Starting the Chinook after letting it sit a week

[DandD2015]

My wife and I have had some problems starting the Chinook Concourse we just bought.

First, I turn the key and it goes clickclickclick but does not turn over. I wondered if I left the headlights or something else on.

Second, I use the boost system---press the switch and turn the key to let the coach batteries jump start it. The first two times I did this, it worked.

Third---and this was just on Friday---when the built-in boost system didn't work, I took my JNC and connected to the battery terminals. Attempt A: no joy. Reseating the clips, it turned over. It looks like there's a little (not a lot) bit of corrosion on the terminals. Hmm.

In each case, when I drive it a bit then stop, restart, it's fine. Right after jump starting it with the JNC, the volt meter was a little above center---and it read there for the rest of the trip.

We've never owned a motor home before and we're not sure what's standard and isn't. We're also not sure what the last owner did that might have modified it etc. For instance, the first time we drained the battery I think it was because of the in dash Sirius stereo. I didn't realize: it was wired "hot." You can listen to it with the ignition switched off completely---so if you forget to turn it off, you can come back later and have a dead battery. The one we discovered recently: the power windows are also wired hot. Wow.

We also have a Tripp Lite charger/inverter. As we were leaving the Chinook today my wife said, "Hey, why are those lights on?" It said it was inverting---but we weren't plugged in to shore power and we didn't have the generator running. I switched it to charge only. As she was saying that would seem only to affect the coach batteries and not starting the car, but I'll throw it in.

As mentioned above we didn't jump it with the built-in boost system. We *tried* but it wouldn't work. I tried starting the generator---nothing. Once I got it jumped, ok, managed to get the generator running.

And to reiterate, every time I get it started, the needle goes to middle of the scale, where it should be.

My theory would be that the battery has power but that maybe the terminal connection is loose. Except if that's true, why doesn't it give us problems the entire trip?

Nothing quite makes 100% sense...anybody care to weigh in?

[DandD2015]

Captain's log, final entry.

So I ended up going to Interstate battery and they checked it. They said that the voltage was ok, but since I had driven 20 min to get there, that wasn't a surprise. When he checked the individual cells, he found that one was dead and another was dying. He said sure, you could keep driving it every few days and it would last longer, but it was basically on its way out.

I asked what it would cost to replace. This was a 75 month batt and he noted that it was mfred in Oct 2010. So @ 5 years, he calculated the pro rata. Bottom line: installed, new battery (same model etc.) $113.

Hope that's the end of that. Thanks to all who posted.

[You_can_t_take_]

Thanks for the update. I now have my battery sitting on the garage floor while the motorhome is parked beside the house. It's been over a week and the voltage is holding at 12V+ so my issue is definetly something other than the battery itself!

[DandD2015]

Update....

We went to get the Chinook again today. Again it wouldn't start. This time I did check the voltage gauge before cranking it and it was very low. So we did the boost from the coach batteries and that worked fine.

We drove it to an Autozone about 20 minutes away. When we arrived I turned it off, started it again right away, no problem. The autozone guy brought out a tester. He said that when I started it, the battery dipped to about 8 volts. As it was running, it sat around 12 volts. He said that he'd typically expect to see it charging at 13-14 volts but this wasn't. Whether that was the fault of the alternator or whether the battery was too old to charge well or whether corrosion etc. were not letting it charge well he couldn't say.

So I bought a cleaning kit, got it home, cleaned the terminals etc. and started it up. Works fine, battery seems to recharge...but then, I expected it to. We'll give it another week I guess.

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

[DandD2015]

Thanks for all the replies!

DrewE wrote:
The heated mirror switch is pretty common. Leaving it on will run down your chassis battery before too long (if the engine is not running), assuming it's wired hot as is not uncommonly done.

The switch above the sink may be for the water pump or the water heater. It also might be for a bunch of other things.

I realize that I have a switch for starting the genny above the driver's seat as well as in the back near the microwave. Next to that switch is water heater and water pump. But it could be a redundant switch, I guess.

mkirsch wrote:
click-click-click-click is a bad battery connection, usually ground because it's the one you can see, and it "looks fine" so you don't actually pull it apart and clean it.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Reach for battery cleaning brush before reaching for wallet...

Clean all battery connections thoroughly. Hopefully there are no bolt together emergency battery terminals.
Then when you think you're done - you aren't. Follow the negative battery cables where they attach to the chassis frame, unbolt them, and make bright the cable leg and what they bolt to. Smear grease atop to stop corrosion.

Charge batteries, then wait and see.

Do you still need your wallet?

I come back to "Why does it not start after sitting one week? And why does it resume normal starting after being driven awhile?" Corrosion, loose connection, ok...I can imagine that causing a problem, sure. And it's a cheap fix if it works, part of routine maintenance. But why is it intermittent like that?

