Advisory: Emergency Exits and Parking brake on INTL

[Pizote]

Just to let everyone know, later model buses have lots of safety features built in. One such feature is that if there is a fault in any of the emergency exits or door sensors, the air brakes (parking brakes) will not release until said fault is remedied.

This happened to me over the weekend - I pulled the wiring harness out, starting the bus after each disconnect. When I tried to move it later with all the harnesses out, the parking brake would not disengage. I remedied it fairly easily.

However, I took it to the shop yesterday, parked it in the driveway (blocking it) shut it down and they wouldn't release again. Stuck there for two hours tracing which wire came loose (a hidden connector).

Other safety features include a non-start of the engine in certain circumstances, but I have only heard, not experienced those.

 

[o1marc]

On my 99 if there is a door censor "open" you get nothing but buzzing when you turn the key.

 

[Pizote]

On my 99 if there is a door censor "open" you get nothing but buzzing when you turn the key.

I have this too. But for some reason the switch and the buzzer are on different plugs. So there was no buzzing.

 

[Mako-SKO]

Hey, I know this is an older post but I am having the same issue. I disconnected my emergency exits and am currently pulling wire on my 2000 Int. I can start the bus from the back but not in the ignition in the driver's area. Is there some sort of "kill" switch in the fuse panel to eliminate the issue or do I need to ground the wires to make the circuit closed.

 

[kazetsukai]

Hey, I know this is an older post but I am having the same issue. I disconnected my emergency exits and am currently pulling wire on my 2000 Int. I can start the bus from the back but not in the ignition in the driver's area. Is there some sort of "kill" switch in the fuse panel to eliminate the issue or do I need to ground the wires to make the circuit closed.

If you know which exit is the culprit, usually the wiring is numbered so you can figure out which goes where. See if you can find the exit sensor wire(s) in the main panel somewhere.



Whether you can just ground the wire to the chassis to fix the issue depends on how the exit switches work. In my case, grounding the wire was the equivalent to "door open", so all I had to do was delete the wire.

 

[Mako-SKO]

If you know which exit is the culprit, usually the wiring is numbered so you can figure out which goes where. See if you can find the exit sensor wire(s) in the main panel somewhere.



Whether you can just ground the wire to the chassis to fix the issue depends on how the exit switches work. In my case, grounding the wire was the equivalent to "door open", so all I had to do was delete the wire.

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

 

[Mako-SKO]

I had to trace the wires back one at a time. Found the right one and grounded it to the bus. Starts right up. Thanks for the help.

 

[kazetsukai]

I had to trace the wires back one at a time. Found the right one and grounded it to the bus. Starts right up. Thanks for the help.

Good to hear. Sorry, sometimes its just a pain in the behind.