The bus made it home!

[Mark3101]

We got the bus Monday in Alvarado from Motor Home Specialist. Got there at noon as our flight was diverted due to weather Sunday night. Got the paperwork out of the way and did the walk through with the sale people. Spent about 3 hours or so with the service mgr. and then they ran us out to a covered pad to spend the night. Had an electrical glitch with all the storms around and had to reset an inverter, but everything else seemed fine.

Did some shopping and settled in for the night. Tuesday we went over some more systems with the service mgr. and we departed about 2PM to return our rental. My wife took the rental and I followed. Almost as soon as I hit 35W, the battery bal light came on and stayed on all the way to DFW rental return. I figured it was not a good sign, so I called Prevost in Ft. Worth and they were good enough to get me in right away and did a quick diagnostic and replaced what I think was the equalizer (not the small 4x8 monitor up high, but the one that is bigger mounted low directly in front of the batteries). No charge, no hassle and best part, in and out in less than an hour.

Got on the road and stayed in OKC at Twin Fountains. Nice place as most of you already know...

Hit the road Wed AM and headed toward Kansas City, MO stayed at Basswood Resort for the night. Headed out in the rain and drove in rain all the way home to Duluth. Got in about 9:30 last night.

Had a pocket door come off the track, a ceiling panel come down (removable for AC access, just velcroed on) a sticky black tank dump valve, and a front slide that squeaks like hell and gives an error when opening, but not closing. Other than that a very uneventful trip. The slide gives an over current error while opening, but is fine when closing....

Bus runs great, handles well and is quiet when the slide isn't squeaking!

Now, how does one get rid of squeaks from a front slide???? Can one spray silicone on the gaskets/seals??? I will call Prevost about the error next week when I have some free time.

[garyde]

Hi Mark. You should have Prevost inspect your slide. It sounds like it is not tracking correctly.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Congratulations Mark.

From your short experience you are seeing that your new bus is going to need some fine tuning. I don't know who will be standing behind the repairs on your new purchase, but you can either attack the issues all at once or you can let them accumulate over a long time preventing you from fully enjoying the coach.

With it at your home base this would be the perfect time to live in it for several days and work and operate every single system. You shouldn't have doors coming off track or ceilings falling so you can almost be assured there are going to be other things that need attention. Ditto for the chassis. By doing this you will learn the coach, learn how to operate the systems and features, and understand what you do not know so you can ask questions.

These are not simple machines and the nuances of living and traveling in one may not yet be fully realized. Even if you never intend to do any of your own maintenance or repairs, at the very least you do need to understand the coach and what the various switches and knobs do, and what the gauges are telling you. These are great fun and the ultimate toys, and will give you hours of enjoyment if you understand them and are on top of things.

[Mark3101]

Congratulations Mark.

From your short experience you are seeing that your new bus is going to need some fine tuning. I don't know who will be standing behind the repairs on your new purchase, but you can either attack the issues all at once or you can let them accumulate over a long time preventing you from fully enjoying the coach.

With it at your home base this would be the perfect time to live in it for several days and work and operate every single system. You shouldn't have doors coming off track or ceilings falling so you can almost be assured there are going to be other things that need attention. Ditto for the chassis. By doing this you will learn the coach, learn how to operate the systems and features, and understand what you do not know so you can ask questions.

These are not simple machines and the nuances of living and traveling in one may not yet be fully realized. Even if you never intend to do any of your own maintenance or repairs, at the very least you do need to understand the coach and what the various switches and knobs do, and what the gauges are telling you. These are great fun and the ultimate toys, and will give you hours of enjoyment if you understand them and are on top of things.

You are right, these are great machines! As to the list I posted, I have already fixed everything except the slide. Can you use silicone on the slide gaskets/seals without harming them? Also, I imagine that a trip to Prevost would be in order for the error that occurs when opening the front slide?

I am going to take it in for an oil change and have the transmission filter changed as well. The bus now has about 7700 miles on it and I just feel better getting that stuff out of the way. I will probably change the generator oil myself, but it only has 85 or so hours on it.

I am going to take some time this weekend and start reading the manuals I have not looked at. Have to give it a wash too....it got filthy on the way from KC.

We are very happy so far, I am hoping for a nice weekend or two in November before the snow arrives so we can use it a bit more and make sure there are no other issues we haven't yet found.

[garyde]

Hi Mark. To answer your question regarding slide lubricants. I just keep my sides and tops wiped clean. Thre are slide products on the market but you shoulld check with Prevost fist prior to using any of them.
There are two parts to your slide, the wiper and the air seal. The wiper keeps debris away from the air seal. The air seal can be pierced by just about anything. Its like a bicycle tire tube.

[Coloradobus]

Mark, Congrats and enjoy. Remember as new as your coach is, the transmission has Tran Synd synthetic fluid from the factory which doesn't need to be touched for a great while. Be sure to check your owners manual or call a Prevost Service center for piece of mind.
Otherwise, you will be spending beaucoup bucks ($40+ dollars gallon times 10)for a service you don't need at this time. the filter kit is about $120 and is internal, so chenging it will require buying an additional 3-4 gallons of fluid. Your filter interval is also extended with the newest technology. Check before you drain.

[Mark3101]

Hi Mark. To answer your question regarding slide lubricants. I just keep my sides and tops wiped clean. There are slide products on the market but you should check with Prevost fist prior to using any of them.
There are two parts to your slide, the wiper and the air seal. The wiper keeps debris away from the air seal. The air seal can be pierced by just about anything. Its like a bicycle tire tube.

The slide is completely spotless on top. No debris anywhere. I have what appears to be two problems: #1 the slide squeaks badly going down the road. and #2 I get an error about over current while opening the slide, but not when closing it.

I will be washing it next day or two and will really scrub the top and sides and see if that changes anything.

Thanks for the info.

[Mark3101]

Mark, Congrats and enjoy. Remember as new as your coach is, the transmission has Tran Synd synthetic fluid from the factory which doesn't need to be touched for a great while. Be sure to check your owners manual or call a Prevost Service center for piece of mind.
Otherwise, you will be spending beaucoup bucks ($40+ dollars gallon times 10)for a service you don't need at this time. the filter kit is about $120 and is internal, so changing it will require buying an additional 3-4 gallons of fluid. Your filter interval is also extended with the newest technology. Check before you drain.

I will check the manual, but I thought I read that they want it (filter) changed at about 5000 miles the first time. Maybe I am wrong about that with Tran Synd.....If I don't need it, I won't do it.

Since the chassis was built in late 2005 I guess it should have at least the engine oil changed. Oil is still cheaper than engines!

I sure do like the transmission/engine combination so far. Runs good, shifts smoothly and seems to have enough power for me.

[Mark3101]

Hi Mark. You should have Prevost inspect your slide. It sounds like it is not tracking correctly.

I will make a call to Prevost and ask some questions. I am confused as to why it only get an error while opening and not closing.

[garyde]

I will make a call to Prevost and ask some questions. I am confused as to why it only get an error while opening and not closing.

The sequence for opening is as follows: When you push the button to open:
1. The air seal begins to deflate
2.once deflated, the pins retract from the slide
3. the slide motor begins to move the slide out
4 once out, the slide seal inflates

This sequence is reversed when closing

So, if your error light begins at the beginning of this process , it is an air issue, possibly not enough air pressure in the system to begin the sequence.
If you get an error light later in the sequence, it might indicate too much current draw on the motor which indicates the motor is working too hard.