One other factor might be at play: the weather. I live in Texas and you may have seen we've been getting a lot of rain. Mind you I don't live in South Texas, where they're getting flooded---I live in North Texas, hours away from that (Dallas). Still, we have had some heavy rain and maybe the moisture is the straw that broke the camel's back when it comes to a failing electrical connection.

[DandD2015]

Thanks for all the replies!

westend wrote:
Most of these motorhomes have an isolation relay between the chassis battery and the house batteries. There could be an issue with that relay.

What I'd suggest to do is either call a skilled mobile tech or take the Chinook to an RV service shop and have them go through the different wiring issues, test the batteries, test the alternator, and test the isolation relay. Nothing in your coach needs to be wired "hot" except the radio memory. You have at least one misguided user's (previous owner) ideas about how to power devices.

I read somewhere that they hate to diagnose electrical stuff because it's expensive and when they hand the bill to the owner, they get a lot of grief. But it may come to that.

You can't take the Fisherman out of this Camper wrote:


I have exactly the same issue with my (recently purchased) used Chateau Citation. My engine battery will go dead if the motorhome sits in the driveway for more than a week. I've taken the battery out to have it load tested and it checks out fine. I've taken it on a 24 day trip with no issues because it was driven every day. It also has (what I think) is a recently installed Sirius Radio and that is where I will concentrate my efforts to see if I can track down this problem.

Ours has a detachable faceplate. We pulled that off, left it off, will see if it helps.

jolooote wrote:
This relay is impossible to find. Its located inside the bottom main chassis frame where the front bumper bolts on. I relocated it to the area above/behind the radiator.

Handy to know this info for future reference, thanks!

MrWizard wrote:
IT is VERY COMMON for the radio in an RV to be wired hot
this is SO you do not have to turn on the key to have music while parked



sounds like all the batteries are weak and no longer have much capacity left
and bleed down from internal shorts when sitting, and are ready for replacement

Yeah, I should have noticed that it was on...we didn't listen to it, but the display had more than just a time. I'm still surprised at the power windows, but I guess if you sit parked at a campground and have to put the keys in the ignition every time you need to roll down a window....

As for the coach batts, they show "good" (3/3) on the meter.

naturist wrote:
mystery switches are always scary. You never know when one might be for the ejection seat, or the missile launcher, eh?

So I gave up, and put a battery cut off switch under the hood. As long as I remove the battery from the circuit when I park it, the Jeep starts instantly every time.

You might consider doing the same at least until you figure out what is going on here.

Yes, imagine the egg on my face when it turned out to be the self-destruct button! :S

I may have flipped that heated mirror switch to ON and forgotten it, figured it was a non-working switch.

That kill switch could be a solution...simple but effective.

tarnold wrote:
Go to the ChinookRVOwners web site and post your problem. Lots of specific help there.

Yes, I should do that, haven't joined them yet. I just figured I was doing something generically boneheaded.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Reach for battery cleaning brush before reaching for wallet...

Clean all battery connections thoroughly. Hopefully there are no bolt together emergency battery terminals.
Then when you think you're done - you aren't. Follow the negative battery cables where they attach to the chassis frame, unbolt them, and make bright the cable leg and what they bolt to. Smear grease atop to stop corrosion.

Charge batteries, then wait and see.

Do you still need your wallet?

[mkirsch]

click-click-click-click is a bad battery connection, usually ground because it's the one you can see, and it "looks fine" so you don't actually pull it apart and clean it.

[DrewE]

The heated mirror switch is pretty common. Leaving it on will run down your chassis battery before too long (if the engine is not running), assuming it's wired hot as is not uncommonly done.

The switch above the sink may be for the water pump or the water heater. It also might be for a bunch of other things.

[tarnold]

Go to the ChinookRVOwners web site and post your problem. Lots of specific help there.

[naturist]

mystery switches are always scary. You never know when one might be for the ejection seat, or the missile launcher, eh?

I've a Jeep that has an intermittent parasitic draw that kills the battery after about two days. I've gone nuts trying to track it down, without success. An ammeter shows it to be about 7 amps, and it will come on, go off after a few seconds, come back on a few seconds to a few minutes later, stay on for a minute or two, go off, on an entirely random pattern, making it all but impossible to track down. So I gave up, and put a battery cut off switch under the hood. As long as I remove the battery from the circuit when I park it, the Jeep starts instantly every time.

You might consider doing the same at least until you figure out what is going on here.

[DandD2015]

Thanks for all the replies! I should also note: the on board monitor shows the coach battery levels to be good (3/3). When I hook up to shore power, it shows them to be charging.

We do have two switches that I haven't figured out. One is on the driver's side, above the control for the mirror adjustment. It's an on/off rocker switch. I thought maybe it controlled lighting, but flip it on and off and I still don't know what it's controlling.

