Alarm Warning Questions

[EZRider800]

I recently bought a 2006 Class A diesel pusher. It's a Holiday Rambler Ambassador. It has air brakes and air ride. I'm familiar with the LOW AIR PRESSURE alarm that sounds when the engine is started until the air pressure comes up to about 90 PSI. Once it gets to about 90 PSI the alarm stops like it's supposed to. But then when I put the transmission in DRIVE or REVERSE the alarm starts sounding again and will not turn off until I put the transmission in NEUTRAL. It's a 3000 series Allison auto. Any ideas why this alarm comes back on when I put the transmission in Drive or Reverse? There are no codes. Fluid is full. Runs and drives perfectly. Gauges all look good. Is this an Allison issue or an air brake issue? My local Camping World sent me to the Allison Dealer and the Allison Dealer suggested I go to Camping World. Seems neither one knows what to do. HELP!!! I drove for 5 HOURS with this thing blaring at me from under the dash!!!

[EZRider800]

fcooper wrote:

BillofPA wrote:
I had that happen sometimes. I would stop,pull up the knob for parking brake, then push knob down to release the brake and then the alarm would stop.

This sounds like the common Monaco problem of a failing parking brake pressure switch. The switch is manufactured by Nason, and is mounted on the bottom of the knob for the parking brake.

You can probably find additional info on the Monaco Owners forum on the IRV2 site. Some of the posts I saw there had the switch priced at $46 from Monaco.

Fred

Ding Ding Ding!!!! We have a winner!! Fred was correct. It turned out to be the air brake sensor on the bottom of the park brake knob assembly. It is made by Nason. The guys on iRV2 forum diagnosed it fairly quickly. Some had the same issue in the past. I took the screws out of the burled wood switch panel by the drivers seat and pulled it straight up. When I could see the sensor on the bottom of the air brake knob assembly I hit it with a 12' adjustable wrench a few times and the beeping stopped! It worked fine for a while but in the middle of my 9 hour trip home I hit a large pot hole and the EXTREMELY LOUD beeping started again! Scared the **** out of me at first. lol. I pulled off the road and hit it with the wrench again and it stopped beeping at me again. It stayed off the rest of the trip home. Looks like I'll have to find one of these switches somewhere. Any suggestions? I was told the part number for a 2006 Holiday Rambler Ambassador class A diesel pusher is SM-1C-66R/WP28. Can anyone confirm this or do you know where I can buy one?

Thanks!

Curtis "EZ" Smith
Ringgold, GA.

[jwolf55]

Mine used the same alarm for air as it does for when parking brake is on when you put it in gear.

[tropical36]

JaxDad wrote:
Sometimes the answer isn’t to the question you’re asking.

Are you SURE it’s an air alarm? Not an alarm telling you that one (or more) of the levelling jacks aren’t fully up?

My ‘jacks down’ alarm only sounds when you put the transmission in drive or reverse.

I'm going with this theory as well and for adding a little fluid to the jack reservoir, for a possibly quick analysis.

[fcooper]

BillofPA wrote:
I had that happen sometimes. I would stop,pull up the knob for parking brake, then push knob down to release the brake and then the alarm would stop.

This sounds like the common Monaco problem of a failing parking brake pressure switch. The switch is manufactured by Nason, and is mounted on the bottom of the knob for the parking brake.

You can probably find additional info on the Monaco Owners forum on the IRV2 site. Some of the posts I saw there had the switch priced at $46 from Monaco.

Fred

[EZRider800]

JaxDad wrote:
Sometimes the answer isn’t to the question you’re asking.

Are you SURE it’s an air alarm? Not an alarm telling you that one (or more) of the levelling jacks aren’t fully up?

My ‘jacks down’ alarm only sounds when you put the transmission in drive or reverse.

I'm not saying it is an air alarm issue. But the alarm that is beeping is the SAME ONE that the low air pressure uses. Same sound. It's loud enough to hear in the next county. It could be a jacks down warning but the hydraulic leveling system is off, shows no lights, and raised the jacks automatically on it's own so they should be all the way up. I'll check that tomorrow. Thanks.

