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No Start This Morning
No Start This Morning.
I turn the key and nothing. (I do have lights and guages but nothing as far as cranking.) As long as the key is turned it beeps at the dash. Not one solid tone but beep, beep, beep.
The voltage on battery posts is 24.3. I know it is over 26 when running. Is 24.3 normal or too low. I have charger on now. It has been on about 45 minutes. I did not have the voltage turned off while parked this week.
I made sure all the battery connections were tight with no broken wires that I could see. I am going to go over them again. There was light corrosion on 3 posts. They are clean now.
I’m in OKC and it was 32 degrees when I turned the key. That is the coldest it has been all week but it has been super cold the last several weeks where I have been. Bus has started fine each week until now.
Batteries were installed 12/31/11.
My current plan is to let the charger work for a few hours and try again. I do not want to wait too long because if I need somebody to look at it, the weekend will be on me quick. I need to roll to Mississippi if possible.
Any ideas?
Davy
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22 Replies
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It cranked. I talked to Bob and he confirmed the things I knew and told me what to look for down the line.
Tried it again and it cranked. Thank you, Bob and Praise God.
All the battery connections will get a good cleaning when I arrive in Mississippi.
Davy
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Davy,
The manual start in the engine bay could be you’re problem. Sometimes just cycling the switch takes care of the problem.
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Interesting, Tom. I have never started the bus from the back. I knew it could be done but I do not even know the process. Could you fill me in?
I did make it to Mississippi Friday night. I was hesitant to stop for the night and take a chance on it not starting so I pressed on and completed the trip in one day. 11 hours behind the wheel is a really long day for me.
According to my volt meter the batteries were reading 26.2 when the bus was running and 25-25.3 after my wife shut it off.
Davy
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On the RH side of the rear electric box you will find a three position switch to select the starting position. It likely has a plastic engraved label that shows rear start, front start, and a center position of off. It is a convenience and safety item. You don’t want to have someoneworking on the engine, and to have someone else hop in the driver’s seat and start the engine, so the guy working on the engine can switch to the off or rear start position to prevent that.
It is also convenient for someone who wants to check the engine to start it from the rear so with the switch in the rear start position it is possible because there is a button next to the selector switch that when pressed engages the starter.
If the front start ignition switch doesn’t work, the first action should be to go to the rear of the coach and see if it will start from the rear. The three position switch has been known to go bad so a rear start is usually going to work unless the problem is something else like a failed starter solenoid or solenoid relay.
I would suggest you play with the rear start to not only exercise the switch, but also to get comfortable starting the coach from the rear. Just remember if you do have to start from the rear you can drive the coach as normal, but the dash gauges will not all work.
My reaction to the voltages is they seem low. A fully charged 12 volt battery should be at 12.8 volts (25.6) and with the engine running the voltage should be 13.4 to 14.2 (26.8 to 28.4) with the most common being around 27.7 on the chassis voltage.
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I’ve never started mine from the rear either. Good to know. Thanks Jon.
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when you do this you need to have your front switch ON position..read the proceedure.. the switch on the dash controls more than start function. If not someone could steal your bus by opening the engine door flipping the rear start and breaking in window and GO. Two switches there front or rear start select rear start (with key start on) enguage start button/or toggle switch… to switch back to front with bus running quickly switch between rear start selection and front start so next time if you so desire you can start from drivers seat. Many have started from rear and forgot to switch back to front start(even mechanics at shop) and next time can’t get bus to start from front…These switches should be labeled with front and rear start if yours is missing mine was up for front. FWIW Be careful when using rear start feature to not get tangled in any moving parts because some elect boxes are located where you need to reach over fan belts…. Bob
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I’ve had two situations where the engine would not start. The first one involved the rear start toggle switch. I started the engine using the rear toggle and push button. Started and ran just fine. I turned the toggle to the normal position and the engine shut off as I presumed it should. I was not aware of the start from rear sequence described by Bob. Anyway, of to the driver’s seat to start the engine and back it out of the driveway. The engine failed to start. That is when I learned about dirty contacts in the toggle switch. One of the forum members told me to vigoriously flip the toggle from normal to rear start multiple times. I did that and the engine started right up from the driver’s seat.