The second is at the rear above the sink area, next to a 12V. It doesn't control that switch and again, we can't figure out what it's controlling but the switch itself lights when you turn it to on.

ETA: Oops, may have found one answer. This says heated mirror for the one above controls. http://chinookconcourse.tumblr.com/page/4

[MrWizard]

IT is VERY COMMON for the radio in an RV to be wired hot
this is SO you do not have to turn on the key to have music while parked
it is usually wire to the house batteries not the engine/chassis battery
generator can be wired to either house or chassis batteries my personal preference is generator connected to engine/chassis battery,
so you can still start the genny with out the aux jump start ,IF you ran down the house batteries while camping

while camping on shore power or generator power, a single jumper cable from house positive to chassis-engine positive will maintain and charge the engine battery ( or install a 'Trik-L-start' )
if using generator power for charging remember to remove the jumper when you shut down the genny

sounds like all the batteries are weak and no longer have much capacity left
and bleed down from internal shorts when sitting, and are ready for replacement

[jolooote]

I had a !995 Chinook on the Ford E-350 van chassis. It had a problem like yours. Turned out that the 'Isolation(Smart) relay that was supposed to determine if/when to parallel the engine & chassis batteries for charging while driving was bad. Oh....one more interesting thing to kno about that van chassis. There is also an ignition relay thats supposed to parellel the engine & chassis battery. The chassis battery, under the hood on the passenger side runs the TAIL & RUNNiNG LIGHTS!!! If this relay goes bad the chassis batt. can't charge off the alternator. Eventually it goes dead...No tail or running lights but still have brake lights. This relay is impossible to find. Its located inside the bottom main chassis frame where the front bumper bolts on. I relocated it to the area above/behind the radiator.

[You_can_t_take_]

DandD2015 wrote:
My wife and I have had some problems starting the Chinook Concourse we just bought.

First, I turn the key and it goes clickclickclick but does not turn over. I wondered if I left the headlights or something else on.

Second, I use the boost system---press the switch and turn the key to let the coach batteries jump start it. The first two times I did this, it worked.

Third---and this was just on Friday---when the built-in boost system didn't work, I took my JNC and connected to the battery terminals. Attempt A: no joy. Reseating the clips, it turned over. It looks like there's a little (not a lot) bit of corrosion on the terminals. Hmm.

In each case, when I drive it a bit then stop, restart, it's fine. Right after jump starting it with the JNC, the volt meter was a little above center---and it read there for the rest of the trip.

We've never owned a motor home before and we're not sure what's standard and isn't. We're also not sure what the last owner did that might have modified it etc. For instance, the first time we drained the battery I think it was because of the in dash Sirius stereo. I didn't realize: it was wired "hot." You can listen to it with the ignition switched off completely---so if you forget to turn it off, you can come back later and have a dead battery. The one we discovered recently: the power windows are also wired hot. Wow.

We also have a Tripp Lite charger/inverter. As we were leaving the Chinook today my wife said, "Hey, why are those lights on?" It said it was inverting---but we weren't plugged in to shore power and we didn't have the generator running. I switched it to charge only. As she was saying that would seem only to affect the coach batteries and not starting the car, but I'll throw it in.

As mentioned above we didn't jump it with the built-in boost system. We *tried* but it wouldn't work. I tried starting the generator---nothing. Once I got it jumped, ok, managed to get the generator running.

And to reiterate, every time I get it started, the needle goes to middle of the scale, where it should be.

My theory would be that the battery has power but that maybe the terminal connection is loose. Except if that's true, why doesn't it give us problems the entire trip?

Nothing quite makes 100% sense...anybody care to weigh in?

I have exactly the same issue with my (recently purchased) used Chateau Citation. My engine battery will go dead if the motorhome sits in the driveway for more than a week. I've taken the battery out to have it load tested and it checks out fine. I've taken it on a 24 day trip with no issues because it was driven every day. It also has (what I think) is a recently installed Sirius Radio and that is where I will concentrate my efforts to see if I can track down this problem. For now I've taken out the battery and stored it in my garage for the winter.. and I will monitor it to see if it still loses voltage while sitting in the garage like it was while in the driveway. I suspect it will hold its charge now that it's disconnected. I do have the Sirius Radio manual showing the correct wiring so next spring I will take out the radio to see if the wiring was done properly. Apparently there is a constant live 12V connection (which keeps the clock on time) and another connection which is supposed to be live only when the ignition switch is turned on. There is a third connection shown (I forget what that is supposed to do and I don't have the manual available here right now) but I will track that down as well to see if I can resolve this problem. At least I will now be able to tell if the battery is the problem since it's no longer in the motorhome!