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Costly Trip Home
Last Saturday, 4/16, at 7:00 AM I started to leave RiverBend Motorcoach Resort, where we spend the winter, to go to ETLC for a holding tank replacement. As I went through the exit gate I noticed the check transmission and stop light icons were lit on my dash screen. Also, the pro driver screen showed no data available for transmission temperature.
I pulled over by the resort’s welcome center parking area figuring I would shut off the engine to reboot the system. I then tried to restart the engine but it would not try to start and I had no power to the transmission shift pad. After checking breakers and fuses with no luck I called Jeff Rowe who called John Wehrenberg. I also called John Kincaid, Regional Service Manager with Prevost, for further input. With all these resources and a multimeter it was determined that power was entering the TCM computer of the transmission but was not outputting to the transmission which indicated the TCM was bad.
Luckly I was not on the side of the road but in a safe place where time was on my side. Being a Saturday I decided to make calls to local Detroit Allison dealers and see if anyone would answer their phone. The Florida Detroit Diesel-Allison dealer in Fort Myers had a hotline for emergency help and a tech called me back within 15 minutes. I explained my problem and what I already determined to be bad, he asked model and serial numbers from transmission and said he had a new TCM on the shelf. Within 1 1/2 hours the tech arrived at my location and replaced the bad TCM with the new one. The new one was blank and had to be programmed according to my transmission and engine numbers. After the programming and $3,871.73, I was ready to leave for ETLC for a new holding tank. Just be aware, if the TCM goes bad you are dead in the water and unable to move!
I finally arrived at ETLC for the holding tank replacement which was not leaking but I used a flexible inspection scope to look at the sides of the tank and saw a spot that looked suspicious. I decided to be proactive rather than dealing with a disaster later. After the aluminum tank was removed my suspicion was affirmed with several spots that were paper thin and with the push of a screw I was able to penetrate the tank. The stub for the macerator discharge was also disintegrated and about to break. Jeff Rowe posted pictures of the tank on another thread which are scary knowing I did not have any visible leaks. After replacing the aluminum tank with a new stainless steel tank and more $$$, I have finally arrived home without anymore issues.
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9 Replies
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Jeff didn’t say whose coach it was, but we went through all the things he had you check and by the time he was done both he and I were thinking it has to be the ECM.
We all feel your pain.
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We had our TCM go out in our Affinity last year–it had the same transmission as our coaches. I was able to reset it by disconnecting and connecting the shift pad a few times, and it got us going. Still had to replace the TCM, though. I paid $4,625 at Stewart and Stevensen in San Antonio, so you did pretty good on cost.
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Glad it all worked out Terry and you weren’t stuck on the road somewhere. That’s pretty good service from DD, expensive, but good.
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If you kept the failed ECM, it can be sent to several different folks who repair them. You could then either keep it as a spare of sell it and try to re coup some of yuor expense.
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Terry,
I’m guessing it was your holding tank in the plumbing section. Rough week ($8K)!!! With the cost of the computer and new tank!! I guess you’re wondering what else goes at 14 years!!! Thanks for sharing your experience with us it gives something to look forward to!!
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Randall
I always said owning a Prevost is not for the faint of heart but I still enjoy the thrill and comfort of traveling the country in one of these vehicles.
Terry
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After reading the above posts I thought I’d throw in the following.
The transmission control module is called a ECU
The engine Control /DDEC is called a ECM.
When I bought my coach four years ago the cruise control didn’t work so I drove 1000 miles to the Prevost service centre in Quebec to have it fixed. They determined it was a bad ECU so I replaced the ECU after I got home ( my buddy works for the Detroit Parts Dept thus a better price) but still had no Cruise control ,however, I now have a new spare ECU that I carry. That next fall I went to Detroit Tampa to try and get it fixed there.They determined it was the ECM and replaced it but still no cruise and unfortunately Detroit took my old ECM as a core .The new ECU I had bought outright so I kept the old one and hooked it back up,however, neither the new ECU or ECM solved my no cruise control problem which in the end (one year later) turned out to be caused by a small 16 Ga yellow wire being connected to the the 24 volt battery terminal on my 24 volt series starting battery bank circuit , instead of 12 volts to the ECM it had 24 volts , a five minute fix found by Jean Ruel who is a Prevost customer satisfaction rep and a 35 year Prevost employee from Quebec , the great part was that Jean drove 250 miles to my home to solve the problem after I told him I had spent a total of $6500 with no results. When finished he refused payment telling be I had paid enough , Jean is super Knowledgeable and a great person. I have delt with Prevost since 1998 and even though the service dept gave me a bum steer I still think their customer service is the best.
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It’s stories like the Langley’s that really leave me scratching my head. I presume the “little yellow wire” that is referenced in their tale of Prevost woe supplies power to the cruise control system. If something (anything) isn’t working, wouldn’t the first logical place to start be its power source? Is it plugged in? Is a breaker tripped? Is a fuse blown? Is it properly grounded? Is the little yellow wire hooked up?
There is a lesson for all Prevost owners in the Langley’s story about trouble shooting problems. Remember it well.
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I hope Jeff chimes in on this one, but anytime I have something wrong, or am talking to someone who has something wrong the starting point is looking very hard at whatever was worked on last on the coach.
Yes things break unexpectedly, and yes they can be unrelated to work previously done, but in enough instances to justify looking at what was done previously as a starting point.
If previous repairs did not create the problem, then to identify the problem I just start at the beginning.
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