[Dorel]

what camera system did you install?

[Dorel]

Excellent!

[Dorel]

You see those little red buttons on the ends? Those are the manual actuators, push them in one side at a time and see if anything happens.

[Dorel]

If any of you are interested in outcome:

Drove about 1500 miles from salt lake and engine started missing again. Continued to drive another 4000 miles on 5 cylinders to complete my trip. I was pulling a stacker and about 70K gross. No holding of speed on uphills; passing only on downhills; ok level as long as you didn’t have to pass anyone!

Pulled valve cover at home; found #1 fuel injector rocker ceramic roller broken again. My engine had ceramic rollers on injector rockers and steel rollers on valve rockers. Upon close inspection, several steel rocker rollers showed wear and the camshaft was also worn. Drained oil; analysis showed no coolant or diesel fuel and moderately high steel content which was certainly no surprise.

To say I was disappointed to have such problems with an S60 at about 280k is an understatement but my limited research (and the fact that fuel injectors and camshafts are on national back-order) indicated this is not an unusual failure.

Went ahead with installation of detroit diesel reman’d fuel injectors, rocker arms and camshaft. I had to locate fuel injectors and camshaft. Acquired set of reman’d rocker arms from detroit because of the costs of replacing all rollers and I wanted the new unitized adjuster screws meant it was almost a push. Here’s the kicker: ALL rocker arms came with ceramic rollers!!! I have no real idea if this is good or bad.

It now idles beautifully. Hopefully, I can work up enough nerve to actually drive it soon! LOL

[Dorel]

I started to tackle this project on the driver’s side sliding window.

The window is only held in place with sealant. Sika-flex 255 FC (Fast Cure) from what I found in another thread here. I had to cut around the perimeter from the outside, about 3/4″ deep with a standard utility knife. It’s difficult to get a full-depth cut in one shot, and it’s also difficult to re-trace your original cut on successive attempts. So I ended up basically cutting out the entire 1/8″ wide by 3/4″ deep border a little at a time. A few hours after finishing up, I had the brilliant idea to use an oscillating tool.

Then you have to go inside and take the utility knife, blade parallel to window, and separate the frame’s flange against the face of the window all the way around. I had to almost completely cut the window out before it would hinge out and come off. Breaking the glass isn’t the concern, it’s deforming the frame.

You could then disassemble and remove the 4 pieces of the sliding frame from the tracks, but there is no reason to because you can’t reinstall it in one piece.

I called a custom auto glass shop thinking this was going to be the easiest job they had all week and they told me they couldn’t do it. I just wanted a rectangular piece of automotive glass, single pane. “What’s it for?” I didn’t really want to answer but I did, and then the guy tells me he can’t help me and rattles off a place 100 miles away that might. I kept calling around locally and found one guy that can do a laminated piece but he wants me to bring what I have in to him. We’ll see…

Here is a nice sheet showing the process for replacing a windshield with Sika.

Black-Primerless Process Auto Glass Replacement.pdf (sika.com)

So I ordered the 255 FC and the Sika Aktivator 100, as well as a few silicone scraper tools. I watched a video from a marine supplier and it looks like it sets up pretty quickly. My plan is to clean it, dry fit the window with some blocks to center it up, apply masking tape to the glass and frame, apply the activator, let it flash, stick a suction cup handle to the glass, apply the sealant to the glass, set the window with the blocking, tool the inside, let that cure, and then fill the gap around the edge from the outside and tool that.

Anyone who has done this, do I need to do two stages? I don’t see how else to keep the window centered and square. Any other advice?

[Dorel]

I do not know enough about inverters, and yours in particular to suggest reasons for high voltage other than to suggest at low or no load their output power may be a little high, but will go to a more reasonable voltage as loads are added.

Is this higher inverter voltage something new?

Just to help you understand, when you are connected to shore power or the generator is running the inverters only pass that power through to the electrical panel and the devices themselves. That means the coach equipment is only seeing shore or generator power voltage.

When there is no shore or generator power then and only then are the inverters providing power to the electric panel and then to the devices. You have to be sure you know what your readings apply to.

Vantare coaches among some others all run on inverter power only and the shore power is for charging batteries.

[Dorel]

Chuck, yes, custom alright

I agree Bill, initially seem to hold good but not to the bus pressure and movement.

Called a couple places, as soon as they hear Prevost there is big aahhh…those are different…sorry, we do not service buses…

[Dorel]

Over the now 33 years of ownership we have plugged into power as low as 105, and as high as 128. Both extremes get my attention.

On the low side devices like the A/C units just shut down. At the high side, as long as it is below 130 I am OK, but vigilant above 125.

High voltages are rare and any steady 125 especially in the hot days of summer are a joy because amperage is down and the A/Cs love the higher voltage.

120 is a nominal voltage, just like 12 and 24. all are typically higher.

[Dorel]

Chuck: I have lots of experience winter driving in Wisconsin, Minnesota, UP of Michigan, and Illinois; none in the hills of western Massachusetts. I probably wouldn’t hesitate to drive the coach in those hills around the Holidays.

Watch the weather, know the outside air temps (keep in mind that if the road temp is 20*F due to extremely cold weather and the air is 38*F with high humidity, you’re likely to get ice especially in shaded areas), and make the trip in the areas you’re concerned about in the late morning and early afternoon.

I’ve driven in minimal, moderate, and heavy snow. I’ve driven on icy roads often, slushy roads, and black ice a few times. But only on minimal snow and slush with the coach. So far I’ve found the coach to handle the snow and slush better than a car, I think due to weight. We typically leave Wisconsin for Florida right after Christmas (and have had snow as far south as Tennessee!) and have returned through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, and back into Wisconsin in late March and early April.

At the end of the day, its your coach, your family, and your decision. Good luck with your trip.

[Dorel]

I think it varies. Sometimes I get the statement within a few minutes. Sometimes I get the statement the next day. Either way, I’m happy with the money savings.

[Dorel]

REM is where you want to be. Flip the key to Run, then back to REM

[Dorel]

I-95 florida. fire started in toad is suggested trans blew up. their picture shows toad nothing left but frame.

[Dorel]

Our bus lives 50′ from my Lazyboy. It gets tinkered with almost daily. When not in use, which is most of the time for most motorhomes, Renogy and Relion recommend that their lithium batteries be stored at 30% to 50% state of charge (SOC) to minimize irreversible capacity loss.

Lithium battery self-discharge rate is negligible. When disconnected from parasitic draws, there is no need to float charge them.

When we get home from a trip we “discharge” our three 200ah house lithium batts down to about 13.1v = 40% SOC. Then, we turn the inverters and 12v master off. Now the house batts are disconnected from any and all parasitic draws.

We have never left our bus plugged in to shore power when not in use. If necessary I’ll temporarily hook a small 12v trickle charger up to the lead acid genny and/or chassis batts to keep them healthy.

I take the bus out for a 1 hr cruise monthly. The bus, the batteries, and me love it.

[Dorel]

Thanks Bill and Don!

[Dorel]

Under $100 is pretty good.