6V92 won't start

[sfedeli3]

Kane,

On my '85, you can work the rear key start box with the large key
that opens the Bargman lock on the front door (has the big "B" on the
key. Maybe yours is the same??

When I first bought mine, I drove it from AZ to PA. On the way
across MO I-44, bumps got pretty bad and the cable to the starter came
loose on the stud. Had the same symptoms as you're describing. Since
you are going to be under there checking the stud anyway, take a long
handled screwdriver with you and dry jumping the solenoid stud to the
large stud on the starter body. The solenoid is usually what fails on
starters (some call it a "Bendix") Good luck! Let us know what you
find out.

Shane Fedeli
85PT40
Hershey, PA

--- 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
>