Newell Gurus

Gurus,

I have had a recurring problem with the ignition key and starting the coach.  Sometimes...(not always)...I would turn the key and nothing would happen.   Coach didn’t crank or start....nothing.  After a few more tries, it would start as always.

When I was at Newell, they looked into the problem and said that sometimes wires will push out of the relay blocks located under the passenger kick panel.   They fiddled with the wires and seemed to clear the problem.   But after a few days it came back.

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I finally found the culprit.   There are several relays that work together to first “turn on” the dash and then to start the engine.  Visual inspection followed by wiggling each of the relays identified the culprit relay.  On the guilty relay, a wire had gotten hot and was slightly pushed out of the relay block.   What was happening is that the spade on the relay was just touching a large gauge push on connector within the block.  Heat had obviously built up and was causing problems.

The fix is to remove the connector from within the block.  (Use a sharp probe from the relay side of the block to release the connector).  Replace the connector and reinsert into the block.

So far it is working.

Good call ! Thx

Sure seems like the number of times that owners have gone to Newell to have something fixed, only to find it wasn't fixed, has increased dramatically over the last few years. Lots of personnel changes in the service department over the last few years.

Good job of running down your problem Bill!

Intermittent electrical problems are a nightmare for everybody involved, they are sometimes hard to replicate. Many starters, alternators, and batteries have been replaced needlessly.

Good job, Bill.

I’m not blaming Newell. They identified the correct place to look...but if the problem is not manifesting itself....it’s hard for a mechanic to find / fix it.

The point of the post is to leave some breadcrumbs for someone with a similar problem to find.

Bill, those sockets are cheap just search on Amazon or an auto parts store should have them.

Thanks Forest!

The reason I did not just replace the socket is because the sockets are made to be interlocking and have not found exact replacement which would work with the other remaining sockets. I think the current fix should work.