RESOLVED: Help! BROKE DOWN!!

[chooseopen]

On our first outing in the 2007 Vnl670 and am broke down on the side of the road.  Tow truck is 5 hours away so I thought I would see if you guys have any ideas.

I was driving along at 63 mph and hit some big pot holes. The engine immediately died and the ABS light came on.  The engine will crank bit won't start.  Ideas?

 

So far I have:

1. Checked the fuses in the main panel.

2. Check for error codes.  I do have an ABS code

3. Disconnected the battery for 10 minutes.

 

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

Did a Battery Ground cable break?  

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Check the connection to your ECU computer, the cable might be loose. Also check for any other loose cables on the engine and at the bulkhead connections.

[chooseopen]

She's alive!  I found a broken wire at the battery.  I will update with more detail once I am off the road.  Thanks everyone!!!!

[SuiteSuccess]

In the future also check the coolant sensor at the radiator fill tank for broken wires. Don't ask me how I know this. 

[runaway parents]

1 hour ago, SuiteSuccess said:

In the future also check the coolant sensor at the radiator fill tank for broken wires. Don't ask me how I know this. 

Yep low coolant will shut it down also had small hose come off coolant reservoir . Lost coolant below sensor and truck shut down.

[rdickinson]

2 hours ago, SuiteSuccess said:

In the future also check the coolant sensor at the radiator fill tank for broken wires. Don't ask me how I know this. 

With low coolant you will also get a red triangle in the middle of the display, don't know if he got that or if it just shut off.

[Hot Rod]

My truck did the same thing.  Instead of the cable at the battery, it was the battery cable at the terminal block on the firewall.  Just a little bit loose, but the whole damn truck shut down and would not do anything.   Moral:  it's usually the simple thing and not something catastrophic.

[Sculptor]

My first thought was, "Maybe he is nearby and I can bring him a phillips screwdriver or can of armor-all to help."    But then I realized I had no idea of your location.

[Jack Mayer]

On a new-to-you truck that is fairly old then I'd replace that coolant sensor. If you do get a nuisance alarm on it you can unplug it and it will run fine. Just make sure you do not have an issue.

[RandyA]

1 hour ago, Jack Mayer said:

On a new-to-you truck that is fairly old then I'd replace that coolant sensor. If you do get a nuisance alarm on it you can unplug it and it will run fine. Just make sure you do not have an issue.

Unplug the problem sensor that cuts off the engine every time you make a sharp turn (check).  Driving on Florida I-10.  Alarm goes off screaming in my ears - what the????  Engine overheat alarm - goes immediately to shut down.  The "L" coolant hose to the air compressor had ruptured - if you have a Volvo D12 you really need to have a spare "L" and "U" hose with you as your RV water hose will kink when trying to make an emergency repair.  I was lucky as I had a short piece of 1/2" nylon air line on board that I could bend without kinking to make the L and couple with pieces of white water hose and some extra gear clamps. Anyway - even with the coolant sensor unplugged if something goes wrong you still get shutdown before the engine is harmed.  You just lose 7 gallons of antifreeze and a good white water hose .

[Jack Mayer]

As Randy wisely notes. lots of things can go wrong on an older truck.  That is why it is critical to perform preemptive maintenance. Replace suspect things BEFORE they break. Of course, you can get carried away with that, but major "show stoppers" are wise things to get around to replacing once you obtain the truck. This will cost you some dollars, but it is better to do it on a schedule than on the side of the road. At least in my opinion. 

[chooseopen]

Thanks all for your support.  After about 8 days travelling we are back home for a couple days (before we go back out again).  I wanted to take a moment to recap this experience.

We were on our maiden voyage.  We had been driving from central IL all day and were actually looking for a place to stop for the night.  Suddenly I hit a huge pothole and the truck engine instantly died.  My wife and kids were following behind us in a separate vehicle so our whole convoy pulls to the shoulder.  We were on the side of Interstate 71 which was very busy! Despite me deploying flares and wearing an orange vest, plenty of assholes refused to move into the far lane. PLEASE PLEASE MOVE OVER FOR DISABLED MOTORISTS! 

I immediately begin diagnostics.  The truck still had power, and would crank, but would not fire up.  I checked lots of simple things...  the fuses, disconnected battery to reset the computer, checked for leaking fluids, etc.  It was dark outside so each time I went to drivers side of the vehicle I had to play 'chicken' with the oncoming traffic.

