1990 Fleetwood Pace Arrow Battery Connections?

[HavocSun]

I seem to have found everything I needed to learn about my Arrow (Thank You) except for, how do I hook up the 3 - 12volt Battery's?

It's a 1990 Fleetwood Pace Arrow, 454 Chevy V8. All the battery's were removed. I have no idea how to hook them back up I have 8 various sizes & colors of connectors & Jumpers. There our 3-12V Battery's, all deep cycle. One has much larger cranking Amps then the other 2. All of them came back to full charge (13-14 volts) on a overnight trickle charge!

A picture of a 1990 Fleetwood Pace Arrow Battery compartment would be fantastic. (all connected of course)

If needed I can take a picture of all the wires.

[HoneyBadger]

OK, if all three are house batteries, you're going to want to hook 12v batteries up in parallel; that means a cable going from positive to positive to positive, and more cables from neg to neg to neg. There will be one heavy posiive cable coming from your power center inside the coach, and a neg cable hooked to the frame.

Or do you mean you have one starting battery and 2 house batteries? In that case, the larger battery is your starting (coach) battery and the other 2 are house (and connected in parallel).

There should be 2 big/thick positive cables; trace the one that goes back to your engine starter, and that the cable for the coach. The other big positive cable is for your house batteries.

You'll also have 2 neg cables, both connected to the frame.

You will also have a pos cable to go between the 2 house battery pos, and a neg cable for neg to neg.

[HavocSun]

From what I can tell this was a upgrade, originally it had 1 12V battery for the engine & 2 6V battery's for the coach. My guess is the larger battery is for the engine since its cranking over a big block 454 Chevy. The other 2 our to be hooked up to the coach in series. I can figure the basics of that out. But here's my problem, there is at least 8 wires of different gauge & color. One is white, One is Black, the others our all red. But I have been told some of these need to go on the engine battery & some on the coach battery's. If I connect them wrong I may not get the 12 volt converter to work or when I turn on the generator it may not charge all the battery's. Some have told me the white wire is a ground, some have said its positive. Connecting that up incorrectly I'll short something out. The best thing to do is find someone that has same year, same engine Pace Arrow as mine and ask them to take a picture of there setup.

[Old Bounder]

No photos, but these original diagrams should assist in hooking the batteries up correctly.

[HoneyBadger]

Since you have replaced the original 6 volt batteries with 12v, they must be hooked up in parallel. If you hook them up in series, as in Old Bounders diagram, you will end up with 24 volts in the coach.

The picture below shows your 3 batteries hooked up; there is basically only one way to do this.
If you have a generator, there will be 3 big cables coming in to the battery compartment; or 4 big cables if you also have a boost switch.

There will be 2 negative/ground cables attached to the frame; it doesn't matter which you use for engine or house batteries.

It doesn't matter which negative post of your house battery bank goes to ground, (think of the battery bank as one BIG battery with 2 pos and 2 neg posts) and it doesn't matter which positive post of your battery bank goes to the converter. Your generator will hook up to either positive post, if you have a generator, and if you have a momentary switch on your dash for battery boost (probably has a lightning bolt on it) there will be a cable from either positive post to your starter as well.

For safety, you will have to trace out your main positive cable to the starter and the positive cable to your converter so you know which is which.

You may also have small diameter wires hanging around- these are usually to power aftermarket stuff like gauges, trickle chargers and so on.

Color of the cables and wires is usually not helpful in an old coach- things get replaced over the years or were the wrong color to start with.

[Old Bounder]

Originally Posted by HoneyBadger

Since you have replaced the original 6 volt batteries with 12v, they must be hooked up in parallel. If you hook them up in series, as in Old Bounders diagram, you will end up with 24 volts in the coach.

Absolutely true. That's why the diagrams link I provided was aptly named "Original diagrams". Maybe I should have stressed that point.

Personally, I would discard those 12V marine hybrid batteries and return the coach to two six volt batteries. JMPO

[HoneyBadger]

Originally Posted by Old Bounder

Absolutely true. That's why the diagrams link I provided was aptly named "Original diagrams". Maybe I should have stressed that point.

