All Gauges Not Working

[CP598]

I have a 2005 Dutch Star on a Spartan chassis. The coach has been sitting about 2 months. I went to use the coach and as I turned on the ignition key I noticed none of the gauges worked. The tach, speedometer, oil pressure, water temp, etc. I contacted Spartan and Hunter emailed my some troubleshooting guides. The instructions stated to remove the connector on the back of the speedometer and use a volt meter to measure voltage between pin1 and pin2. I did this and the voltage is 5.4, it should be 12 volts. I unplugged and replugged the speedometer connectors, all the fuses labeled instrument in the front compartment on the driver side, checked all ground wires on the ground bolt on the circuit board and no change. I was wondering if anyone has experienced this and where you able to find the cause?

Thank you,

[azSkier]

Start with the basics. Clean the battery connections at the battery terminals. What is the chassis battery voltage?

[CP598]

I inspected the chassis battery terminals and they were tight and clean. I didn't measure the voltage but the engine cranks fine and starts. I will remove and clean all battery cables this weekend. Thanks for the suggestion.

[cavie]

Find the fuse panel and check all the fuses. If all are good start wiggling all connectors to the dash. Next step would be have the ignition switch checked.

[rvbiker45]

Originally Posted by CP598

I have a 2005 Dutch Star on a Spartan chassis. The coach has been sitting about 2 months. I went to use the coach and as I turned on the ignition key I noticed none of the gauges worked. The tach, speedometer, oil pressure, water temp, etc. I contacted Spartan and Hunter emailed my some troubleshooting guides. The instructions stated to remove the connector on the back of the speedometer and use a volt meter to measure voltage between pin1 and pin2. I did this and the voltage is 5.4, it should be 12 volts. I unplugged and replugged the speedometer connectors, all the fuses labeled instrument in the front compartment on the driver side, checked all ground wires on the ground bolt on the circuit board and no change. I was wondering if anyone has experienced this and where you able to find the cause?

Thank you,

If all of the suggestions fail to correct the problem, it might be the Tell-
Tale module. That is the rectangular thing on your instrument panel with all of the icons for warnings that pop up as alerts and on initial start up.
It has been suggested that they sometimes get a bad/failing resistor that will interrupt the correct information going to the instruments.
I have had to replace mine and it corrected the problem that I was having. I bought my replacement from Spartan.

[CP598]

Originally Posted by rvbiker45

If all of the suggestions fail to correct the problem, it might be the Tell-
Tale module. That is the rectangular thing on your instrument panel with all of the icons for warnings that pop up as alerts and on initial start up.
It has been suggested that they sometimes get a bad/failing resistor that will interrupt the correct information going to the instruments.
I have had to replace mine and it corrected the problem that I was having. I bought my replacement from Spartan.

Thank you for the reply. By unplugging the main power harness on the back of the speedo, you isolate all other gauges and the tell tale. The main power harness plugs into the back of the speedo and all other gauges get power from the speedo. The main power harness should be supplying 12v but is only supplying 5V. I have attached a page from the troubleshooting guide.

Thank you again for the reply.

[rvbiker45]

Originally Posted by CP598

Thank you for the reply. By unplugging the main power harness on the back of the speedo, you isolate all other gauges and the tell tale. The main power harness plugs into the back of the speedo and all other gauges get power from the speedo. The main power harness should be supplying 12v but is only supplying 5V. I have attached a page from the troubleshooting guide.

Thank you again for the reply.


Attachment 271775

I know what you are referencing. Actually, I replaced both the SCU, (the speedometer), and the Tell-Tell. I was totally at wits end as I had been chasing this problem for several years. Spartan and Newmar were trying to help, but not solving the problem. This problem was getting real personal and I decided it was not going to win. Once I found the people who manufactured the instruments, they sent the problem to their techies. They determined that maybe it was in the SCU or Tell-Tell panel. At this point, money was no issue, I wanted the problem to go away. I replaced the SCU and the Tell-Tell panel and after two years, I have not had a problem. Color me happy.

[CP598]

Originally Posted by rvbiker45

I know what you are referencing. Actually, I replaced both the SCU, (the speedometer), and the Tell-Tell. I was totally at wits end as I had been chasing this problem for several years. Spartan and Newmar were trying to help, but not solving the problem. This problem was getting real personal and I decided it was not going to win. Once I found the people who manufactured the instruments, they sent the problem to their techies. They determined that maybe it was in the SCU or Tell-Tell panel. At this point, money was no issue, I wanted the problem to go away. I replaced the SCU and the Tell-Tell panel and after two years, I have not had a problem. Color me happy.

That's good information to know, thank you!!!

My telltale is acting quite strange as well. As I stated, the speedo, tach, fuel level, air pressure, ODO, oil pressure, and volt meter do not work. My telltale, somewhat works. Several of the lights on it will flicker at times. When I turn on the high beams, the telltale stops flickering and illuminates the high beam indicator perfectly and the telltale seems to operate correctly after that. If I turn on the turn signal it illuminates as is should, and when I let off the accelerator the exhaust brake light illuminates normally. I hope I find the issue quickly without having to replace the SCU and the telltale. I heard the SCU is about $500

Thanks again for your input, much appreciated!

[rvbiker45]

As I recall, the SCU was about $500 and the Tell-Tell was in the $300 range. Not cheap, but that is the only solution that worked for me.

[Limey0001]

Happened to me, 2006 MA 43. found the the main pos and neg terminals at the main bus connector in the electrical bay under the drivers seat corroded and loose. Both sides, inside the cabinet and outside the cabinet. Took them off cleaned and rescued. No, no issues.

[AKbigbus]

I know I'm a year late but I have a similar issue with out 05 Kountry Star DSP only our gauges all work fine except when the engine is hot and under heavy load. At that time the gauges go off line but then come back on again. Stranger yet is not all gauges go off line at the same time. I'm thinking a poor connection some plate back in the motor bay?

[DandyDon]

Must be a pandemic. My Telltale is acting weird too and seems to be affecting the operation of my gauges, particularly my front air gauge. The lights on the Telltale have been malfunctioning, off and on, and today my front air gauge pegged with the needle pointing almost straight down and the Telltale lights flickering. Shut it off and restarted and the problem went away. Is replacing the Telltale a super complicated job??

[426smartin]

Any update on this? I started having (no spdo) in mileage window when gages quit then come back up everything is fine ---Did this twice today on a short run from campground.

[AKbigbus]

Originally Posted by AKbigbus

I know I'm a year late but I have a similar issue with out 05 Kountry Star DSP only our gauges all work fine except when the engine is hot and under heavy load. At that time the gauges go off line but then come back on again. Stranger yet is not all gauges go off line at the same time. I'm thinking a poor connection some plate back in the motor bay?

With Cummins power it would be nice to know the location of each sensor connection point on the main wire harness so I can back trace and look for signs of green death or better yet confirm each to be a good solid connection