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Spring Start Up
Thought i would list the issues and how they were rectified following last winters storage of my Marathon in an unheated shop last winter, Alberta Canada,coach was parked 1 st October 2018 and was not restarted until mid April 2019, issues that were known when parked were level low not lowering on front and Atwood water heaters not operating.
Lowest temperature recorded was minus 39 Celsius, coach was plugged into 50 amp with 2 1500 watt heaters set up in the lounge and bathroom, this maintained interior temperature of approx plus 5 throughout the winter.
I will post my plumbing winterizing procedures and water heater issues separately.
When first attempting to restart the coach the Alison shifter panel would not illuminate, after checking VIM fuses, power to and from Ignition switch etc it was found that relay #24 in rear engine bay was faulty.(failed when parked ?)
Alison pad now illuminated but still no start on key, checked engine start position switch in rear box was found to be faulty, engine would start from rear but not on key, replaced switch now all ok. ( switch not faulty when parked)
Prior to the attempted start up Detroit was warmed for approx 1.5 hours with Webasto water temp reached 160 deg F, aux air system pressurized to tighten belts, Detroit started right up with no hesitation and settled into a smooth idle.
Then attempted to get coach out of old shop and into its new heated shop, when coach was parked in previous October it was a wet day, 6 months later drive axle brakes are stuck solid to drums, no amount of attempting to rock to and fro would break them free.
Coach was aired up to max height and blocked,wheels chocked, drive axle brake adjusters wound off as far as possible, I then spent 2 hours prying, and levering brake shoes away from drum until finally the return springs pulled them to full off position, readjusted brakes and coach now able to move, driven around into new heated shop.
Last winter was particularly cold here in Alberta, apart from items listed above no other issues arose, i did not expect relays and switches to fail when parked and not operated, i can only assume cold temperatures had affected them.
Whilst parked on warmer days the level low system was worked on, i followed Jon,s guide for this (Thank You ), two issues were found, first issue was a fault and rectified but was only minor, the top solenoid valve on the 5 stack was leaking slightly, this is the command solenoid and is 24 volt on the Marathon, a new valve fitted, the coach would air up and down on the rear and up on front but would not air down, fault finally traced to the up / down rocker switch, this switch has 9 connections on the rear, replacement obtained from Prevost and installed, level low now fully operational.
Detroit and Gen set antifreeze strength was checked before storing, both good to minus 45 deg C.
My coach has the coach batteries on the same battery charging system / circuit as house batteries, so when house batteries are charging so are coach batteries, both battery banks maintained 26.3 Volts throughout the winter
I checked on the coach each day to ensure AC power supply etc,plumbing system was winterized and i will post details for that seperately.
Looking forward to next winter when i can adjust thermostat for the in floor heat,
I Hope this is of some interest to most owners who live and park well South of Me !
Regards
Gordon
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2 Replies
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Hey Gordon good to hear you have a heated facility for your coach now moving forward. All of those things you mentioned I have never experienced in 5 years but mine is stored in a heated shop. Enjoy your coach this year traveling around Alberta looking forward to seeing you someday on the road.
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Hi Jeff
Yes Hopefully this winter will be a bit easier with heated shop, but all good experience and finding my way around the Marathon, we have a few trips planned so maybe we will wave to each other on the road !, Take care
Gordon
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