Complete Chassis Electrical Failure

bnyosemite · 07-01-2018, 04:32 PM

I have a 2015 Legacy 360RB. When leaving my motorcoach resort Friday everything abruptly shut down. Fortunately I was just shy of the road but I blocked the resort exit for 3 hours. The entire chassis electrical just completely shut down. Engine died and no nothing. Not a single light or gauge, anything connected to the chassis was dead, even the entrance step. No impact on house batteries or 120 with the generator. After sitting a few minutes it just as suddenly came back on and then started a cycle of on/off intermittently from that point on. There was no pattern except that it usually stayed off longer than it came back on. Sometimes it would come back for minutes and sometimes just seconds, not even long enough to try to start it. I could hear a clicking from somewhere around the power distribution center (Magnum Energy) when it would come and go. No faults in the system however. Charger and inverter worked fine, just the chassis and it was all or nothing. It can't be a fuse and it can't be mechanical like a loose connection (nothing is moving when it cuts off and on). The chassis batteries are fine and fully charged. Whatever it is shuts off the connection somewhere between the batteries and the input to the chassis. If anything it seemed more like something overheating and throwing some sort of thermal protection.

I'm lucky that it didn't happen on the road. I was able to slowly move it over numerous on/off cycles and back up into one of the resort's check in lanes until a tow finally arrived 6 hours later. It was towed to Freightliner in Savannah but they aren't open until Monday am.

Has anyone seen anything like this before? Very confusing and frustrating and extremely dangerous. Imagine it doing this in the left lane on I-95 which is where I was headed.

Iwannacamp · 07-01-2018, 04:39 PM

I have no motorhome.

In the old days it would have just been a bad connection. With the electronic crap they have nowadays....who knows.

Good luck on your quest.

Sent from my LGMP260 using Forest River Forums mobile app

bnyosemite · 07-01-2018, 04:51 PM

I see a few posts on various forums that seem similar where the cause is a 135 amp circuit breaker located near the driver's side rear axel wheel. That would put it behind the compartment where the energy system is which might account for the sound I was hearing. Any thoughts?

formerFR · 07-02-2018, 06:59 AM

to me, it sounds like a 'grounding' issue, as everything related to the vehicle's 12v system is losing power simultaneously. I doubt that it's anything to do with the Magnum since that is for the house system, and a '135 amp circuit breaker' is typically for high draw items like hydraulics for the house, not the vehicle itself.

Even if sitting still, a loose ground wire connection could be 'making contact' enough to repower everything, but then quickly loses it again with any slight movement or vibration, etc.

This is somewhat like our air conditioner breaker that would trip, for no obvious reason, during the late Texas summer of '14. We had plenty of power, either from the generator or shore power, but the breaker would continue to trip at odd times when very little else was being used.
I removed the breaker panel cover, pulled the breaker, and found that the screw was backed out and no longer making constant tight contact with the wire. A simple loose screw. Loose Neutral wires can create the same problem, as loose grounds for chassis' can.

I hope that your situation has such an easy solution.

srappleby · 07-02-2018, 09:14 AM

I had the exact same problem when we bought our 2014 Legacy last year. Turned out to be poorly crimped lugs on the chassis battery cables. Have them all re-crimped and don't forget the two connections on the battery switch.

bnyosemite · 07-02-2018, 11:55 AM

Freightliner called. The problem is the battery disconnect switch. It went bad and fried. I'm having them simply bypass the switch. It serves no purpose for me as I am always connected to power and have no need to use a switch to disconnect the chassis for storage. I also see no need in replacing the switch just so I can face the same issue in the future. I can't believe something this simple has cost me this time and money. Worse, I can't believe that our coaches have the potential to place my family and others lives at risk by losing all power on a busy highway.

Unbelievable.

5picker · 07-02-2018, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bnyosemite

Freightliner called. The problem is the battery disconnect switch. It went bad and fried. I'm having them simply bypass the switch. It serves no purpose for me as I am always connected to power and have no need to use a switch to disconnect the chassis for storage. I also see no need in replacing the switch just so I can face the same issue in the future. I can't believe something this simple has cost me this time and money. Worse, I can't believe that our coaches have the potential to place my family and others lives at risk by losing all power on a busy highway.

