Chinook RV

Dano wrote: October 8th, 2018, 1:15 pm Is there any chance there would be a fuse inside the seat belt tower/cover beside the drivers seat?...Dano

I can't say for certain since I don't have electric steps, but I happen to have that pillar cover off right now. There is a healthy sized bundle of wires that goes up the back of the pillar and into the hole in the Ford cab flange (thence forward above the cab headliner), and that bundle is accessed behind the pillar.

Let me have a look and refresh my memory about what those wires might do.

So here is the Chinook diagram for a 2000 Concourse: (Click once or twice to enlarge.)
I'm not as sharp on vehicle wiring as I am on "house" DC wiring, but I'm not sure I'd say they are powered separately to each side, because I see a mix of "when they are powered" on both sides (?).

So right side is all things that are off when ignition is off, and then on when ignition is on (but yet they don't automatically do anything, like the steps would. They just come on when you turn the key and are ready for action).

The left side has the marker lights (always hot I think as you can turn those lights on any time), then two pre-wired always hot taps (so those three are always hot), but then the bottom one is ignition controlled.

It's getting dark here right now (and cold), but... can you see behind the fuse block at all? Maybe with a camera?

I still wouldn't be surprised if the steps are not even controlled by the fuse block, since the electric dump valves weren't called out there (yet they only operated if the ignition was on). But I do hear you on the "coincidental" problem with the lights and mirrors.

On that type of thing: When I got my Chinook the dash lights didn't work. I was even less familiar with vehicle wiring than I am now, and troubleshooting it seemed a bit daunting. So I decided I'd replace the thing most likely to go wrong first, and then if that didn't work I'd troubleshoot. The dash lights get dimmer and brighter by rotating the headlight switch, so that seemed like a likely culprit. Hence I decided to replace that switch first, then troubleshoot if that didn't work.

I was going to remove the negative battery cable (as one should) when friend said something about the transmission then losing memory and maybe being a problem. I had just gotten my Chinook not long before so decided okay, that doesn't sound fun, I'll be careful. So of course I slipped with a wrench behind the headlight switch and made a little spark. I continued on, replaced the headlight switch, and Voila! my dash lights worked (and still do to this day). So that WAS the problem.

Unfortunately, now my power window switches didn't work correctly. My wrench slip and spark had caused that problem (kind of dulled down my inner celebration over fixing the dash lights, grrr). Since then I've disconnected the start battery many times with no noticeable after effects, so I might as well have. I just mention that story because how unrelated do those two things seem? Headlight switch on dash and power window (passenger side no less).

Have you given up in frustration yet? I might have. Just dropping in to say that now that it is daylight, and above 40º, I'm going to have a look at those wires. I don't have tons of time as I have to be somewhere later, but I'll try to at least refresh my memory and report back.

For starters, I took a look at the big bundle of wires that goes up the driver's side cab flange (behind the pillar). I had been assuming these were Ford wires (vs. Chinook wires), and I think that is true from what I can see. First of all, they are "Coleman" brand wires, and I don't think the Chinook wiring is that brand. Second, when they go into the cab top, they don't go into the above-headliner area like Chinook's wires tend to do. Instead, they go behind a white painted metal channel that is a Ford structural thing. At the other end I think they go down through the floor (I should look down below when it warms up).

In contrast, the Chinook wires that go to the switch panel in the above headliner area all come from the passenger side flange and are in Chinook style loom. (Oh except there is one separate wire that runs alongside that Ford bundle on the driver's side, which is a Chinook speaker wire.)

Now it does look like Chinook "handled" the Ford wire bundle on the driver's side. For one thing, it now runs through one of their plastic grommets that they use elsewhere when wires go through a hole. Also, it looks like they used masking tape to secure them on their way down to the floor (or maybe Ford did as part of the chassis cab delivery, but the grommet is Chinook. There is a matching grommet on the passenger side where they ran the gen start wires and etc. to the headliner switch panel.

I don't believe any of those driver's side wires are "Chinook" wires on my particular Concourse (except the separate speaker wire), but then I don't have the electric step. But then too, I have never actually traced that ignition controlled electric dump valve wire..... it's possible that's there.

I am now wondering if any of this wiring is detailed in the "camper kit" wiring diagrams I have (they show Ford wiring preps for chassis cab and other vans).

