Electronic ignition issues?
I have a 1990 Bounder with fuel injected 460 and 40K miles. A couple of weeks ago I finally took it in to Cummins/Onan dealer to get generator fixed. Turns out, it needed a new voltage regulator. ...
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My guess from reading your post (voltage was 12.4 and then later 12.3) is that you have an alternator problem or something between alternator and getting your batteries charged up.
This seems to be consistent with your gauge issues. If you have improper voltage then funny things will happen. It can get very serious where you have an electronic transmission and have undervoltage. Also, lights can be dim.. lots of problems!
I suggest you first disconnect the chassis batteries and charge them up using a decent charger (not a trickle charger -- try to get 25 amps going through them so you can get a battery charged in 12 hours). This is a good practice especially if batteries are relatively new so you do not destroy them. Your voltage is too low.
Then fire up the rig. If it starts then we know for sure this is a battery charging problem.
Now that you are fired up take a reading on the batteries, you should be getting 13.5-14.5V from the alternator. If not, go to the alternator and take a voltage read there. If the alternator is hard to reach safely with engine running then prick the wires with your volt meter probes so you can read off the wires somewhere down the line.
If you do not have proper voltage, replace alternator. If you do, then find out what is going on between alternator and batteries. I have heard of two problems on motorhomes -- 1) the battery cable gets destroyed when some motorhomes bottom out (the wiring is usually placed right under the frame), 2) there is a breaker in-line somewhere.
This seems to be consistent with your gauge issues. If you have improper voltage then funny things will happen. It can get very serious where you have an electronic transmission and have undervoltage. Also, lights can be dim.. lots of problems!
I suggest you first disconnect the chassis batteries and charge them up using a decent charger (not a trickle charger -- try to get 25 amps going through them so you can get a battery charged in 12 hours). This is a good practice especially if batteries are relatively new so you do not destroy them. Your voltage is too low.
Then fire up the rig. If it starts then we know for sure this is a battery charging problem.
Now that you are fired up take a reading on the batteries, you should be getting 13.5-14.5V from the alternator. If not, go to the alternator and take a voltage read there. If the alternator is hard to reach safely with engine running then prick the wires with your volt meter probes so you can read off the wires somewhere down the line.
If you do not have proper voltage, replace alternator. If you do, then find out what is going on between alternator and batteries. I have heard of two problems on motorhomes -- 1) the battery cable gets destroyed when some motorhomes bottom out (the wiring is usually placed right under the frame), 2) there is a breaker in-line somewhere.
