New owner, high pitch ringing, bus doesn't start.

[ipwtroy73]

I purchased a 2005 FS 65 Freightliner bus on Friday morning from a school district. We drove it to my office and it ran great. Saturday night, we had some curious friends over that wanted to see it. We went over to where it is parked, had a few drinks and drove it once around the parking lot. We made sure everything was off. Monday morning, I got to work where the bus is parked, tried to start it and it would not start. There is a high pitch ringing light that NEVER goes off. I don't believe it to be a door alarm. The bus will try to start, but never turn completely over.

There is an indicator light that consists of a red circle with three lines on the outside edge that will never turn off.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Troy

[ipwtroy73]

It is a handicap bus with a lift gate on the side if that makes a difference.

[milkmanchip]

Originally Posted by ipwtroy73

I purchased a 2005 FS 65 Freightliner bus on Friday morning from a school district. We drove it to my office and it ran great. Saturday night, we had some curious friends over that wanted to see it. We went over to where it is parked, had a few drinks and drove it once around the parking lot. We made sure everything was off. Monday morning, I got to work where the bus is parked, tried to start it and it would not start. There is a high pitch ringing light that NEVER goes off. I don't believe it to be a door alarm. The bus will try to start, but never turn completely over.

There is an indicator light that consists of a red circle with three lines on the outside edge that will never turn off.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Troy

If the bus has air breaks you may be low on air your low air indicator will sound an alarm when the key is turned on with a red light, that doesn't explain why it won't start I would put a good charge on it or jump it with big Power and see what the air gauge does the alarm should go off around 60 - 90 PSI

[ipwtroy73]

Thank you. How can I get the air brake pressure up without the bus running. Is it possible that it won't start as a safety feature. Like I said, the light and high pitch whistle never shuts off.

[milkmanchip]

Having low air will not stop the bus from starting the safety feature is its a spring break which means when there's no air the brakes are applied fully you need air to move. To me it sounds like just low batteries.

[ACamper]

Sounds like that warning light would be a good place to start trouble shooting.
You might be able to look up a operation manual and see what it is ?

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by ipwtroy73

had a few drinks and drove it once around the parking lot. We made sure everything was off.

Better get a charger on those batteries.

I'd check the stop-sign arm. Post picture of warning light.

[ipwtroy73]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I have it hooked up to a charger now and I'm going to leave it on overnight and see what happens. I will update everyone. Thanks again!

[milkmanchip]

I hope that's the problem because that would probably be the easiest to fix, I'll cross my fingers for you

[brokedown]

I have a slightly different method. You'll need a passnger to ride along with you!

If your bus is making a noise, try giving it more gas. Keep doing this until the noise goes away on its own, or if you can't hear it over the screams of your victim um I mean passenger.

60% of the time, it works every time.

[ipwtroy73]

This is frustrating. The display says the battery is at 12.2 volts. The red circle with the three lines is still lit. The high pitch noise never stops. Just a full recap. I picked the bus up on last Friday from the bus barn. He jumped with a jumper that he brought out on a two wheel dolly as he said it had been sitting for a couple months. We drove 9 miles to my place of business and parked it there. Saturday evening we started the bus and it ran fine. We turned it to the auxiliary power and played the radio and ran the handicap lift (dumb in retrospect). Then on Monday we went to start it and it started for a minute and died. It has not started since. It is a FS-65 2005 with 125,000 miles on it. Taken off bus routes in June due to rust on the right rear wheel well. The maintenance man at the bus barn said the bus ran great etc. Again, I appreciate all the time and help this community has been able to provide. Thank you.

[ACamper]

Is this your instrument cluster and warning lights ?

https://secure.freightliner.com/newb...f9%19ch02dm346

[brokedown]

Have ou verified that the high pitched noise is not the alarm for one of the safety switches? The alarm should come on if the emergency doors are open, and will prevent the bus from starting if it is triggered. You mentioned you messed with the handicap lift which should have at least 1 of those safety triggers on it.

