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Old 12-05-2012, 04:31 PM   #1
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Flickering Instrument Panel

the bus starts but is not totally charged.

I turned the bus on today and the glow plug light and the brake pressure light is flickering and
the second charge discharge gauge is moving from zero to full right about every second.

Also their is some hum or low buzz from some place.

Please see video as Im preetty much a stoner hippy and cant actually type what im "Sayn"

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Old 12-05-2012, 06:17 PM   #2
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

That buzzing is probably your air pressure warning buzzer. Maybe you have a relay shorting out or loose wire/cable somewhere. I recommend you put down the pipe long enough to drive the bus to a mechanic. I doubt you will be able to diagnose the problem with a shakey video.
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Old 12-05-2012, 06:20 PM   #3
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

I can assume the brakes are powered by a dead battery and are flipping out.
Crazycal go troll some other thread.
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Old 12-05-2012, 06:37 PM   #4
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

You guys are funny
Imon my phone also...was it missing at the same time gage was moving and lights flashing?
I'm guessing here...but do the gaes normally only come on when engine off(no oil pressure) and switch to "run" not start?
What engine? It almost acts like the alt.is locking up or stopping the charge.
Have you checed the battery terminals for corrosion?take them off and look inside clamps.
Sorry need more info on what its in(chevy or?)
So we can diagnos further.
Something is def. Pulling variuos amps random
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Old 12-05-2012, 06:43 PM   #5
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

its not driving as im building the beds and shower and all that.

When I apply the brakes the brake pressure light goes ape **** and the glow plug light goes nuts and this second charging display flips out and a buzzer goes off. This was not the issue last week. Batteries are brand new but were discharged.

This is a 7.3 ford international 8 CYLL year 1983
When I drove it home over a 3000ft mountain the brakes worked fine.

With the motor off the warning lights work fine.

Thanks for the help im almost learning whats going on.
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Old 12-05-2012, 06:53 PM   #6
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

I would start with checking battery water(if low only top off with distilled water)
If possible try to charge them on say a 2amp old skool charger for a few days.
Check battery voltage and then load test them.
Older low amp chargers can "Maybe" revive a battery that's been discharged to far,one problem is the sulfites can grow and mess up the lead plates.
Even new with a good chaarge(voltage wise) can have irreversable damage to them.
What knid of voltage due you have between+ and - posts?
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Old 12-05-2012, 07:00 PM   #7
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

Ill have to do what you say, the batteries are 1 year old commercial batteries.
I kept a charger on them during the year as we used the lights.

It is a 2amp charger and its day one of the charge.

Funny was working a few days ago!

I do not have access to my Fluke meter right now
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Old 12-05-2012, 07:12 PM   #8
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

Sorry double post, Iv discovered when you press the brakes down the interior lighting dims quite a bit!
It must be electrical driven from a pump or hydro?
Charging at 2 amps
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Old 12-05-2012, 07:43 PM   #9
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaybus
I can assume the brakes are powered by a dead battery and are flipping out.
Crazycal go troll some other thread.

I wasn't trolling when I answered your question but I can sure start now. You have air brakes but have no knowledge of how they work? Recipe for disaster. International didn't have the 7.3 in 1983, so unless the engine was changed, it's not a 7.3. What I wrote earlier stands including putting down the pipe.
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Old 12-05-2012, 07:57 PM   #10
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

Quote:
Originally Posted by crazycal
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaybus
I can assume the brakes are powered by a dead battery and are flipping out.
Crazycal go troll some other thread.

I wasn't trolling when I answered your question but I can sure start now. You have air brakes but have no knowledge of how they work? Recipe for disaster. International didn't have the 7.3 in 1983, so unless the engine was changed, it's not a 7.3. What I wrote earlier stands including putting down the pipe.
Just because there is a Brake Pressure light does not necessarily mean that it has air brakes. My bus has a brake pressure light with hydraulic brakes and a power assist should the break booster fail. I didn't see any air pressure gauge indicating air brakes. I hear a clunking or something when the brake pressure light flickers and the gauge bounces. Where is that coming from or what is it?

CC is right, it is kind of difficult to diagnose this with the little amount of information supplied.
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Old 12-05-2012, 08:45 PM   #11
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

CC Feel free to troll my thread anytime--I always learn something. If I ask it is because I don't know so I have nothing to loose Jack
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Old 12-06-2012, 01:00 AM   #12
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

Quote:
Originally Posted by ol trunt
CC Feel free to troll my thread anytime--I always learn something. If I ask it is because I don't know so I have nothing to loose Jack
I wasn't trying to be a smartass.
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Old 12-06-2012, 06:55 PM   #13
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

Well kind of sucks, the break booster light still flickers and actually flickers every 1/3rd of a second.
Not sure where to look for the loose wires!