Unbelievable.

Glad you got it sorted out.

I understand your frustration but keep in mind... anything mechanical, electrical, pneumatic and hydraulic can fail.

There are literally hundreds of components that can (and will) put us, our families and others at risk if they fail.

As much as we like modern technology, when things break, bad things can happen. Heck, even older technology has its risks. There was an article in this past weekend's local paper where a wagon wheel come off an Amish buggy and three people were injured. Things happen.

srappleby · 07-03-2018, 10:20 AM

Alright! Glad you got it figured out. Nothing worse than a "phantom" problem that keeps happening and no one can find out why.

captnrick3 · 07-05-2018, 10:14 PM

Glad you have it sorted out. My Legacy on very rare occasions looses power for about one second to all the dash accessories but not the engine. Has only happened 3 or 4 times in 3 years and 30,000 miles. I have no clue what it is since it's so seldom. I

srappleby · 07-05-2018, 11:01 PM

Check the crimp on those lugs, "Capn". Mine was doing that also. Just driving along and the whole display resets without the engine cutting out. Those episodes freaked me out. Then the times the whole coach just died on the road- no flashers or nothing. Grrrrrrrr

Last month I had the coach at Freightliner getting serviced. I told the I re-crimped the cables at the battery ends but wanted them to check the other ends, like the starter, etc. They said those ends would have been machine crimped before chassis assembly. The coach builder cuts the cable to length and is SUPPOSED to crimp the lugs.

bnyosemite · 07-06-2018, 07:04 AM

On a positive note, Freightliner of Savannah GA refused to charge me despite my protests. It wasn’t even a Freightliner part, it was added by FR. They incurred labor to diagnose the issue, remove and bypass the switch, and reinstall the drive shaft. The service manager, Jay, said:

Very seldom do we ever get the opportunity to make someone's day or deliver good news. No one likes being broke down or stranded. Every day we try to go out of our way to make an extra effort to brighten someone's day. Even if it's not much....at least we can in some way give back to the community. A smile & a handshake will suffice. Hopefully you can return the gesture to someone in need one day. Today, you're the one that it's well deserved to.

Wow, restores a bit of faith in humanity. If you need service in Savannah...

srappleby · 07-06-2018, 07:56 AM

Amen!

doofoo · 03-17-2019, 02:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bnyosemite

Freightliner called. The problem is the battery disconnect switch. It went bad and fried. I'm having them simply bypass the switch. It serves no purpose for me as I am always connected to power and have no need to use a switch to disconnect the chassis for storage. I also see no need in replacing the switch just so I can face the same issue in the future. I can't believe something this simple has cost me this time and money. Worse, I can't believe that our coaches have the potential to place my family and others lives at risk by losing all power on a busy highway.

Unbelievable.

Same EXACT thing happened to me, except it DID happen on 95 while headed down the road going 70MPH. While sitting on the side of the road for a while the electric came back on. I continued by trip as I troubleshot and could not find any loose connectors.

Fast forward a couple of months and the motorhome breaks down in the middle of a beach resort town blocking traffic for over an hour until a wrecker could come tow us an hour to the nearest Freightliner dealer after hours.

Just like you, Freightliner took care of us. While at the dealer troubleshooting with the techs we were able to find the problem was the quick disconnect battery switch was the culprit. We bypassed it as we also store our motorhome inside and always hooked up to a battery tender.

Was very frustrating and we did not receive much support from FR although we called and reached out multiple time for assistance in troubleshooting.

I can't believe they haven't done a recall on those switches.

Luckily we were able to get off the highway, but I was thinking later - if this happened during the night we would be sitting on the side of the road with NO lights. When it happens you can't even turn on your hazards. Everything is out.

Replying here just in case anyone else has this problem they might see this thread. I am aware it's old, but I believe it's an important issue to be aware of.

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