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My 91 Beaver Coach Problems
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Harry,
I would not let talk of $500 oil changes deter you from ETLC. I don’t know what they charge for an oil change. I can tell you that my one visit there left me thinking that this is the best service I have ever received on any vehicle ever. I based my evaluation on the staffs attention to detail, communication, and overall value.
I took my coach to ETLC because I didn’t have a professional inspection at all before or during the purchasing process. I wanted them to give the coach a once over. I gave Jeff my meager (as these coaches go)budget and asked him to address safety concerns first followed by things that could leave me stranded. After a week at the shop and multiple items addressed I got an invoice that consumed only 1/3 of my budget. I will be back to spend the rest this summer. If I can help it no-one else will work on my bus.
I highly recommend you pay them a visitor for any of your maintenance needs. The level of service you will receive is almost unheard of today. I would also not discount them for your current issues without talking with Jeff. Good luck. Jeff
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Hi Jeff,
I’ve heard nothing but good things about ETLC. But when you say;
“I gave Jeff my meager (as these coaches go) budget and asked him to address safety concerns first followed by things that could leave me stranded. After a week at the shop and multiple items addressed I got an invoice that consumed only 1/3 of my budget.”
But Jeff, It’s not lost on most of us when you say “I gave Jeff my meager (as these coaches go)budget.” With all your money that’s mega bucks! Heck, I went into the bank for a loan today and they couldn’t approve it until they saw the amount of your deposit!
I still don’t have a full understanding of what exactly ETLC does but after this posting I’ll go to the website and find out!
I spoke with the shop who finished my starter today and asked what he did to fix it and he said he changing out/fixed the aperture, solenoid and other parts. When he said solenoid I wasn’t sure if he was talking about the solenoid/relay that has already been replaced (for the burned one shown in the pictures) or a solenoid in the starter? Is there a solenoid in the starter? The full price for his services is $318.74.
The mechanics (they got rained out today) will be installing it tomorrow and I have no idea what the labor will be?
I’m trying to find a place I can park my bus where its inclosed but so far no joy!
Harry
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The solenoid that burned I believe was handling the load of the electric required to engage the starter solenoid. The starter solenoid is mounted on the starter and handles a substantial electrical load so it needs a lot of power to close those contacts which is why you need to the first one.
Both are handling a large current flow, but the one on the starter is handling the power of your batteries, not just a small percentage of the power
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Ahhhh, I see! It doesn’t sound like the batteries anymore does it? Should I still have them take the batteries out and check them?
Harry
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Batteries are Pretty easy to check yourself. Just be careful unhook them one by one and put the dc voltmeter on. No sparks and be careful. If all, one by one, are around 12.7 volts each , they are good. Or what I’ve been told.
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Hey Harry,
You have obviously over estimated my financial status. Prevost ownership even a 91 vintage is in no way a peice of cake for Lindsay and I. We determined that if we spent our maintenance and repair budget wisely, (including me doing everything that i am capable of myself) and didnt do anything stupid it was doable. We were also hoping for a little luck along the way.
I think you would agree that there is a difference between the best price and the best value. I see comments all the time on here where people are looking for the closest place to have service work done. I am not saying I dont understand the desire for that but I think many of those people can afford to pay for mistakes and as Jon would say on the job training. Many of those peoples time is also worth a bunch more than mine. I simply would rather park my coach for awhile instead of risk letting someone I do not know and trust work on it.
Time will tell wether you get good value from your mechanics or even a good price. I sincerely hope that you get both. I have a hunch your power speed loss issue is related to your no start issue. Please be aware this is just a hunch being that I am not an expert in coach electrical systems and i havent looked at the schematics. I definately do not want to second guess the guys you have there on the ground. But this brings up a point that it would be really great to have a guy like Jeff to analyze the situation. In medicine there are specialist and a dwindling number of General practicioners. The problem with multiple specialist and no GP is that there is noone looking at the big picture. I would catagorize Jeff as a General pracitioner to coaches and that would be ideal for you right now . Good luck Harry and please keep us posted. Jeff
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Harry: The amount of time it takes to safely pull the four chassis batteries out, take them to NAPA and have them LOAD TESTED is a good investment for you at this point. You need to rule “things” out. Ruling out a battery problem is important to do. If you have a battery problem and don’t determine that now you’ll be chasing your tail for weeks.
