357 Ghost

Hello, new to the site here, sorry if this is in the wrong place. i own and operate a Pete 357 tri-axle dump. i have a ghost electrical issue in the ol girl i can"t chase down.

i went out to the truck the other day to start it, as i approached i heard the low air warning buzzer squalling, slapped myself in the head thinking i left the key on all night and got that sick feeling that the batteries were gonna be weak or dead.......key wasnt on and the truck started fine {remember its early so im not thinking straight} so i get dressed, finish my coffee and go to work. no issues with the truck all day long, got done with my day and got home. turned the truck off in the drive and before i could gather my thermos and clip board the low air buzzer is squalling, the body up light is on {body is up} and the fan,oil and one other indicator is lit on the warning light panel......turn the key on and off everything stops for about 5 seconds and those lights slowly come back on. ive pulled every fuse {cleaning ang dielectric grease as i go, the lights only go off when the ACC fuse is pulled {but that kills power to the dash, no?} Ive disconnected the starter wires, cleaned and reinstalled, rebolted the starter to frame ground, added a 4 gauge ground from frame to cab, disconnected stereo the CB, auxiliary rotator lighting and now im ready to stab myself in the eye with a dull pencil, lol, we've checked the fan clutch solinoid and looked for the obvious loose conection, chaft wireing etc........any help would be GREAT.......two days ago the jakes started acting up .... feel like the high level of the jake brake just isn't 100%, its a little stronger than the middle level but defiantly not where it should be........solenoid draining to ground maybe?

thank you, AL Schulze

 

sorry she's a 1995 if that helps

 

thank you d o g

 

good point kapn, i did buy the truck used, but do know the sale history of her, im sure all big trucks are the same but Peterbilt is very good at keeping history by tracking vin numbers reguardless of who owns it, big toy carfax in a sence, lol. these trucks (dumptrucks) are probably the most abused vehicles out there, when rock 65-70,000 pounds over rough terane, job sites etc etc twisting, tourquing from 1995 to the presant things are bound to go wrong, my repair history over the past ywo seasons would make many grown men cry, lol.....but obvious broken stuff is easy.....this ghost crap makes me crazy
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thank you brian , i do leave a phone charger plugged in all tge time, ill go pull it and see what happens, gonna take the alternator out of the circut too, see if i have a diod draing or something
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well, not the cigarette lighter or the alternator, took her over to the mechanics, hopfully he will find something....i hate throwing money at unknowns.....

 

FINALLY !!! found the accessory drive relay just behind the right panel drawing 8 volts with the key off.......thus ghost feeding all the accessories.....pulled it out and dumped half a shot glass of water out of it......i'm not a smart man, but i know water and sparky don't mix well, lol. 200 mile round trip running one down and 65 bucks later, all is well and good in 357 land, thank you all for your help, looks like new windshields are in order next ........

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