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Prevost Maintenance
I have booked my coach next month for the usual maintenance items. Prevost indicates they can change the oil and antifreeze for the generator and replace all filters. They also indicated they can replace the fuel filter for the webasto unit as well. I gave them the OK to do this work but wasn’t sure these items were part of Prevost usual service items. Has anyone out there have had Prevost service these components before? I know it’s not a big deal to service these particular components….I’m just curious about Prevosts extent/territory in terms of what they will or will not do in terms of maintenance.
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13 Replies
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Allan, the services you indicate are routine and I doubt if the technician will have any problems. I will note however that on the Liberty the changing of coolant in the generator is not as easy as just draining and refilling because getting air out of the system is a pain.
I cannot use my device to vacuum the cooling system and have new coolant introduced because the radiator caps on the generator and remote radiator make it difficult if not impossible so I use a length of plastic hose and a Mickey Mouse arrangement with a funnel to fill the system via the remote radiator. I run the generator until the thermostat opens (hot coolant enters the radiator) and top it off if necessary.
Everything else is routine and simple.
1999 XLV X-6872, liberty #440 -
Allen, I dont know if you care to hear an opinion on these items but since you posted I will give you mine.
Prevost does a good job with their side of routine things (oil changes, etc.). From my experience, they are not as familiar with the Webasto system. While our coach was there I was going to have them change the filter & nozzle out b/c it would be handy. They didnt have the nozzle nor the filter. Its a common filter and the same one your generator uses (your generator might even use 2 of them). Since they didnt have the nozzle or filter I told them to pass on those items.
I was quoted $450 to change the nozzle and filter. I bought the nozzle off amazon for $8 and the filter is at Napa for $12 (I buy them by the case now) Its a 10 minute job and you are good to go for another year. The generator service is a simple job as well, all common filters, and like Jon said you just keep topping off the water with the thermostat open to get all the air out.
However, I dont know your situation or if you have any interest in doing these things yourself but you could save a lot of money and anyone on here is more than willing to help.
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Make sure Prevost is aware of the drains in the hard coolant lines that run under the bus from the gen to the remote radiator. Once these are pulled, it should be unnecessary to drain the radiator (pull the cap to let it drain) but you will still have to drain the block. Pull engine cap again.
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Stated previously but worth repeating……….
Prevost = chassis
House and house systems = converter.
As long as I am harping on something let me add that the owner of the coach needs to have in hand some maintenance schedule that lists intervals and requirements because there is no such thing as a routine service. The intervals are based on miles driven, hours, calendar time and visual inspections and there is far too many items that need service but will never get service because the bus was taken to someone with limited knowledge or expertise.
There are places that can service the entire coach and have both skills, knowledge, and access to parts and information. But those places ain’t your local charter bus company or average RV dealer.
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I don’t make it a habit of disagreeing with Jon or Tom for that matter but speaking from my personal experience I have a great working relationship with a local charter bus company and go to them almost exclusively now for all PM and required service. They have taken a personal interest in my bus and our family travels. They know their stuff and I trust them implictly with the safety of my family. Their shop is about 25 minutes from my house so at this point I run the bus in just prior to every trip. The do a full pit inspection and make sure all is well. I don’t have the time or technical knowledge of Jon or others on PC but I wouldn’t rule out charter companies if you can find a good one. When the guys know I am on the way, they clear a bay… I pull in and they jump on the coach and off I go.
Bill
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Bill, if you want to know how good they are ask when was the last time they greased the fitting on the pivot under the fan clutch or pulled the guard to inspect the tension and condition of the generator belt.
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Jon I bet you have everyone running out to their bus with a mirror and flashlight looking for that grease zerk!
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I agree with you Bill, I have never said otherwise.
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Tom
Sorry didn’t intend to imply you did My whole point was to caution pc members of absolutes. Not all charter companies are bad. Prevost and other preferred providers here have missed things on my bus. So for me based on my experience and location. John at mid American coaches is my Goto. If they can’t fix it they tell me and I take it to a small DD shop that can.
Jon, not trying to pick a fight just offering a different perspective based on my experience. Which is the point of PC right? Not that it matters but they do a visual inspection of the geny belt at each service and replace it annually regardless if it needs it or not. I am not smart enough to know if there is a greese point on the fan clutch but if there is and prevost says to greese it I’m sure they do
Bill
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Not fighting Bill, but really concerned that a lot of owners will seek out alternate service providers who they think are doing a good job, but in fact are not. We as owners have no obligation to know or understand the nuances of taking care of our coaches, but we do have to be sure those we engage to take care of our coaches are in fact doing all that is required to maintain the coaches and keep us safe.
It has to be understood that we have a complex vehicle and both the house and the chassis have to be maintained properly or we can have a mess on our hands. I get the phone calls from folks who placed a lot of confidence in their local maintenance provider, but found out too late their faith was misplaced. One owner who is very active in this site had a guy who represented himself as very competent and they believed and trusted him. Until they found the air bags were 1/2 full of water and they realized their mechanic may have been very good with Series 60 diesel engines but lacked the knowledge and ability to understand the air system needed routine service.
My point is we have two choices and that is to turn the responsibility for coach maintenance to people who really do know what they are doing or do what Ronald Reagan said and that is to trust but verify. By verifying I mean we have to understand what maintenance is needed by pulling the information from the various sources such as our Prevost manuals along with the manuals for all the other devices and systems installed on our coaches and just verify service is following the schedule.
You have a good service provider but I can say with confidence those who are able to fully support the maintenance needs of a coach are relatively few and far between.
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Service providers are all measured on the way there repairs are done.
As the old saying goes we remember poor service forever….. But usually forget what we paid for it.
Bus owners seek out alternative providers usually based on prior performance and lack of care by a particular shop did when working on there bus.
Also many owners put their trust and faith in supposedly experts, seasoned service shop owners, inspection of major service / repairs who over and over really don’t care how employees work.
Lack of training of personal comes to mind. Shop employees working with no formal training on million dollar buses.
AL
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I’m one of the guys who has no training and I work on my coach. So far so good. Having said that the difference between an owner who is willing to take on the responsibility of coach repairs and maintenance, and an employee who punches a time clock is similar to the difference between a pig and chicken at breakfast. The chicken makes a contribution and the pig makes a commitment. I am the pig.
I want people who work on my coach committed to doing first class high quality work.
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OK, story time. I had an alternator problem in Kansas just North of the Oklahoma border. Asked a couple of good ol farm boys who could do DD work and they both suggested a place in a nearby town. I called and the owner said to bring her by and that they would look at it. I pulled into their yard, made a huge turn around since I was pulling my stacker and stopped toward the back of their shop. I was greeted and I told them my problem, raised the back and all three looked and said ” Damn, that sure is a big motor.” I thanked them, closed the rear, cranked up and headed to Okie City. Got it fixed in Okie City. Broken wire on alternator.
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