Pre-trip inspections are priceless!

[Mark3101]

I always try to do a thorough pre-trip inspection of the bus before I drive it anywhere...old trucker habit I guess. Yesterday, I noticed that there was some oil under the breather tube in a quantity that is not normal so I decided to look further. I had checked the oil and run the engine for about 10 minutes to test the house alt. and build air just prior to looking under the bus. It turned out that one of my oil filters had become loose and was leaking around the gasket. You can just see the side of the filters from the rear, and I could see that one was wet with oil.

A friend of mine was over at my garage, and we found that the filter was not even hand tight any longer. The filters/oil had been installed by the local Freightliner dealer in November of 09 and had about 4200 miles on it to date. We found that the filter spun off with little effort. Luckily, the breather tube goes through a plastic shield just ahead of the filters and the leaking oil went out the hole for the breather and allowed me to see it easily. If it had happened while driving, I would have likely damaged or destroyed the engine. We replaced the filters and made sure they were tight this time.

I guess my point is that you can find things with just a quick look that can save lots of money and heartburn. My wife and I have been back from Florida for about 2 weeks now...I can only imagine what would have been the outcome if this had happened while driving down the road.

[sawdust_128]

Good habits usually end up being strongly reinforced. Good catch.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Good catch there Mark, nothing like due diligence on the mechanical equipment.
Glad you saved that engine.

JIM

[Mark3101]

Good habits usually end up being strongly reinforced. Good catch.

Thanks. I am sure glad I found it. Filters are way cheaper than engines!

[Mark3101]

Good catch there Mark, nothing like due diligence on the mechanical equipment.
Glad you saved that engine.

JIM

Thanks.

I know that when we had our trucking business, some of the mechanics got frustrated when some drivers would find every little thing and want it fixed before they left the yard when others never seemed to bother them with anything. One guess as to which ones never had trouble on the road and which ones did. I always told the mechanics it was better to fix it in our own shop while it was there instead of towing it back to do the work.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Unlike trucks which lend themselves to a pre-trip inspection our coaches are not the easiest vehicles to look over prior to a trip. It is just the nature of the beast.

But at the very least we should do as Mark did and not only do the routine stuff like a light check, a DOT type brake check and a check of all fluids, but look underneath as well. I do not mean you have to crawl under the bus, but make an inspection to see if there is anything on the floor beneath the bus. It is rare when you will find a loose filter as Mark did, but what led him to find a problem was a wet spot on the floor. Over the years I have identified problems and potential problems by noticing wet spots on the floor where there should not be wet spots.

You do not have to crawl under the coach and expose yourself to risk to do this. Either move the coach so you can look at the floor, or raise it up and look beneath it from the outside. If you find something, support the coach before you decide to investigate further.

A pre trip inspection will save you a whole lot of grief and bushels of money compared to getting out on the highway and finding a problem that could have been corrected at home or at your local service center.

When we are preparing to leave for a trip, our inspection also includes the house. We run the generator, we check the AC units, and generally make certain there are no surprises. We do the house and bus inspections at least a day or two prior to when we have to leave so if something needs attention there is time to take care off it. Don't forget those tire pressures. At the prices being discussed for tires we cannot afford to ruin good tires by running them low on air.

One final comment.....If you have recently had service work done, inspect that work or verify it was done properly any way you can. I'm not saying this because Mark had a problem, but because anytime repairs or maintenance have been done it means stuff was removed and replaced or repaired and the possibility something isn't tight, or is rubbing, or has been mis-assembled exists and you have just become the test pilot for the repairs. Like Mark who found a loose filter, I just bought a truck that had been recently serviced and found upon inspection the mechanic had put the coolant conditioning filter on the fuel line and the fuel filter on the coolant system.

[phorner]

Just a quick comment that kind of relates to Jon's post, if I discover a "problem", I look first to whatever was touched last on the bus.

In most cases this has zeroed in on the source and saved considerable effort in identifying what needs attention.

[gmcbuffalo]

Jon on those filters, did they all have the same thread size? I thought that the thread size prevented mixing filters. I say this because I was going to make a coolant filtering system for my Excursion and could not find a filter holders without buying the expensive one made by the filter maker, all do to thread size.
Greg

[Jon Wehrenberg]

It appears coincidental that they share the same size, but they do.

On our first coach we had two spin on fuel filters, a primary and secondary and they had different thread to prevent getting them reversed. Our oil filters have different thread, such as the ones for the Series 60 and the 8V92. But there are only som many potential thread sizes and I think it was just coincidental they were the same size.

I have never checked sizes on our coaches to see if it is possible to swap a coolant filter for a fuel filter for example.

[Orren Zook]

Jon on those filters, did they all have the same thread size? I thought that the thread size prevented mixing filters. I say this because I was going to make a coolant filtering system for my Excursion and could not find a filter holders without buying the expensive one made by the filter maker, all do to thread size.
Greg
Greg, Baldwin sells several inexpensive CFB (coolant filter bases), some of which might fit your needs. Check this link: http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/942945-coolant-filter-build-sheet-and-custom-bracket.html

[gmcbuffalo]

Since then I have had the engine out twice for oil leaks, and two antifreeze changes so I think I have very little sand casting left in my coolant system.
GregM