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Pre departure engine/systems check list
As part of our planning for a long trip to the southwestern US next month, I want to be reasonably confident that my bus is up for the journey…. and back.
Aside from the normal pre-departure check list items such as oil, filters, belts, are there any specific things that I should check?.
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8 Replies
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Georges,
There is a check list in the articles section for Pre-Departure (http://prevostcommunity.com/PDF/PC%20Pre-departure%20Checklist%2010-31-12.pdf) written by Brian Esler. He has also contributed a Routine Chassis Inspection article (http://prevostcommunity.com/PDF/PC%20Routine%20Chassis%20Inspection%2010-31-12.pdf).
Keep in mind all check lists have to be personalized so well in advance of your trip use Brian’s as guides and modify or add to them to create one specific to your coach.
I think one thing that seasoned owners can probably agree with is that checking your coach is not a single event, but an ongoing process. The starting point is to figure out your tolerance level for dealing with issues and let that guide you in assuring yourself the coach is ready to go anywhere you want to drive it. I have a low tolerance for mechanical surprises because if they occur while we are on the road, at the very best they are an inconvenience, but they are more likely expensive, time consuming and they leave me as a bystander no longer in control of my own coach. So I replace perfectly good parts based on anecdotal evidence of their life span. I will be throwing away my air bags on their 10th birthday. My batteries are sold for scrap on their fifth year. The point is my effort to ready a bus for a trip is based on my self created maintenance schedule and if I am current with maintenance my only check list for departure is to make sure the brakes are off on my Hummer and that the toilet seat is down. (I’m kidding, but only a little) My point is that your maintenance program is the core of and an essential part of your check list.
Once you have satisfied yourself you have fluids within their life cycle, you don’t need the basics like coolant changes, that your belts and hoses are in great shape, you know the age and condition of your air bags, brake chambers, hoses, tires, batteries, etc. you have taken care of the most important part of your pre-trip inspection, even if your last maintenance event was 45 days prior to the trip. This is my maintenance check list specific to my 97 coach. When I do routine maintenance notice I have a way to verify everything is OK and if something is due I will see it. http://prevostcommunity.com/articleDetail.asp?ID=7 At every oil change I fill one out and look back through my logs to note the last time a service or maintenance event was completed, and when it is due again. That becomes my memory jogger. If you don’t know when something was done, you don’t know when it is due. Logs and records for me are critical.
The detailed check list for when you are in the driver’s seat ready to start the bus is equally important but for me my pre-trip duties start with knowing the coach needs nothing.
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Jon…what do you use for logs?
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Jimmie,
For recording trip distances, fuel used, and cost I have nothing more than a sprial bound pad. So far it has 24 years of coach miles. I use that to show where we have been and the purpose of the trip because our coaches were used for business and I can use that log to show personal use as well as business use. All information can be cross referenced to fuel receipts, toll receipts etc. but I have never had an IRS challenge.
For the coach maintenance logs I made up some forms. The first form is multi-page and it has the maintenance event and the desired interval listed for the Prevost chassis, the generator and the house. This is an example:
http://prevostcommunity.com/articleDetail.asp?ID=7
For each of my coaches I made a version of that specific to the coach. I use that as my checklist because every 5000 miles I service the coach as needed. I need something like that because once everything is zeroed out there is no way to track it without a form such as that which gets filled out every time.
Then I also have a lined log book that I use to record the date and the work performed. A repair would be listed in the log along with part numbers and other details such as date, miles, etc. plus I put a copy of paperwork for the parts in the book also. For routine maintenance I refer to the checklist above, and to research information on other tasks I refer to the log book detail.
I cannot stress the importance of the logging of information. There is too much to remember and without a written history we quickly lose track of everything. But the log books are very valuable when selling a coach. To a buyer it is not only valuable to have documentation maintenance was done on schedule, but knowing the air bags or brake chambers or Norgren valves, etc have recently been done shows value added to a coach. Without proof you have to assume the work wasn’t done, and air bags or transmission fluid changes or engine coolant changes are expensive and if you don’t have to do them you save serious money.
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Jimmy,
We purchased our bus on the Marathon consignment program. Our delivery was May 3, 2010. One of the things I took with was a 3 ring binder in the suit case from KC to Coberg that our son had used in one of his high school classes.
