dickandlois

BillAdams Posted Yesterday, 08:53 PM I have nearly the exact same issue with an older Detroit 8V92 and no one has ever been able to figure out why I am not producing the boost that I used to. Even when it gets "wound up" I still see less boost than I used to. The fuel pressure is correct where you would measure fuel pressure, the turbo is good and the filters are all good. Could you tell me a bit more about what exactly you found to be a problem? How did someone diagnosis this problem? Where is the located that found the problem? I will go anywhere to get my power back Bill, looks like Chuck covered everything except the repair shop. A pin hole in the fuel line running between the lift pump and the injector pump is a new one for me. Wonder if there was fuel leaking out the pin hole or if the injector pump demand minimized the fuel loose under idle speed. That problem would be a difficult one to find. Think the only way would be a vacuum or pressure test of that section of the fuel line to be sure of its integrity! Know now to keep in mind the condition of the fuel supply line running between pumps and age of the coach. Rich.

Bill, Welcome to the FMCA forum! One would think that the Starter Ground would go there, But grounds are grounds and the coach and chassis grounds both connect to the chassis frame. So if you connect the Engine / chassis batteries to the starter, that point in turn connects the engine that has a large ground Strap; in most cases that connects the starter to the chassis. There is often a separate(Smaller Gage)ground cable running between the alternators and the chassis / battery ground. This ensures a good ground for the charging circuit. Alternators bolted directly to the engines should provide a ground point, but many engines have a large ground strap connected between the starter and the chassis frame to provide a good high current path when starting the engine. One then has some extra ground connections between 2 points and a bad connection at any of them can limit current flow, the roundabout way uses less heavy gauge wire and saves some money. Bottom line-- Save a buck where and when you can! The result is the phrase, Check the Grounds / Check the Grounds. when something is not working the way it should first ! Uncle Sam says ground is ground the world around. So if you had an issue with the transmission pad until you connected the engine battery ground to the Coach battery ground. Is there a bad ground connection or grounding strap somewhere? You may never know, unless you try to find the ground point the shift pad did not see when wired the way you had it the first time. Rich.

Thanks for the heads up! Those old Keystone State boy's are for the most part, very friendly and helpful. Think that Chad knows where you live, by his willingness to lend you the tools needed. Rich.

Herman, Do not think in the long run there is a big difference between Interstate and Exide. Do know that Exide makes the OEM batteries for a number of the auto makers assembling units in the US. I also suspect the Interstate contracts to make some OEM batteries. Rich.

When to change out the Chassis and or the Coach batteries for me depends on the Hydrometer reading. A reading of 1250 and below in one cell is a signal to replace them. I change both chassis batteries (pair of Group 31- HD in our case) rated at (925-CCA). One bad cell can discharge both batteries because they are connected in parallel. The Coach batteries are replaced using the same Hydrometer reading, because I change them out in sets of 4. Just last year one of my 6 volt batteries had a cell shot out and it discharged all four. The temporary fix was to get a voltage reading across each battery, to find the bad battery. I removed that pair by disconnecting the ground wire connecting the pair from the remaining good set. This did reduce the total AH by 50 % until a replacement was located for the offending battery. Currently out of sync regarding the replacement cycle. Running one new battery with the best of the set of 4 that was replaced the last time and replaced 2 - 6 volt batteries. One pair of 6 volt batteries, just would not charge above my self imposed change out reading of 1250 on the hydrometer. One battery that was from the previous 4 battery cycle is still reading 1275+ after 1 year and is paired with the on road replacement. Just could not replace one that was still on top of it game, so to speak. Rich.

Jack, you might want to contact the coach maker and see if they can supply you with the wiring diagrams for the circuit referencing while repairing and trouble shooting. One should take a number of pictures and some good notes when there is a number of loose wires. Rich.

Bob, If you feel comfortable working on the Start and Run capacitors and 120volt AC circuits. Remember they hold a charge and do not want you to fall off the roof !!! Turn off the circuit breaker(s) powering the unit. Look and see if one of the capacitors is deformed or like its leaking. Short out the caps with a screwdriver placed across the terminals, make sure you are only holding the handle(They might ark / spark) If you have a multimeter with a Cap testing setting check to cap readings, also check for a short using the resistance scale. Think that if the motor is turning freely and the voltages are good as mentioned by Brett, that there is a good chance you have a defective starting or run cap. Some of the Motor circuits have a small start module, but that is generally on the AC compressor motor. This is a link to the installation manual and page 19 pictures the wiring circuits, one would expect to see. http://www.dometic.com/1f24ead8-6316-41b6-894c-d01f87ce6bad.fodoc. NOTE! A compressor motor can draw a high current, should it be defective! Rich.

Do you have the manual for your Atwood? And could you post the model information. There is a good possibility that the element was damaged. Can you locate the AC heater Element control circuit, located on the back side of the tank? There is a reset button located on the board, Red in color and on the right side as you look at it. In most cases. You might get lucky !! and that will solve the issue. Rich.

