wont start Class A won’t start - new battery - bad connection?

[FITFO]

Good morning!

We picked up our class A on Monday. It was jumped to start as it had been sitting in storage with battery installed since April (thanks to quarantine). Drove it home 15 miles with no issues. We are in upstate NY.

Once home, turned it off for 5 minutes. Went to start up again to lower levels and got nothing. Absolutely nothing. It was as of no battery was even installed.

Tried battery boost from house and generator. Installed new battery this morning and still nothing. Engaging the key does nothing but show the oil pressure needle drop a little. Like I said it’s as if there is no battery.

Starter was replaced last year as were several fuses and breaker switches.

Something must be disconnected or faulty. My husband wiggled the cables and could get the dash to light up but still wouldn’t turn over. The red positive cable on the first battery on the left going to the middle battery is the one he moved.

This will be our 3rd summer with our 2002 Itasca Suncruiser. Seems we keep patching it up every year lol. 

 If you have some advice to offer I’d really appreciate your help in pointing us in the right direction.

 Thanks in advance!

[Kirk W]

Welcome to the Escapee forums!  I just replied to your post in the previous forum but here is the essence of what I said there. 

My first suspicion is that you have a battery that has at least 1 shorted cell as that could easily cause the problems that you are listing. 

Do you have, or have access to a volt/ohm meter and perhaps a battery charger? I suggest that you lift the negative cables from all of your batteries and allow them to rest for a hour or so, then take voltage readings on them. If that voltage is less then 10V you won't be able to start from them. If you just installed a new battery, you should still lift that negative and check the voltage as it could have been dragged down by a shorted cell in one of the other batteries. Lifting the negative cable from the house batteries will remove them from the system and prevent that from happening again, if that is the problem.

20 minutes ago, FITFO said:

My husband wiggled the cables and could get the dash to light up but still wouldn’t turn over. The red positive cable on the first battery on the left going to the middle battery is the one he moved.

This does sound like you might have poor battery connections which, if bad enough could cause your problems. I suggest that you start by removing the connections and thoroughly clean them one at a time and replace them. I would do this with the negative cable lifted, the clean and connect it last, for safety reasons. The fact that he got some lights does seem to indicate that the batteries are not completely dead and probably not a shorted cell.  It could also be helpful to know what chassis your Su cruiser is on? I and guessing it has a Ford V-10?

Edited June 10, 2020 by Kirk W

[FITFO]

2 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

Welcome to the Escapee forums!  I just replied to your post in the previous forum but here is the essence of what I said there. 

My first suspicion is that you have a battery that has at least 1 shorted cell as that could easily cause the problems that you are listing. 

Do you have, or have access to a volt/ohm meter and perhaps a battery charger? I suggest that you lift the negative cables from all of your batteries and allow them to rest for a hour or so, then take voltage readings on them. If that voltage is less then 10V you won't be able to start from them. If you just installed a new battery, you should still lift that negative and check the voltage as it could have been dragged down by a shorted cell in one of the other batteries. Lifting the negative cable from the house batteries will remove them from the system and prevent that from happening again, if that is the problem.

This does sound like you might have poor battery connections which, if bad enough could cause your problems. I suggest that you start by removing the connections and thoroughly clean them one at a time and replace them. I would do this with the negative cable lifted, the clean and connect it last, for safety reasons. The fact that he got some lights does seem to indicate that the batteries are not completely dead and probably not a shorted cell.  It could also be helpful to know what chassis your Su cruiser is on? I and guessing it has a Ford V-10?

Kirk thank you! Yes it’s a Workhorse engine, V-10. When checking the battery reading from the coach even the battery we replaced was showing between 12.9-13.5 from yesterday afternoon to evening. The new battery was installed this morning before my husband went to work so I haven’t checked the reading on that one yet. The plan is to clean to the connections this morning as you mentioned. Thank you again I will keep you posted. There’s quite the learning curve with all this stuff!

[Kirk W]

1 minute ago, FITFO said:

Yes it’s a Workhorse engine, V-10.

The Workhorse chassis has a GM, V-8 engine, the Ford has a V-10.

3 minutes ago, FITFO said:

When checking the battery reading from the coach even the battery we replaced was showing between 12.9-13.5 from yesterday afternoon to evening. The new battery was installed this morning before my husband went to work so I haven’t checked the reading on that one yet.

If you are depending on readings from the volt meter that is installed in the coach, those are of very little value and not useful in trouble shooting. To get an accurate voltage reading you need to get a digital meter from Walmart or a parts store and take the readings with the negative cable lifted on the battery you are measuring. 

[Sehc]

This was on a very old thread.  This does sound like a failed negative connection. Chassis to engine, or battery. Also look for burnt fusible links. Usually near the battery.

[kb0zke]

I wouldn't say a six-day-old thread was very old. We had a similar experience when we were first starting out. For some reason, don't remember why, I shut the MH off at the end of the driveway. When we got ready to start again, a few minutes later, no start. After some headscratching, meter reading, and a phone call, I disconnected all of the battery connections, cleaned them, and reinstalled them, making sure that everything was good and tight. The Detroit fired up almost before I hit the switch. Lesson learned.

[Kirk W]

On 6/10/2020 at 7:45 AM, FITFO said:

The plan is to clean to the connections this morning as you mentioned. Thank you again I will keep you posted. There’s quite the learning curve with all this stuff!

Any news yet? I just had another thought that may apply.