To this day everything has been logged into that 3 ring binder. I refer to it often, as the memory is not what it once was, anything I do to the bus is noted with date and what was done. It is the history of this bus.
One thing I refer back to part numbers, phone numbers of where that item came from. I store the log in the desk drawer in the salon along with my pre-trip check list.
Here is the another thing that will happen in the life of your bus. When its time to sell you have a record of everything concerning your bus. Your buyer can see the good, bad, ugly. The point is …the truth about how you have taken care of your bus.
The thing we hear on PC is Prevost takes care of everything…. but when pressed those service records are for some reason hard to produce.
AL
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I’ve read Jon’s various articles on buying a coach and service numerous times…previously on that other forum…now here. So I have a good idea what one is supposed to do. Unfortunately, I compromised service details for other wanted features and bought a coach with no service records. Fortunately, Marathon Coach in Oregon was selling the coach and had an extensive, itemized PDI list of needed fixes. Fortunately, I had Marathon Coach do all the work and replaced the majority of things on Jon’s scheduled maintenance list. Unfortunately, I had to pay for it. Fortunately, all these fixes will be in my new spiral notebook for the next guy.
Thank you.
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None of my coaches had the service records. The first coach was only in service for about 21 months so obviously brake chambers, air bags, etc were original and weren’t close to being in need of replacement. I had no records of coolant change so I knew that was necessary soon. When I sold it 15 years later when it was 17 years old the new owner had an extensive set of logs and the coach history. I cannot exagerate how important those logs were to me when trying to remember when service was due or what a specific part number was.
My second coach appeared to have been well maintained, but this time it was 7 years old and lacked any records. I zeroed everything out so I had a benchmark. Every fluid, filter, belt, air bag, brake chamber, valve, etc was replaced and all maintenance was done using the original service in my logs as the starting point. That was expensive, but I wasn’t prepared to assume anything had been done. I know I drained some good fluids or replaced some perfectly good parts but changing everything out not only was peace of mind, it made the coach reliable. Except for some isolated items such as a water pump (house) there were no surprises and no trips messed up due to needed repairs.
The current coach I got from Liberty and they did it all for me. And I inspected it. I have used the mileage and date of purchase as my new zero point and now that I have 2 years of ownership I can say I have been satisfied and the coach has not let me down (except for the crappy Prevost installed charge air cooler).
I don’t think the format of log books is important. What is important is that all the information is there and it is dated and the mileage recorded. Al accurately explained the benefit to you and to a buyer. That doesn’t mean any coach, yours included hasn’t been well maintained. All the lack of records indicate is nobody can prove it was well maintained. That might be important or it might not mean anything.
But as coaches approach later years there are a couple of things that start to loom as being very important. A coach that is 10 years old that has never had the coolant changed is a coach that could end up requiring a new engine. A coach that is 10 years old that has original air bags and brake chambers may unexpectedly have a problem with one and those types of issues never happen in your garage or on weekdays. That could mean a road call or a tow on a weekend miles from your local service center.
We’ve discussed air system maintenance often on the forum and the expensive consequences of ignoring it. A buyer has to place a lot of trust in a seller (who also may be unaware) to have routinely serviced the air system otherwise all Norgren valves could be slowly filling with a white / gray sludge that eventually causes the valve to fail.
So the bottom line is buying a coach with full records is no guarantee nothing will go wrong, but the odds are substantially higher nothing will go wrong if there are complete service records and they show maintenance was done when recommended by the manufacturer whether it was Prevost or Power Tech or Kohler, or the converter. As much as I get a lot of comfort doing my own work I have to emphasize having the converter do a complete inspection and service before delivering the coach is so valuable to me it is worth the premium paid for it. Nobody knows the coach as well as the people that put it together in the first place. Nobody knows what items to focus on when servicing the coach like the converter. I know some money might be saved by a private sale or even from a dealer, but you do get what you pay for.
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Jon…I’ve been on the sidelines but I’ve been reading your comments for years with awe and admiration. This latest gave me goosebumps. Thank you.
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Jon
The link that you posted, several years ago, regarding the maintenance logs that you made up and posted cannot open. Can you please re-list the link so we can follow it to the example.
Thanks
Coachless ( but not for long)
Chip Rainwater
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