Electrical issue

[Joetodd]

i am new to the forum,  i have a 1996 Country Coach Intrigue which has been in my family since 2002.  My question is:  when i have my lights on and i use the jake brake my throttle is deactivated until i flip my headlights off and back on which re-energizes the throttle,  any  body have any answers as where to start?

Thanks,
Joe

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

That's bizarre!  Wish I had a clever diagnosis for that, but I'm thinking it's gonna take a lot of measuring and conjecture about possible interactions.  Almost sounds as though a breaker is tripping and flipping the headlights resets it somehow. 

I have some questions about "use the Jake brake?".

1.Is it really a Jake (internal engine) brake, or is it an exhaust brake?

2. Does "use it" mean turning on the switch to enable it, or actually employing it to slow down?

3. Is the throttle electronic (drive by wire) or mechanical?  I thought the 1996 era was all mechanical linkages, but am not familiar with Country Coaches of that period.  Does "deactivated" mean you can push the pedal down but the engine rpms dpn't change?  Even though the engine is still running?

 

[Joetodd]

Question 1. I believe it?s an exhaust brake.
Question 2. Actually using to slow down.
Question 3. Rpm?s stay at idle until I flip the light switch off and then back on.  Mechanical throttle.
I am being told I probably have a bad ground somewhere.  They said I need to check my tail light connections.

 

[Ken & Sheila]

If it were a true mechanical throttle, then any power issues wouldn't effect it. But I suspect you have something like the King Controls "throttle by wire" like I had on my 1994 HR Imperial DP. The throttle sends a signal to the control box in the engine compartment to activate the throttle. Same box is part of the cruise control.


I agree with a possible ground issue. In my experience 90% of 12 volt issues are caused by bad grounds. Most manufactures use the chassis as the ground conductor and the connections to the chassis are subject to corrosion.

 

[Ken & Sheila]

Thinking about an issue I had with the Cruise Control, I'm not sure its the same control box. I had my cruise lock on at 55mph on a road in NJ. Coming up to a light and when I used the brake the Cruise control did not release. Very hard to stop! After I got through the intersection I pulled over and disabled the cruise control. My memory says I disconnected the cable, but since the throttle still worked that must have been a different box, or my memory is bad (a real possibility!)


Still its probably a bad ground the is causing the issue.