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My 91 Beaver Coach Problems
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OK… I’ll do nothing but call ETLC on Tuesday and see if they can take me. If so I’ll call Good Sam’s and off we go! Bryon, thanks for your thoughts and I do plan to learn about the coach. I just didn’t plan it like this!Harry
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Just a thought, if no power to the solenoid or starter, is there a fuel pressure switch preventing power to the starter? There use to have some preventing the starter to engage when the engine was running..Might be worth checking.
Gil
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I hate to even add more to this nightmare Harry, but if they do any battery work you HAVE to make sure the ground wire for the Equalizer is unhooked first. That way, if they screw up a cable or short something, it won’t fry your Equalizer.
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Thanks Tom, I was just saying to my wife “if I could just get one more recommendation I’d feel fulfilled”! 🙂
So I’m fulfilled now and I thank you one and all and to all a good night!Harry
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Hindsight is often 20/20.
Harry: Do you know if the mechanic bench tested the starter BEFORE he rebuilt it? Was it really inoperative? Or did he simply rebuild it not knowing whether it was working or not.
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Hi Dick, I’m not aware of a bench test. It was more of a here’s what burned out and that’s (the starter) what caused it! I’m going the have the experts figure it all out and see if we can get it to the point of “Hey what’s that noise? Oh yah it’s the 8V92 Diesel engine”!My wife, who has the ability to cut through chaff said “the last owner didn’t set up the coach to run 1100 miles and stop. Something failed and a professional has to figure it out”! So there we are!
Harry
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If that so called mechanic actually claimed the starter caused the solenoid in the box to burn up he is full of it.
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Oh great Jon, now you tell me!!! I thought the mechanics were there at your behest. I kid, I’m a kidder!I’ll be curious to see what they charge me for something that doesn’t run, but it is what it is. Maybe now I can get it fixed?
Harry
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I agree with Glen that devise (the one to the right is the coolant module for the DECC) could have gone hot and stopped working and is now bad or just stopped working while hot if you are lucky. The one to the left is for the AC clutch.
HJ you have me confused your pictures show 4 chasiss batteries but you say you only have two. Are you thinking of two batteries in the a forward bay which would be used for the house 12 functions. Stop fooling around and check out the batteries. If you don’t have a 24 volt charger, disconnect the “series” battery cable that connects the two 12v “parallel” battery systems that make it a 24v total system. Then connect your positive charger cable to the positive battery terminial and the negative cable the negative terminial and charge away. Then do that to the other two parallel battieries. Then reconnect the cables. Just because batteries are 2 years old really doesn’t mean much, batteries loose a very volts a month on their own if not recharged. If left on the wrong type of charger they can be ruined also.
I notice that the Batteries are NAPA so they should be willing to help you out.
I had start issues earlier this year and it turned out to be the “front/rear” start switch. It would start in the rear position, key off. took the switch apart and the one post inside was no longer able to make contact.
Had start issues once before and it had to do with a draw that was on the chassis batts that should have been hooked up to the Coach batts. Drew the batteries down within 4 days of camping.
PC members is it posssible to have a low voltage draw off batteries causing hi amps to burn up the solonoid.
HJ looking at the photos you were hours away of having (fire) no bus to worry about.
HJ we have Orphan buses, off the top of my head I think you have #21, I have #25. Most of the guys on this forum are running around in newer coaches, but most have had earlier buses like ours and those guys know what they are talking about. What Jon said about tech’s learning off your dime is true, not only in the RV world but even at Prevost/detriot shops. Help on older Prevost buses are to find these days.
Looking at my wiring diagram that solenoid only switches “on” the solenoid physically on the starter to alllow direct battery current to the starter.
GregM
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Hi Greg and thanks for your post and yes, I have Coach 21.
I’ve never been confused by the number of batteries. I’ve always known I have four (4) coach and two (2) house batteries. Where the confusion may have come is I asked way back when if I should buy two more batteries for the house? The guy I bought the coach from said he was going to do that if he kept the bus and made the recommendation to me.
Tomorrow I take the old coach batteries out (after photos, taping and marking them so no mistakes are made) and replace them with four (4) new batteries from NAPA . I will then with a multi meter check to make sure there is power to the equalizer. I’ll also feel the solenoid in the electric box and make sure it isn’t hot and that the contact points are open.
Assuming it starts (and it better) at high idle I’ll check the batteries to see if they are reading 27.7 to 28. If not I’ll shut down and determine if adjustment are needed or a new regulator is necessary.
If everything checks out I’ll turn the engine off and the two shut offs for the coach batteries to make sure there’s no load on the batteries. If there is I’ll find it! I still can’t figure out what killed the batteries to begin with? Maybe I’ll never know but I’ll know about these batteries that I can tell you for sure!
After I’ve done all of the above I’m going to take my bus for a good hour run. Just the two of us so we can talk! We have a lot to say to each other and she needs to understand this will be the last time I leave her sit for 30 days… That’s just so wrong!
Harry
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Harry,
C’bus will jump in here, but if you only have 2 house batteries, that will be your next project. I don’t know how many came in the Beaver, but doubt if it was less than four 8DA’s.
Hope you get started tomorrow.
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Tom
your right mine came with 8 4D’s so most likely those two were a cost effective replacement for the previous owner.
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Mine had mount for and had 6 flooded batteries when I drove it home and replaced with 4 chinese pieces of chit that crapped out right after I put them in. Replaced with 2 Lifelines and all I’ve been running as I’m sledom off the grid and only need them to run Fridge for a few hours if I’m shut down not running. When I replace , will go 3 just for the heck of it. You will get it fixed as we all have had issues with our coaches. If mine does this though, I’m torching it. Don’t tell State Farm.
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Harry
Tom (Truk4U) is right. I’ll jump to in here. Bus 34 had six (6) 8D house batteries located in passenger side under bay #2 on a two drawer style slide rack along side the three Heart inverters. -
Hi guys,I’ll need to double check when I go over to the bus today but if I remember there is an upper battery tray that will hold 4 and a bottomed tray that will hold 4 more. The past owner said the old inverters had to be replaced and when he did that it allowed him to cut back on batteries. He didn’t tell me how many batteries were there before he made the change.
Harry
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