New to us 1985 Prevost XL

[sandz]

We are Stephen and Zoe (sandz).
We are purchasing a 1985 Prevost XL so we joined POG. Seems a sensible thing to do!
The last 3 years we have been fulltime motorhome travelers in an Airstream Landyacht 36 so this is a big step up.
So hello and happy this group exists. We will be learning as we go along and value the info and knowledge here.

[dale farley]

Welcome Stephen & Zoe and congratulations on your new Prevost. I am sure you will find it a bit more roomy than the Landyacht. You will also notice it has a few more working parts, so don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have.

[GoneCrazy]

Congratulations, Let the fun begin. And Be SAFE !

[Joe Camper]

Welcome aboard. Who converted it? I had an 84 chassis.

[Gil_J]

Congratulations on your new ride. Enjoy your journey.

[Pete]

Welcome to POG! And congrats on the purchase of a Prevost! We also had a 1985 XL, and still love the fact we had one. Loved the sound of the 8V92 engine. That engine has one fault in my opinion.........it is very sensitive to overheating if the cooling system is not kept REALLY CLEAN! If you do not have positive evidence of the radiator being recently cleaned, PLEASE HAVE IT CLEANED! Then enjoy that awesome machine. Hope to meet you down the road!

[sandz]

Wow, Thanks for the welcome!

The coach is a 1985 Royal Motor Coach Conversion with a unique yacht like interior. 117000 miles, 17k on the engine since overhaul.
Needs tires (look new Michelins aged out) but otherwise in running condition. One of the 3 cruise air is inop but I am hvac savvy and certified. (Not Certifiable yet I hope). Thanks for the info on the cooling system, might upgrade radiator if it needs it but will definitely keep it clean. We will be in this coach for the long haul.
Planning on installing solar and lithium system too for our dry camping. We live full time out in this beautiful country. Currently in New Mexico going to CA to take delivery. Trading in the landyacht after 3 years fulltiming.

[sandz]

Here are a few pics of our new rig for your amazement;)
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[sandz]

A few more pics

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[sandz]

The wood is Honduran Mahogany.
Two full baths. (Do we really need 2? No...Do we like the idea of 2? Yes!)

Two waterheaters w/exchangers. Webasto heat. 12.5k genset. 3 14000 btu cruise airs.
This will be our new home and we love it!
We both have lived on sailboats and we like the yacht motif.

I know it is an 8v92 and not an s60 but we are going to watch the temps and take it easy. Just couldn't find an interior we liked as much in a newer coach

[Dave D]

Beautiful Coach!!

[dale farley]

Beautiful coach inside and out. Royal is noted for nice interiors and uncomplicated systems, so you should have a winning combination.

[Joe Camper]

Very nice. It's got the old school tail lights, leave them it dates it wonderfully. IMHO LED would not enhance it. Those r 24v tail light bulbs do not make the mistake of trying 12v bulbs. 1157 bulbs have the same socket and sometimes r strong enough to carry the curent without burning out and then get so hot it melts the lenses I've seen that more than once. I also like the old school docking lights IE marine bow lights.

How is the Level low configured, is it 3 separate buttons?

It's titled an 85 but the chassis is what, 84 possibly?

Mine was an 84.

Did u get any service history? Unless very recently the shocks have been replaced do it. And put Koni up front if not all the way around. Don't wait.

That's a non computer engine with a mechanical throttle. U r going to have to help the cruise control in the hills with your right foot but it was ok ith me I'd rather be driving it anyway.

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[Gil_J]

Nice! You already show pride in ownership.

[Joe Camper]

One other thing is if u only have 2 front shocks u can and should, very easily, put 2 more. A huge difference.

A real close look at your photos shows those 2 full baths. That's a great floor plan I can't believe it didn't catch on I've never seen a bus like that before. A rear master bath and a full front bath next to the fridge drivers side, and a 40 no less. Brilliant I Love it.

[sandz]

Thank you guys for the positive comments. We do have pride of ownership already and we haven't taken delivery yet.
Not sure about the level low controls. Thanks for the tips on the tail lights and shocks, I had wondered about just what is 24 volt on this coach. We like the 3 round taillight look.
The front bay doors open and lock from the inside as well as the outside, and have portholes. "Crew quarters"...at one time there was a hatch in the salon.
We decided to take a chance on the coach because of the interior and we are prepared to fix whatever it needs to make it 100%.
We have a lot to learn and are looking forward to the learning . It is going to be a month or so before we can get out to CA to pick it up.
The conversion was finished in 1985 and it is titled as a 1985 so it is most likely a 1984 shell I would think.
Again thanks for the positive comments and information.

