Im at a rest stop in Florida. Went to take off this morning and couldnt get it to go into gear. no alarms or errors on the dash but the voltage meter read zero. checked the chasis batteries and the voltqge is reading around 10.8. hit the boost and it goes up to 12.6. I am guessing its either the batteries or the alternator.
Any suggestions.
Rick
Don't know which coach you have...but did you check for codes?
Didn't check the codes. Instead, worked on getting it running with Ms Danni's help. She happened to be at the rest stop and spotted our coach (U270-1998) We're on the road; will check later. Thanks for replying so fast.
Watch you alternator to see if it is charging. It could be you have a bad battery or batteries ( chassis). I know from experience that this can be troublesome until you get it resolved.
If you are driving and start having issues again, you can turn on your generator, then turn on the Boost switch. That should keep you going until you can deal with it.
Best of luck
^.^d
Short term "fix" if just the alternator is not producing power. If the belt is not turning the water pump, you are stuck where you are.
Start generator. It will power the inverter/charger to charge the house battery bank.
Put on boost switch. That will allow the house bank to charge the chassis bank.
Low voltage will make the Allison ECU electronics "crazy".
Update: The engine began to overheat. We're at the side of the road south of Bushnell on I-72
Rick says we threw a belt, lost a lot of coolant, and the alternator bearings are making a horrible noise and the shaft is wobbly. Best guess is that it wore the belt, which broke. We can replace the belt, but will need an alternator.
How hard is it to replace a Leece-Neville alternator and could the tensioner also have gone bad?
Wendy
further update: We have a local service coming out to remove the alternator and we've found a rebuilt replacement. Give us an hour or two and we should be on the road again.
worked on getting it running with Ms Danni's help. FANTASTIC... GOOD PERSON ^.^d
Here is a good 30 second video on diagnosing bad belt tensioners by Gates Corp:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTLV5IU_IMM
And, yes many techs recommend changing the tensioner when belts are replaced. The extra labor at belt change time is R&R one bolt!
Rick, Wendy,Sorry for your trials. You're moving faster than I can reply. I had put the following together but your alternator failure got ahead of my response. Because you need a special alternator belt, I'll find that number and get it to you. I would replace the tensioner, but if it is spinning freely and has no bearing play, it's not an immediate need.The following is just FYI, at this point, because the alternator failure has presented itself, but the information may help in trying to figure out the Root Cause of the alternator failure, if it wasn't a random initiating cause:You already have good advice. As long as the engine start batteries are holding any charge at all, starting the generator and closing the boost switch will keep you going in a safe fashion, all the way to San Diego if need be. Princess has been there before. Just a bit noisier and more costly to endlessly run the generator, but in 90+ degree weather, you'll need it for the roof airs anyway.When the engine start battery goes low, the Allison ECU goes dumb. So not unusual that it wouldn't change states.For whatever reason, your engine start batteries have lost their charge. If the batteries are still good, any one of the following on board systems will recharge the engine start battery bank;- The installed Trik-L-Start, if working properly, will allow the transfer of electrons from the house battery bank to the engine start bank (but only up to about a 5 amp current rate -- very slow charging).
- Closing the Boost switch will allow the transfer of much more charging current from the house battery bank to the engine start bank.
- The next highest charging rate of the engine start batteries will come from running the generator and having the boost switch closed.
- Once running, the engine alternator will generate the most engine start battery charging current. BTW, when the generator and coach engine are both running and the boost switch is closed, look at your generator amps. If the alternator is properly feeding current to the engine start battery bank, it will show zero generator current because the alternator output is at a slightly higher voltage than the battery charger output and therefore the generator current will go to zero (charger output voltage is back-biased). .
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So, a couple of questions:Do you think that the engine start batteries were low or dead when you started from home? i.e., did you start the coach on boost and was it lethargic in starting? The boost switch, if only getting energy from the house batteries (starting through the boost switch with a dead engine battery bank), will not provide an energetic start. If so, that means the engine start batteries were depleted while in storage. If that is the case, when you park tonight, I'd start by connecting a VOM to monitor the engine start battery bank current while everything DC is powered off and I had pulled all of the DC fuses at the foot of the bed, reinsert the fuses one at a time and determine which circuit is causing any unusual current drain. Listen for relays inappropriately closing when you reinsert fuses (stuck pilot relays or circuit breakers that keep power relays energized when the ignition is off, can exceed the Trik-L-Start's ability to keep the start battery bank charged up).Or, did the Allison reluctance to shift first show up only after you stopped at the rest area? If that is the case, alternator current isn't being provided to the engine start battery bank going down the road and just the current drain (through normal systems running) has gradually drained the engine bank. In that case, the alternator sense wire, the battery isolator, the alternator voltage regulator (internal to the alternator) and the general health of the two engine start battery bank Red Tops (and alternator itself) are called into question. BTW, if Red Tops are allowed to sit depleted for several days, it will likely cause some degree of permanent damage.Give me a call anytime,Neal
Rick/Wendy,
Here's the belt number:
K080638HD 63.80" effective length This may be a newer model number belt (maybe only available in the past few years?) It fits my engine configuration perfectly and the tensioner rides about 1/3 of its way through its travel, when the belt is first installed (about 1/2 way after 25K to 30 K miles in service). The "GREEN STRIPE" Gates Model (HD designator) is much longer lasting (I get close to double the longevity).
Here's the link to the forum thread:
http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=15819.msg98222#msg98222
Neal
...well hardly any real help except a little moral support, a bit of wi-fi to get onto the forum (they're already members!) til they got their's up & running & general cheer-leading.... O:) Nothing different from what any FoFum would have done had he/she come upon a FT with engine casing wide open & tools strewn about...met these fine folks at Christmas, good to see them again, though hopefully under better circumstances next time.
Wendy,
Be sure they understand the Foretravel alternator configuration (and presence of a battery isolator)
Alternator -DUVAC- isolator - explanation please (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=25980.0)
Hi Karen and Ted,
Besides the actual battery bolts, another spot to check for low engine batteries readings might what I found on mine coach recently...loose cable connection bolts on the buss bars that the engine battery cables are connected to. The negative cable bolt was loose, with movable connection. It was giving me very poor charging and slow engine cranking. Tightened it up and bingo...13.+ voltage on the dash volt meter again.
Jim
2002 U320
Update:
We are up and running--but we keep staying the night at places w/no Wifi or cell reception. Rick had a long explanation ready to post and the signal dropped and he lost the whole thing. Once we're at our destination tonight, he'll try again.
We do thank everyone for the help.
Wendy
Wendy,
When we are in marginal coverage areas, I will write a reply in word (new document), then copy and paste into the Forum.
If the connection fails, you don't loose what has been written.
Been there, experienced that-- oh the frustration!
Wendy,
The forum autosaves post and PM's in progress. Go to your profile and click "view drafts". Rick's post might be saved there; he can just edit and continue it.
Michelle