The Bus Won't Start !!

This happened last month the night before were scheduled to meet others for an outing. Engine would not start. Battery is up, cranks over strong, engine lights come on with ignition and go out momentarily like they should. No warning lights ie low water, low oil. Must be electrical, spend the next day checking every circuit and solenoid ( big job ) All are normal to the DDEC. I happened to email a friend that owns a large boat SF Bay and told him what I was up against. He had his Diesel mech. call me. Not being a DD guy he led me first to look for a flapper valve closed between the turbo and the blower. After removing all the inlet duct and moving the filter housing out of the way. Then I was able to determin there was no such valve. I placed a paper towel over the inlet to the blower and cranked the engine. There was plenty of suction, no air blockage, Next he instructed me to remove one end of a fuel line that connects from the filter to the injecter. Cranked again, plenty of fuel pressure. We have air and fuel but still no start no amounts of ether will even make it try. Next remove the DDEC and take it to the DD shop in Sac. They read a code that said the magnetic, electric device that reads the flywheel timing for the injectors to fire was faulty. Good , order one. I asked them to show me where it was located. They had a just removed 8v92 setting on the shop floor. With flash lights and a lot of squinting your could barly see it down under the DDEC just behind and ajacent to the flywheel housing. With the part ordered I went back home and it was getting pretty dark. I took my camera out and snapped some pictures down toward the faulty device. I went back in and looked at the pictures on the computer screen. Printed them and stared at them. One of the wires was chewed in two. pieces and parts laying below. RAFTER RATS we have creatures around here called by that name. If they don't continually chew there teeth grow long enough to do them in.

Back to DD shop to cancel the part order and get a replacemenr shielded wire made up. I retreived the DDEC, Removed the pins in each connector put new pins on each end of the wire and connected it up. Re-installed the DDEC, inlet duct and filter housing and the engine fired first turn.

Thinking back I left the block heater turned on during some cold nights. This probably attracked the little buggers to their new found home. Now that I made you suffer reading this almost as bad as I did finding the problem we can all laugh. The place looks like a Rafter Rat war zone. poison boxes, sound emitting electrical devices, crevice under DDEC stuffed with steel wool.

Lesson learned ;If the engine lights go on and off with the ignition as they should and there are no warning lights lit. Go directly to the DDEC and have it read for the culprit code. Would have saved hours.
I learned a lot while tracing wire circuits.
My local Diesel Mech was up to his ears in Log Truck work and couldn't examin the coach as parked in my yard between rock walls & big trees.

Thats a perfect story, execpt for the hardship. We live on a farm in the midwest, so mice drive us crazy in the fall, the wabasto runs and its perfect for them to come inside for the winter. we trap, bait, electro buzz them and still they get in. "I hate meeces to pieces" but life goes on....the worst time is when we took one of the little criters on a bus ride and it woke us up in the night scratching on the oak cabinet, what a pain. If you find a solution let me know.

Win's story is a perfect example of a methodical check for the problem.

Generally when a diesel will turn over, but not fire, the problem is fuel flow. In his case that is exactly what it was, but caused by the DDEC not delivering the fuel that was right there at the injectors.

Win,

It was all sounding happy up until the part were you had to REMOVE the DDEC controller and take it to the shop.

I don't know which DDEC system you have, but it is possible to read the codes yourself, either from the blinking light on the panel or with a code reader hooked directly to the DDEC system. You can also jumper two of the pins in the plug-in together and achieve the same thing.

Our coach has a switch that will start the DDEC downloading the codes (you have to count the number of times the light blinks) and you can take that info along with the DDEC Code sheet I posted and can determine the issue yourself.

I think several of us have the complete DDEC troubleshooting guide and there may be a couple of code readers floating around that you can use. It's not rocket science (crap a P-210 pilot can do it) and it might save you a trip and the removal of the module.

http://jdub.smugmug.com/photos/82765832-L.jpg

http://jdub.smugmug.com/photos/73061694-M.jpg

http://jdub.smugmug.com/photos/73062432-M.jpg

Thanks Jerry, Good post
My coach was special order for Fred Flintstone and his wife Wilma. We bought it years later. I'll look for the items you describe when I get my coach back from the paint shop. ( getting major BLING ). In the future please avoid telling me to jump terminals or wires. My friends call me a major spark maker. ( WHOA!! stand a back it's a bigga Daangee!! )
I'll look for a code reader to purchase (cheap). Until then I'll be counting the blinks.
Got any Rat remedies.
Harry

As much as I hate to admit the Bonanza driver has a good point, he is correct.

The downside is you have to understand all a specific code could be trying to tell you if you do not have a reader, but are relying on putting a jumper between terminals A and M as shown on what Jerry attached.

Anybody that has not tried it should use a jumper and learn how to read codes. Even if nothing is wrong it will blink and beep a code to tell you all is good. Don't forget that if you have a problem, even if you can't move the coach, read the codes and talk to DD on the 800 number. They will guide you. Free.

This way, without a code reader you get the code by using a jumper (a fancy term for a piece of wire with one end inserted in A and the other end inserted in M) and the tech on the end of the DD 800 line will give you all the possible problems, most of which you can deal with yourself.

If you are lucky and your coach documents are complete, you will have a book with all the codes and explainations as I had with my 1987.

Harry,

If you are dying to spend money try this place.

http://www.usatoolwarehouse.com/usat...house/mpi.html

If you feel lucky keep an eye on ebay. Sometimes they pop up there.

I'm confused, what does all this have to do with Law and Order?:confused:

Absolutely nothing.

Like most POG things, well, something gets started and then, well, there you are.

OOPS! Sorry Tom. I am a little confused again on how this posting all works. I had hoped to post it under something more mechanical related. Anyway I'm sorry I interupted your Law and Order TV show. Please get the webmaster to straighten me out again.
Harry

Harry,
No apology necessary, I stay confused and thought maybe I missed something.:confused: You don't want to miss anything with this bunch or the next thing you know, your looking at LED catalogs wondering how to make your bus look more like a Vegas Casino.:p

A Vegas casino, is that what our objective is for POGII? Boy when we get to Sante Fe our Prevost's will light up the New Mexico skies like the strip. We will be out all night and sleep during the day, so much for the balloon festival.

Tom
Re-LED's
Just remember 80,000 Phillipino jeep drivers can't be wrong. Bling is in.
I hope everyone remembers to bring their welding goggles,for flash prevention, to SF. All we need is someone to bring a calyopy along to announce the circus is in town.
We'll have fun.
Harry

Not everybody is looking at LEDs. Jeff is coming in his Amish bus, and I represent the anti LED faction, and will bring new meaning to the word "candlepower" as relates to light intensity.

It will take more than teeny weeny bright lights to knock off the King of Bling.

Jon, I'm sort of with you on the bling thing. I just purchased a pair of 22.5 whitewall snow tires so I can make believers of these bling doers that my coach is a Polish front wheel drive Prevost. Boy, they look nice.

I have insalled about half of the strobe lights so far. No rear door for this emergency vehicle, but I'll have a heavy duty snow plow on the front. I really don't care who knows what I'm puttin' on, I have no reservations and I will show up un-announced.

I thought we would try not to be the Prevost Proud group tryin' to beat out the next guy, but here we go.

If the cooker went to the nicest person, I really don't know what I would do with it cuz, don't Prevost owners either eat out most of the time or hire some lackeys to cook for them?

I know Prevost owners are stuck up.

I'm so stuck up I won't even talk to myself.