American Coach: Identify this mystery black-box

[Nowhere]

2003 American Dream - Box ziptied just below the gauge cluster. It appears to be bogarting my j1708 diagnostic wiring (the blue wire is labeled 1708) and then the brown wires are labeled for stuff I would have thought could come in on 1708 like Oil Pressure and Water Temp.

I went out today to velcro on the ScanGauge D that Fedex dropped off; told the wife it should take 15 minutes. Three hours later the interior looks like a yard-sale and I'm fairly confident there's no diagnostic port at the front of the coach.

I thought maybe this box would be RoadRelay although the coach isn't optioned for it... but it seems like that would actually be Cummins branded somewhere and this just calls out the "Advanced Technologies, Inc." The harness that goes to this appears to be original Fleetwood (not Spartan). I don't see an obvious place for data to leave the box... maybe the pink wire? Composite video? I assume the blue and black twisted pair are my 1708 data lines... I'll have to test red and white. ...I'm just really curious what the box does.

[Skip426]

The wiring info I have ; 2002 Spartan MM chassis ( Newmar ) shows several splices off the data wiring twisted pair , in the dash wiring harness, so you might have to continue your search for the actual J 1708 .

I'll go through the schematics looking for the connector you've pictured , with wiring colors .
An online search with the box P/N came up empty , I'm thinking it maybe a control for the gauges ; taking data off the buss and controlling the gauges .
Is there any brand name info on your gauges?

[hilgert]

From a bit of Googling I found the below with the same part number:

https://picclick.ca/Used-RV-Motorhom...322376461.html

[Nowhere]

Originally Posted by Skip426

The wiring info I have ; 2002 Spartan MM chassis ( Newmar ) shows several splices off the data wiring twisted pair , in the dash wiring harness, so you might have to continue your search for the actual J 1708 .

I'll go through the schematics looking for the connector you've pictured , with wiring colors .
An online search with the box P/N came up empty , I'm thinking it maybe a control for the gauges ; taking data off the buss and controlling the gauges .
Is there any brand name info on your gauges?

I hadn't considered that but I think you might be exactly right. I don't think there's anything special about the gauges... but yes.. I suspect this thing does drive analog gauges off of 1708 data. Good call.

Originally Posted by hilgert

From a bit of Googling I found the below with the same part number:

https://picclick.ca/Used-RV-Motorhom...322376461.html

Yep. Here's mine. Kind of wish it wasn't just zip-tied on but zip-ties and velcro appear to be the name of the game.

[Nowhere]

...which I guess leaves me with the same question I started with. Is it plausible that there's no diagnostic port at the front of this coach? I have an empty steel flange/ear welded to the steering column support where the port is supposed to be but, I've rooted around through all the wiring on the driver's side and not found one yet. I suppose it could have been snipped off for some previous install.

[Skip426]

Originally Posted by Nowhere

...which I guess leaves me with the same question I started with. Is it plausible that there's no diagnostic port at the front of this coach? I have an empty steel flange/ear welded to the steering column support where the port is supposed to be but, I've rooted around through all the wiring on the driver's side and not found one yet. I suppose it could have been snipped off for some previous install.

One would hope not ( snipped off that is ) but that would leave four wires with individual connectors somewhere in the dash harness.
Pink and Grey ; data buss , twisted pair .
Red and black ; diagnostic tool power and ground .
These are the colors listed in the 2000/02 schematic I have .
Gauge wiring in the schematics, lists two brands of gauges Ametec Dixon and Stewart Warner with separate interface modules ; perhaps a change from 2002 to 2003 wiring and dash gauge package.

[Skip426]

Could be it's time for a call to Spartan Motor home support , to see if you can get wiring schematics linked to your chassis serial number , to see if the module in question was a Spartan install .
If the module is Spartan , then the J 1708 should be there somewhere .
If Fleetwood installed the module for the gauges then it's possible they removed the J 1708 to wire in the module.

1-800-543-4277

If you do get schematics from Spartan , I would like a chance to see them .

[Nowhere]

I located the entire j1708 connector. It was trapped in the frame of the steering wheel support through the same elongated hole that two Dash HVAC ducts were run through. You could just see the pink and grey twisted pair between the support and duct. I guess it may have been there since birth... certainly since the last time that ducting had been routed through the support; there was no way to access or pull it through without removing the duct. It's tightly ziptied to the support such that it can't quite reach the steel ear that it's supposed be bolted into.

I also found the original unused Cummins RoadRelay harness. ...and the 1708 pair heading off to a few other places.

Now it's just a matter of locating the brake-controller harness... some day.

[rctfla]

Originally Posted by Nowhere

2003 American Dream - Box ziptied just below the gauge cluster. It appears to be bogarting my j1708 diagnostic wiring (the blue wire is labeled 1708) and then the brown wires are labeled for stuff I would have thought could come in on 1708 like Oil Pressure and Water Temp.

I went out today to velcro on the ScanGauge D that Fedex dropped off; told the wife it should take 15 minutes. Three hours later the interior looks like a yard-sale and I'm fairly confident there's no diagnostic port at the front of the coach.

I thought maybe this box would be RoadRelay although the coach isn't optioned for it... but it seems like that would actually be Cummins branded somewhere and this just calls out the "Advanced Technologies, Inc." The harness that goes to this appears to be original Fleetwood (not Spartan). I don't see an obvious place for data to leave the box... maybe the pink wire? Composite video? I assume the blue and black twisted pair are my 1708 data lines... I'll have to test red and white. ...I'm just really curious what the box does.

Why not contact American Technology at 574-262-1258 and asked them what the black box is. They were great when I wanted to upgrade interior light switch modules. Good luck.
RC Thomas
2008 American Coach Tradition
2019 King Ranch
Lake City Fl Home base

[kbmiddle]

Originally Posted by rctfla

Why not contact American Technology at 574-262-1258 and asked them what the black box is. They were great when I wanted to upgrade interior light switch modules. Good luck.
RC Thomas
2008 American Coach Tradition
2019 King Ranch
Lake City Fl Home base

A little off topic but inquiring minds want to know. What type of upgrade did you do to your interior light switch modules? I purchased LED bulbs to upgrade my interior lighting and then discovered my American Eagle has a central dimmer control for original halogen bulbs that is not compatible with LEDs. I would like to change the controller to be able to dim the LEDs. My controller is located under the bed and appears to control the dimmable lights up front and in the bedroom.
Keith
2001 American Eagle

[rctfla]

My American Tradition had a couple of the wall switch modules that wouldn't funtion and a few others had the switch name wore off. So I contacted American Technology for a solution. They didn't make the switch modules For 2008 Tradition anymore but offered a new design. If your controller is from them I would contact them to see if they have a solution. Good luck
RC Thomas
2008 American Tradition
2019 Ford King Ranch
Home base Lake City Fl.