[EZRider800]

KevinE wrote:
Mine will give the alarm when you are in gear and the parking brake is still set as a safety. It will also sound if the brake is released and I'm in neutral, again as a safety. If it's going off when you're in gear and brake released, I'd suspect an air switch on the parking brake that has gone bad. Does the park brake light on the dash go out when released?

Mine will continue to sound the alarm no matter what combination I try of putting the brake on and off, putting the transmission in drive or reverse. The ONLY WAY to get the stupid thing to go off is to put the transmission in NEUTRAL. Then it stops almost immediately.
It doesn't matter if the air brake is set or not. If it's in neutral it stops beeping. As soon as you put it in gear it starts beeping again.

[EZRider800]

BillofPA wrote:
I had that happen sometimes. I would stop,pull up the knob for parking brake, then push knob down to release the brake and then the alarm would stop.

Just leave it in gear when you do this? And the alarm would stop? Any idea what the alarm was supposed to be warning us about? lol

[EZRider800]

path1 wrote:

EZRider800 wrote:
Path1,
I have 2 needles on the gauge. One red and one green. Both move together. Owners manual says that one needle is for the front tank and one is for the rear tank. I'm getting 120 PSI on the air gauge so the pressure is good. Can't figure out why the alarm comes back on when I put the transmission into Drive?

I am not used to separate needles for separate tanks. So I'm probably not much good to you. But did find this article, not sure if it will help.

[URL]http://www.rvforum.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=173:motorhome-air-brake-system-testing&catid=24:tech-topics

Great article. I had actually done some of those tests and the brake system seems in really good shape. The warning alarm when I put the trans in DRIVE has got to be something else. That's why I thought it was an Allison alarm but no one can tell me. Not even Allison.

[JaxDad]

Sometimes the answer isn’t to the question you’re asking.

Are you SURE it’s an air alarm? Not an alarm telling you that one (or more) of the levelling jacks aren’t fully up?

My ‘jacks down’ alarm only sounds when you put the transmission in drive or reverse.

[KevinE]

Mine will give the alarm when you are in gear and the parking brake is still set as a safety. It will also sound if the brake is released and I'm in neutral, again as a safety. If it's going off when you're in gear and brake released, I'd suspect an air switch on the parking brake that has gone bad. Does the park brake light on the dash go out when released?

[diplomatdon]

EZrider, what I recommend trying is to park on level ground. Chock the wheels and build the air pressure to 120/125 lbs. you should hear the air dryer exhaust and the compressor will cut out. Release the brakes, and watch the air pressure gauge. It should fall slightly then stop and hold steady. If not then you have a leak in the system. Walk around the coach and you should hear it. It may be helpful to have a helper on the inside while you are outside. If someone releases the brakes as soon as the low air pressure buzzer quits the buzzer will sound as the volume of air needed to release will result in the alarm sounding again. Hope this helps, let us know.

[BillofPA]

I had that happen sometimes. I would stop,pull up the knob for parking brake, then push knob down to release the brake and then the alarm would stop.

[path1]

EZRider800 wrote:
Path1,
I have 2 needles on the gauge. One red and one green. Both move together. Owners manual says that one needle is for the front tank and one is for the rear tank. I'm getting 120 PSI on the air gauge so the pressure is good. Can't figure out why the alarm comes back on when I put the transmission into Drive?

I am not used to separate needles for separate tanks. So I'm probably not much good to you. But did find this article, not sure if it will help.

http://www.rvforum.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=173:motorhome-air-brake-s...

[EZRider800]

Path1,
I have 2 needles on the gauge. One red and one green. Both move together. Owners manual says that one needle is for the front tank and one is for the rear tank. I'm getting 120 PSI on the air gauge so the pressure is good. Can't figure out why the alarm comes back on when I put the transmission into Drive?