[milkmanchip]

That bus may not even start if the emergency door is locked or the wheelchair lift door is locked,

[Versatile]

Bad Batteries and check all the switches to make sure everything is off then start pulling fuses and get rid of it to verify what it is.

Go to a school bus (Drivers) forum since you have a newer bus and ask what the noise is.

[Jolly Roger]

12.2 is weak for starting any engine whether diesel or not. 14.4 is what you should be seeing.
Throw your charger on boost/50-amp for about 5-minutes and try starting it.
Sounds like weak batteries to me.
The bus barn has to sell them in a safe driving condition/shape for insurances purposes but a weak battery has nothing to do with tires,steering,suspension,brakes etc...
My bus did great when I first bought it. But I was playing with it everyday. If I let it sit till the next weekend I would have to jump it/charge it. Went and bought new batteries and the same thing happened after it set for almost a month.
Found a bad ground connection that was slowly draining the batteries.
I don't know your type of bus? But the buzzer might not have showed when you went to pick it up cause the bus barn is required to do a full inspection on it before they let you have it.
Sounds like an air buzzer and low batteries to me.
My bus has a problem with the SHIFT SELECTOR
Sometimes it will just barely try to start in neutral and I have to wiggle it in between D and R to find its sweet spot.
After its warmed up and going there isn't a problem.
If it sits for a couple of weeks then I have to wiggle it?
Maybe the handi lift got stuck and didn't go all the way up with weak batteries,check your emergency hatches? I hear there is alot to be desired about the roof top ones?
mines an 86 so I hope you don't have gremlins in a newer one?
Good luck

[Brad_SwiftFur]

Can you post a short video of attempting to start? What engine does this bus have?

The "Red Circle with 3 Lines" is probably red. It's most likely your low-air-pressure warning and is *ALWAYS* (supposed to be) accompanied with an audible alarm of some kind. It will go away when the air pressure raises to above 60 PSI (on most buses). It *WILL NOT* prevent you from starting the bus, as by design, the engine drives the compressor to generate air pressure.

A better description of the problem will be greatly helpful. **EXAMPLE** "The starter spins normally, but the engine does not start"; this indicates the batteries are strong and not the source of your problem. You mentioned "On Monday we started it and it ran for a minute and died." This tells me the batteries were OK and everything was in order, at least for that minute or so.

Most of the door, hatch, window, and emergency switches will simply deactivate the starter. Since (I am assuming) the starter is spinning, these may not be the problem. I would look further into the engine. Some buses are set up with timers that will shut off the engine after a certain amount of idle time (typically about 5 minutes), they will not shut if the parking brake is released (the computer assumes it is being driven). A cruise control should be present. Use this to increase the idle speed a little, it should override the shutdown timer. Next, I'd check the fuel filter(s). On these newer engines, it is a very common cause for no-start, low power, and other poor performance issues, especially if it hasn't been changed in a few months (quite likely) and the bus sat for a few weeks.

**DO NOT USE STARTING FLUID UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES** if the engine has glow plugs or a preheater of any kind. There will probably be a label under the hood to this effect (on some older engines, there may instead be a label with instructions on using starting fluids).

[ipwtroy73]

I was gone for a week. Today I purchased new batteries and it still wouldn’t start. That alarm/light never goes off. The light in question is the red circle with the lines.

[Brad_SwiftFur]

I see three very telling things on those photos. First, yes, I can confirm that is your low air pressure warning light which is indeed supposed to be accompanied with an audible alert. I also see ZERO air pressure on both needles, which further supports this.

More than anything, I see "CHECK TRANS" is illuminated. Is the transmission actually in Neutral? Wiggle the shifter a bit, sometimes the switch gets a little out of adjustment and it will think it's in gear....

[Versatile]

Find a shop manual to buy. Can you pull codes?