The second time I encountered this problem was after the bus, having set for several days, was going from winter into spring. Went to start the engine and it would not start. It did produce prodigious amounts of white smoke. The toggle trick did not come into play on this instance since it had not been moved. I called a local friend that does diesel mechanic work and is a shop foreman at a large shop. He and another mechanic came over to look at the problem. Unknown to me, there is a relay in the rear 24V panel that resets the injector rack (DDEC II) when the engine is turned off. Apparently that relay had hung and the rack was not in the correct position for starting. The other mechanic took out a small, miniature even, hammer and pecked on a couple relays. The engine started immediately on the first try.
So far I have not encountered any further start probelms. Oh yes, I replaced that relay and bought a spare to travel with me just in case.
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Same thing happened to me once. Marathon call guy told me to go to back of bus. Flick the remote start toggle back and forth about a dozen time and then go try it.
The bus started right up and I had to replace the remote switch and wiring harness.
Might be a long shot and good luck.
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This is just one of the little secrets we all learn over time.
Actually none of the little tricks like exercising the rear start selector switch, replacing the center solenoid valve coil, removing the #76 relay, breaking the tabs from the fan clutch relays, etc are secrets, but are the things we pass on by word of mouth.Then we have the little tricks we learn about our conversions and by the time we find all this stuff out we are senile like Tom who suffers from CRS and we forget all this stuff until someone posts a question.
And it is not only the little tricks that should be a part of every owners handbook or notebook, but we also need a listing of resources such as sources for specific parts, or information about tire pressures, or how to know what coolant to use.
My point is simple……..most of us who have been through the minor annoyances and problems with our coaches have learned a lot of stuff can be dealt with without tools or at least only simple tools and a few minutes of effort. We have our own bookmarks for sources of parts and information. We have contact information for people who can answer questions right off the top of their heads. But we don’t share this information unless someone posts a question. So for those of you who are by far the silent majority, post questions. Come to rallies and ask questions. Make your questions known because unless someone asks the question everybody loses the opportunity to learn the answer.
Maybe some day some enterprising soul will harvest the nuggets of knowledge we have among our posts and articles and create the Prevost Must Know book of information.
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there is no dumb question except the one not ask. I have been around equipment all my life and assume everyone has.. my fault… I am no doctor– no design engineer –or expert on math — My biggest problem is learning how to ask a question in other areas.. guess point is If I can help I will.. It is a trade off!! because I need allot of help..!! By the way if you don’t understand my response say ???? communication skills is one of my points I need help on. Bob
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I am learning thanks to you all. Thanks.
Davy
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I am able to start the engine from the rear with no key at all. You still can’t drive it and you can’t go inside and insert a key, turn it and drive it but the engine will start. To drive the coach you must start with the key in and turned on.
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This is probably a Vantare specific question but does anybody know if the chassis batteries get any kind of charge from the inverters when parked? I assume the chassis batteries are not charged by the inverters or the shore power at all.
Do other conversions do this? What is the pros and cons of it?
Davy
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I am ot sure how Vantare does it, but when connected to shore power or with the generator running the inverters charge only the house batteries, but on conversions I have seen the coach was provided with chassis battery charging via a dedicated battery charger that was powered by shore or generator power.
Some conversions “merge” the house and chassis batteries for emergency starting so theoretically by merging they could get charged but I am not sure of that.
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DKO,
My Vantare does not charge chassis batteries through the Inverters. It does have a dedicated 24v battery charger mounted in the battery compartment for the chassis batteries. That charger is plugged into an AC outlet next to it..It is an automatic charger. Don’t know about your vintage, but on mine, everything is powered by the Inverters.
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