Yes its so damp right now!
Darn thing was working fine the other day!!!
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Old 12-06-2012, 07:26 PM   #14
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

Okay one thing we know is you have a "spike" in power that correlates with a loud noise.
When brake pedal is pressed it activates the brakes and sends power to the lights.
Are the brakes hydraulic, air over hydraulic(some fords used a funky setup), or air brakes.
I know on some vehicles the alt can do some funky things with dash lights and gages.
Once batteries are charged,start it and turn on your headlights and check voltage from alt. It should read above 12.6v more like 13.7 or so.
Once we know that batteries and charging system are working we can move on.
Diesels(older non electrical) don't need much if any 12v power to run.
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Old 03-16-2013, 11:01 PM   #15
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

One possibility: If the voltage drop and the discharge spike are with the key turned on into the "run" position, but the engine not started, are there are clicks or clacks at the beginning or end of the discharge (or both)? If so, it may be due to the controller for the glow plugs cycling normally. There would be a discharge as a solenoid applied current to the heaters in each cylinder, and then the discharge would stop during any pauses in a timed cycle. The timing I have experienced is usually slower than in the video, but it's not impossible that is what the discharge is.

As far as flashing lights, I don't know from experience, but I have seen ads online for replacement International instrument cluster circuit boards. I am assuming a high percentage of them become intermittent or go bad. If you suspect the circuit board might be the problem, and not wiring or sensors, I would first unplug and clean both sides of all the harness connectors with a pencil eraser. If I really got serious, and did not want to buy a new board, I would pull the instrument panel apart and use a magnifying glass to look for hairline cracks in the printed circuit runs. Again, I don't know if that is the problem with these, but I have had to repair PC boards that developed cracks in other equipment in the past. If you have cracks, you need to decide if you would repair or replace the board.

The field fix for a hairline circuit board crack is to:
- gently scrape away a little bit of any lacquer or other protection a very short distance on either side of the crack, until you have some shiny metal on both sides.
- apply rosin-core electronic solder to the circuit trace on both sides of the crack with a pencil soldering iron, heating gently just until the solder flows on the bare metal. (Solder is not glue - it must bond with the metal - if you just have a ball of solder sitting on top of the metal, it is a bad connection.) Don't leave the iron on longer than necessary, too much heat will cause the circuit traces to pull away from the board, and you will need to repair a longer section (ask me how I know).
- lay a few strands of wire across the crack, and re-heat each side adding a little more solder so the wire sinks into the solder previously applied, and the solder flows on the wire strands as well. On wider runs, "solder wick" flat metal braid works very well, but you must flow solder throughout the weave before touching it to the board, and it must be held down with a probe when removing the iron.
- do not allow anything to move once you remove the pencil iron and allow it to cool. The wire or wick may want to stick to the iron and not the board. You can hold pieces in place with a needle probe, and blowing gently on the connection will speed its cooling.

If you get too much solder on the repair, there are several ways to remove it. Clean off the soldering tip with a wet sponge, the "bare" tip will pull a small amount of the solder back. Turn the board over while the solder is flowing, and give it a quick tap to drop some excess solder on the workbench. This usually results in thin nickel-sized splashes, that can easily be peeled up without damage unless you splash them onto a plastic surface. If you have solder wick, touch it against the connection, and then heat the braid so it sucks the solder up into the weave. Or use a suction tool designed to 'vacuum' the solder off of the board. The spring-loaded ones are handier than the rubber bulb models, though there are expensive ones with electric pumps, too.
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Old 03-17-2013, 09:50 AM   #16
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaybus
...
Yes its so damp right now!
Darn thing was working fine the other day!!!
So there a few things to think about...
It's damp... could the dampness have something to do with it?

It was working "just fine the other day"... so could you have accidentally done "something" to a wire... perhaps put a screw thru it or put a screw thru a brake line, pulled something loose?

Then there's the "poo happens" where it just crapped out.

If you didn't mess with a line somewhere, some how, start with the battery. Put a fully charged car battery on it and see what happens.... we start our bus off a single automotive battery. It could be the battery is down, was too low over the winter and got damaged. Make sure the battery cables are making a good connection.

Next check the wiring to the alternator to make sure they are making a good connection.

Check the wiring on your ignition switch. Make sure it's all secure. might be a bad switch but most likely a bad wire if it's that.

Check to see to see if little cute furries made a home someplace and renovated by shifting the wiring over.

If it's none of the simple stuff, then you start trying to get a mechanic to visit you.


After you get the bill for the mechanic... look into getting coach-net premium because you don't want to have this happen sitting in a deserted parking lot in the middle of nowhere. We have a bad dash light knob. It worked fine while parked but wouldn't work when we needed the lights to turn on when it got dark. We spent the night on the side of the road. It's hard to look for a spot on the side of the road when you don't have any lights!
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Old 03-17-2013, 10:02 AM   #17
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

Any time with classic cars having flickering lights on the dash... its been a grounding issue.
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Old 03-17-2013, 08:22 PM   #18
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

I have had situations like this on my old bus. A faulty ground back feeding is what I think I would be look'n at.
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Old 03-18-2013, 01:42 PM   #19
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Re: Flickering Instrument Panel

The 'clunk' sound that seems to accompany the flickers sounds an awful lot like my power-block's solenoid clicking on an off (I get the sound when I turn the key to 'accessory' or the 'on' position.

That said, I'm not sure why you'd get the flickers, unless it's trying to 'reboot' and start your idiot lights through their check state again.

Good luck.
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