Nothing happened when I turned on the ignition key.

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JailHouseDwag

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Jul 17, 2011
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Location
Portland OR
Need advice or best case guesses of problem.
I have a 2007 Tiffin 35TGA with a Fred diesel.
Went to it today to just turn the engine over, since I hadn't had it running since Oct.
Turned the ignition key on and nothing, not even dash lights or needles swinging. Powered on generator without a problem, but even with that on nothing happened. Pushed down on the auxillery start with the generator running, still nothing.

So what am I facing, dead battery, or worse? Wouldn't the MH have stared from the generator power?
 
First check to see if the main battery disconnect switch is open, if that is not the issue I would check the starting batteries voltages and charge accordingly.

You may well have a simple problem, if the disconnect is open, No start. Batteries dead, no start. Start genset, not enough juice to start right away.

I am leaning toward the disconnect switch...

Steve
 
The gen will not start the engine however it will charge up the battery enough to start it if it is in fact a dead battery. Hold down the Aux start switch for a minute or two and give the battery a chance to charge up and then try starting it.
 
Original batteries- and not run since Oct. Was the coach plugged in to keep batteries up?
 
Is it in park? I am not familiar with diesel starting but I had an old dodge that sometimes would do that and the lever was not all the way into park. had to wiggle it to get it to start.
 
    Some times it can be something as simple as one of the battery connections is not making contact, or one of the fuses on the solenoids has a dirty contact.  A volt meter, or a 12 volt tester, plus a lot of patience or luck will help you tract that down.  But try testing the batteries first, if not voltage, try running the gene and hooking up a battery charger, many/most rigs do not charge the chassis batteries from the generator. Or use jumper cables to start the motor, yet here too leave the cables hooked up for a couple of minutes before trying to start the diesel.

Ed
 
Thanks guy's ; all good suggestions. I'll go back out later today and power up the generator and see if I can get a better charge by holding down the aux switch for a longer period of time. I didn't realize that it wasn't just a momentary switch that you would hold down when having the Key in the start position.

As far as I'm aware; I only have one batterydosconnect and it's labled 12V.

I'm not the original owner of the MH; I think I'm #3, so I can't speak to if these are the original batteries or not. I thought the dealier told me thay replaced the batteries before I bought it, but with everything going wrong I may be making that up,"Senior Moment". But it's not plugged in, I have to keep it in a storage lot.
So am I assume that the steps, and generator start come off the "house batteries". And if so, why do the steps work when I have the 12V disconnect switched to disconnect, are they wired directly to the house battery's before the disconnect?
 
JailHouseDwag said:
So am I assume that the steps, and generator start come off the "house batteries". And if so, why do the steps work when I have the 12V disconnect switched to disconnect, are they wired directly to the house battery's before the disconnect?
Never assume anything when it comes to RV wiring. There is no standards. They could be wired to the house batteries or the chassis battery.
 
I have a Tiffin motorhome and if yours is wired like mine, running the generator will charge your engine and your house batteries both.  It needs to run for several hours if your batteries are dead.  Batteries don't do well if they have been allowed to die a few times, so you might be looking at getting new ones.  It's a small price to pay to be assured that they are up to speed.

Check your manual for specific instructions on how to start the engine with the auxillary button.  FWIW, our steps are connected to the engine battery and our 12v disconnect does not disconnect the step retraction.  Also if you are in a climate that is very cold, you may need to allow either the glow plugs or the air intake (which ever you have) to warm up before trying to start the engine.

Marsha~


 
    Both your house and chassis systems are 12 volt systems, and each handle various electrical functions.  As a general rule, but not always, the coach system handles the chassis, ie such things as starter, wipers, fuel pump, etc, whereas the house system handles the internal lights, furnace fan, slide & step motors.  But as Tom said, there is no standard way each company wires a motorhome. 
    Have you tried jumper cables, they will quickly let you know if it will turn over.  If it still won't turn over, then your problem is likely not the batteries.  When you turn on the kill switch, and you push the emergency start/auxiliary button, do you have any chassis power?  Try turning on the key, and putting your headlights on, then hit the emergency start.  Have someone look to see if your lights in the from or the back come on.

Ed
 

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