Please be advised that this is an old post that I was working on December of 2017. Have not completed it, publishing it for posterity.
What the long winded story winds up with, and what's not fully fleshed out, is after broke down, after tried to fix it on the road, after getting towed to a mechanic, after the mechanic scratched their balls (yes, they were males) and heads (don't want to know which head), I fixed it myself by following some basic troubleshooting steps. By tracing the main power wire, which did not have power, and then figure out how it gets power. To get power to the dash bypassed a relay that went bad in the engine battery compartment (temporarily, replaced it later) and it fired up straight away.
Original WIP (Work in Progress) below
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Was happily on my way from Deming, NM to Hondo, TX, cruising down the road, well, rumbling up a hill, and all of a sudden had flickering gauges. They've been acting up now and then so thought nothing of it and reduced electrical usage and kept on rolling.. Until...
One fateful moment, going up a hill, and turned the windshield wipers on, as there was a light mist falling (like the Seattle area winter mist). It was at this point the gauges went wild and then went out... No power, no engine, was just coasting, thankfully up a hill. Brakes were extremely hard, really couldn't steer at all (a little but not much), and was nearing crest of hill with no idea what was on other side.
Thoughts of Grandeur, or something akin to that, were going through my head on what could happen. However, did my best to stay focused and steered to breakdown lane ASAP and pressed pretty hard on the brakes. At the last moment still had a tiny amount of electrical power to transmission so slipped that into neutral and pulled the parking break as pulled to a stop.
And there I sat..... Contemplating life choices and what just went wrong.
No major incidents, no changing of underwear (for those that wear), just a reflection on the moments that led up to this moment, trying to figure out what went wrong where.
Will cut to the chase at this point, but the final diagnosis, and what got me on the road again, was a faulty relay. Soon as bypassed that was able to get dash power and away I went!!! HOORAY!!!
Yet, to get to that point the struggle was real, super real...
Every capable Rv owner should carry a basic set of tools, such as socket set, wrenches, allen wrenches, hammers, multi-meter(s), and whatever else they figure they could need. It was due to this that I was able to start the diagnosis.
First steps first, check the battery. All good, 13.5 volts or better on both the house and the engine batteries. The engine ones are most important so focused on those, house (golf cart) batteries were just to be thorough.
Next, checked connections, all are in order, no corrosion, did have one loose connection on the first engine battery, but that didn't solve issue when I tightened it.
I followed this up by breaking out the manual, yes, the infamous manual we never seem to read but know it exists. In that manual knew there were electrical schematics. But, haven't truly read them since high school.. You can figure out where this is going, not far. Could tell alternator, battery, fuses, but after that completely and utterly lost. But, I did get a schooling and learned a lot so all not lost.
My thoughts followed next course of action, trying to diagnose further why not getting power. In the rear of the coach knew had power, buku power, lots of power, but, as you now know, it wasn't getting up front. Didn't think much of the wiring in the middle as that seemed to be just a straight run.
The next step was to check all the fuses, front and rear. There was one little 5 amp fuse in the rear that was blown, replaced that and still no power. All the fuses in front appeared to be good with no corroded contacts, almost pristine but a little aged.
Baffled, headed back to schematic, only to throw hands up again in confusion.
Next, searched the wonderful internet, where everything we read is true, except fake news, but who knows what's fake. It was at this point that stumbled on some forums and they insinuated that the factory is more than willing to help out with no power to the dash problems.... Sooo, you know what I did, called the factory.
Called and got a real, blue blooded American!!!! Miracles, and spoke perfect english... America is Great!!! Well, it is what we make of it. However, much to my chagrin, and though he tried and tried and tried, couldn't find the manual and or schematics for my older coach. I was just amazed that he was willing and able to search!!! Kudo's to FreightLiner, well, maybe Daimler / Chrysler, well, who knows, telephone system was weird. Was just happy someone answered.
The factory guy did suggest I start diagnosing at the dash and work back from there, so that's what I did, but quickly got lost. Just a plethora of wires, both from the factory and add-on wires that the original owner put in.
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