[Archived]

I wish I had copies of my previous coach service log books. The previous two coaches had about 250,000 miles on them when I sold them and I put over 300,000 of the total 500,000 miles so I had some history I can relate to hub seals.

I had replaced some tag and steer hub seals, but I remember most were on the drives as Joel mentions. But I never had to replace the same seal twice. I did not measure runout, but did torque the hubs because that is what the shop manual called for. I don’t know if that is why the seals never had to be replaced or not. I do remember one thing I hadn’t previously thought of and that I replaced all curb side seals, but never a street side on my coaches, including my current coach. That is either meaningful or coincidence.

[tom]

In nearly all cases it is the curb seals that I am replacing. I am pretty sure I must have had a street side one done but I can’t recall when. I don’t know the name of the seal but it’s the one that holds the fluid you would see in the hub window. It’s not a big expensive job, I just don’t see why they should fail so often and usually I have only put 30-40,000 miles since the last repair. At least the costs get spread out so I only have to do one each year or so! Just had the drive seal done in Dallas Feb. 2103 and there was no sign of oil on the tag.

[AL]

Bill,

They should not need to be replaced at the frequency you describe. But I don’t know why.

[Liam]

Could it be that replacing mainly the curb side seals may be caused by the coach leaning to that side because of the crown of most roads? Creating a little more heat on that side.

As an over the road Owner Operator,(past), I would drive on the wrong side of the road whenever no traffic was in sight, just to let it lean the other way for a while.

I always thought it helped, kinda like………I would put transmission fluid in my fuel tanks to keep injectors clean, and, a clean bus always rides and drives better!

[glen]

Bill: The stemco web site is very explicit re installation instructions. I would suggest you print the instructions and observe the next installation. Be certain they actually use a torque wrench at the very least. Carry the appropriate Stemco seals for your bus so that you can supply to technician. The difference in the seal quality is obvious. Can’t guarantee success, but I’m going on 60,000 miles with my oldest Stemco and have yet to replace one.

Also, note the ‘pro-torq’ spindle nuts on the stemco website. Seem like a big improvement also which was recommended to me by tech at Love’s. I’m checking to see if they have an application for my bus.

[Dave]

Bill I know of a shop that will work on your coach, the time they tell you will take will be five times as long they will break everything they touch will put wrong belts on the wrong parts on and fluids everything they do will need to be redone the price will be double what it should be but u won’t be able to complain it is said up front !!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!

[Bill]

I am so sorry Peter but I am not sure if you are working to be funny, posting after cocktail time or having a bit of a stroke. I simply cannot figure out your post other than assuming it’s a joke based upon the LOL at the end.

[Davy]

It’s a joke Bill , just making light of all the bad service you have had bad luck all round , I guess what I am saying is if the shops would advertise what I said nobody would be un happy , wish you could have better luck with all the service work that you have had done ..

[Dana]

I guess I just hold Prevost to a higher standard. I do this because Prevost says they hold themselves to a higher standard (Red Carpet Service). I can tell you that when I bought this coach in ’99 I had no issues. By 2001 or ’02 I encountered a few minor issues. As we approached 2005-07 we were seeing many issues and these days we cannot trust Prevost to do anything correctly unless I personally supervise every part of the operation.

Did I tell you about the day they were working on my leaking fuel system (that they created) and inaccurate fuel gauge readings? They said I should run to the local truck stop and fuel up to ensure everything was working as expected. While fueling I walked away and upon returning I discoverd diesel pouring out of the bay. Quickly stopped fueling only to discover that the line between the input and the tank had been disconnected and never reconnected. I pumped 35 gallons of diesel into that bay itself! Yep, Mira Loma! OK, they took full responsibility, did the repairs, cleaned it all up, re-carpeted, made it look like new. Still, never should have happened.

[Archived]

it doesn’t matter, or where you go to have service. We have learned you “never” leave the bus!! It’s a big time consumer to baby sit your bus while a tech is working on it. But to ensure things get done to the best of your knowledge, bus needs a baby sitter

Two things that irk me, one of the tasks included on a Level numbered Services, is checking SCAs in the coolant. They never have litmus sticks to use. Also, checking the steer and tag oil levels. Our bus is usually dirty from the road, and you can tell if the hubcaps have been removed by the evidence of fingerprints. If I am going to be charged for a hub oil inspection, I, at least want to see fingerprints on the hub caps. Now, I take them off, and watch to see if the tach looks at them

Even being present, is not a complete guarantee the work is complete or later billing is correct. Last November sitting in the coach while having a drivers front glass replaced, upon completion, didn’t go in to service desk to confirm the final cost of repairs. We left on our way. Returning home, there was the bill, “one front glass replacement, glass $2190, which we expected, followed by $3410 labour. Yikes. Peeling Chris off the ceiling, I made the call to find out we were charged labour on two windshields XL replacement using just one glass, huh? Got the bill corrected.

