2003 Holiday Rambler Endeavor starter won't work

[shoalsgary]

Batteries are good and fully charged. Starter connections and battery connections are tight. Starter ahs been clean, solenoid replaced, and bench-tested repeatedly. It works fine when I reinstall it. Then two weeks later, I turn the key and all I see is a voltage drop on the voltage meter and nothing happens. before the new solenoid, I could hit the starter with a 2.5 pound hammer, and it would start. Now that won't even do it.

[Solo_RV_Guy]

Originally Posted by shoalsgary

Batteries are good and fully charged. Starter connections and battery connections are tight. Starter ahs been clean, solenoid replaced, and bench-tested repeatedly. It works fine when I reinstall it. Then two weeks later, I turn the key and all I see is a voltage drop on the voltage meter and nothing happens. before the new solenoid, I could hit the starter with a 2.5 pound hammer, and it would start. Now that won't even do it.

That you could whack it with a hammer indicates that the problem is in the starter motor or gear reduction/Bendix.

The other possibility is a poor/corroded starter grounding through the engine.

As for bench testing - cool, if you're going to mount your engine and coach on the bench! Something else is going on once the starter is bolted back onto the engine.

[shoalsgary]

Turns out the 12 volts at the starting batteries was phantom voltage. Under load, they had 7 volts. I charged them and started right up. Now I have to find out why the chassis batteries are not charging on shore power.

[shoalsgary]

The 150 amp breaker in the battery bay was tripped. I reset it and all is well. Also added 1.5x3 rectangular tubing to replace the paper thin tubing that supports the tanks. And while I was down there, I replaced the Propane tank master switch and light with a lighted switch. The light had expired.