Community Forums

Gregg · 05-31-2005, 03:12 AM

This weekend I was cruising north to Durango when my engine went to reduced power and we coasted to a stop !!
At the same time my daughter came forward and asked why the TV and A/C's shut off.
I found that I had left the electric water heater switch in the on position and was running both A/C's, this caused the generator to trip.
The engine went to reduced power at the same instant the generator tripped.
Why did the engine go to reduced power ??
Did the generator tripping off cause this ??
How is the house power tied to the engine computer ??

Gregg

Gregg · 05-31-2005, 03:12 AM

This weekend I was cruising north to Durango when my engine went to reduced power and we coasted to a stop !!
At the same time my daughter came forward and asked why the TV and A/C's shut off.
I found that I had left the electric water heater switch in the on position and was running both A/C's, this caused the generator to trip.
The engine went to reduced power at the same instant the generator tripped.
Why did the engine go to reduced power ??
Did the generator tripping off cause this ??
How is the house power tied to the engine computer ??

Gregg

troth · 05-31-2005, 05:08 AM

Your coach generator is totally unrelated to you chassis engine. Just coincidence both 'died'.
Suggest you do a search for "reduced power warning". Lots of threads, no real concrete solutions though. Some had bad TCM modules I believe, another said burnt diodes, still others were reporting tightening ground wire connections & engine wire harness plugs solved their problems.

Gregg · 05-31-2005, 06:11 AM

Totally unrelated,
I thought so, however it confused me when both events happened at the same time.
I just need some clairification.
I guess I'll make an appointment with Workhorse service for a computer scan.
Any other comments guys ??

Thanks

Gregg

DriVer · 05-31-2005, 07:06 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Gregg: </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Why did the engine go to reduced power ??
Good question but if it did it should have shot a code and they should be able to track it. The resolution I applied in the past was to turn the key off and restart the engine. The reduced power mode was reset and I had no further occurrences of reduced power. This happened only once on my 2001 W20 and not on the 03 W22.

Did the generator tripping off cause this ??
It is highly unlikely. I did trip my Onan 5500 in 01 however with the 7KW unit I have now I have run every appliance concurrently and have not tripped the breaker(s).

How is the house power tied to the engine computer ??
The house power isn't attached to the automotive components of your coach so I can't see a relationship there.

Gregg · 05-31-2005, 08:03 AM

Thanks guys,
I did remember what was discussed in this topic from the past and turned the key off for about 5 minutes while I reset the generator.
Restarted the engine and continued to Durango along with the return trip there were no other problems.

Gregg

Full-Timers · 06-02-2005, 12:30 PM

You could have lost battery power or somehow the battery voltage dropped too low. I know this will kick the engine into limp home mode and maybe kill the generator too. Sound like you had quite a load on the generator. Can't think right now how this all ties together but there may be a relationship. You should be able to pull a trouble code and find out why it went into limp home mode.

"007" · 06-02-2005, 04:16 PM

Maybe we have a high resistance gnd wire connection or loose gnd some where.

---"007"

Robnfl · 06-04-2005, 09:42 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Gregg:... was running both A/C's, this caused the generator to trip...Gregg </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wow...I didn't know you (I) could run both A/C's off the generator. Are you running a 7kw or 5.5kw generator?

Rob

Gregg · 06-04-2005, 12:43 PM

Rob,
I have a Onan 5500 Marquis Gold.
No problem with both A/C's,
However with my 30 amp system when I also had the electric water heater on it tripped.

Gregg

Robnfl · 06-04-2005, 06:22 PM

Gregg,
Yup, I guess running both A/C's and the hot water heater would trip it. It's good to know that both A/C's will run off of the generator though. On a side note...I've noticed that my 110V hot water heater switch will light up when turned on, without shore power or the generator being on. Does the hot water heater run off of the inverter?

Rob

Gregg · 06-06-2005, 01:17 PM

Not on mine,
I don't even have a light !!

Gregg

wilanddij · 06-20-2005, 02:07 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">You could have lost battery power or somehow the battery voltage dropped too low. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Low battery voltage will definitely move the engine to limp mode. This happened to me the first time I started it after installing a knife type disconnect switch on the coach battery. The engine started, but would not rev up and the dash display was something like "running in reduced power mode".