HELP!!! Lost my 12 volts from my starter batteries!!!!

BushlandGS · 05-15-2011, 05:46 PM

Hello everyone, here's what happened. I drove my 94' Friendship down to my Dad's house and back for a little drive to charge up the batteries. All was going until I got home, parked the rig with the engine still running. I then reached down to the hydraulic leveler controls to level her out. As soon as I started to level the MH......the engine quit and I lost all power to the ignition switch, dash board and hyd leveling system......just like that!!!! I have no idea where to start!!!!! Anybody have any ideas? Thanks.

mahon1993 · 05-15-2011, 06:03 PM

Bad ignition switch?? Loose plug on back of switch??
Greg

BushlandGS · 05-15-2011, 06:52 PM

I checked the plug on the back and it seems pretty tight...how would I check the switch itself?
Thanks.

**RV Wizard** · 05-16-2011, 03:29 AM

Check all battery cable connections to be clean and tight.
Check fuses and circuit breakers.
Check all grounds to frame.
Use a volt meter to verify voltage to ignition or any other switch or apparatus.

wa8yxm · 05-16-2011, 08:18 AM

When you went to start the engine you lost all 12 volt power... Wish I could say that's never happened to me but.. In a way, glad it has.

Here is what I did and what I found.. First I hit the EMERGENCY START (sometimes called AUX or AUX start button) it let me start and drive home..

Then I crawled to where the battery hides with my load tester,, It passed, flying color (Green).. I disconnected and re-tested, same result. I re-connected and it worked perfectly.

The problem.. Dirty connection, battery/cable..

Turns out they used the wrong kind of lug to attach to the battery so it corrodes and I have to clean it every so often.

BushlandGS · 05-16-2011, 04:01 PM

....found it! My starter solenoid was stuck. My dad jumped across it to see if it would try to start. After it turned over, I went in and tried the key and she fired right up!!!! Thanks for all the help guys!!!! I love this site!!!!

**RJay** · 05-16-2011, 04:08 PM

Glad everything turned out well and life is good again. Thanks for letting us know.

johnsonjm209 · 05-16-2011, 06:11 PM

Bushland, I just had the same experience. My tech checked the solonoid and heard the breaker noise and it was ok. He checked it about 50 times after that with the 12v battery disconnect. I took it home and when I got in my driveway the same thing happened. They told me to come right back. My batteries had low cranking power so they changed them. He was thinking of changing the solonoid when all of a sudden there was no power. He had just had power moments ago. They checked from the batteries at every point back to the solonoid and found a loose connection at the solonoid. When he would check it with his meter it would apply pressure and complete the circuit and when he would release it would open the circuit. When I drove it home prior to that, the bouncing around must have caused the loose connection to open again.
Used it the past 4 days dry camping and everything is fine now. The batteries were 8 years old so it was just a matter of time when I would have to replace them anyway.

So, check the connections and good luck.