Breakdown Information
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RV particulars: National RV Tropical T370 on a Freighliner Chassis
Driveline: Caterpillar C7, Allison MH3000
Miles: 8600
Year: 2004
Break Down Description: Motor stalled while in motion & would not re-start
Symptoms: Freighliner info center on the dash called out loss of communications with the engine, trans, & ABS ECUs (Electronic Control Units)
Effect: No motor, transmision, ABS, or power steering (off or not working)
Cause: Broken wire from battery to relays powering motor/trans/ABS computers
Outcome: Just after cresting the Grapevine on northbound I-5, we lost all power to the coach & came to a grinding halt at the bottom of the Frazier Park Rd exit. The Freightliner dash readout told a tale of lost communications between the various computers that run the show & gave me that sinking feeling I was in for a long evening.
After a call to a very competent Coach Net operator, she had Jim’s Towing of Bakersfield with an appropriate rig to tow me the 60 miles or so to Freightliner’s Bakersfield Truck Center. The tow truck arrived within the 30 minutes allotted by California Highway Patrol for vehicles blocking critical off-ramps.
In Bakersfield, the Freightliner mechanic zeroed in on the relays that feed the transmission/motor/ABS computers & traced the relay’s wire back to the chassis battery where he found a break under the insulation. He popped a new lug on it & we where on our way to Yosemite, only losing one day off our schedule.
It’s a little disconcerting that all it took was a minor electrical break to effectively shut down the motor, transmission, and ABS. And although the airbrakes worked, power steering also stopped when the motor did!
Check your battery connections, it doesn’t take much to completely kill your rig’s systems & possibly leave you muscling it to a stop on a twisting road!
Kudos to Coach Net, Jim’s Towing, & Bakersfield Truck Center for minimizing the pain on this trip
Driveline: Caterpillar C7, Allison MH3000
Miles: 8600
Year: 2004
Break Down Description: Motor stalled while in motion & would not re-start
Symptoms: Freighliner info center on the dash called out loss of communications with the engine, trans, & ABS ECUs (Electronic Control Units)
Effect: No motor, transmision, ABS, or power steering (off or not working)
Cause: Broken wire from battery to relays powering motor/trans/ABS computers
Outcome: Just after cresting the Grapevine on northbound I-5, we lost all power to the coach & came to a grinding halt at the bottom of the Frazier Park Rd exit. The Freightliner dash readout told a tale of lost communications between the various computers that run the show & gave me that sinking feeling I was in for a long evening.
After a call to a very competent Coach Net operator, she had Jim’s Towing of Bakersfield with an appropriate rig to tow me the 60 miles or so to Freightliner’s Bakersfield Truck Center. The tow truck arrived within the 30 minutes allotted by California Highway Patrol for vehicles blocking critical off-ramps.
In Bakersfield, the Freightliner mechanic zeroed in on the relays that feed the transmission/motor/ABS computers & traced the relay’s wire back to the chassis battery where he found a break under the insulation. He popped a new lug on it & we where on our way to Yosemite, only losing one day off our schedule.
It’s a little disconcerting that all it took was a minor electrical break to effectively shut down the motor, transmission, and ABS. And although the airbrakes worked, power steering also stopped when the motor did!
Check your battery connections, it doesn’t take much to completely kill your rig’s systems & possibly leave you muscling it to a stop on a twisting road!
Kudos to Coach Net, Jim’s Towing, & Bakersfield Truck Center for minimizing the pain on this trip
