Please Help, Alternator Question 1989 Winnebago Warrior 23RC

[remlews]

I recently bought a 1989 winnebago warrior model WC423RC on a E-350 ford chassis.
i am new to RV's , and the person i bought it from said that he recently had some work done on it and the RV mechanic said that he had isloated the house battery charging system from the Chassis charging system. now i have an issue with the alternator not charging the chassis battery, I have tried testing the alternator from the voltage regulator side and it seems to not be sending voltage to the chassis battery.. i have replaced the voltage regulator and now when the engine is running i can hear the alternator change tones (i.e it sounds like it is doing something as to it not sounding that way before i changed out the voltage regulator) but still not charging the chassis battery (i.e when reading voltage at the battery i am only seeing 12V and continues to drop as the engine runs)... i am unable to directly test output from the alternator because i cannot reach it as it is buried in the engine compartment..
i guess my main question here is, is the alternator of the engine connected directly to the chassis battery or does it go through some relays or isolators ? and if it is not directly connected, then where should i be looking to troubleshoot?

 

[Morich]

Sounds like the mech may be part of the problem? The coach and chassis battery are normally isolated except under certain conditions when we wan them connected, so maybe he is missing some things?
Second problem is that the online info only goes back as far as 1990, so we have to do a little guessing. But that is not all that bad because the parts involved stayed the same for a really long time! They may moved around and you have to look a little harder to find where they put a few things!

But I can do a better job if I take some time and cut out some drawings to show you what to expect. Not a hard one but some things like the tape they put on cables to help ID them are likely gone on older RV.

One first place if ready right now is looking right around the outer side of the frame near the right front tire. Are you used to seeing "mega fuses"?
They are just a much bigger than normal fuse that bolts in. I have found them in the cables from the battery going on toward the engine with alternator. Problem is that they are not covered or protected as much as we might think and they can look more like a lump of road oil and dirt! Being that close tot eh wheel, they also get lots of corrosion!

I can't say it is there but you might look for a spot that looks like 2-3 battery cables bolted to the frame! If you knock the pile of dirt off, you may find it is actually a great big fuse and it may need cleaned and the corrosion knocked off or it might also be blown??

I'll get back in a short with some drawings to show where I might expect things to go. It may take me 30 minutes to an hour as I have some phone call work, but ASAP? But maybe a quick look there can get you some good?

 

[remlews]

wow! thank you so much, i am taking it into a repair shop this morning (not specifically a RV repair shop but they are the only ones hat would take a look) to have them test the alternator/replace it if found bad. but having some diagrams would really help.
thank you again.

 

[Morich]

Got some info to show?
There are a couple big places if you don't find that mega fuse. One is at the batteries as it may be just the ground cables loose or dirty. Not as likely since it does start but things can fool us if they come and go, so worth taking a look there?
This is from a 1990 model but very like nearly the same. Maybe the batteries turned around or such?

Positive to positive and nags all connected to ground buss bar. But both have cables going to the solenoid. They don't mention that there may be a mega fuse in that line!
I find it on some, not others! If you put battery in and it doesn't come out at the other end try behind the wheel? I kinda have to drape myself over the wheel to reach it???

But there is likely to be a connection to check at the "mode solenoid"! But this drawing is not for your RV, so I can't show WHERE to find that solenoid. I think of them as being behind a removable panel and being labeled, but that is a guess! Maybe behind a group of fuses?

This solenoid comes in different models, some three posts but if your solenoid has been changed it may have four. They first used one control wire and let the ground come from the mounting screw but they found that failed way too easy and went to wires for battery (LR) and ground from a wire FM that they also laid on the mounting screw. If the ground from the screw got bad, maybe the wire ground worked?? No surprises if it looks a little different from this drawing!

The idea of this is important to know for future as it can be a problem at times.
you have a dash switch that sends battery down to close these contacts, if you ever have a weak start battery and need a jump start! Push the button and coach connects to chassis through this solenoid!
OR
When you start the engine, battery goes to this solenoid and connect the two as a way to get some charge from the engine alternator down to the coach batteries to help get a little charge in them!
My though is that the left side big lug may have several battery cables and one may not be good and clean? We don't get the good info on how it gets from alternator to connect to these, though!!
A couple ways to test this solenoid may tell you something??
If you watch the coach battery voltage and then start the engine or hold the dash switch, you should see the voltage change as the tow connect together!
If you see the big change as they connect, you "should" see the big jump as they connect to the alternator. Maybe 14 volts as as you speed up the engine?
If not, you will have to chase wiring back and make sure the alternator is actually working right?

But Winnebago calls that part of the chassis folks job and don't give us that info.
If you need that, look to truck info?

Hope that gives you some help but there are some guesses in there!

 

[Morich]

Found a little different way they draw this out and not much more on how the alternator gets connected. But this drawing from the same set shows the chassis battery on the right side, instead of left, so some confusion there?

Kind of the same parts but changed sides and still not showing alternator connection!
But the truth is that you are more likely to get the right work on this at a truck shop than an RV shop! Things are divided coach for the RV stuff but the things that are on a normal truck are often thought of as truck, not RV!
Winn buys stripped chassis and build on top of it but often are not too much into knowing what the truck does except where they connect to it!
the problem is often that we have a hard time getting a truck guy to look at it as a truck and the RV guy may not know much about trucks!
ARRGH!

Maybe tell him it's a truck and you just happen to be hauling a house?

 

[remlews]

so it looks like the alternator is not directly connected to the chassis battery .. instead it goes through a solenoid

 

[Morich]

Not exactly as it goes TO the solenoid but not THROUGH! I think it will go from the alternator to the starter, then it is on the same post with a cable that goes to the solenoid and meets a cable on that same post that goes to the battery!

I am guessing some as it is not considered part of the RV as much as the stripped chassis they buy. Also I'm looking at a 1990 drawing and thinking it will not have changed for your RV.
I believe this may be what you find. Since it does get enough to crank, I think we can start with the idea it is good from battery to starter? But if they connect the alternator on at the starter, is that connection good and is the alternator actually putting out as needed?

I think they do this as a way to keep the cables shorter and cheaper to just do them like "daisy chain"???

But that is a fair amount of guessing and what is really needed is a book on the chassis to show if these guesses are right!