AS280 - Mystery Button on Dash

[3 Dog Nite]

Originally Posted by Smartstream

By the way does anybody have two horns? My steering wheel button operates the air horns.

My MH has 2 horns. There is a 2nd regular automotive type mounted near the radiator. Both horns are operated by the steering wheel button.

Ricky

[dalefox]

Originally Posted by 3 Dog Nite

My MH has 2 horns. There is a 2nd regular automotive type mounted near the radiator. Both horns are operated by the steering wheel button.

Ricky

Mine has the same setup. I decided I liked the airhorn sound more, so I disabled the automotive horn. But both were initially set to trigger off the steering wheel horn button.

[Smartstream]

Originally Posted by dalefox

Mine has the same setup. I decided I liked the airhorn sound more, so I disabled the automotive horn. But both were initially set to trigger off the steering wheel horn button.

Do they operate together or can you switch one or the other?

On the cruise control the switch is on the turn signal lever. You can disengage by sliding the switch to off or tapping the brake which disengages electrically when the brake lights come on. If you don't have the switch it probably never had the cruise control or somebody removed it.

Cheers, Dan

[dalefox]

No switch on any of the stalks. See attached high rez pic...

I suppose it's *possible* that someone removed it, but that seems so unlikely. and if it wasn't equipped with cruise, then why would it have been equipped with a cutoff for cruise?

Mysteries abound...

[Smartstream]

Originally Posted by dalefox

No switch on any of the stalks. See attached high rez pic...

I suppose it's *possible* that someone removed it, but that seems so unlikely. and if it wasn't equipped with cruise, then why would it have been equipped with a cutoff for cruise?

Mysteries abound...

I agree I don't think yours ever had the cruise. Do you have a spot light? Mine has the spot light control on the left panel below the window. My steering wheel is also different, it has holes rather than slots in the spokes and the horn button ring is a different. Strange things Airstream did.

Cheers, Dan

[ScrapIrony-2]

We have the airhorns on the roof, but an extra set of plastic horns under the hood...go figure. Our cruise control is on the left signal stalk...hmm, maybe I'll activate it and go make myself a sandwich...the spot/search light control is on the cabinet above the dash.
We do have an add-on fuel pump switch on the right of the steering wheel, about where your ignition switch is(ours is to the left of the steering wheel, on the dash). The spring switch for the extra horns under the hood is also located to the right of the steering wheel. The mother-in-law switch is located right next to the axe handle.

[ScrapIrony-2]

Ya know, I just looked at another AS Moho forums site...AS 280 airbags...and got to wondering...?

[fischerbeach]

Dale, your dash (but not the steering wheel) looks a lot like my '81 Excella. Mine has cruise control on the turn signal (or next to it, I forget), but no special button to "turn it off." To the left of my ignition there is a Mico Brake Lock that I don't see on my '82 diesel 280, and didn't see on my '83 310. I realize I've just identified myself as an AS motorhome fanatic, but I guess that is the group to which we belong. No guess what your button is for, but perhaps they made the hole for something like this Mico Brake Lock and later tried to put anything useful-looking in it. I'll attempt a pic.
--David

[Keyair]

I was all excited and put aside time today to examine a hole in the dash next to my ignition switch and solve this mystery...
Sadly, all i could find was a hole, with nothing in it... a look behind with some serious contorsionist moves revealed nothing but a bulb holder that I could not place...

[AirRowan]

What about a power over ride to the tag axel brakes/vac line to cut the cruse, in case main brakes failed? The brake control for the tag in mine is one that is only activated by centripetal force. If your primary brakes failed your tag would do nothing without something like this (button).

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by AirRowan

What about a power over ride to the tag axel brakes/vac line to cut the cruse, in case main brakes failed? The brake control for the tag in mine is one that is only activated by centripetal force. If your primary brakes failed your tag would do nothing without something like this (button).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember tag axles on the smaller motorhomes.

[AirRowan]

Good point Vswingfield I was reading all the 345ers giving ideas and forgot it was a 280 thanks.

[dalefox]

Had a chance to get back under the vehicle today to address a bunch of issues. Unfortunately, the winter sun dropped below the horizon earlier than I expected. So I only had a few moments to check this particular mystery button out further. The button assembly has "DAV, France" on the side of it. The thick cord coming out of the back runs about 20" before disappearing into the cowl along with a bundle of other wires. I'll get into it again sometime tomorow and chase down that major cable.

