Will not crank when hot

davismills · 06-09-2012, 02:11 AM

My Sightseer 2011 33 is less than a year old and I've been very pleased for the most part. Here's the main pesky problem we're dealing with on the coach. If the engine is cold the chassis battery engages the starter and the coach cranks right up. If we drive a few hours and say stop for gas, the coach will not crank with the chassis battery. We have to hit the coach battery interlock and then it cranks right up. As soon as we get to the campground and the engine cools down, the chassis battery comes back to life. Normally, I would troubleshoot this myself. Since it's under warranty I took it to my trusty Ford dealer. I will keep this thread posted as to the outcome. I was wondering if anyone else had problems like this with a Ford F-53 with a V10 gas engine.

wa8yxm · 06-09-2012, 09:55 AM

Have someone test the starter both hot and cold, for current draw.. I have had this happen on several cars over the years, every time, save one, it was the starter.. That one was wierd. But I fixed it.

mlynch · 06-09-2012, 08:12 PM

My Itasca 2011 Sunova with Ford Triton V10 does exactly the same thing. Starts cold, need battery (coach) booster when hot. I only have 5K miles on it and will be contacting Winnebago.

davismills · 06-10-2012, 04:34 AM

mlynch,
My Ford dealer has had it for a few days. I'll be sure and let you know what fixes it. I think wa8yxm is correct. Probably a starter.

mlynch · 06-10-2012, 06:58 PM

Thanks Dave. I'll look forward to the prognosis.
I'll probably follow suit and visit the Ford dealer soon.

Mike

Sightseer33 · 06-10-2012, 07:08 PM

We had the same issue. We also have a 2011 sightseer 33. It is called a hot start issue. Call they know all about it. It is a quick fix. Have your Dealer call them. Winnebargo called our dealer for us . No problem since it was fixed !!

rini2 · 06-18-2012, 09:01 PM

We just purchased a 2012 Sightseer 33C. Upon leaving the dealership I thought it turned over slow, but it started. I figured it was just due to running all the slides during the orientation etc. Twenty minutes down the road we stopped for a burger and fuel for our 170mi. ride home. Upon returning to the MH with our Big Mac's, my attempt to start our new MH was the same as you all described. Would barely turn over and wouldn't start without the assistance of the coach batteries. After the 3 hour return trip home, same results.

My local ford dealer refused to even look at the problem. (That is a story for another time) Here is what I found. First make sure all the connections are good from the battery all the way to the starter. Bad connections are the highest incidence of starting issues. Once that is taken care of, at the digital battery indicator by the other coach controls, check the battery voltage before doing anything. It should be 12.4 -12.8vt depending how long the coach has been parked. Have someone monitor the battery indicator while you start the cold engine. You should really not see the voltage drop to more than 11.2 - 11.5vt. If the engine starts let run and check the voltage running. If you are charging it will be 14.6vt initially and taper back to 13.8 - 14.2vt. Run the engine 10 minutes or so until it is at running temperature. Shut it off, wait 15 minutes or so and attempt to start the engine again. Have your battery monitoring person tell you the lowest voltage they see while cranking.

Here is what I found with my brand new coach. The voltage dropped to 7.2vt while trying to crank the warm engine. The starter on the Triton V10 is a gear reduction starter. These starters do not suffer from "heat fade" that some older direct drive starters suffered from. With a "good" battery this starter should not be able to draw the voltage down below 11vt even in a dead lock situation. While my battery was new the fact that it would drop to 12.0vt after a day or so, and the cranking voltages were 10.2vt cold engine crank and 7.2vt warm engine crank indicated that the problem lied in the battery. I purchased a new battery and problem cured. Cranks right over hot or cold.

I'm curious on Winnebago's knowledge of a "hot start issue" and what the Ford dealer did that solved Sightseer33's. I'll give Winnebago a call tomorrow.

Sightseer33 · 06-19-2012, 06:12 AM

I understood nothing of your post, but you sound very knowledgable !

Winnebago should know what it is, they were the ones who called it a "hot start" problem. Will be interesting to see their response .

rini2 · 06-19-2012, 07:44 PM

I called Winnebago today. Now I remember why we purchased Winnebago products. The gentleman in the service department was very knowledgeable and was aware of the issue. He looked up prior claims of the same nature and found that a paper/service solution was in the records of Winnebago. In a nut shell, this problem has occurred in a small number of Sightseers, mainly the 33C models. It stems from the door location being positioned all the way back by the rear axle. With the batteries under the steps, the cable run to the starter is longer than most. This coupled with a few found issues with cable isolation posts leads to the no crank/no start with a warm engine on some units. Winnebago has a "kit" that your Winnebago dealer can install. It is a fairly simple and quick installation. The "kit is for the most part extra/heavier cabling and the necessary other components to allow full amperage from the battery to reach the starter under all conditions. Being a warrantee repair, I was instructed to contact my selling dealer, have the dealer contact Winnebago for the needed "kit" and allow the dealer to make the necessary modifications.
I hope this information keeps us all happily camping this summer.

mlynch · 06-21-2012, 07:31 PM

Winnebago knows exactly what it is. The part (s) has been sent to my RV selling dealer service center with instructions on how to install. They said it will take less than an hour. They are installing it next week under the Warrantee. Call Winnebago and they will help you out.

Mike

davismills · 06-22-2012, 03:07 AM

Here's an update:

First of all, thank you all for the excellent advice! I called my Ford dealer and told him of the Winnebago fix. They've had the MH for about eight days and called yesterday and said they'd found a loose ground wire. I'm picking it up on Saturday with my fingers crossed that the problem is "really" fixed. I've always thought that the chassis battery was a long way from the engine. When we first picked the coach up last July from the salesman, we did have a bad battery with the same obvious symptoms. I replaced the battery at that time and the problem went away at that time. I always run the engine when deploying the slides and levelers.

If the "hot start" problem returns, I let you all know. In the meantime,happy camping. I'm 10 months from retirement and can't wait!!!!