-
No power to ignition switch.
12 volt and 24 volt main cut-off switches on. Batteries new. No power to ignition switch. Rear panel, switch to rear start, no power there either. 2000 Vantare. Is there some breaker that might be tripped?
-
20 Replies
-
Check the breakers for the chassis. Essentially you need to follow the power.
-
BTW, if you provide a signature line with some coach specific information answers can be more detailed.
-
I’m new, give me a little time. I did say it was a 2000 Vantare, sorry, did not say it is an XL.
-
Do you have power there? stud to rear 12 volt (with battery cable on it) to front 24 volt. Red wires = 24 volt yellow =12 volt in small wires. Also ck side of vanner for reset button. Bob
-
On the XL check for power at the posts in the rear electric box of there is power up to and beyond the big circuit breakers on the post near the batteries. #85 is the ignition circuit so if you have power into the box concentrate on that circuit.
And just a question………you say batteries are new. If this is the first attempt at starting after a battery replacement are you sure they were wired correctly?
-
Check at the vanner and see if you have 24 and 12 volt correctly there. If you do not then it is the batteries or the wiring of the batteries….
-
Jon, there is power downside on breaker. Yes, new batteries, just bought coach, as is, where is, hasn’t been started in 6 months, coach is like new, 50,000 miles, 23 hrs on gen. Battery wiring is correct, took pic before changinging out. First turned switch on, guages lit, tried starter, no sound at all, off, back on, guages did not light again, nothing works, lights, etc. Still has 12 & 24 volts past the initial breakers.
Jeff,,,power at vanner.
This is not my first Prevost, Had one about 12 yrs ago. I bought this one at a giveaway price, happy with purchase, I know this will be minor when I find trouble, owner says there was nothing wrong when last started, I do believe him.
Thanks for help so far.
-
Try cycling the rear run toggle switch from front to back and then back to front sbout a dozen times. I have had a no start issue sevral times after setting the rear run switch to rear and then going back to front it would not start. Dirty or worn contact in swicth I guess. Cycling the swicth back and forth always fixes my problem.
-
What Andre says is true.
On more than one occasion the selector switch for front or rear start is the issue. My concern is that it won’t start on either front or rear position so it might be something else is going on.
For what it is worth I’ll bet I have had half a dozen tell me their new batteries were wired correctly when their bus would not start after changing them. In fact the batteries were not wired correctly. But if your bus was starting and running and everything was normal after the battery change you can rule that out.
Did you check the ignition relay (solenoid) in the rear electric box?
-
I recently had a very similar problem with my 2004 Marathon XL2
After sitting for about a week outdoors in hot weather, we turned the ignition switch and nothing. We had no dash lights, no instruments, nothing at all. It was as if the battery was either totally dead or disconnected.
I called the Prevost hot line and got a technician to help. With voltmeter in hand, I measured several key points at his direction and it was determined that the 24V chassis battery was fine. Our attention shifted to the main battery relay which the technician referred to as R1.
Normally, when the ignition switch is placed in the ON position, the R1 relay closes with a loud clack. It’s a large relay, roughly 4″ x 6″ in size and is the main battery disconnect on the XL2. This relay was new on the XL2, having replaced the manual lever switch used in earlier coach models.
The relay is located on the curb side rear panel, forward of the chassis batteries and directly above the jump start terminals. It is covered by a black plastic guard.
The voltmeter showed no voltage was present on the R1 coil. We checked the small “safety switch” which interrupts the coil power for maintenance and is also located on the main breaker panel behind the rear curbside door. All checked out OK, however, there was still no coil power coming into the relay.
In desperation, I took a jumper lead and attached it to the 24V battery terminal and applied it directly to the R1 coil. It energized with the familiar CLACK and the dashboard lit up. The coach started normally and I removed the jumper and drove it the short 5 miles to our home. The next day, the coach started normally. The problem completely disappeared and the coach has been operating normally ever since. We’re on the road now and have traveled abouit 2000 miles with no problems whatsoever. The exact cause of the failure was never determined.
While the Prevost technician had already hung up before I jumpered the relay, he was nonetheless very helpful in heading me in the right direction. After the incident, I spent a couple of hours pouring over the coach schematic so that the next time it happens, I’ll have a much better idea of where to look for the root cause.
-fred
-
Fred,
Where you and I are heading is similar, but while you are discussing this relative to an XLII, my brain is still thinking XL. This is where signature lines are critical. The XL did not have that master relay.
-
I have not been to the bus today to try anything. Will be going tomorrow morning. What is the difference between an XL and XLII?
-
The easiest explaination is rivets or no rivets.
But as relates to the discussion the XL had manual shut off switches for the chassis and the XLII uses a contactor or a relay.
-
Rivets vs. No Rivets – Jon and I have owned them both!
What still intrigues me is that my rivet-less XLII had the same apparent symptoms as the subject XL in this discussion. I’m sort of wondering now if perhaps it was a glitch in the engine computer.
My engine batteries went nearly dead over the winter after the trickle charger failed. The batteries were less than a year old and had dropped to about 6.5 volts on each. The coach would not start at all, and all of the dash lights were dim. Despite this, I got the charger fixed and the batteries came back up with no apparent ill effects, and without a jump start. This all happened before I had the dead ignition problem, a couple of weeks later.
Just wondering aloud…
-
I went back to the coach today. Found a corroded crimp on terminal, fixed it, started right up. All happy now.
Log in to reply.