Personally, I would discard those 12V marine hybrid batteries and return the coach to two six volt batteries. JMPO

I was referring to the OP's remark that he thought the 12v house batteries should be hooked up in series; just wanted to emphasize the DONT DO THAT aspect. I wasn't sure he understands the difference between series and parallel.

I agree with your advice about using 6 volt; we use 4 6v. If space is limited, OP could just get the 2 biggest amp-hour 6 volts the pocketbook can afford.

[HavocSun]

Unbelievable! I wonder what we did before we had the internet!! Between Old Bounder's & HoneyBadger's reply to my post, I have everything I need!!! My deepest thanks. This Pace Arrow sat for almost 6 years after her husband died. They were the original owners & the inside looks like it just rolled off the assembly line. I have helped her with many problems with her home threw the years. Never asking for anything as payment. One day she said do you want my RV. So here I am.

I may not know what the correct name is for connecting 2 battery's together to increase amp hours not volts. So I will make sure I do it right and check the bridged battery's before I connect all the leads.

I really do appreciate all the input I have gotten since I have joined this group. Maybe we will run into each other someday on the open road!

[HoneyBadger]

I may not know what the correct name is for connecting 2 battery's together to increase amp hours not volts. So I will make sure I do it right and check the bridged battery's before I connect all the leads.

Here's a nice reference site.

Positive to positive for 12 volt batteries; just remember that; parallel doubles the A without increasing V.

It will make more sense once your battery space is no longer a mess of unrelated wires and cables :^)

[HavocSun]

UPDATE:
I added 1 gallon of Sea Foam to 80 gallons of 5 year old gas, installed the battery's (2 out of 3, 1 did not come back from charge)
I changed the oil, went all synthetic & added 1 quart of lucus oil treatment'
I turned it over & it fired right up, sounded great! ran her for about 10mins then all of a sudden it wouldn't idle, pumping the pedal kept the engine going erratically. I could not give it a high rev, it just kept acting like it was fuel starved. so now i'm thinking i may have plugged up the fuel filter or the fuel pump quit working. Can anyone tell me where the fuel filter is on this RV?

[HavocSun]

Oh forgot to give the vitals:

1990 Fleetwood Pace Arrow with a 454 Chevy

[HavocSun]

This has been a ongoing project since I inherited this motor home. I want to thank everyone who helped me so far. I was able to get the battery's reconnected correctly and the RV did start right up. In a earlier post I described all I did to get it running, as I said it ran great for about 10 minutes and then it started cutting out. By pumping the gas pedal I could keep it running (barley) but if i let off the pedal it dies. I can start it back up but I have to keep pumping the gas pedal to keep the engine going. It truly feels like its fuel starved. I always thought if a fuel pump goes that's it you get nothing. In this case I am getting something, just not much. My research tells me it has a electric fuel pump in the tank. I hoping its not that because as I stated earlier it has a full tank of gas, & I guess you have to drop the tank to get at it. So my question is. Is there a fuel filter for this RV. I would like to replace that 1st. I have to move it as soon as I can from its present location. So far people helping me here have been batting 500 on all the problems I have run across. Lets hope I continue to stay lucky! Again thank you for all your help. This project would be 100 times harder without you!

[87Rockwood]

Is the choke opening up? You have about the last of the carburetor engines. May need to rebuild it. There are at least two filters-one in the carburetor (were the fuel goes in) and one tucked in a frame side rail tween the tank and engine. There might be one in the tank with the pump. You need to run a fuel flow/volume test at the carb.

[HavocSun]

Yes the choke is opening, one thing I remember seeing is prior to the engine cutting out when you pushed down on the gas pedal I would see a spray of fuel enter the carburetor, I don't see that now.

I'm hoping to attack this at the easiest places 1st. So I'm thinking the fuel filter along the frame. But its a long frame, I guess I could try to follow the fuel line. I was hoping someone knew exactly where it is.

I don't have the tool to check pressure, to be honest I'm not very familiar with this engine at all. It looks like it has several fuel lines running into the carburetor. I could take a picture of the setup if that would help.

It just feels like its not getting much fuel now & I have to pump the pedal just to keep the engine running. The RV's been sitting for just about 5 years, I did add a gallon of Sea Foam. It has a full tank of 5 year old fuel. But the engine did start right up and ran for a good 10 minutes before it started cutting out.