QuestionI have an 03 Fleetwood Southwind 36E (Workhorse V-10). Recently I moved it about 25 feet and set the jacks. At the end of jacking it up or shortly thereafter, the Aux power went out. No dash lights, no radio, no fans, no ignition, no headlights or taillights. I’ve tested all the fuses in the power distribution box and under the dash. A 3 amp fuse (aux) in the distribution panel was blown but has been replaced. All the batteries are good and fully charged. I’ve tested all the wiring I can find that runs directly from either set of batteries and get 12 volts everywhere. The battery switches are in the correct position. Power to the starter tests 12v at the starter solenoid.
Two calls to Fleetwood lead to some fairly simple trouble shooting and the suggestion I take it in for service. They just didn’t seem to understand that an RV with its slides out and on its jacks doesn’t tow very well. (They did however tell me that using the emergency procedure to pull in the slides will ruin the motors and create a very expensive repair.) The local dealer could get it in 5 weeks if I could tow it in and gave me the name of a mobile RV serviceman. When I called him, and the 5 others I found in the phone book, each said they only work on the house and knew nothing about the chassis. I’ve called Ford (Workhorse) a couple of dozen times and checked everything they asked me to check numerous times. Lots of their advice is inaccurate, so I take most of it with a grain of salt. I talked to the mechanics at the large RV dealer here who told me to check the fusible links on the side of the engine. When I couldn’t find them, I called Ford again and they told me there were none used on the Workhorse engine. They gave me a fleet service facility to call, but it turned out to be out of business.
I called Workhorse yesterday and was told I was now out of warranty, they didn’t seem to care that this all started while I was still within my warranty (convenient, huh?) And even better, it’s now hurricane season and I have no way to get my RV out of here if a storm comes.
There is an RV service facility only 2 blocks from here, but over the past two months they’ve promised to come by at least 20 times and shown up once. They collected $100.00 and said they’d return the next day. That was two weeks ago.
I’m in Palm Harbor, Florida (just north of Clearwater), if you have a clue what’s wrong, I would greatly appreciate any advise you can give.
AnswerHi Richard:
Sorry, welcome to Workhorse.
Sounds to me like a connector has come loose somewhere in the electrical circuit. Try checking the actual voltages to the various fuses. I have seen wires loose or broken in back of the fuse panels that feed a row or set of fuses that run the engine controls on this chassis. Try and find which fuses have no power with a test light and then either find and repair the problem or jump a hot wire to the fuse block. You can probably jump hot wires to the slide out and jack controls to at least get those up and in. Good luck.
Bill
