On the Road Motor Home Shut Down

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Endlesssummer

Endlesssummer

Active member
Joined
Apr 30, 2016
Posts
32
Location
Riverside Ca.
Hi - I have a 2007 Class C with the Chevy chassis. I was on the freeway coming home from a trip and with no warning when the engine shut down. No brakes no steering. As I was coasting I put it in neutral and it started right up and was able to make it home.
I know this might not be a Motor Home issue and more of a mechanical issue but any feed back would be awesome.
Thanks
AR
 
Probably a chassis/engine issue but there have been modifications by MH builders that have put stress or change onto factory designs.

Mite be good to start browsing chevy forums that concentrate on your engine/chassis.

The other possibility is that something could show up on a system analyzer for your chassis/engine.
 
with no warning when the engine shut down

First thing would be to pull codes but I wouldn't expect a revelation from that, though it's worth a shot. Circumstances surrounding the event are likely a better clue. In order for the engine to come to a stop ("no brakes or steering") indicates it's electrical, as the driveline became disengaged. Loss of fuel typically won't cause that - the engine will still turn powered by the wheels. Did the dash blink off, instruments reset or other electrical anomaly simultaneously occur? Generally you're freaked out and not noticing whether the radio reset or whatever but that would indicate the affected circuit or circuits. There are actually very few circuits that control ignition so if it's really just shutting off there's only so many points of failure. Some in my experience was a loose ground for the dash, and an ignition switch that was cracked and mechanically opening and closing under vehicle movement.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
When you say "no brakes, no steering" I assume you mean you lost your power brakes and power steering. IOW, you could still steer and brake but required at least ten times the force of normal.

How many miles on the engine?

My first guess is your CPS has crapped out. They normally crap out in Chevy engines at around 100,000 miles and for them to be intermittent is the norm. They often do not give an OBD code right away. But check for them regardless. Often will work again when cools down just a few degrees.

Another possibility (has happened to me) is a coolant leak spraying the CPS area or getting other areas wet. But that was in my Dodge truck, but perhaps can happen in any vehicle.

My 2nd guess would be a flakey fuel pump.

My 3rd guess would be an intermittent loss of ignition voltage for whatever reason.

-Don- Reno, NV
 
had you just re-fueled?

My jeep did that to me several times. .I was scheduled for a routine visit as I recall so the mechanic told me what I was doing wrong. If you had Just refuelet. I'll tell you.. Only applies if tank is FULL !

I liked to have dollars and cents match so if it stopped at say 20.40 I'd run it up to 21.21.. My way of knowing it was really me with I look at the statement... Turns out it was forcing liquid gas into places that should not have liquid and shutting down. Would restart right away. .
Now i don't do that.. and not one stall since.
 
Mark_K5LXP said:
with no warning when the engine shut down

First thing would be to pull codes but I wouldn't expect a revelation from that, though it's worth a shot. Circumstances surrounding the event are likely a better clue. In order for the engine to come to a stop ("no brakes or steering") indicates it's electrical, as the driveline became disengaged. Loss of fuel typically won't cause that - the engine will still turn powered by the wheels. Did the dash blink off, instruments reset or other electrical anomaly simultaneously occur? Generally you're freaked out and not noticing whether the radio reset or whatever but that would indicate the affected circuit or circuits. There are actually very few circuits that control ignition so if it's really just shutting off there's only so many points of failure. Some in my experience was a loose ground for the dash, and an ignition switch that was cracked and mechanically opening and closing under vehicle movement.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
Click to expand...
So like you said it all happened so quick and I was trying to find a safe shoulder to pull into. I do think I saw all the dash lights flash on and off. I don’t know if this was before it shut down or after I started it back up. The emergency blinkers did work when I was coasting no power.
 
DonTom said:
When you say "no brakes, no steering" I assume you mean you lost your power brakes and power steering. IOW, you could still steer and brake but required at least ten times the force of normal.

How many miles on the engine?

My first guess is your CPS has crapped out. They normally crap out in Chevy engines at around 100,000 miles and for them to be intermittent is the norm. They often do not give an OBD code right away. But check for them regardless. Often will work again when cools down just a few degrees.

Another possibility (has happened to me) is a coolant leak spraying the CPS area or getting other areas wet. But that was in my Dodge truck, but perhaps can happen in any vehicle.

My 2nd guess would be a flakey fuel pump.

My 3rd guess would be an intermittent loss of ignition voltage for whatever reason.

-Don- Reno, NV
Click to expand...
Hi Don - the engine has 130k miles.
If it was a fuel pump I would think I would have noticed a hesitation, a gradual power decline. Everything shut down with no warning.
Thanks
 
John From Detroit said:
had you just re-fueled?