It it sounds like the starter is about ready to go in. If the bus fires up with the rebuilt starter, GREAT!!!!! Maybe you don’t need to pull the batteries, you’ll know when turn the key.
As as far as ETLC goes, Jeff Rowe can handle just about anything on your coach. Living 70 miles from Jeff’s shop, he should be your #1 go to guy. There are 100’s of Prevost owners on this website who are very envious of you living only 70 miles from Jeff’s shop. None of this is BS, it’s the solid gold truth.
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Harry,
We went to one of the Prevost Community Seminars before we bought our coach.
We would not have our coach if not for the assistance and patience of serveral PC members during the search
and purchase, including Jeff. We bought our coach from a private party in Baltimore and drove straight to ETLC.
Jeff went over the coach and prioritized it’s needs and then proceeded to make it safe for us to use.
You will not find another place like Jeff’s. We left our coach there for two months, before we could get back
from Mass to pick it up.
We are signed up for this upcoming PC seminar in October. I am hoping to get to park next to Tom, so
it will make it easier for me to swap parts from his coach.
If you are not signed up, you should try to get on the list. It is the best experience a coach owner could hope for.
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Ditto on ETLC! I live only 20 miles away and consider myself one lucky guy.
I have been following your posts. My suggestion is that you head straight to ETLC as soon as you get your coach running and let a true professional inspect it. Would probably save you many $$$ in the future.
My coach is older than yours. My first stop after purchase was ETLC. WISE MOVE!
Good luck.
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Harry,
You will know if it is battery related the minute the starter is installed and you try to turn it over. With the price of some tools today such as multi-testers and battery testers it now makes sense for us to have our own because when we chase problems we are almost always using these tools. I would be lost without a multi-tester, battery tester and an IR temperature gun.
Our coaches have a lot of batteries and if you read the posts you will see that we have to know their condition so having the ability to not ony test them and read voltages, but to recharge them is important. They should be on a schedule for replacement unless you are willing to stretch their life and deal with the issues and replacement on their schedule and not yours.
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Harry, I have been to Jeff for various items and been very happy. Lets just say when I see Jeff checking the coach I feel good, that someone with his knowledge is on the Job.
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I want to thank all of you for the information you’ve passed along, it’s been very helpful to me!I went to the ETLC website and didn’t learn that much of what they do? Can they help me with my initial problem with the 15/55 mph, cruise control and Jake brake problem? Your recommendation was for me to take my bus to Clark Power Service to correct it. They also have a 8V92 specialist there.
So where do I take my bus, the two places are within miles of each other?
Harry
PS. Does anyone know what places like Clark and ETLC charge per hour fort labor?
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Harry
We all can fiddle-fart-around armchairing the problem. Hourly rate surely can’t come anywhere near to our Colorado Kenworth. The gold standard in Colorado for “rates”, $179/hr. Best to get it to “Clark”!
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Harry: Call Jeff right now and ask him about those three problems and where he thinks you should take the coach for those problems. He will give you the best advice you’re going get from anyone. Like a previous poster said, once you get the coach running take the coach to Jeff, he’ll inspect it, and tell you what you have.
I don’t know what Clark charges (they might tell you over the phone what their shop rate is) but I’ve found Jeff’s rates and prices to be extremely fair and reasonable. Besides your proximity to Jeff’s, another huge advantage of working with him is that there is very little on a Prevost Jeff hasn’t seen … at least once, twice, or three times.
Jon’s advice about batteries, digital multi-meters, battery testers, appropriate chargers, and Infrared heat guns is spot on. Start to build your bus tool box.
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Harry my coach is in San Antonio Tx. at Stewart Stevenson and will get down tomorrow to check but think I remember the one black devise above the solinoid was labled jake brake or ecm. Might have gotten hot.
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