No power to gauges and warning lights help

[lstinker]

Okay guys just checking if any of you had this problem. I own a 2000 Holiday Rambler Endeavor 39" pusher with a 330 Cat and been having a problem with the gauges and warning lights not working properly. The engine still starts and everything seems to work except the gauges and warning lights. I checked the fuse for the instrument cluster and it is ok, it seems to be temperamental. I messed with it most of the day with no good results. Called Freightliner to have them look at it, got in it to take to the frieghtliner dealer this afternoon it started fine but gauges were not working, turned parking lights on and on comes the gauges. turned lights of and everything was ok, shut down motor and restarted it several times without lights on and everything was fine. Shut motor down and cycled the key several times and the gauges worked every time. Is this a ground problem? is there a separate ground for the gauges? Any help would be greatly appreciated (suppose to leave for Maggie Valley Sunday) Thanks John

[Tony Lee]

Had similar problem on a freightliner year 2000 chassis and on one trip after a bit of research on various forums came up with no leads I gave up on it and just put up with gauges working erratically. Next trip I replaced the engine batteries and took the opportunity to do a bit of routine checking of grounds and the problem went away and has never returned, Just coincidence maybe but who cares

[marjoa]

FYI...put your MH information into your signature
Take a couple of minutes to fill out your signature with information about your motorhome (MH). This will really help in all future posts, so you don’t have to type it in each time.
You do this by:
1) Going to the top of this page and click the top left tab named “User CP”
2) Look at the menu on the left and scroll down to “Settings & Options” and click “Edit Signature”
3) In that text box type all the information about your MH, Year, model, length, mileage, any aftermarket extras installed, your toad and so on.

And yes it does sound like a ground issue.

[Fred Cooper]

I had a 2000 Holiday Rambler Endeavor on the Freightliner chassis for many years. Since you took the coach to Freightliner, I will assume yours is on a freightliner chassis. Monaco switched to the Roadmaster chassis sometime in late 2000 or 2001.

Your guages are all electronic, driven from a data bus signal from the vehicle data computer. From the VDC, the signal goes to the light bar (symbols in box on the dash). From the light bar, a spider harness sends all data to all instruments, and each instrument picks off the data required. You can scramble the leads to the instruments and they will still work correctly.

For a Freightliner document describing the system along with troubleshooting steps, click the link below:

www.irv2.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=62028&d=1399154181

Bad battery connections, low voltage, or bad ground connections can cause problems. I would start with cleaning battery connections, reseating the big connector on the VDC, and reseating any connectors you find to and from the light bar on the instrument panel. The VDC and the transmission controller are located in the upper part of one of the passenger side cargo bins near the rear wheels. The VDC and transmission controller will have a black cover hiding both computers. The VDC is the one with the 2 air lines going into it.

There is also a problem with bad solder joints on the VDC causing bad readings on the air pressure guages, but I do not think this is your problem. There is more info on this problem in the Freightliner chassis section of this forum.

Since your guages began to work again when a slight voltage change occurred, my bet is on a dirty or corroded connector at the VDC, Light Bar, or somewhere in between these units.

The Freightliner help desk (1 800 ftl help) can also give advice (free service). Have your vin number (last 6 digits) handy as they will ask for this info.

Fred

[Hooligan]

My 2000 DP on Freightliner chassis had gauge problems and I checked the connections at the VDC and the VIM and that seemed to help. The computer (TCM) , VDC (Vehicle Data Computer) and VIM (vehicle Instrument Module) were located in the rear compartment on passenger side behind a partition but could be anywhere.
They look like :