Starting problems

Lumber, welcome to the forum. There are several solenoids in the circuit to the starter. There should be a master power box under the hood, on the driver's side. Disconnect the starting battery and then check the connections inside the box, by actually removing the bolts and wires, inspecting the wires and crimped on connectors, and reinstalling it the same locations. As for the location of the location of the other solenoids, I am not sure on your make. Try following the "+" cable on the starting battery, to find other ones. If you find no problems, try measuring the single voltage from the key switch when in the start position. Good luck and get back to let us know what you find.

Thank you.

The Ford V10 has 2 starter solenoids but both are not shown in their diagrams. We had these exact same symptoms until one time it would not start no matter how many times we tried. At that point, we had already replaced the solenoid up front but had read about one that is accessed either thru the doghouse, or by turning the wheel to get behind the front passenger tire area. Tried the doghouse first - arms were not long enough. Husband finally got to it behind the tire. No more problems. It was intermittent at first, then became - how many tries before it starts this time gradually taking more and more tries. Sounds like the same thing.

Ours is a 2000 Monaco

On my ford there was a separate starter solenoid near the radiator. They don't cost much but sometimes PIA to find.

Welcome to the forum. :)

Make sure your battery terminals are clean and tight. Our 96 Southwind has similar symptoms if there is a little corrosion on the terminals.

Always start with the simple, easy things when diagnosing a problem.
And, let us know when you find the problem. Maybe you can help someone else with a similar problem.

My coach has a shift lever Morse Control unit that if I do not have it in N correctly it will not start. By moving the lever to OD then back to N it will make contact. Just a safety to make sure it does not start while in a gear that will move the coach. This is on a DP so may not apply to your coach.

Thank you all for your input. Now I will go to work and see if I can solve the problem.

Lumberjunkie wrote:
I have a 2000 Hurricane , by Four Winds class A motor home on a ford chassis. I'm having a problem with the starting system, which seems to be intermittent . When I turn the key to the start position it does nothing. The next time it might start as normal. I replaced the starter solenoid thinking it would solve the problem. It did for awhile but the it happened again. Has anyone else experienced this problem ? Can someone give me some insight on this ? Thanks . Al

On some American DP's, there is a secondary solenoid that's prone to failure and ours had finally quit, after having intermittent problems for quite a while. Thing is, I've since installed a backup system with a heavy duty button, next to the engine, that puts voltage directly on the starter solenoid and have been using that until we get home and will then replace the solenoid. One thing that will stay, is my back up, which actually consists of two buttons and helps to troubleshoot things, as well.
With your Ford, there is probably one of these, as well, like has already been suggested.

Well folks, even after all of your input I could not find another solenoid. It has started for me the last couple of times. Like I said, it's intermittent. So, to insure that I'm not going to be stalled somewhere , this is what I did. Using the emergency start switch on the dash ( which never did work ) I ran a single wire to the starter solenoid and another wire to the hot side of the cigarette lighter on the dash. Voila ! It works. It might not be the proper way to do it, but we are traveling soon and I couldn't take a chance of stalling somewhere. Thank you all again for your input, and I'll be ready to take the flack.

Lumberjunkie wrote:
Well folks, even after all of your input I could not find another solenoid. It has started for me the last couple of times. Like I said, it's intermittent. So, to insure that I'm not going to be stalled somewhere , this is what I did. Using the emergency start switch on the dash ( which never did work ) I ran a single wire to the starter solenoid and another wire to the hot side of the cigarette lighter on the dash. Voila ! It works. It might not be the proper way to do it, but we are traveling soon and I couldn't take a chance of stalling somewhere. Thank you all again for your input, and I'll be ready to take the flack.

You shouldn't be getting any flack. You had a problem, and solved it, it only temporary. You may want to investigate further as the problem may be contagious. This may help others with a no start condition.