My jeep did that to me several times. .I was scheduled for a routine visit as I recall so the mechanic told me what I was doing wrong. If you had Just refuelet. I'll tell you.. Only applies if tank is FULL !

I liked to have dollars and cents match so if it stopped at say 20.40 I'd run it up to 21.21.. My way of knowing it was really me with I look at the statement... Turns out it was forcing liquid gas into places that should not have liquid and shutting down. Would restart right away. .
Now i don't do that.. and not one stall since.
Click to expand...
I had a half tank of gas in it. No recent re-fill.
 
Endlesssummer said:
So like you said it all happened so quick and I was trying to find a safe shoulder to pull into. I do think I saw all the dash lights flash on and off. I don’t know if this was before it shut down or after I started it back up. The emergency blinkers did work when I was coasting no power.
Click to expand...
Your 4-way flashers should work without engine running. They should work without key in the ignition. That would seem to suggest a major electrical failure.
 
Endlesssummer said:
Hi Don - the engine has 130k miles.
If it was a fuel pump I would think I would have noticed a hesitation, a gradual power decline. Everything shut down with no warning.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Sounds even more like the CPS. At 130K, replace it regardless if that is your issue or if it has never been replaced before. If it has not yet failed, it will soon.

Mine failed when driving my Y2k Chevy Motorhome in Ontario, Canada. It had around 105K miles on it at that time.

-Don- Reno, NV
 
This sounds more like a power problem than a sensor or actuator failure. In order for the engine to stop turning (no power steering or brakes) the transmission has to disengage, and that doesn't happen with loss of engine function due to missing fuel or fire. The CPS would cause the engine to die, but not turn off the ignition or stop the ECM so while the engine is dead, it's still turning by the transmission. No different than taking your foot off the gas. In order for the transmission to also disengage implies a loss of control power, via ignition switch path and or loss of ECM/PCM communication.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
Mark_K5LXP said:
This sounds more like a power problem than a sensor or actuator failure. In order for the engine to stop turning (no power steering or brakes)
Click to expand...
It feels much like no brakes and no steering in many large vehicles when the engine dies (no vacuum)as it takes a lot of strength to control the brakes and steering.

So this needs clarification. I seriously doubt the brakes and steering were fully lost.

-Don- trying a new charge station here--Zero DSR/x motorcycle)
 
DonTom said:
It feels much like no brakes and no steering in many large vehicles when the engine dies (no vacuum)as it takes a lot of strength to control the brakes and steering.

So this needs clarification. I seriously doubt the brakes and steering were fully lost.

-Don- trying a new charge station here--Zero DSR/x motorcycle)
Click to expand...
Thanks for your comments.
What I can remember is that I was going in a straight line where I did not have to do a hard steer but I could tell the power steering was gone. When I pressed the brake pedal I felt a little resistance but no power to the brakes.
While coasting and in Drive mode I felt no resistance as if the transmission was disengaged. Like I was in neutral.
 
Had a 2007 Chevy Tahoe that died a couple three times going down the road. Sure make you sit up and take notice.
Put in neutral, turn key off then on, and it would start right back up until one day it didn’t. Didn’t throw any codes while this was going on.
The day it wouldn’t start back up, I was fiddling around and swapped the fuel pump relay with I believe the fog light relay, same relay anyway.
Success!!
I had had the same problem with a couple of vehicles in the nineties ( one being the 460 ford in the Bounder),but had forgotten possible solution until I was stranded. Ah, old age.
 
DonTom said:
It feels much like no brakes and no steering in many large vehicles when the engine dies (no vacuum)as it takes a lot of strength to control the brakes and steering.
Click to expand...
Right, power assist was lost. That happens when the engine stops turning. Loss of fuel or fire doesn't usually cause that - it's in gear and the transmission will still be turning the engine, along with the steering/brake pump and engine vacuum retaining those functions until forward momentum is expended. Now, maybe a sufficiently "smart" ECM/PCM detects loss of engine function and commands the transmission to neutral but I've never owned one that smart. Loss of RUN signal (switched 12v) will release the transmission and the engine would immediately stop turning as the OP reports, so loss of RUN signal is what I think of first.

I've had a cube relay go bad once. It stranded me twice and would inexplicably start working and not quit for weeks. Finally caught it in the act by having a meter handy and traced it to the fuel pump relay. The solder connection inside for the coil wire was crystallized. I keep it as a souvenir.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
Endlesssummer said:
While coasting and in Drive mode I felt no resistance as if the transmission was disengaged. Like I was in neutral.
Click to expand...
I believe that is the norm with automatic trannies. I think (not sure) the torque converter disengages the engine from the tranny when the engine dies.

-Don- Reno, NV
 
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