Rough Road triggers "Check Engine" light

[EvenSteven]

Was heading out of town recently with our 05 HR Endeavor 36 SKT and hit a sharp expansion joint in the highway that sent a jolt throughout the coach. The audible alert signal <beep, beep, beep> went off for a second or two, and then went away.

Coming back home a few days later, we hit another rough spot that bounced the coach pretty good. I was looking at the dash at the time, and noticed many of the dash indicator lamps and warning signals flashed on and back off, with the audible alert signal <beep, beep, beep> sounding off for a second or two. This time, the "check engine" light stayed on.

All gauges and displays seemed normal for the conditions. The coach was driving normally, with power and response as usual.

During the 2 hour trip home, the "check engine" light went off and on a number of times. It would stay off for 10 or 15 minutes, then it would come back on for a similar time period. This continued to occur all the way home; and the rig was behaving normally with all gauges at their appropriate state.

Sounds like maybe I jarred a connector loose? I'm going to try to recover any trouble codes with the "diag" button, but wanted to poll all you experts here for any hints as to what may have triggered my trouble light. Since it seemed to be initiated by a physical jolt, would it be best to start looking for loose connectors at all the sensors and related components???

Thanks in advance for your ideas!

[bluepill]

Many, many possible things. A scan of your ECM for codes might point you in the right direction.

[Mike Canter]

I would recommend taking it in and getting the trouble codes read to see if it gives you a clue as to what sensor and wiring harness it may be. It also maybe the engine ECU that is the cause.

[VanDiemen23]

large quick motions in my coach trigger an alarm that seems to be related to the jacks - must be a rollover warning.

[EvenSteven]

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

I worked in the coach tonight some, and using the "diag" button, couldn't see any trouble codes showing. The way I understand it, holding the "diag" button down with the key on will show trouble codes with the flashing "stop engine" warning lamp. Both my "check engine" and "stop engine" warning lamps were lit solidly during the diag. button test; which should mean I've got no new codes.

After starting the engine, my "check engine" light is not on anymore as well.

I'll drive the rig around a bit this weekend to see if anything else odd shows up; and will crawl around checking as many connectors as I can reach.

[Meandering Retiree]

I have had the same problem on our 03 Windsor. I have had two different techs work on it...one found a loose wire that was not seated properly in the connector...still had the problem...other tech said that it was a loose connection in the back on the starter...said that he fixed it...hit a bump 50 miles down the road and had the same problem again....it is a loose wire somewhere, but I doubt that I will ever find it...as long as the engine continues to start up again and run until I can pull off of the road, shut down, and restart it, I will keep traveling.

[Mike Canter]

That is a separate backbone wiring harness that goes from the gauges to the ECU. No connection to the starter solenoid. That guy was a great tech. Normally the ECU puts a ground on the wire from the dash CEL to light the warning light. The fact that it is not dropping a trouble code means that it is NOT a wire to a sensor because then the ECU would record a fault on that sensor that can be read. If that CEL comes on because a wire to a sensor is loose then it has enough time to record that fault into memory. That eliminates all those wires running to all those sensors. Basically that only leaves the ECU being at fault.

[diggermik85]

Hi i had a very similar problem on my 2009 Cayman drove me nuts i would hit a bump and the stop engine/check engine light would come on so after trying everything i could think of i took all the battery connections apart cleaned the connections and put all back together and never had the problem again. Worth a try

[EvenSteven]

Well, it sounds like others have been down this road before!

I took the coach out for a drive this past weekend and everything seems normal. Couldn't get the CEL to light, and no unusual gauge happenings.

I had my coach batteries out to replace them right before the trip where this trouble started; but I can't imagine the coach batteries having that kind of an effect on the chassis electrical??? I will clean and inspect the chassis battery connections before we go out for our New Year's trip back to the Anza Borrego Desert, though. That sounds like good advice.

It also makes sense that this probably isn't sensor or actuator related, since that would generally throw codes.

Do you think a split second of the chassis batteries being disconnected due to some type of loose connection would have triggered the CEL and caused all my dash lamps to pulse on??? This thought crossed my mind right after it all happened; but I would have thought the engine would have stumbled or shut down enough to notice from the drivers' seat. The way all the dash warning lamps flashed on and then off again reminded me a little of how the dash lights up when you first turn on the key. Hmmmm.....

I appreciate the help, everyone!