Coach Will Not Crank

[Kennon Monroe]

Good morning  My name is Ken and this is my first time posting.  I own a 2005 Monterey, C9 Cat with a 3000MH Allison.  I've never had any major mechanical issues that have stumped me until now. The chassis batteries needed replacing in my rig after 6 years of service.  I took photos and made diagrams to make sure of the cable hookups. Installed 2 new batteries now the coach will not crank.
Everything on the dash works and the trans indicator shows N but when I move the key to the crank position all I hear is a "Click" coming from the rear of the coach and the starter will not operate.  I've looked at all the large fuses behind the battery selector switch door, above the battery tray and they all look good.  Any ideas of where to go next?   

[Steve Huber]

Kennon,
Welcome to the Forum.
Since the dash and tranny indicators light up you've got power thru the battery shutoff switch. Looking at the high current diagram, you should have 3 heavy gauge cables running from the chassis batteries. One is a ground, 2 are hooked to the + terminals, 1 to the battery shutoff switch and the other to the starter. If the starter one isn't hooked up, you would get the symptoms you described.
Steve

[Lee Welbanks]

Kennon, Did the coach start with the old batteries? This may sound stupid but have those new batteries been load tested?

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

Welcome Ken
The electronics bay below the driver seat (front run bay) has a solenoid at the bottom.  If the batteries are hooked up right and the three white accessory wires to the batteries are right (I believe they are all negative) then I would replace the solenoid in the front.  These go out anyway and when stuck can fail to activate the starter solenoid .
Second I have seen this happen due to a starter too coated in blowby from the dump tube.  That member had the C9 as well and had the starter cleaned out and reinstalled.
Hope this helps

[Joel Ashley]

There is no absolute guarantee new batteries have a full charge.  I’d check that at the chassis batteries first with a DMM (digital multi-meter) just to be sure.  The lonely click implies starter solenoid engagement but not enough cranking voltage.  You might refer to this thread:

http://beaveramb.org/forum/index.php/topic,9053.msg61976.html#msg61976

The electric bay (streetside forwardmost) solenoid Keith refers to is a common culprit, but if it wasn’t an issue before the new batteries I don’t know why it would be now.  Nevertheless he’s right, it should be checked.  If you replace it, be sure the diode on the front is replaced with its stripe mark on the left.

Joel