BK, Could you post the year and model of the Dometic AC / Heat pump unit for the group. Will the fan-motor turn freely? The pop sound you mentioned,can you tell if it is coming from AC compressor motor? Rich.

promaster60, Welcome to the FMCA forum! Could you post a picture of your alternator for the group? Your alternator current rating is most likely 160 amps. There are a number of mounts used and the way they are wired, a picture would help. The other option would be to call Freightliner with your coach VIN number, only the last 6 numbers are needed, something like C12345. Get the part number and post it. Then the wiring connections are easier to figure out. Look at this link to see pictures of a very common alternator stile used on the Fleetwood Coaches. http://community.fmca.com/gallery/album/265-alternator-problems/ The last 4 pictures are of a 160 and 200 amp Delco alternator. That uses the J-180 mount. Rich.

David, many of the 50 amp Coach's have electric stoves and a greater need for 220volts. To achieve 220 volts would require a second Inverter. Not knowing how your coach was set up, though I would mention the possibility of the need. You listed the number of 6 and 12 volt batteries and that would lead one to believe you only had one unit. The advent of the AGM Series battery has increased to AH rating and life of the battery's Hope that clears up the confusion ! The right Charger / Inverter would allow you to add the auto start feature down the road, should the option become desirable. Rich.

Well, I will take a shot at #3 of your project! The fact that your coach is presently equipped with a 2K inverter / charger, it should not be too bad of a job; as long as they are similar is size. One item to address is the possibility of acoustic coupling, of the 60 cycle hum they can produce. You mentioned installing only one, so I'm thinking your coach is set up for a 30 amp shore service. 30 amp. one 120 volt hot, one neutral and one ground. 50 amp shore service would have 4 wire connection, 2-120 hots, with a neutral and ground. The Auto Start systems vary some regarding how the monitoring system work and the Start / Run programing We are still not equipped with one. Rich.

Bill, The AC supply shops have fin tools. The fin spacing on the Roof AC units is Very small. The real issue regarding the hail damage, was the fins being bent down on top of each other. This prevented the tools from fitting between the fines. So I needed to use an old table knife to open up the spacing of fins, the width of the fine fin tool I found to see how that worked to make things look neat. That proved time consuming also and really did not improve performance. So I think just using a knife and a lot of patience works the best under the circumstances. Rich.

John, As mentioned by Huffy, you need a strong magnet and hold it against the module / circuit board; on the side near the red LED. Rich.

3521mt, The injector lines would be supplied by the engine manufacture. Will need engine serial number. The radiator would be installed by the Chassis manufacture, ( Chassis could have been made by Spartan) you will need the VIN number, and the air bags would have been installed by the chassis manufacture. The coach was made by Fleetwood. they might be able to supply you with some information using the Coach FIN number. You might check with the RV museum to see if they might have some of the information on file. That might get you started in your search for parts. Rich.

Had the same damage at the Rally. It does take time to straighten out all those fins! Rich.

Thanks for posting the answer to the problem ! Not real expensive, maybe a little less hair and an aspen ! Rich.

tclingan, Welcome to the FMCA forum! Could you post the Make, Model and Year of your coach for the group? They do not wire them all the same and that keeps things interesting. Well, from my point of view, not for someone who is going through the electrical problem though! Rich.

Good Point Brett! Think I need to remember that not everyone has lived with a meter in hand for over 50 years ! LOL Rich.

Some of the newer ABS systems store fluid internally. So the question is, did someone do some brake work on the unit and what work was done? Air in the systems can cause the ABS systems and the brakes to be soft or pulse. This could have caused issue, if it had not been driven after the work was done. Rich.

ronnielee, Welcome to the FMCA forum! The unit you have charges the batteries and supplies 120 volts when the inverter is running. How old are the batteries? and have you measured the the voltage across each one? Think you should check the condition of the batteries, to see if you have a shorted cell(s) in one or more of them. That would put a sizable load on the unit. Rich.

Ray, Could you clarify, the cold idle information. When one is charging the engine AC units, the engine can be running for an extended time. A little difficult not to have them idle for an Hr. sometimes. Rich.

Gary, Think a call to Country Coach to see if there is a dealer near you that could look the coach over or maybe the factory could give you some pointers. There could be items they would question you about before the coach is moved. Rich.

Paul, The glass used in the side windows is tempered and can be tricky to replace. Never tried plexiglass myself. Had to have one replaced in one coach we owned. I have glass coverage and had a glass shop replace it only to have 2 on them fail. So they ordered the glass in question from the OEM supplier and it was still in one piece when we traded for a new coach. They checked the frame and mounting carefully and could not figure out why the ones they installed where breaking. Just wanted to pass on that information to you. It is not always a straight forward item to replace and I have used the same glass shop for over 35 years to do all my work and that one really had them stumped!! Good luck, Rich.

wellsie, Do you know who's system is used to open and close the slide in question? Could you post the information for the Group? Rich.