No crank, change oil light

[rick52768]

Bus and diesel newbie with a thousand questions. Moved my new to me 1999 International 3400 bus this afternoon to it conversion parking spot on a friends farm. The trip took about 30 minutes and overall the bus performed well. It has a T444E engine and AT545 Allison transmission.


After the drive I was going to move it to where it would not get in their way and it would not start. It would not even crank. I checked the brand new batteries and they were still around 12.9VDC. The grow plug indicator came on, but very quickly went off. Is this normal if the engine is warm after a 30 minute drive? I know at least enough to wait until the grow plug light goes off, before trying to start it.



The "interesting" thing that happened just before I went to start. The Change Oil light was shown on the dash cluster. I had checked the oil just before the trip and it was dark. So that was next on the task list before I did anymore driving.


Question, is this some sort to lockout to stop the engine from being turned over will it detects that the oil needs to be changed by either time or condition? Can I temporarily bypass this lockout to move the bus less than 10 feet?

Kind of necessary to move the bus and then change the oil. If not, I will have them pull it with their tractor to a spot that is better for changing the oil.


Thanks for any help.

[cadillackid]

thr change oil light wont stop you from starting.. make sure your trans shifter is solidly in Neutral and that there asre no locks on the back door engaged..

[rick52768]

Thanks Cadillackid, the neutral safe switch makes a lot of sense. Fairly sure it was in neutral, but that is easy enough to check. In case the switch is the problem, where is it located. On the transmission or inside the cab?



The back door was closed, guessing there is some sort of safety switch on it as well. What do you mean "no locks on the back door engaged"?

[cadillackid]

the back door sometimes contains a "vandal lock". whiuch is a lock that locks the door so it cannot be opened from, the outside.. these are typically made so that the engine wont start until it is unlocked.. this is separate from the buzzer that operates when you open the rear door..

[cadillackid]

the neutral switch is inside the transmission.. its a 2 pin switch on the side of the trans.. it goes to a harness. with 2 single-pin round weatherpak connectors.. one male one female.. if you suspect it, you can unplug those two connectors and then plug the 2 together on the BUS HARNESS..and it bypasses the switch for TESTING ONLY..
-Christopher

[rick52768]

Embarrassed to say, the rear battery cable was not screwed down as tight as it should have been. It started and drove around town with no problem, but somehow starting it again was not going to happen.


Thanks again for the help.