So in conclusion: I don't know. Since I don't have the electric step I can't look for that wire. Maybe it's worth taking the driver's side pillar off? It is a pain, but it's not THAT bad. Actually on my Concourse the driver's side one was harder than the passenger side one. That's because you have to push the rear pillar flange forward and out to get it out from behind the wall panel, and on the driver's side they had the "big" cable TV coax cabling running behind there, so I couldn't push it back very easily to "unhook" the pillar. I ended up removing that cabling because I don't do cable TV. Not that one couldn't work around it -- it was harder because at the time I didn't know WHY that side wasn't pushing back

The other thing that was a bear on the pillar removal was that little triangular cover over the top of the seat belt. Ford never meant for it to cover such a big pillar (is how I remember it). I ended up mangling one of mine (passenger side, I think - probably the first one I did), but luckily they are easy to replace (Ford part). As I remember it I then made a long tool to unsnap the other one.

Side note is that if you are planning to upgrade any of the battery wiring you'll likely want to get that pillar off so that you can get at the wiring that comes into the floor to the LVD. Another note is that you can re-attach the seat belt and drive just as normal without the pillar there, if you need to drive before reinstalling it.

Now to go stick my head/camera behind the auxilliary fuse panel.

Sorry for post-bombing, but I think I may have found something.

In the publication that shows the various camper/auxilliary/chassis cab etc. Ford wiring, I see that there is an Engine Compartment Modified Vehicle Connector. This includes ignition controlled wiring slots. I wonder if they used the orange wire?

Here is a two-part drawing from the Ford sheet (may need to click once or twice to enlarge):
In case it's not clear, I think they are showing it in the firewall area near the driver's side hood hinge.

Don't bother Blue but thank you, I don’t think that’s where it is...

This is how it currently looks. Left fuse block is hot and is powered by a red wire that goes into the fuse block at the bottom but is ACTIUALLY wired into a yellow wire that connects to the Ford side of the wiring harness and must be wired hot or on since it powers the headlights and tests on all the time with the light probe. No problem here, all is as it should be.

The second power wire that runs the right fuse block or 12V accessories is a bigger blue wire. To connect though, the blue wire turns into an orange wire which then connects to the Ford wiring harness. The black wire and fuse connection runs backwards to the Coach and runs off this orange wire as well. That fuse is checked and good.

In any event, BEFORE the Ford connector, there is power on the yellow wire (Chinook Red) but no power on the orange wire (Chinook blue) so the problem has nothing to do with the Chinook fuse blocks, it is before that.

The problem has to be after the ignition switch but before the yellow wire (Chinook Blue) doesn’t it? That wire and fuse block is getting zero power to it. There HAS to be some kind of breaker, relay, fuse that I am missing...

Chinook fuse blocks and connector removed...

Don't apologize, thank you!

Believe it or not, I actually found that today and took off the cap that covers it but didn't really know what it was. There is in fact an orange wire there with 3 others that goes into a "connector...not 100% sure what I was looking at ....is it a fuse Blue?

Now it looks like you are a step ahead, but I'll just mention what I found in case it helps others. While you were actually taking apart your Chinook block, I stuck my flashlight and hand up there to see if I could see anything. On my rig, each fuse (as you would expect) has its own wire. They all go into a large black loom, and thence behind the driver's side kick panel (which I have not removed today, but is easy to remove).

The one wire I immediately saw was green/yellow mix. That has the smell of Ford to me (because, for example, in the Ford trailer wiring there is a two-tone wire like that for the backup circuit).

So what I was wondering (but I haven't read your post in detail yet - will go back) is this: Did Chinook use that Ford engine compartment Modified Vehicle Connector to power much or all of this block? And maybe they also used one of those modified vehicle wires to power certain "add ons" such as (in my year) the electric dump valves, or (in your year) the electric step? They clearly instruct to add fuses, but that connector from Ford must be powered from a Ford fuse - maybe in the big fuse block that is behind the driver's side headlight (under a rectangular black plastic cover)? That's just a guess for now.

(There is nothing I hate more than little inline fuses in crazy places... ugh!)
(Another note is that the crimps Chinook used are not without flaw; so anytime I have a problem I check those crimps carefully, and/or replace them with good ones (in my case FTZ Crimp and Seal).

Now I will go back and re-read your last post (so forgive me if anything here sounds stupid as a result of not having read it - I just wanted to get this stuff out of my mind while I had it there).

Alright, here is that connector...