[sandz]

Here is a link to a pdf file from the July 1985 National Bus Trader article about this coach. It appeared in their annual conversion issue. Changes of course have been made to the coach since new, but very interesting report.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B882sNnxQDq3aktzcEtNUWhoWlBpYU5iQ2dUeVRWbjNacThn/view?usp=drivesdk

[sandz]

Update


We just traveled to CA from NM and are working on our new coach!

Most stuff seems to work although some buttons and switches need to be cleaned. Have not been under the coach yet.
Motor cranks right up and sounds really good. Level low works and air pressures builds quick and all seem fine.
It has a row of 6 momentary switchs for level low not automatic on this coach.
Seller put all new batterys in it so good there. It needs new tires. The Firestones look new but are 16 years old!
We are planning on getting 8 Yokohama 104ZR in 12r 22.5 put on soon at Reliable Tire in West Sacramento.
They do tires for 500 school busses here and recommend the 104zr. Not driving it yet want to check it all out first.

Everything inside is as nice as we hoped. Pulling the dishwasher and trash compactor and ice maker. They all
Work but we wouldn't use them. The toilet in the front head needs work. Haven't tried the webasto yet. The A/C's
seem to work ok but we are plugged into 30 amp so only running one at a time.

We have a month or more planned to get this coach up to snuff and ready for the road.

Been reading posts here and elsewhere and realize we have lots to learn and do. Not planning on "zeroing"
it out but do want to try to make it safe and as trouble free as possible. Might need help with some stuff.
Planning on doing as much as we can ourselves and we do live in it and plan on racking up the miles.

Very little documentation with the bus. Just a couple owners manuals and manuals for the tv's etc.
It does have a manual for the big Trace inverter. A few invoices for some work done a couple years
ago.

The trip out here from NM went well and we saw some fantastic scenery. Stopped by four corners and Monument Valley.
The area around Zion NP is stunning. HWY 14 north of Zion was one of the prettiest drives we have ever taken.
8% grades and it was snowing a bit at 9000 feet. Stopped at Little A' le' Inn on the extraterrestial hwy in NV.
All in all we spent zero dollars on camping and about 600 on fuel going the 1400 miles.
Came over the Sierra at Lake Tahoe. Fall colors are popping in the mountains.
Last trip for us in the Airstream Landyacht!! Lots of good memories in the old LY.
Many great times ahead in the Wishing Star!

Joe Camper the tail lights have been changed to led already. Haven't checked the shocks or slack adjusters etc.
We are hoping to have you check our coach out sometime down the road.

Thanks to everyone on this forum for all your posts. A HUGE help!

[Gil_J]

Sounds like a great start to future journeys.

[GoneCrazy]

Love the wood interior Yacht look ! Good luck and Safe travels !

[Joe Camper]

"Six momentary switches for level low"

Please take and post a picture of that we would love to see whats going on there.

My 84 had 3 seporate air controlled buttons like old scool air seats control. I was of the understanding they went from that directly to the current 4 position selector and singular momentary up and down button.

What u have described I've never seen.

[sandz]

Here is a pic of the level low switches
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[Joe Camper]

Judging by your controls that chassis may not have spool valves for suspension control. It's equipped with earlier diaphragm type control valves, I think. Is the chassis an 84 or 85?

Very convenient to have the house control panel within reach of the driver, they all should be like that or duel panels one midship too, that's my preference.

[sandz]

It is an 84. E-772. In the steering compartment there are no valves, just a aux compressor and a tank. When a leveling button is pressed I hear a pop or click and the bus goes up or down.

The wiring compartment above the steering bay has schematics dated 1983.

Right now headlights and horn don't work. Inner pass side dual valve stem loose and tire won't hold air

Fantastic fans don't work and toilets need to be replaced or fixed. (Old raritan crown heads).

Some of the lights for pushbutton controls don't light. Needs new belts. Genset water pump leaks and the. Generator airbags look pretty decrepit.

All in all though not bad considering age of unit. We can keep it at the dealer as long as it takes to fix it up and work on it there.

We are getting some stands welded up so I can get under it to check stuff out and do repairs to chassis.

All the fluids look good and engine starts right up and runs smooth. Recent fluid and filter changes. Air comes up well and stays up.

Brakes pass dot tests no hickups. Trans shifts through the gears and the parking brake works. Webasto fires right up.All 3 cruise airs work and blow cold.

So we will kerp chipping away at the list with the help of this board. Having a good time getting to know the old bus and enjoying California.

[Joe Camper]

Mine was an 84 too. I know who owns it i still service it. I gotta call him see how close the 2 are.

The way they controlled going from manually getting level and the ride height valve for driving.

Very Simple. The design must have slipped by. It's a set of 24 volt solonoids that shuttle a 2way air valve. 1 left 1 right 1 front. The front 1 could be on the ceiling of the steering bay. The rear ones r in the cavity with drive axle front air bag, hidden by the inner forward mud flap forward of the drive axle that shields the bag and the shock and the ride height valve too.