Eventually I gave up and started searching the Internet for either Mobile Repair and/or towing services.   I learned a couple things...

1. On a Saturday night of a holiday weekend, most of the tow shops dont answer their phones.

2. There really isn't such thing as "mobile repair".  I talked to two such companies and they both just wanted to tow the rig.  It really would have been nice to have a technician come assess the truck on the roadside to avoid a large tow bill.

At this point it is starting to get late.  A OH State Trooper stops and is friendly.  He deploys a couple more flares and give me a couple of business cards for local tow companies.  He also gently reminds me that I have 48 hours to move.

I suddenly remember that my Progressive insurance has tow coverage!!!  Since this is a our maiden voyage, I really hadn't prepared well for this type of situation.  I decide to get on the phone with Progressive's 3rd party Roadside Assistance and my family decides to get a hotel room about 15 miles up the road.  Sooo I am now sitting on the side of the road all by myself.  

I learned a couple important things about Progressive's Roadside Assistance:

1.  They really had trouble grasping the concept that my HDT "motorhome" was a converted semi-truck...and that it was pulling a 40ft camper.  

2.  When you call roadside assistance you need to be able to tell them where you want the truck towed to.  Progressive's computers ONLY list RV repair centers.  They wanted to tow me to Camping World, lol!  This is a bit of a crap-shoot afterhours because you really have no way to call a repair shop to see if they are willing to take you.  I guess you are supposed to just tow your truck there and hope when they open in the morning that they are willing to work on it. 

3.  The customer service guy had to call 20+ tow companies before he found one willing to take the job.  AND it was going to require a 7 hour wait.

4.  Progressive wants you to stay with the vehicle.  My wait time was going to be 7 hours!!!!! 

At this point in time I settled into the cab of the truck and prepared for a long night on the side of the road.  I decided to make this forum post and also did some google searching for Volvo VNL diagnostic ideas.  It was you guys that inspired me to go back out and look in the battery box one more time.  Remember it is pitch-black outside and traffic is whizzing by at 70mph.  It is then that I noticed the broken wire.  It was a small gauge wire that went to the positive terminal, but apparently pretty important.  I got it wired back up and was sooooo relieved when the truck started up.

The family had already went to sleep in the hotel 20 minutes away so I went to that town and found an rv-friendly Dicks Sporting Goods parking lot to "boondock" for the night.

 

 

 

 

 

[Shallow Draft]

Happy to hear that all is good!!

thanks for updating. It is so nice to see a relatively simple solution to a serious situation.

[SWharton]

Time to get Coachnet....................

[rickeieio]

It's all in the presentation................

On our way back from Alaska, we broke down about 60 miles north of Destruction Bay.  Wife took the smart to look for help.  She called our towing service (Good Sam) from Destruction Bay.  It was about 7:00p on a Friday evening.  She got off on the wrong foot when she told the kid we needed our rig towed, and send the big wrecker because we had a semi.  All he heard was semi, and kept saying they didn't tow commercial. 

Be careful how you word your request.

[Pat & Pete]

1 hour ago, rickeieio said:

It's all in the presentation................

On our way back from Alaska, we broke down about 60 miles north of Destruction Bay.  Wife took the smart to look for help.  She called our towing service (Good Sam) from Destruction Bay.  It was about 7:00p on a Friday evening.  She got off on the wrong foot when she told the kid we needed our rig towed, and send the big wrecker because we had a semi.  All he heard was semi, and kept saying they didn't tow commercial. 

Be careful how you word your request.

Sell the sizzle , not the steak .

[Shallow Draft]

3 hours ago, rickeieio said:

It's all in the presentation................

On our way back from Alaska, we broke down about 60 miles north of Destruction Bay.  Wife took the smart to look for help.  She called our towing service (Good Sam) from Destruction Bay.  It was about 7:00p on a Friday evening.  She got off on the wrong foot when she told the kid we needed our rig towed, and send the big wrecker because we had a semi.  All he heard was semi, and kept saying they didn't tow commercial. 

Be careful how you word your request.

And don't tell them you are hooked to a horse trailer if you need a tire changed.  They don't do horse trailers either. Now if I need them I am hooked to a "utility trailer".

[SuperHauler2000]

Check your coolant level in the reservoir, Volvo added a sensor to protect the engine from overheating it the coolant level gets too low.