On potentially a related note, there's a box under my Dash from Dana Corp. See attached image. Any idea what this might be?

Big thanks to all of you, my detective team!

/d

[Keyair]

Keyair waves his hand in the air.....
Me Sir! Me sir!
Look here!
RV.Net Open Roads Forum: WHAT IS THIS? Dana Corp Precision Controls Division

Aftermarket Cruise Control... from the 80's by dana Corp... explains the switch too!

Edit....
More info...
http://yarchive.net/car/cruise_control.html

[dalefox]

AAAAlllright!

So I have cruise control (somewhat) installed. That's gotta be good news. Assuming I can get it to work. I'll get back under there and try to trace some of the wires. I'll also assume that everyone was right that this cord was a brake cutoff switch for the cruise.

The million dollar question, though, is where are the controls? None of my stalks have Cruise on them. Would it be possible that this was installed as a dash control panel with some buttons? I'll do some digging...

[Airslide]

Yep.. The Dana corp box is the control unit (if you want to call it that) for the cruise control. It was aftermarket yes but factory installed (atleast it was on the Brits 280 Diesel). The brake pedal has a dump switch on it too so I wonder why they felt they needed 2 dump switches? Maybe due to the overall size of the rig or something.. safety thing to make sure you could stop it if there was a malfunction?

Smartstream will confirm it cuz Im a trailer guy.. lol.. he will confirm that to..

Good luck..

Vinnie

[Smartstream]

Originally Posted by Airslide

Yep.. The Dana corp box is the control unit (if you want to call it that) for the cruise control. It was aftermarket yes but factory installed (atleast it was on the Brits 280 Diesel). The brake pedal has a dump switch on it too so I wonder why they felt they needed 2 dump switches? Maybe due to the overall size of the rig or something.. safety thing to make sure you could stop it if there was a malfunction?

Smartstream will confirm it cuz Im a trailer guy.. lol.. he will confirm that to..

Good luck..

Vinnie

Ah come on now Vinnie, you just think you are a trailer guy. Back on subject now yes that is the Dana control box. The control switch can be dash mounted or mounted on the turn signal. They were available in different styles to match different cars but all had a flat 4 prong plug that plugged into the loom that went to the control box. Another part of the loom went to a vacuum controlled solenoid that controlled the throttle by way of a sheathed cable. Another part of the loom went to a speed pick up either mechanical or electronic that sent a pulse to the unit and a last part of the loom that went to the brake light switch or a separate switch on the brake pedal that disengaged the unit when the brakes are applied. There was also a 12V + & - lead to power the unit. There was not a separate button on the dash to disengage the unit.

The Dana unit is obsolete and was taken over by Audiovox also obsolete and now has been taken over by Rostra Controls. I'm not sure if that is the full and proper name. The vacuum solenoid is no longer available however they have an electronic solenoid that is one piece including the control unit. Existing turn signal switches and speed pulse generators are compatible and plug right into the Rostra unit. They are also available individually if needed. Ask me how I know all of this.

Back to the mystery button, it is not an original part of the cruise control.

Cheers, Dan

[dalefox]

Ha! Cracking me up...

So if the Dana unit is way obsolete, and clearly missing the control switch or stalk at a minimum, then is it worth fixing? And if not, is there any harm in pulling it out? I'm trying to clean up a wiring disasterdash and, in the spirit of 'less is more,' would love to remove anything that's unnecessary and cluttering.

Thanks for the help, guys!

/d

[Smartstream]

Originally Posted by dalefox

Ha! Cracking me up...

So if the Dana unit is way obsolete, and clearly missing the control switch or stalk at a minimum, then is it worth fixing? And if not, is there any harm in pulling it out? I'm trying to clean up a wiring disasterdash and, in the spirit of 'less is more,' would love to remove anything that's unnecessary and cluttering.

Thanks for the help, guys!

/d

The switch is available. The big item is the vacuum servo on the engine. There is a circuit board in it and if it fails toss the control box too because in the new units the servo and control are together in a single box. Actually when you buy the new unit you get the combo servo/control and buy the switch and speed pulse generator separately. In the new system the only thing under the dash is the wiring loom, the control/servo mounts in the engine room.

Cheers, Dan

[ScrapIrony-2]

IMHO, the best solution to the behind-dash wiring nightmare is to either park it(not an option), or ignore it till something relevant quits...not savory, but our current option...m