2004 International CE200 Diesel Bus Won't Turn Over

[ChrisLifts]

Good afternoon everyone,

I recently decided to join the Skoolie community and purchased my very own bus last week. I drove it home about an hour just fine and have already began the demolition process. So far, I have managed to remove all of the seats, ceiling panels, insulation, and flooring. Along the way, I had to disconnect a lot of various wiring harnesses in the ceiling to get the ceiling panels down. Today, I felt as though I needed to start the bus to let it idle for a bit since it has been off since I brought it home a week ago. It won't start. I insert the key into the ignition, turn it to the ON position, push down the brake, and turn the key over but nothing happens. The dash lights are on so I assume the 2 batteries still have juice. There is an audible tone coming from under the dash/ steering wheel area that was not present before. I thought maybe it was some sort of theft/ child safety feature related to the doors or emergency exits. I reconnected all of the wiring harnesses in the ceiling, verified the rear exit door is latched, all emergency exit windows and escape hatches are latched, and that the school bus door is closed with the manual lever locked into place. The audible tone is still present and the bus does nothing. Did I disconnect something to cause this issue or are the batteries just dead? Again, I can see the parking brake icon light up on the dash when the key is switched ON so I assume the batteries are fine. I can't find any information online which brought me here. It could be something so simple - I literally drove it home a week ago.

Thank you,
Chris

EDIT: I have identified the audible beeping sound is coming from a wiring harness/ device attached to the shaft of the brake pedal. It is constantly beeping with the key in the ON position. If I push the brake pedal in prior to turning the key over (Like you would a normal car) the tone continues to sound but becomes more muffled.

EDIT2: The device beeping is a HELLA 12v Buzzer. Other identifying numbers are 5AA
931 394-00
I688312CI

[peteg59]

Welcome to the site.

Unfortunately, there are many like yourself that post up on here seeking a solution to this exact problem.

Unfortunately, without seeing everything you disconnected it is next to impossible to say it is "X" wiring connector that needs to be plugged back together and it will start.

There must still be an open circuit that you've not reconnected that keeps it from starting.

Hopefully you have found it by now and you're good to go?

If not, you'll have to go back and find that open circuit that is the gremlin hiding in your bus. Hopefully you didn't cut any wiring, making the reconnection process any more difficult?

Good luck, and let us know what "it" is when it is found...

[ChrisLifts]

I have not cut any wiring. The only wiring I have totally removed was 3 wires connecting the stop sign to a block in the electrical panel. The headlights and taillights were extremely dim with the key in the ON position so I'm thinking the batteries drained themselves over the last week. The onboard camera system apparently runs 24/7 even when the bus is turned off. I currently have a charger on the batteries and hopefully once they are charged up to maximum the bus will attempt to crank over. Still unsure what that buzzer/ audible tone is with the key in the ON position.

[ChrisLifts]

UPDATE: I let a charger sit on one of the two batteries for a few hours and decided to turn the key before I went to bed. The dash lights are super bright now and I heard the engine "priming" I will call it. The Wait To Start orange light illuminated along with some other ones this time. The beeping is very loud now coming from that buzzer described above. Probably because the battery has a good charge now. I'll wait until the morning to attempt to fire that bad boy up. The neighbors wouldn't appreciate that massive beast roaring at this hour.

[rossvtaylor]

Based on the added info, and my observation that lots of buses have parasitic drains which will kill the batteries (until you find and delete the causes of those), it sure sounds like just a low battery charge issue. The buzzer should be your air brake pressure warning, which will sound until the engine's running and you build up enough air pressure to silence it.

[ChrisLifts]

I believe my bus has hydraulic brakes. Would that make a difference? I'm going to go attempt to start the bus this morning to see if that buzzer/ audible beeping sound continues after the bus is running.

[rossvtaylor]

Originally Posted by ChrisLifts

I believe my bus has hydraulic brakes. Would that make a difference? I'm going to go attempt to start the bus this morning to see if that buzzer/ audible beeping sound continues after the bus is running.

Yes, that would make a difference. With hydraulic brakes, you can ignore my air pressure warning buzzer thought.

[PorchDog]

Prior to engine start, with key on-- hydraulic brakes will have a warning buzzer---- and if you have your foot on the brakes--- the backup electric pump motor will run-- until you start the engine.

[ChrisLifts]

UPDATE: Bus fired right up earlier today after sitting on the charger for a good 6-8 hours. I guess the batteries managed to drain themselves within a week. One is new and one is a few years old but there was a camera system and who knows what else may be running with the bus off. I'm a total noob at this. Still no idea what the audible beeping sound is coming from that buzzer described earlier. It's not related to the emergency exits. I tested that today and turned the key over with the rear door open and a totally different loud "buzzing" sound was constant until the door was closed.