Help Warning and stop light

[Bon Voyage]

Does anybody know what could trigger the orange warning and red stop lights on the dash to come on and not allow the bus to start at the ignition? It also beeps.
Air pressure is fine,, Trans, coolant and oil level all good.
It has been running hot lately when engine rpms are low maybe 210 Fahrenheit but lights have never come on. Engine is cold now.

It’ll still start from the rear of the bus and the lights aren’t on when it’s running but of course I don’t want to drive out of my camp spot if I’m going to cause a big problem.

[o1marc]

Check all the vanda locks on the doors. Any door not properly closed will break the circuit and prevent starter engagement. This includes the E Hatch's. Make sure it is in "N", neutral

[Bon Voyage]

All the old bus doors and exits are long gone from my bus. I’ve driven back up to a small city called Grande Prarie and got a guy with a scan tool coming to meet me. I’ll be heading through Jasper and Banff national parks and any kind of a tow in that remote area will be extremely pricey so hopefully he can figure this out.

[Native]

You have a Thomas. If it is on a Freightline chassis, call the Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation (they make theThomas school buses along with the chassis for motorhomes). When you call, indicate that your machine is broke down and they will put the call on priority. 800-385-4357


Have your VIN handy.

[Bon Voyage]

The mechanic came yesterday and there was a bit of a language barrier but he either said there were no codes or the computer couldn’t connect to my bus, it sounded more like it couldn’t connect. He checked some things out, apparently the trans was a little low on fluid which we topped up.

He said it would be a big deal if the lights came on when the engine was running but because they’re only on before it starts he wasn’t so concerned. So we’ve driven about 4 hours now since this problem started and everything seems fine.

One correction from my first post is the bus does start from the ignition key, it just wasn’t starting yesterday because I sometimes have trouble with the hood/trunk safety switch (won’t start when open). I shouldve realized that’s why it wasn’t starting from the key.

So I still don’t know why these lights come on... hopefully figure it out. Hers a pic, they always come on when starting regularly then go out. Now they go out briefly then come back on with a constant beep.

[Brad_SwiftFur]

These lights often come on with (1) low oil pressure, (2) high coolant temperature, and (3) low coolant level (below the sensor). There are other reasons but these are the most common, and easily checked.

[Sehnsucht]

As Brad_SwiftFur said... these are kind of all-purpose warning lights and Freightliner has a pretty standard approach... They come on at ignition to validate they work, then go out. A solid yellow is notification that something is triggering a sensor but its not critical, just get it looked it to determine what's at fault, probably just a faulty sensor. Flashing yellow usually means its more serious and you should proceed to have it looked at as soon as possible. Red may come on solid to warn you of an impending shutdown and when red starts flashing (probably along with flashing yellow) pull over NOW because it's about to shut itself down in about a minute. In my Freightliner semi the only time I got a solid red was the regen cycle couldn't complete and then when it started flashing I was 30 seconds from being stranded on the side of the road. Fortunately the semis often have a shutdown override switch that prevents this catastrophic shutdown but only for a couple minutes because like you don't want to be dead in the roadway on a bridge or something so find a safe shoulder or something and pull it over!

[Iceni John]

if your bus has an electronic engine with an ECM and sensors everywhere, then you need to bite the bullet and get yourself a scanner for it that can also clear any codes. Without one, you're just guessing. (Even with one you'll still be guessing, but from a position of much greater certainty!) Yes, scanners ain't cheap, but neither are roadside tows or needing to have a dealer read codes at their shop rate.

Think of a scanner as just another cost of bus ownership.

John

[Bon Voyage]

Yeah I’ve been planning on getting a scanner for a while but haven’t yet mainly because I’ve yet to decide on one. Anyone have recommendations?

In another note I figured out what was causing the lights to come on pre ignition. This dumb little switch was turned on, probably by one of my kids. I noticed it was switched to on earlier this evening and of course it turns those lights and beep off. Not sure how I didn’t figure that out earlier.... well lesson learned.