2004 Holiday Rambler won't crank

[charles22]

I have a 2004 holiday rambler ambassador se, I replaced the alternator and serpentine belt, ran the unit to check everything was ok-correct voltage ect. Shut the unit and restarted it a couple times, no problem. Went out the next day to start it and no response, dash lights came on but no start. I checked all fuses and breakers I found ,checked grounds, generator starts ok, slides ok, the only thing showing is brake failure light on dash, I'm at a lost what to do next. Any answer on its problem. Both Battery systems appear ok.
Chuck

[MrMark52]

How old are the batteries and when we’re they last fully charged - particularly the chassis battery(ies) (chassis battery drives your dash)?

You need to confirm that nothing was left turned on - you can do this by disconnecting the chassis battery positive cable and inserting a current meter between the cable and the battery, then reading the current.

It is possible you have a bad/corroded/rusted ground bond to the chassis with your battery ground cable.
Do your headlights come on bright or dim?

Parasitic loads can be an issue as well - once you’ve measured for current as described above, if you still can not determine what is turned on (usually indicated by a current reading >1 amp), then your coach may be subject to parasitic loading, meaning, some things just draw power even when turned off - like a dash radio or leveler controller.
Quite often people install a heavy duty knife switch on the positive terminal of the battery to solve the issue of parasitic loads.

But even if a parasitic load/drain on the battery, it shouldn’t take down a fully charged battery in less than 24 hours - at least I wouldn’t think it would,

[TandW]

You did nothing else but to change the alternator and belt? What was the reason? Are you sure the old alternator was failing? What is the source for new alternator? MrMark52 likely has zeroed on the real problem. Good luck sorting it out!

[Ray Lenning]

Check the starter relay .It should be behind the hood opening in the fuse box on the drivers side. You can swap it with the ac or the aux fan relay to see if that's the issue. The inside of the fuse box cover will show the relay location.

[wolfe10]

What is voltage at the chassis batteries before trying to start and read it when someone attempts to start it?


Let us know what you find.

[charles22]

I checked the grounds I could find, the chassis battery was 11.89 volts and the house battery was 12.43, I put the battery charger on the chassis battery and still no crank, the chassis battery is new, the house batteries were new about 4 years ago, they are 6 volt connected to make 12 volt. The reason I replaced the alternator is it was only putting out 10.50 to 11 volts, the regulator is built-into the alternator. I have relays for the start relay under the hood coming.

[wolfe10]

Leave the battery charger on the chassis battery until voltage is around 14 VDC and charge rate drops off below 5 amps.


Then check voltage at the chassis battery when someone tries to start it.

[MrMark52]

As Wolfe10 said - if it still won’t start after insuring the chassis battery is charged, try the headlights while monitoring the voltage on the chassis battery - are they dim or bright? What does the battery voltage drop to with the headlights on?

What is being described here is an alternative way of load testing the coach battery using the chassis circuitry as a load (doing so also tests the wiring connections on the chassis).

[Jreeves2]

I found on my coach that the nut on the starter was loose, resulting in intermittent fail to start.

[perryg362]

i'd double check my starter connections and make sure the batteries are fully charged. don't you have the battery "combination" switch so all batteries are utilized when trying to start it? i'd look for a loose ground on the starter. can you "jump" the starter with a screwdriver or something like that? also, i'd give it a light tap with a hammer to make sure the gear is operating properly

[DougASE]

Try using the “both” switch to use both chassis and house battery to crank. That will deal with your “low” voltage condition on chassis battery. Also could be starter. I forget how to do it exactly but I crawled under my HR with a 8.1 with a big screw driver and put it across two contacts on the starter. That puts power direct to starter. It cranked right up. Someone on the forum here will know exactly how to do that if your starter/solenoid is bad. It got me off to the shop to replace the starter.

[charles22]

Thanks to everyone, I ended up replacing the ignition, starter relay on steering column, the starter and soleniod,it was burn't on the small wire 8mm so it was shot and the alternator was only putting out 11 volts, had to use boost to start it, now it starts without boost and puts out 13.5 to 14 volts. every thing just gave up and wanted some attention. Again thanks, Charles.

[Arch Hoagland]

Thanks for the update, glad to hear all is well!