Electrical Problem/Mystery

[dagman60]

While driving the other day, I suddenly had the cruise control, heater fan, signal lights, and rear view camera system shut down on my '98 Fleetwood Southwind Storm 30H. At the same time, my ABS warning light came on. About 5 minutes later, everything went back to normal except cruise control, which returned a couple of minutes after that. This happened 2 or 3 more times over the subsequent couple of days.

Yesterday, though, it happened again but this time the problem did not "fix" itself. I have checked all of the fuses and breakers under the dash and they are good. Strangely, the 4 way flashers and brake lights work, but the signals do not. The after-market camera system is powered off of a contact on the corner of the under-dash fuse block labeled "AUX".

I can't find anything helpful in the owners manuals. I have requested wiring diagrams from Fleetwood, but I thought I might pose the question here on this forum in case someone else may be able to shed some light on what is happening.

Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks.

[jeepfreak]

You don't say what chassis you have but I wonder if it could be a switch or module under the dash . The camera is tied into the backup light circut and maybe the directionals might go thru the same switch or module. Just a guess but might check under the dash at the base of the steering columb.

[SSteve]

That many things going wrong at the same time, then returning to normal makes me think a flaky electrical ground might be the issue.

I don't know your coach, but I'd start looking around the chassis for places where a number of wires are attached to the frame. Look for embeded goop, dirt, rust and undercoating. Yeah, the wires are usually copper, but the anchor is usually something else. Corrosion happens in mysterious ways.

I know this isn't much direct help, but those commom ground spots are well known to cause lots of problems. If you find any, they would be well served if cleaned up.

Steve

[dagman60]

Thanks Jeepfreak and Steve for the ideas. The chassis is a Chevy, although I am not entirely sure which model it is. The Owners Manual just says "1998 Chevrolet Light Duty P Model Chassis". I believe it is a P30 based upon a VIN decoder I found on the internet.

["007"]

dagman60, you maybe having trouble with your brake switch take a look at this thread, it may help.

[RLS7201]

Does your MH have a RV Custom Products Battery Control Center? I'll be in a black metal box, probably behind the grill. If so, look inside. If it has to silver relays, tap on them and see if the problem goes away. If it has only one silver relay, there will be a small plastic covered relay on the circuit board. tap on it and see if the problem corrects its self. Replace relay as necessary.

[dagman60]

My brake lights seem to be turning off alright, and the pedal appears to be returning to the fully released position without a problem.

Regarding the Battery Control Center, there is a panel behind the front grill with relays and other circuits on it for controlling/charging the battery systems. I am not sure if it is an RV Custom Products unit or not. I have attached a photo of it.

Unfortunately when I went out this morning to try the various things that have been suggested, the darn thing was working just perfectly, so I was not able to make any progress.

Thanks for all the assistance, folks. I really appreciate it.

Dave

[RLS7201]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dagman60 Regarding the Battery Control Center, there is a panel behind the front grill with relays and other circuits on it for controlling/charging the battery systems. I am not sure if it is an RV Custom Products unit or not. I have attached a photo of it. Dave

Nope Dave, that's not a RV Custom Products BCC. I wasn't sure which system the Flair got. Fleetwood didn't use the same systems on all their products of that era.

Richard

[RV Trax]

Wiggle the bulkhead wiring harness under the front hood drivers side, where it passes through the fire wall. I experienced several problems in this area on Fleetwood products. Leave the ignition key on, malfunctioning accessories on, and a second person to listen for the accessories to malfunction while performing this wiggle test.

[dagman60]

Update. I found the problem.

I purchased the service manuals for the chassis and using the wiring schematics, I was able to track down what circuit was driving all of the things that stopped working when the problem presented itself.
It turned out to be a bad connection in the connector at the base of the steering column that goes to the ignition switch. I unpluged/plugged the connector several times and it seems to be solid now. If the problem comes back, I will at least know where to look.

Thanks to everyone that offered assistance. It is greatly appreciated.

Dave