Baseline

[chuckd]

The first two projects I am starting on my new to me coach, is one to find a better place to store it. I have a pole barn that is very secure, but getting in and out etc is going to be too much of a pain. The second is I am going to take my coach to C&J Bus a bus repair shop with a good rep to have them change all the fluids, lubricate, change all the filters, and do a thorough inspection of the chassis. All of this in my prescence (sp) hopefully so I can learn while they do.

I know I have a leak of either power steering fluid or transmission fluid that needs to be checked out.

Anything else I should have them check on while under the coach.

Chuckd
Stillwater Mn
1979 Prevost Shorty

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Chuck,

Depends on the depth of your financial resources.

I suggest you get specific when requesting the work to be performed and get a price in advance.

Then while the normal scheduled work is being performed you walk around under the bus and look for leaks, listen for air leaks, note the condition of things like shocks, air bags, hoses, etc. Somewhere on the POG site is a maintenance schedule for my bus. It may not be totally accurate for your bus but it is a good start.

The hardest and most expensive part of new ownership is getting the bus to a starting point for all future scheduled maintenance and preventive maintenance events. It is also the cheapest part if you consider the cost of dealing with a preventable problem while on the road. A bus company should be able to do a very good job of the routine maintenance and also to guide you as to what things you really need to pay attention to or deal with, unless they patch their own buses up just to keep them running, in which case you need to find another maintenance facility.

Good luck.

[chuckd]

Finally got the baseline done after some mis fires on scheduling. I picked the coach up on Thursday. I had two concerns going in, one was a coolant leak that I thought was related to a heater core inside the coach (You were correct Jon) and some transmission fluid that was leaking when underway. It looked like the transmission fluid was coming from the xmission cooler connection.
C&J have a 17 point check list, plus an oil and lubrication check list that they follow. The coach is in very good condition because of the relatively low miles, and the result of the under chassis inspection was: The transmission was leaking fuel at the filer. They replaced the filter and O-ring, and hopefully that will solve problem. If not have to convert to a spin on type of filter. The leak is at the heat exchanger inside the coach (separate post later) and I am going to try and trouble shoot the issue. They also found a spring unhooked on the front brake drum which the fixed without taking off the hub, and a fuel line that was kinking when the access door was closed. Replaced with a non-kinking line.

So all maintainence done and drove home to my new to me heated storage condo. Now the fun began. There was a classic car parked where I wanted to place my coach for an easy back up, but I horsed it around and got it lined up. I measured the condo and the outside dimensions of 18 X 38 were a foot shorter on the inside i.e. 17 X 37. My coach is a nominal 35 footer - probably know where this is going. Long story short I will be replacing a 4 X 8 piece of sheet rock on the rear of the condo, as those nice rubber bumper protectors pushed in a couple of dents the size of the bumpers. Going to put a 4 X 4 at the rear of the condo to stop me short of the wall.

When I know more about the heater core leak will be posting some questions, right now it is isolated from the from the rest of the bus via a cut off at the engine.

Chuck