Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 16, 2025 ...

air brakes warning

October 23, 2012, 01:13:50 pm

Hi,
My 89 U280 has a "warning buzzer" in the dash that I think is for the brakes?  It used to come on after a cold startup for a few seconds after I took off the air brakes.  Yesterday was stopped on the highway for road construction and I put on the brakes while waiting for the pilot car- when started going again and took off the brakes, the warning sound (more a horn noise) stayed on and now only goes off when the park brakes are on.  Plenty of air pressure and brakes work fine.  Not sure if this warning indicator is malfunctioning and can be disconnected or if there is a more serious issue that needs addressed?

Thanks in advance,

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Re: air brakes warning

Reply #1 – October 23, 2012, 02:28:47 pm

The warning sound in our 1995 coach sounds on any kind of alarm. Alarms of which I am aware include: low air pressure, turn signals and four-way flashers, level system not in travel mode while key is on, and any of the "alarm" indicators on the dash alert panel. It would be prudent to find out why the alarm is sounding. There could be a defect in the alarm circuit, but the alarm may be warning you of a significant issue.

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Re: air brakes warning

Reply #2 – October 23, 2012, 02:52:54 pm

I'm with JD, it could be almost anything but there should be an idiot light on at the top of the dash showing what is causing the fault, if the light is not burned out. To check the lights, turn on the key after dark.  If your U280 has hydraulic Jacks, it could be that a jack did not return to its home position. On mine there are five lights, including ant. up light that come on with the key. It appears there are at least three other idiot lights that only come on when there is a problem but even if the light is out you should be able to see if the engine or transmission are overheating and if the oil pressure is low by the dial gauges.

If all looks good, to disconnect the warning sound, lift up the dash. The horn should be just to the left of the steering column. It should be a round white plastic piece with a hole in the middle. You can either unplug it or turn down the volume with the little set screw. Let us know when you find out what happened.

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Re: air brakes warning

Reply #3 – October 23, 2012, 08:18:14 pm

on my old 93 GV I had hydraulic kick down jacks and had the problem of the buzzer goin off while driving, sometimes it would go off after a while then later on it stayed on. If you have the same type jacks and a red light is on the panel while driving it could be a bad ground wire to one of them giving a false indication of it down or partly down. Each of this type uses a gr wire to do the srnsing and IF it is this then check all the connections on jacks, then if not that a bad wire. It took me a while to find my problem but in the end I found it.
John H

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Re: air brakes warning

Reply #4 – October 23, 2012, 09:18:15 pm

A u280 would not have hydraulic jacks. I would do as others have suggested and check if any warning lights might be on. Good luck finding the problem.

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Re: air brakes warning

Reply #5 – October 23, 2012, 10:45:29 pm

Hi,

It seems to have been the air bag leveling system (3 levers on the floor).  Dumped the air from the bags and started over per the manual and no more alarm.  No idiot lights were on, the turn signal is a beeper, this is more of a "fading-whiny horn" sound.  Life is good again.

One disappointment has been the manual, very basic.  If 1% of the knowledge on this board was in the manuals it would be awesome.  Thanks to all.

Man, getting to know these Foretravels is like getting married again...

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Re: air brakes warning

Reply #6 – October 23, 2012, 11:58:55 pm

did not realise that all 280's did not have hyd' jacks. I thought they were built to order (most) so if I wanted them they could have been put on (but I guess not)
My 93 Gv was the only one built (ever I was told by FT) that had complete floor heating for all water lines and underfloor, and then had a sheet metal box (about 4" deep)covering the whole underbelly and that was filled with styrofoam sheet insulation. It was a low volt system controlled by quite a few relays around the coach. The coach was built for a guy in Banff Alberta. (Rockies) The only problem I found was that if you had to do something from underneath it meant taking all this sheet metal framing off. I had to take the black tank out once to weld a cut in the plastic and getting to it was a chore.
John H

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