Bottom line, stay with you r coach, never leave it (not foolproof), and never drop it off and return days later hoping all work was done

CYA

[Michael]

I am still at Prevost Mira Loma and today (bored on a Sunday afternoon) I was doing some engine cleanup. Just for grins I pulled the oil dipstick and could not believe it when I found the oil was over filled after the Level 2 service. Another example of the terrible service being offered at Prevost facilities. Should it really be MY responsibility to check this stuff? What the &^%$ is this thing called Red Carpet Service? Just a joke no one has let us in on?

I had a very nice chat with David, the branch manager on Friday and we worked through each service item and he adjusted the service labor hours by about 1/2 ($2000!) to bring them inline with what they should have been. There is no guideline in place that properly sets the labor hours so if a tech is logged into a 3.5 hour job for 15 hours, the customer would get charged 15 hours unless someone manually adjusts it.

Guess I am going to have another friendly chat with David tomorrow AM before I head to work as I don’t plan to drive the coach with an extra gallon or so of oil. Of course, that gives me concern about whether the old oil was every properly drained or too much new oil added (was it even 40W?). The oil is quite dark and I have driven the coach less than 1 mile since the change.

Sigh. Just another day in the life……..

[Archived]

If it’s any concellation, us “plastic” coach people have the same issues. Did my yearly servive in January at Cummins Power South and when I got home I noticed a large puddle of oil under the engine. After a close check, I found the oil filter must of only been hand tightened and had worked it’s way open on my trip home. Fortunately I made it home before the filter had loosened to the extent that the oil was really pumping out. I hate to think what would of happened if I had of been heading out on a real trip after the service.

I Hate to say it, but taht was the last time I will have any service done on my coach that I personaloly do not check the work, or at least to my ability to check it.

[Thomas]

Quite a few of us subscribe to the policy that when work is done on the coach, we will be there.

I am sure most work at good shops is done correctly but nothing conveys how important doing a good job is as much as our being there and watching the work being performed.

If I did not do my own work I would hope the shops I take the coach to for service would understand a couple of things. First, for me to bring the coach to the shop means I have already made a significant investment in time and money. My closest Prevost shop is Nashville and it takes me about 3.5 hours, each direction and costs me about 70 gallons worth of fuel. So before a single thing is done to my coach I am in the hole a total of 7 hours of lost time and about $260 for just fuel.

So my first wish is the shop would recognize since I am willing to make that kind of investment just to bring my coach there it is because I consider that shop to be one of the best, and I expect the shop to live up to my expectations. My expectations are simple. I expect the work done to be of the highest possible quality because I chose to use the experts, not some local but untrained Prevost mechanic.

My second wish is for the work performed to be double checked. When I do my own work I complete the task at hand, and then I go back and re-inspect everything I did to verify I did not forget something. That’s not hard to do, it takes a little time, but it helps me avoid a problem with loose wires, a leaky filter, a tool left behind, or any of the other oversights so easy to do.

Lastly, I want to be charged for the time required. I don’t want to pay for on-the-job training, I don’t want to pay for do-overs, I don’t want to pay for a mechanic that spent his time drinking coffee and then going to the men’s room. I know some shops have flat rates. But I know the average air bag change is a little over an hour plus a few minutes at each end of the job to remove the stands or fold the fenders back in place. Don’t charge me for 25 hours worth of labor when the whole job is a 10 hour job unless you are telling me you don’t want my business.

[Charles]

Ok, so how do you know it’s time to replace the front shocks? This is a learning experience for me. I’m been on a couple of roads where it felt like I was on the end of a diving board. Up goes the front end and both my feet come off the floor. I called prior owner, who bought a 09 when I bought this 2001, he couldn’t really compare because the front ends are different. I don’t have any external indications like oil leaks, etc.

[Bill]

Looks like we had 6 quarts too many. There are 2 different oil pans (maybe more) and one required something like 28 quarts and another 34 (IIRC). In any case, the tech simply never pulled the dip stick to check. They drained us this AM and we are back roaming around CA again.

As to shocks as questioned above, they can be removed and tested at the facility but generally if there are no signs of any oil leakage I would find it hard to imagine them going bad in less than 100,000 miles or so. However, if my front end was feeling bouncy as you describe, installing new front shocks (and the correct number of shocks) would be a really good and inexpensive starting point.