Ghost light problem

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
P

Papabear1947

Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2016
Posts
14
Location
North Carolina Mountains
I have a 2000 Winnebago JD40 class A.  Recently while in storage with shoreline plugged in, my outside running lights and the porch light will come on by themselves with no one around the motorhome.  Sometimes they stay on solid and occasionally they will flash.  Switches are in the off position and untouched and no longer control the lights.  Only way I have found to shut them off is to turn on the engine ignition switch or start the engine. They will immediately go off.  While the  lights were on I removed every single relay but lights stayed on.  Have no further clue as to where to start to solve this.
 
Wiring diagram always nice to have, find one if you don't have one. Is it hot/power at all times? Then something is grounding the circuit? I would look at switches first for short to ground.
 
Not sure if hot power at all times.  Switch to the porch light is toggle by the entrance door while running lights come on with parking/head lights.  Not sure the relationship to the different sets of lights.  Would think running lights are not hot/power at all times. Thanks for your interest and reply.
 
Welcome!  Rodents for a fact can cause some horrendous wiring problems.  You could have a ground going bad - a bad ground can cause no end of weird symptoms.
 
John Canfield has a great list of Winnie specific documents on this forum.  Go to the Winnebago Specific Issues area and look down a few topics to find the one titled Winnebago & Chassis Resources.
 
Papa, the first thing I would check is the remote control box. Do you use a key fob? That is the only thing I know that is supposed to light your porch light and make the running lights flash when the door unlocks. The fob sends signal to the control box and this is usually mounted in the left rear side of the dash and maybe it is going bad. I would definitely unhook it and see if problem continues. This is what one of the boxes looks like. Welcome to the forum also.
 

Attachments

  • temp 020a.jpg
    temp 020a.jpg
    59.7 KB · Views: 34
Great suggestion.  Makes very good sense.  Now that you mention it, this may have started about the time I was working on the remote lock and unlock system.  I have removed the actuator from the entrance door as it would not function but did not realize there was a separate control box. I will research this further and hope you found the problem.
 
Papabear1947 said:
Great suggestion.  Makes very good sense.  Now that you mention it, this may have started about the time I was working on the remote lock and unlock system.  I have removed the actuator from the entrance door as it would not function but did not realize there was a separate control box. I will research this further and hope you found the problem.
Click to expand...
  Maybe the company has tech support? Check manual first.
 
[quote author=William52]Even older models? Seems Winnie has a good support system?[/quote]

Yes they do. In addition to online wiring diagrams, they also support older models with (limited) phone tech support, as we found when my son called them a few weeks ago.

Here's a link to John's Winnebago Resources message.
 
Dear Maverick,  Last month you responded to my Ghost Light problem with a suggestion about a control box.  If possible could you send the photo again.  I have not had a chance to work on the problem.  Meanwhile, my gen set (Onan diesel) will not start and gives error code 46-  lack of battery power or not enough juice from inverter control box.  Meter shows 13.3 volts at the generator positive and negative posts.    Additionally my rear view camera and check antennae light on the dash keep turning on and off together.  Does this control box also control these or other items?
 
Ok, here are 3 pics of the control bow which is located in the dash. One pic shows my dash with the rear cap removed, the 2nd pic shows the control box in the right side of the pic under the gold colored speaker to give you an idea of the location, the 3rd of course is the control box. The black wire that looks like it is cut off is actually the antenna for the fobs.
The control box does not have anything to do with the genset or other dash lights. The only common item I know of to all these lights and genset are the battery connections. I know you said you saw 13v at the terminals but I would suspect a bad ground or bad battery that is causing low voltage when a load is applied. I would first check all the batteries and clean connections, then after charging make sure you have good voltage even when the main engine is cranking. When the engine is running check the alternator to make sure it is charging the batteries. Once the engine is running then check the dash lights/camera and genset operation. Good luck with it.
 

Attachments

  • temp 018a.jpg
    temp 018a.jpg
    41.2 KB · Views: 16
  • temp 020a.jpg
    temp 020a.jpg
    59.7 KB · Views: 15
  • temp 026.jpg
    temp 026.jpg
    56.9 KB · Views: 14
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 1,633 (members: 30, guests: 1,603)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,977
Posts
1,388,574
Members
137,726
Latest member
CampMike2270
Back
Top Bottom