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Soniccruzer · 09-04-2018, 04:28 PM

Hello Everyone,

For the last three months I've been having an issue on our 2018 Mountain Aire on a Spartan K3 chassis where I lose all my gauges after driving various distances. This has happened on 13 of 14 legs on our recent trip. It starts with a CHECK ENGINE light and audio warning followed by erratic gauges and then everything goes to "0". I lose everything, speedometer , tach, pressures and temps, DEF light bar. Fuel level and air tank pressures remain. Distances traveled before losing the gauges ranges between 8-350 miles and after stopping for a period of time things come back briefly.

The only variable I can come up with is outside temperature. If it's cooler while driving it takes longer to fail. Our last leg it was 91deg at 8AM and we only got 8 miles. Spartan has looked at it three times in service facilities and at two rallies to no avail. Newmar sent me to our local dealer in San Diego and they just called and said unable to find anything. #%*^&&. I have worked with both Newmar and Spartan and have taken it where they suggested and a conference call is planned for tomorrow.

Has anyone experienced anything closely rated to this.

tmh1953 · 09-04-2018, 04:46 PM

Yes we have had same type of problem. Our 2014 Essex with Cummins 500 hp/k2 spartan chassis did basically the same as you described. Our problem, there is pigtail with a cap at the back of the engine the pig tail is where tech's hook up laptop to download diagnostics. There is a o ring on the inner side of the cap. The o ring wasn't sealing the pig tail and just a small amount of moisture would result in all the above conditions. Pig tail was replaced never another problem. We took factory delivery in July 2014 and the problem started in September 2014.

TJ · 09-04-2018, 05:18 PM

We had it happen once with our 2014 Ventana LE on a Freightliner chassis. FL did a complete reset on the chassis computer (unplugged it for 30 minutes and they plugged it back in). That resolved the problem for us.

TJ

Soniccruzer · 09-04-2018, 09:22 PM

Thanks for the early replies. One other note, when this happens I get three fault messages NO DATA ENGINE, NO DATA TRANSMISSION, NO DATA ABS.

I appreciate the two replies they will give me something to talk about in the conference call tomorrow.

TJ · 09-04-2018, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soniccruzer

Thanks for the early replies. One other note, when this happens I get three fault messages NO DATA ENGINE, NO DATA TRANSMISSION, NO DATA ABS.

I appreciate the two replies they will give me something to talk about in the conference call tomorrow.

By the sound of your three fault messages, I think tmh1953 is probably on the right track. That data would come from the J1939 circuit/connector that he refers to as the "pigtail where the techs hook up [a] laptop." It sounds like something is amiss with the on-board computer, data buss or cable/connector.

Good luck in getting this worked out quickly.

TJ

Soniccruzer · 09-04-2018, 10:49 PM

Thanks TJ

lce3 · 09-05-2018, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soniccruzer

Thanks for the early replies. One other note, when this happens I get three fault messages NO DATA ENGINE, NO DATA TRANSMISSION, NO DATA ABS.

I appreciate the two replies they will give me something to talk about in the conference call tomorrow.

I'd be interested in knowing how the conference call turns out.

willipaul · 09-05-2018, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lce3

I'd be interested in knowing how the conference call turns out.

me too.....

Soniccruzer · 09-07-2018, 12:39 PM

Well the conference call with both Newmar and Spartan was on Thursday. After further discussion it was decided to head back over the Spartan court and return to a level 1 Spartan service center for further analysis. I had already made an appointment at Colton Truck Terminal and that's where she is headed next week.

I will continue to provide follow ups as they become available.

TJ · 09-07-2018, 01:01 PM

Please do let us know the outcome. I'm betting on a computer or data buss issue that will be resolved by replacing the hardware and/or software involved.

Good luck.

TJ

lce3 · 09-07-2018, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soniccruzer

Well the conference call with both Newmar and Spartan was on Thursday. After further discussion it was decided to head back over the Spartan court and return to a level 1 Spartan service center for further analysis. I had already made an appointment at Colton Truck Terminal and that's where she is headed next week.

I will continue to provide follow ups as they become available.

Thanks for the update. After the discussions, it's hard to believe this isn't a known issue that they would have figured out a fix for.

Sorry you're having to go through all this but please keep us posted.

BigDogSolo · 09-08-2018, 07:47 AM

Scott, You have been a patient man! I hope the next few discussions/visits gets this resolved. I would be parked on someone"s (or several someone's) desk at this stage.
Look forward to your progress.

Hi to Cindy!

Soniccruzer · 09-08-2018, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigDogSolo

Scott, You have been a patient man! I hope the next few discussions/visits gets this resolved. I would be parked on someone"s (or several someone's) desk at this stage.
Look forward to your progress.

Hi to Cindy!

Thanks Sal