Transmission

[WayneC]

New some help, I have seen a similar post before just cannot seem to find it, on my way to put new front tires on and noticed before I left the Tech was not working, alternator charging at 12 volt,turn lights on and needle just jumped bit, stopped at a set of lights, made the turn and the transmission jumped into neutral and the light on the dash came on,pulled over, put it in neutral, sat for couple seconds and put it into gear away I went,sitting at the tire shop,going to check the oil bu I know it is good.leading up to this I had pulled out the house batteries (are pulled tray out) and topped them up with water, just checked the gauge on the RC7 panel and batteries are at 12 volt,prior to unplugging from the garage they were at 13 and change, isolator? I believe there is a connection / two systems run together, tach/transmission

Any help will be appreciated 

Thanks in advance 

Wayne 

1999 Signature Caesar 

[Bill Morgan]

Lead/Acid Batteries at 12V are 50% discharged. You are seeing 13 volts when plugged in because they are charging. When the engine is running or you are connected to power you should see 13.6-14.7, and when engine is off, unplugged from power, the batteries should read 12.7 if fully charged.

[WayneC]

Transmission and Voltage/Tach any connection between the two?

[WayneC]

Thanks Bill/John

Just a little panic yesterday, changing out all the batteries today, cleaning all terminals, new steering tires yesterday, hopefully it resolve's my Tach ,Transmission problem. On the 1999 does the battery charger work as well as the new battery tenders?

Thanks

Wayne

1999 Signature Caesar

 

 

 

[David Pratt]

Before you spend all the money on new batteries it might be prudent to have the Alternator Checked to see if it is properly working and charging the battery's.

I am not sure about your coach, but in most of the older coaches the Tachometer Signal comes from the Alternator. First sign of a coming alternator failure is the Tachometer starts going erratic.

Battery's that are only showing 12.0 VDC are basically dead to most of the electronics in your coach and your Transmission is going into Limp mode at that voltage to save itself from damage. A new engine control module is several thousand dollars.

Replacing battery's without checking the output of the Alternator to make sure it is functioning properly is like closing the Barn Door after the Horse escaped.

[WayneC]

Your correct Dave

As per the manual the alternator /Tach /Transmission all linked together.

Going to do all of the above, all the batteries are 4 years young. I checked out on the chassis batteries at the time, my maintenance on the house batteries should have been betters,  going to go through all the connections ,clean and check, final step check the alternator. 

Appreciate the help

Wayne 

1999 Signature Caesar 

[David Pratt]

Your house battery's have no effect on your chassis battery's. Your chassis battery's run all your lights, Transmission/Engine Components and everything else that functions when you turn the key on. Properly maintained battery's will last much longer than four years.

You House battery's are their to power the Inverter when you are not connected to shore power and do not have the Generator running.

Do you run your Generator while traveling?

Not sure about your coach but in most coaches the Generator through the Inverter charges the chassis and house battery's. This will give you a good back up if you do have an alternator failure.

[WayneC]

John /Dave

As always take the advice posted before you make critical decisions, so in saying that I started at the batteries ,tested ,cleaned all good at this point, I checked power at the alternator and seem to have nothing,key on/off,master switch on. So one of my clients is who service the coach is going to do a house call, they have a fleet of trucks and have experience in the industry, I know that wiring diagrams have been posted in the past but I cannot seem to find one for 1999 signature, I would like to have a copy when Mike shows up on Monday.

John would not happen to have a pdf copy ?

Thanks for all the help

Wayne 

1999 Signature Ceasar

[WayneC]

Thanks John

[WayneC]

Always something to work on, I was reading somewhere when you own a coach you need no other hobbies,  rains it pours, went to fire up the aqua hot and it cycles and getting Fuel but no ignition,  fuse in the front drivers side and took the cover off the unit and ignition fuse is okay there as well. Batteries are good, shore power into the garage.

???

Thanks

Wayne 

1999 Monaco signature Caesar 

[Ivan K]

1 hour ago, wayne.cerven@gmail.com said:

Always something to work on, I was reading somewhere when you own a coach you need no other hobbies,  rains it pours, went to fire up the aqua hot and it cycles and getting Fuel but no ignition,  fuse in the front drivers side and took the cover off the unit and ignition fuse is okay there as well. Batteries are good, shore power into the garage.

???

