Well, trying to be a good owner, and knowing I was fixin to travel thousands of miles to Pahrumph,,, I thought it prudent to get my bus serviced.

I took it to PVML, and they did a level 3 service, air service, gen service and replaced an air spring. They were a bit late getting it done, and I had another appointment at Marathon Beaumont, and talked PVML into taking it there.

Marathon was trying to help me chase down a gray tank odor, and I ended up telling them to pull the tank and inspect for Kraks and whatnot, as well as a few other housekeeping items that were converter related.

I feel most patriotic for having made a considerable donation to boost the economy after those two bills! But anyhoo

I am driving home from Marathon, and after a bit it seems as if I have no power, not going over 45 or so. I am looking in the mirrors to see if I lost a tire or whatever but it all looks OK.

After a bit I scan the instruments, and see I have a CHECK light and a STOP light on, and the Pro-Driver says I have a high coolant temp of 221. So I found the nearest place I could stop with some hope of not getting rear ended, but still in traffic and pulled over.

I knew that part of the service was changing the coolant, so I was already suspecting chenanigans in that regard.

I called PVML and talked to a service guy, who told me to check the fluid window in the coolant reserve tank.

I checked it and it looked ok, but being the trained observer I am, I noticed the fan not turning (strange if its running hot eh) ?

It had slipped the belt! So I shut down, let the air out of the belt tensioners and fired back up. All was then fine.

FWIW I always air up with my compressor before lighting off to make sure I don't throw one when starting. So a big mystery as to how it came off.

Moral of the story is, if you feel like you are losing power, the DDEC can and will de-rate your horsepower and if its severe enough, shut you down. So keep an eyeball peeled on the cautions & gauges.

The End

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