6V92 won't start

[mbulriss]

Micheal,

You hit all the obvious points. Normally I would say, I don't care
how good all the battery and ground connections look, clean them again
anyway.

One last thought came to mind after all the other things you checked.
My 83 PT40 with the 6V92 did that to me one time and after chasing
all the other things you mentioned, it came down to the main power
solenoid in the overhead dash above the driver. If you look up there,
there should be a good size round solenoid with a heavy red 12V cable
coming into it and tons of other smaller wire connections coming off
of it via multiple studs. On mine, years of bouncing up and down the
road loosened one of the wires going into a crimped connector lug just
enough that it would not always do anything. It had the same 'dead
key' approach that you are describing -- nothing when you turn the
key. I found it by accident by just gently wiggling all the wires
connected to it. The lug had to be replaced on the end of the wire.
Re-crimping 'might' have done it, but maybe not.

Good luck. Let us know the outcome.

Mike Bulriss
1991 WB40 "Texas Minivan"
San Antonio, TX


--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "mrkane1952" <mrkane@...> wrote:
>
> Greetings All:
>
> I was again exercising the systems after being stationary in this park
> for two months, in preparation for getting back on the road next week.
> I could not start the coach engine, an '85 6V92. This is the first
> failure to start I have experienced in the eighteen months I've owned
> the coach. Usually it goes almost as soon as the key engages the
> starter.
>
> Symptoms: the starter motor does not turn. All the dash responses are
> normal when switching on the ignition--relays audibly toggle, low air
> buzzer and light are active and the suspension dump light is on. The
> safeline lights flash in the overhead. Turning the key to "start"
> causes a couple meters to peg low, but the 12 volt ammeter shows no
> change, nor does the volt meter.
>
> I have checked:
> 1) Battery condition--On this coach, all six 6 volt batteries are tied
> together; there is no dedicated house or starting set. All have
> sufficient water, and each reads about 6.3 volts with the charger off.
> Voltage from the positive tie point to the chassis reads about 12.5
> volts--roughly the same as the dash meter. Resistance from the
> battery posts to the tie point, and from the negative posts to the
> chassis is about 2 ohms (without cleaning the grease off.) No
> corrosion is visible at any connector.
>
> 2) Engaging the "aux. battery" switch made no difference.
>
> 3) The no-start response is similar to the times I didn't get the
> transmission selector fully into the "N" neutral position before
> trying to crank the motor over, so I cycled the selector several times
> to be sure.
>
> 4) Toggled the A/T switch.
>
> 5) I have no key for the rear start switch, but I cycled the
> front-off-rear switch several times. For the present I decided not to
> remove and open the box until further consultation.
>
> 6) Fuel (5/8 tank, Racor no water) and coolant seem correct.
>
> Riding a Harley since the seventies prepared me for a certain amount
> of backroad repair using what little I had in my saddlebags, but now I
> have discovered how difficult it is to troubleshoot a 40 foot long
> coach without a helper or sufficient tools. Even tried reading my
> Fluke in the backup camera, but no luck. It embarrasses me to say I
> don't fit under the bus to get to the starter, either!
>
> The lack or prior symptoms makes me suspect a safety interlock
> somewhere may be the cause, rather than the starter itself. So the
> question for the group is what else to try before I call for a mobile
> repair tech (at $110 /hour)?
>
> Thanks--
>
> M.R.Kane
> 1985 PT 40
> near Sanger, TX
>