Thanks

Wayne 

1999 Monaco signature Caesar 

I had to replace ignition coil a couple of days ago for the same issue, while still on our current trip.  But, there is a number of tests you should perform per service manual before spending the money, not a cheap part... one of the deciding ones is checking for power between C8 and C5 at the expected cycle time. 

[WayneC]

Will do,thanks Ivan

[amphi_sc]

Not sure how the AH relates to the subject of "Transmission", but I'd check the temp cut off that screws into the tank.  There should be one for the diesel burner and one for the electric element(s).  If the diesel one has failed, the AH will go through the pre-ignition cycle but not ignite (I think because it prevents the fuel solenoid from opening) (do you hear the ignition clicking/sparking at the right point in the cycle?) thus the no flame will cause the unit to proceed through the cool down cycle and subsequently turn off.

[WayneC]

Sorry

It was just an ongoing conversation with John, should have started a new post, sorry for the confusion,  starting to do some tests now,thank you for the information much appreciated. 

Wayne

1999 Monaco Signature Caesar 

[WayneC]

Ivan /John/Al

14 volts at C5 (-)(Brown) and C8 positive (yellow), took the burner out and surprise! The fuel solenoid valve coil ,the electrical terminals were broken away from the plastic or whatever material that is connected to the solenoid, when we fired it up before we took the burner out it did blow the fuse for the ignition again , so hopefully with a new electrical terminal base ( probably not sold separate) we solved the mystery. 

Hopefully good news if and when the parts come in.

Tomorrow Alternator check!

Thanks everyone 

Wayne 

1999 Monaco Signature Caesar 

[WayneC]

Thank you very much John

This will help us fast track everything in the morning.

Wayne 

1999 Signature Caesar 

[WayneC]

On 4/25/2021 at 7:33 PM, John Haggard said:

Good luck 👍

John,new alternator came with both small posts labeled Duvac,old alternator had duvac on one side and ignition on the other? We called Wilson tech support and they said one side was for ignition and the other duvac, have you run into this before?

Thanks Wayne 

[WayneC]

The answer all the question's is yes, when we hook the ignition terminal up it seems to be a dead short

Thanks Wayne 

[WayneC]

Everything is correct at the back as it should be, waiting to hear back from technical support to why there are two labeled duvac,they need to tell us which one should be ignition without sparking like it does when you try to hook it up.all the drawings are correct I think they labeled this alternator wrong and or something wrong with it,going to wait for them to call back then go with their suggestion, may need to be bench tested. 

Thank John 

[WayneC]

You know your stuff John,another alternator is on its way,  we have a great relationship with our client's so not a big deal to get things done, they had one left so it will be shipped and in hand tomorrow. 

Thanks again

Wayne 

1999 Signature Caesar 

[David Pratt]

There has been countless discussion on this Forum about replacing the Alternator on our Coaches.

Out of all these discussions it has been documented that the best route to take is to have your OEM Alternator rebuilt unless you can find the exact replacement, The reason is that most RV Alternators, especially on Diesel Pushers are custom built for the RV environment and most "off the shelf" Alternators either are not compatible and they do not work or cause other problems, some serious. Although those "OFF the shelf" Alternators look the same and have the same specs there can be internal changes that are RV specific.

If you still have your OEM alternator I would suggest you get it rebuilt by a reputable shop or find the exact Manufacturer, part number, model number of the Alternator that was on your coach to replace it with..

[WayneC]

Your correct, it is the same manufacturer, model, all of the above ,just seems to be an issue with it.I am going to send the old one back to be rebuilt as well.

Thanks

Wayne 

1999 Signature Caesar 

[WayneC]

I believe so,it looks exactly the same as the ones in all the drawings and everything that I have seen on line for our Rigs, taking the new one back and sending the old one out for a rebuild.at this point not in a hurry to get out with it, was suppose to use it on a project next week but going to stay in a hotel and not rush things, waiting for new Aqua hot motor and fuel coil should arrive next week. The alternator I bet is the original and it is also original Aqua hot motor. My friend owned it for 14 years,he never did any of those repairs. So 14 years and I have owned it for 4 years, so 18 years later starting to do some of those larger items, Rad will be next spring. Thought about a fifth wheel again,  did that a few times, love the Monaco!

Thanks

Wayne 

1999 Signature Caesar