Mentioning the ride height valve brings another thing to mind that you certainly want to take a look up at right off. if you lay on your back and scoot your head under the bus in front of the drive tires and look straight up with a flashlight you can see everything in that space forward of the inner flap. That valve the airbag the shock the ride height valve. Do this, be careful support the bus correctly. Take a close look at the linkage for the ride height valve you've got a vintage that used some really Antiquated stuff and it might still be in there if the ends are all wore out and it's sloppy that bus is going to feel like it's all over the road and I can't tell you how many even way newer buses I see with the ride height valve linkages deteriorated the bits and all bent over and screwed up. That's an easy fix the linkage kits are 15 bucks a piece and it makes a HUGE difference if they r bad. If you've got the old steel ones with the rubber eyelets in the end of them and their one piece get rid of them get a new set just buy a universal kit for ride height valve linkage get three of them any fleetpride.

U might see a threaded post out the bottom pointing down at u. If u have those u have old school. U do have the option of rebuilding them too prevo still has those if u r a purist.

Take a picture of that too, if u can. The ride height valves themselves went through 3 generations too. I can tell u if u still have the original style or not.

Raritan makes great stuff I had that toilet I called it "the growler" most girls didn't care for it but I liked it. Unless one of those two toilets is directly over the holding tank they're probably macerator toilets anyway, bith of them and are going to have to be replaced with another macerator. Those bases, the housings r solid brass do not throw that stuff out.

If it's 102 wide and I can see it is, 84 was the first year for the wider bus.

[sandz]

Thanks Joe. I will crawl under there as soon as I get some stands made and take some pics.

The raritan toilets are both macerators. The rear one fills and flushes but flushes very slowly. A clog maybe or the impeller. I am going to pull it and take it apart.

The front one fills all the time so we put a lever valve in the line. The flush button causes a loud click and dims the lights but no action in the hole
That one will also be pulled. I am going to try to get them both working without spending a fortune. The parts are real pricy.

[Joe Camper]

The one Raritan that is stuck. When u take it apart if the shaft is pitted or corroded where the seal rides u r in deep dodo, and that was no pun intended in more ways than one. It will leak to the floor and motor will need rebuilt.

Mine was stuck, I freed it up but then the seal was always dripping couldnt use it without additional motor repair, and yes it was a bunch of lew bucks.

[sandz]

Motor shaft repair...
One of the rooftop a/c on the landyacht had a badly worn shaft on the blower motor and made a real racket and would bind sometimes on startup.
I pulled the motor out to replace it but the idea struck me to try to fix it. There I go again.
I chucked the motor in a drill and used a file to roughen up the worn area. Cleaned it with laquer thinner and alcohol.
Then used metal mender epoxy to build the shaft up and used a razor blade to scrape it to a proper fit with the bushing.

I figured I might get a month or two use but that was a year ago and it is still running quiet and smooth.

If the raritan shaft is bad I might just dig out the epoxy again and give it a shot.

[GoneCrazy]

Stephen,
FWIW , I have a fantastic fan that has problems. Someone told me that they have a lifetime warranty and they will send you replacement parts for free. Haven’t tried myself yet , i need a new motor that raises and lowers the hood. FREE.99 ?

[sandz]

Stephen,
FWIW , I have a fantastic fan that has problems. Someone told me that they have a lifetime warranty and they will send you replacement parts for free. Haven’t tried myself yet , i need a new motor that raises and lowers the hood. FREE.99 ?

Good tip Rocky,thanks!

[Joe Camper]

Steve another thing to take a close look at. The right angle gearbox shaft and bearing block that drives the radiator fan. Remove the belt completely from the pulley and grab the pulley and see if there is both slop or end play there should be none to minimal in either direction. Make sure there's not a small ring spinning around on the shaft between the pulley and the bearing block and indication of a bearing starting to go south.

Then also the other end deeper in. Check the oil in the gearbox and change it.

Rotate the ring and pinion inside the gearbox completely a few times by turning the shaft by hand and feel it while you're doing it make sure it's very fluid it's not nachi.

The service interval for that grease fitting on the bearing block in my opinion should be 1 or 2 pumps every 500 miles. Prevo says service interval on that is daily.

They r usually over greased or never greased ya gotta hit the sweet spot cause it can easily make a complete mess

[sandz]

Thanks Joe, you are really heping me out, I can use all the help I can get believe me.
I went to the local welder here and ordered some stands today. I did reach my camera under the coach and took some pics.
The bus looks pretty good. Airbags and shocks and brake cans etc. I also took some pics in the steering bay.
When I press any of the 6 level buttons I hear a click under the dash area and can hear air either escaping going down or filling going up.
The ride height valve actuators also look ok from what I can tell.

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[sandz]

More pics

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