All was well. We stopped for lunch, and when we turned the key to first click, ALL the dials keep going up and down and the alarm is ringing. Nothing lights up on the dash and it starts ok and I drove a few feet in the truckstop we are at with no problem. I have a call into John at FOT Motorclub, but he must be very busy. Can anyone help??What am I missing here?
[edited topic title to be more descriptive - Michelle]
Ground cable to chassis steel maybe
Where do I look?
What am I looking for?
This sentence is throwing us-- if an ignition solenoid failure, gauges will not work and transmission shift pad will not illuminate and it will not start.
You have only some of those symptoms.
Guessing: Intermittent connection at the ignition switch "RUN" position? If so, should be able to hear the ignition solenoid opening and closing.
Good idea to check engine battery connections. Remove, clean and replace.
Pierce
Connections at the ignition solenoid perhaps? Maybe solenoid hasn't completely failed so just low flow through it. When mine failed it would illuminate the Allison display but driving the gauges and lights would cut out.
OK. Thanks for the responses. I had a call into FT . He was baffled by my problem. Said it could be some regulator for Stuart Warner that THEY DON'T MAKE ANYMORE!!!!. While I was talking to him, with the engine fired up and the dials jumping up, then down, over and over, and with the alarm bell " dinging away".......it settled down to normal. Well, for a while. Then my speedometer started to go berserk. Jumped from 25 ( while I was doing 55 ) to 55, to 85 to 25 to 55.......you get the picture. Odometer works fine. Another problem is that there is " fogging " in a few of my gauges . I am heading towards Nac in a few weeks and hope to resolve this and some other issues. If anyone knows a fix to the speedo, and the fogging, please let me know. Everything was working SOOOO well.............
Check alternator output and battery volts.. mine did this right before I ran out of juice when my alternator died.
HOW do I do it??
Does your voltage gauge work? Can you hook up your multi meter so you can see it at the helm.
Ours did something very similar.
Try jumping out the ignition solenoid.........temporarily...... or just replace it and worst case you will have a spare.
I used a 200 amp continuous duty Cole Hersee from NAPA ....... about $60
Our coaches are different, so your problem may or may not? Be different.
While driving north on I81 thru the Shenandoah Valley the gauges started bouncing around and then went to Zero.
Engine ran just fine. I had my son pull the dash control panel cover and "tap" or "beat" on the ignition solenoid with a screw driver handle and everything started working as it should.
Stopped at the next Napa and replaced the solenoid and no more problems.
I have never had to deal with this Solenoid issue that folks are mentioning. Can someone post a picture and a better description of the part (60 dollars at NAPA)?
Would like to know more about what the part does associated to the gauges, I am familiar with instrumentation requireing a Constant Voltage Regulator and it would be nice to know where that is as well.
Thanks in advance for providing more detail about the dash instruments and how they work.
Chuck
Good Morning Chuck!
You might try searching the term "ignition solenoid" on this Forum. You'll find enough reading material to keep you busy for a good while.
Photos Too! Ignition Solenoids (http://beamalarm.com/Documents/ignition_solenoids.html)
Cheers, (another) Chuck