Forum Discussion

Tuxindy's avatar
Tuxindy
Explorer
Apr 27, 2019

No Power to chassis...new battery

I have a 2001 Fleetwood on a e450 Ford Chassis V10. Today after running to the store I tried restarting my MH. Nothing, No crank, No beeps, No power windows, No power anything. My coach batteries are a year old and stored inside all winter. My chassis battery was 6 years old so I went to the store and bought a new one, but after hooking it up, I still had no power. I double checked all the fuses, gfcis, and the main battery disconnect, everything is fine. I tried the emergency start button and everything started up. I turned it off and was able to restart the motor twice before everything went dead again. Pushed the emergency start button again and it started up again just fine. My question is, Is this an alternator problem, sylinoid problem, ground problem or is there something I'm over looking? I double checked my battery connections and everything is nice and tight. I was suspecting the ignition sylinoid but I would think i would at least have dash lights when I turn the key. Any help or prior experience is appreciated.
Class C
  • Tuxindy's avatar
    Tuxindy
    Explorer
    Apr 28, 2019
    Thank you everybody....The battery was fine, alternator, ignition, and sylanoids all fine. It was the ground coming off the chassis battery to the vehicle frame. Thanks again for the fast replies
  • Sam_Spade's avatar
    Sam_Spade
    Explorer
    Apr 27, 2019
    Harvey51 wrote:
    It looks like the engine battery isn’t getting charged.


    NO. The symptoms he listed don't point to that at all.

    He NEEDS a meter to trace the battery voltage.

    Wild guesses won't accomplish anything unless you have some way to verify the problem before throwing your money away on parts.......like he did with the battery.
  • bobndot's avatar
    bobndot
    Explorer II
    Apr 27, 2019
    Clean the ground where the negative off the battery is grounded to the vehicle.
  • Beverley_Ken's avatar
    Beverley_Ken
    Explorer
    Apr 27, 2019
    I would double check all battery (chassis) connections and then follow both the positive and negative cables to the connections with chassis ground and positive distribution point.
    I had similar problem yesterday with my 06 E450 chassis. I went to start the engine, 1st time after winter. The MH is plugged in to shore power all the time and a battery tender on the chassis battery, water level is good in all batteries.
    The engine would not turn over on the Ford battery or with the Boost switch or with a heavy duty battery charger/boost. I was ready to invest in a new chassis battery (the one in the MH is OEM, 13 years old). One last effort, cleaned and tightened chassis battery cables and vroom, Still started today.

    Ken
  • Harvey51's avatar
    Harvey51
    Explorer
    Apr 27, 2019
    It looks like the engine battery isn’t getting charged. The voltage on the battery when it is supposed to be charging should tell if it is. When the engine is running the alternator should supply over 14 volts to the battery to push current into it. If it doesn’t then probably the alternator has failed.

    As for other problems, I would connect a charger to the battery, then try lights, etc to see if they work when power is supplied from the charger.
  • Tuxindy's avatar
    Tuxindy
    Explorer
    Apr 27, 2019
    I'm working on that now. This isn't really my wheelhouse though. My neighbor is a genius but he's gone until monday.

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