 AM the next morning. That is what I call customer service. The shop specialized in repair of marine starters, generators and alternators. If your engine is an 8V92, that motor has been in marine service since WWII.

I hope you have the problem solved but if not go back to a load test of all four batteries and each isolated from the other three.

---

Jeff and Lindsay

91 Marathon XL

[Harry]

should be a 12 volt reset button red. Or a inline fuse close to battery/inline. Your ddec is 12 volt feed off one battery in the 24 volt system. It must be 11.6 volts or greater for the ddec to function. Had problem with one bad battery that caused simular problems on a 1989 =8v92.