Radiator, Tranny and Voltmeter, oh my!

[Radacravitz]

with my headlights on

they all go awry :-(


(with acknowledgment and apologies to The Wizard of Oz ;-)

***
i bought our '95 wc8.3/md3060 trans last may, have been familiarizing myself with it since then and have taken a few familiarization / maintenance laps around the bay area.

the coach starts & drives great, but when a turn signal is activated the rad temp gauge and the voltmeter blip in synch with the signal.

when i turn on the head lights the radiator pegs on the high/right side, the voltmeter pegs to the low/left and **sometimes** the tranny temp pegs on the high/right side.

based on my interpretation of what i've read here, i've probably got a ground issue going on, most likely with the alternator.

any/all experience-based feedback welcome and appreciated.

thx!

[RamiDav]

It is a ground probably but I don't think its the alternator .
I think its a ground for the instrument cluster
You could try the easiest place first , outside on the firewall there should
be a ground strip , several screw and a bunch of white wires .
There is a good chance the problem is there , loosen , clean and retighten
those and hope that fixes it .
Otherwise a new ground wire from the gauges to that ground strip would
be my next step .

Ray

[Radacravitz]

great info, thx for the suggestions, ray!

anybody else have likely culprit suggestions or concur with ray?

[Rocky Larson]

Pull your turn signal flasher and see what happens.

Then pull each of your outside flashing bulbs one at a time and see if anything improves.

My dash acted up similiar to yours so I put my OEM flasher back and found one bulb, DS front, was at fault. Tested good but caused the problems.

Good luck

BTW, toad light issues also cleared up.

[Radacravitz]

Originally Posted by Rocky Larson

Pull your turn signal flasher and see what happens.



Then pull each of your outside flashing bulbs one at a time and see if anything improves.



My dash acted up similiar to yours so I put my OEM flasher back and found one bulb, DS front, was at fault. Tested good but caused the problems.



Good luck



BTW, toad light issues also cleared up.

got it, thx for the suggestion and instructions, rocky ... on my to-do list.

[windsorbill]

Originally Posted by Radacravitz

great info, thx for the suggestions, ray!

anybody else have likely culprit suggestions or concur with ray?

I had the same issue. I think Ray is correct. Check the grounding wires up front. From the grounding bar, I have another wire leading about 12" away and is grounded to the frame as well.

[Radacravitz]

gotcha, and thx very much. i’ll begin with ray’s approach and follow with rocky’s as needed.

i appreciate everyone’s suggestions, thx very much.

[YC1]

Post pictures if possible. There are lot of places that grounds may hide in plain sight.

Your symptoms are indeed like a bad ground. When you find a ground point be sure to take things apart after taking a picture first. Things must be shiny clean and tight.

[Radacravitz]

returning to this just this week.

* alternator connections are tight, though i can’t see its grunge factor.

* all firewall connections appear clean and snug but will double check before proceeding.

* d/s side light/marker was broken so replaced.

currently (no pun intended) all exterior lights / flashy things work as advertised.

bought a new telescoping mechanics mirror yesterday and will re-check everything before pulling dash to check gauge connections.

thx again for feedback. sometimes overtaken by life events but i’m slowly making progress.

[Radacravitz]

yesterday i fired it up and for this first time since the day i test drove it last may, there was a backup beeper sounding when the coach was in reverse; not present when not in reverse.

this morning i took it out for a 20 mile warm up lap and as i backed up, no beeper sound but the cummins radiator and voltmeter both responded when turn signal / headlights were turned on.

re-reading this thread a moment ago i realized i hadn't checked the flasher unit as earlier recommended ... i'll do that today as i'm doing a 50 mile lap tomorrow in prep for oil / fluids / lube work this coming week.

the coach ran / drove great ... it's **such** a pleasure to drive compared to our 454 gas bounder.

any comments / suggestions re ground / beeper / flasher connection are welcome :-)

[Radacravitz]

Originally Posted by RamiDav

It is a ground probably but I don't think its the alternator .
I think its a ground for the instrument cluster
You could try the easiest place first , outside on the firewall there should
be a ground strip , several screw and a bunch of white wires .
There is a good chance the problem is there , loosen , clean and retighten
those and hope that fixes it .
Otherwise a new ground wire from the gauges to that ground strip would
be my next step .

Ray

ray,

all of the wires are clean and tight, no visible corrosion. following Rocky’s comments about the flasher, I headed in that direction:

with the hazard flasher in

when I turn on the headlights and the dashboard gauge lights are at their lowest intensity / setting there is no impact on the gauges. when I turn on the headlights and the dashboard gauge lights are at their highest intensity / setting the radiator and the voltmeter go to opposite ends extreme - radiator high / voltmeter low.

with the hazard flasher out, gauge behavior is normal.

not a trick question: is this telling me the likely culprit is the hazard flasher or should i be looking somewhere else?

thx for any / all feedback.

[YC1]

The flasher is not the issue.

You need to pull the dash out to get to the guages.

You need to find a clean shiny ground place. A dremel tool with a sandpaper head does miracles.

Now that you are positive you have a good ground you need to find the "hot side" of one of the guages that is acting silly.

Just for fun, get things going bonkers and put the positive probe on the "not hot side" of the guage you are using for reference.

If you get any hint of voltage you have a bad ground.

Of course, see what is happening on the "hot side" of the guage too.

If you do NOT get any hint then grab a jumper wire and connect it to that point on the guage and hold it to the new shiny place you made.

[Radacravitz]

Originally Posted by YC1

The flasher is not the issue.

You need to pull the dash out to get to the guages.

You need to find a clean shiny ground place. A dremel tool with a sandpaper head does miracles.

Now that you are positive you have a good ground you need to find the "hot side" of one of the guages that is acting silly.

Just for fun, get things going bonkers and put the positive probe on the "not hot side" of the guage you are using for reference.

If you get any hint of voltage you have a bad ground.

Of course, see what is happening on the "hot side" of the guage too.

If you do NOT get any hint then grab a jumper wire and connect it to that point on the guage and hold it to the new shiny place you made.

sigh, the dash comes off tomorrow.

thx for the detailed instructions.

[Radacravitz]

dash is off and i’m rinsing through wires, connectors and such when i googled “headlight switch ground problem, monaco”

thinking about the comments in the link, i’m betting the “10 minutes to fix” by the monaco tech means it on the firewall side of things since removing the dash is a more involved effort.

hrrrmph, looks like i picked a bad week to quit sniffing glue.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f115/head...hts-77755.html