2/8/2011 2:18:08 PM permalink
rshaw500 Posts 18	I have a 1995 Fleetwood Pace-Arrow with a 460ci engine on a Ford chassis. I stopped at a Walmart and did some shopping. When I came out to try and start the motorhome it cranked over very slowly and then quit. All I got after that was a clicking that sounded like it was coming from the starter. I replaced the starter and still have the same clicking. I have 4 solenoids on the firewall and crossed all of them over and still did not get any results.
	2/9/2011 7:41:48 AM permalink
Steve Roddy Lazydays Employee Posts 647	What happens when you use your battery boost ( auxiliary start, emergency start)? If it cranks properly when using battery boost have the chassis battery tested. If it does not crank check battery connections including both positive and negative connections.
	2/9/2011 4:29:35 PM permalink
rshaw500 Posts 18	I went out and removed all connections, negative and positive and cleaned them and the posts. There was no change, just got a clicking noise. I was told by someone that Ford had a problem at one time and they corrected it by running a ground wire directly to the starter from the frame. I know that I need solenoids also but the parts stores tell me that they are not available. I have two marked chassis that are black and two that are silver. Of course this is secondary because I have crossed them over to bypass them in order to figure this out.
	2/9/2011 5:19:01 PM permalink
Steve Roddy Lazydays Employee Posts 647	Make sure you use the correct solenoids when replacing. Is it a continuous duty solenoid or a latching relay? What is the ampacity of the solenoid? I am not aware of a grounding issue to the starter but an easy way to check that would be with a pair of jumper cables temorarily connected as a ground from frame to starter. Did you try the aux start?
	2/9/2011 7:22:06 PM permalink
rshaw500 Posts 18	Yes I have tried the auxillary start with the same result. I will try connecting the battery jumper directly to the starter. If this starts like I believe it will......the result would have to be in the solenoids....correct? I am not sure what the solenoids are. When I order a part for this I have to use a 1995 Ford F-450 Super Duty rear wheel drive. edited by rshaw500 on 2/9/2011
	2/9/2011 9:40:45 PM permalink
Steve Roddy Lazydays Employee Posts 647	If it starts with the jumper cable it confirms a bad ground to starter. I would not replace solenoids without knowing exactly what each solenoid does. There will be one Ford starter solenoid but the others are probably installed by Fleetwood for battery disconnects and an interconnect solenoid for battery charging of house batteries when driving. I would not just replace parts without confirmimg they are bad. Extremely rare to have multiple solenoid problems.
	2/10/2011 4:20:24 PM permalink
rshaw500 Posts 18	I tried the jumper cable and got the same results. I decided to run a ground cable from the frame to the starter. All I get now is a strong click. I have no idea what to do now.
	2/10/2011 4:52:51 PM permalink
Steve Roddy Lazydays Employee Posts 647	Check voltage at the starter when ignition is in the start position.
	2/17/2011 12:50:41 PM permalink
rshaw500 Posts 18	OK,,,,,,I have a trickle charge on the battery all the time. Last night I was able to start the RV and shut it down about 3 times and restart. After that it would not start and I lost all the exterior lights including the headlights. Before that happened I would try to start it and the headlights would shut down but come back on after a few seconds. This morning I went out and it started with a little trouble but I shut it down and it will not start again.
	2/18/2011 11:30:14 AM permalink
Steve Roddy Lazydays Employee Posts 647	If you lost headlights then you lost battery voltage completely. Check all battery connections as well as ground connections to the chassis battery. Also check the chassis battery disconnect to make sure you are not getting any voltage loss across solenoid.
	3/3/2011 2:28:33 PM permalink
rshaw500 Posts 18	I would like to thank you for your generous help with my starting problem. It seems that I had overlooked the problem a couple of times. I thought that I had checked all connections. I had forgot to check the positive connection on the chassis battery. When I pulled it, it was very dirty with a little corrosion which was preventing the motorhome from starting but had enough of a connection to light the headlights which is what had confused me. I cleaned the post and the positive cable end and reconnected it and the motorhome starts everytime now. I should have read your answers more closely. Thanks again. The next time I am in Seffner I would like to stop at Lazaydays and look you up.
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