trans temp & engine temp guage, & engine temp guage in service center all dead

[Lester Orlow]

Bus sat for 7 years due to family obligations, I am trying to recommission it. Started with fuel guage, engine temp, and trans temp out,
after some fiddling the fuel guage started working, but still cannot find any wiring issues. The engine temp guage in the service bay doesn't work either. The Silver leaf lost its read out so I am flying blind as far as temps are concerned.  2001 Beaver contessa naples 
Thanks

[Frank Bergamo]

Lester,

First thing I would do is make sure batteries are good. Then go from there. Hope this helps.

[Lester Orlow]

Batteries are all new

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Lester,
You may be looking at 2 separate issues. The dash gauges get their info directly from the engine sensors. The Silverleaf is getting data from the engine ECU. I suspect the Silverleaf issue may be a faulty connection given how long the coach has set. Try disconnecting the Silverleaf connectors under the dash, apply a bit of contact cleaner and reconnect them.
If my memory serves me, there are 2 separate sensors for the temp and oil gauges. The temp sensors are very accessable at the top of the engine in cooling system elbow right under the bedroom hatch. Try removing and cleaning the connections first before considering any sensor replacement as again, i suspect this is a time issue.
Steve

[Lester Orlow]

Steve
   The Silverleaf lost the display before I put it away, they would not repair it , and they wanted $3,000 for a new model.  I understand that they now have a new system that you use with a laptop, but have not had time to look into it. I already had it at Cat and they said            " verified coolant temp sensor was operating properly, everything was plugged in, verified power to gauge, ran jumper wires from other known good gauge nothing moved temp gauge ,ran jumper wire from sensor to gauge and still nothing."
Thanks, Les

[Eric Maclean]

Lester
The wiring diagrams for your coach should be In the coach assist section that will help you through .
Steve is correct the Cat sensors for oil pressure and coolant temp only supply data to the cat ECM the Silver leaf contains it's data from the engine ECM via serial stream data connection to the silver leaf. they don't use those sensors for the dash gauges the dash gauges use a separate set of sending units which are usually mounted very close to the cat sensors however the Cat sensors have weather proof plugs and the gauge sender usually had stud terminals with ring terminals which are prone to corosion and bad connections.
Also the connections at the gauge's are known to develop bad or loose connections check the dash gauges grounds first.
The service bay gauges are also in a harsh environment as the rear side of the service board controls , switches and gauge wiring are all exposed to dirt and moisture which lends them to corrosion and bad connections.
You will likely find your coach has a tee with two oil pressure sending units one for the the dash gauge and one for the service bay gauge.

Hope this helps
Eric

[Frank Bergamo]

Lester,

If you have power to gauges and nothing works, then I would check for a common grounding problem as Eric said. Under the dash there is a common ground block, with multiple ground circuits. Check to see if all are tight, then follow main ground wire, making sure it is tight and not corroded where it connects. Hope this helps.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Lester,
Based on your reply, I agree with Eric & Frank. Gauge issue is probably due to dash problem. The connections on my 01 used brass nuts to hold the wires to the back of the gauges and I found over half of them were loose due to vibration, etc. The dash panel can be removed from the front to get easier access.
Steve

[Lester Orlow]

All gauges work except for the engine temp gauge and the trans temp gauge, have 12.8 volts power, and  8.4 volts to the S pole  one the gauge. All gauges light when I pull the light switch. Checked all the connections, and cleaned the sensor terminals, When I jumped the S connection to ground the gauge did not move. I guess the gauges are bad, does anyone where to get replacements?
Thanks, Les

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Lester,
I seem to remember the gauges in your coach are VDO gauges. Check the web and NAPA.
Steve