things that can go wrong that we can prevent/or not

[tommy240842@...]

Posted by: "Chris Reed" _chrisreed26@... _
(mailto:chrisreed26@...?Subject= Re: Road trip blues) _chrisreed26 _
(http://profiles.yahoo.com/chrisreed26)
Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:36 pm (PST)
Aside from belts and hoses, what else can I do as far as preventive
maintenance to make sure I don't end up on the side of the road....I can't
imagine
going through what Kerry is now....what else should I be checking under this
bus?
Chris Reed
83 FC35 SB
Plant City, FL
Waiting for new/rebuild engine cooling fan....

Hi Chris (and the rest of the group);

This is one of the reason's that Mike H. and some others caution "newbee's"
to be very careful when buying a used coach, and have deep pockets. These are
very complicated coaches, lots of systems, many things that can potentially
fail with little fore warning. Your coach is 23 years old, mine is 26 years
old: how many other brand coaches do you see "up and running strong" after
that period of time? Most are junked because they have fallen apart.

We have lived in our '81 Blue Bird exactly 10 and a half years, and been on
the road full time for ten years. I had to rely solely on the BB factory
when I first got mine for information, the good news was, I only lived 11 miles
from the factory. They were invaluable, but I did not have the collective
expertise of 'forum' members.

I have replaced ALL engine hoses, all belts (about every 2-3 years), hot
water heater, HWH jack hoses (especially the front ones), engine water pump,
fresh water pump, radiator, had the HWH jack levers rebuilt, power steering
pump
rebuilt, replaced all the air bags, height adjustment valves, pilot control
valves, air compressor (un-necessarily), I change the oil every 6,000 miles,
fuel and air filters on schedule, I've had the valves adjust, timing reset,
throttle linkage seal replaced, replaced the two 45 amp battery boilers with a
40 amp TruCharger, had the Redi-line worked on so that it works, replaced
the ice maker and refrigerator, replaced the LP regulator on the tank and new
shut off valve, replaced existing sewer drain system, with electric drain
valves ( I came to the conclusion I am way too old to be crawling around on my
hands an knees once a week to empty my waste tanks), replaced the seal in the
rear end and transmission where the drive shaft goes in, the exhaust manifold
seals, which really weren't seals but have seals in them now, had the
alternator rebuilt, it failed, replaced it with a LeeceNeville, replaced one of
the
roof A/Cs and the rear one is on its last legs, new carpeting and hardwood
flooring, and replace all six tires; whew and that list goes on. On the
generator, I have the 7.5KW Kohler, I have replaced the brushes, brush holder,
switches, relays and there are LOTS of things left in there that can fail with
no
notice.

And here I sit, waiting on a pitman arm seal (seal kit), because when I turn
the wheel really sharp it puts so much stress on that seal and the seal is
26 years old, it spews power steering all over the place. Every time we spend
a bunch of money on repairs, my darling wife says, "there, now there isn't
anything else that can go wrong." I just silently laugh because I know that
there are LOTS of things that can "just fail."

This is not meant to be a discouragement to 'newbee's' , but you know? it
was a real eye opener for me, when I look back and see all the things that went
wrong or could go wrong, and fail at the worst possible time. I.E. the
little copper water cooling line that goes from the engine block to the air
compressor, breaking right at the fitting on the block, behind everything.
This
happened in the pouring rain on a lonely desolate road in Alaska.

I truly believe that someone buying a used Blue Bird needs to be aware of 1)
how complicated these coaches are (the more bells and whistles, the more
things to go wrong) 2) be somewhat mechanically/electrically/plumbingly
competent. At least be able to trouble shoot. 3) in lieu of the above, have
very
deep pockets and a BB contingency fund for repairs. Owning one of these
wonderful machines if NOT for the faint hearted. Trying to find someone
competent
to work on them is always chore. The mechanic I have here is Charleston is a
wonderful mechanic, but working on my Blue Bird is always a learning
experience for him. I.E. removing the pitman arm on a over the road truck, open
the
hood and it's right there. On my Blue Bird it means removing the batteries,
steel battery holder, steel plate above battery holder, tie numerous wires
and hoses out of the way, so I am looking at probably a couple of hours labor
before he even starts on dropping the pitman arm.

So Chris, to answer your question, check everything feasibly possible. Do
NOT let any seeping or leaking of any fluid go un-investigated, frequently
check under and inside the coach for hints of failure (even then things like
seals will just give up the ghost without warning).

Didn't mean this to be such a long post, BUT when I bought this in 1995,
there was no forum, and no one to tell me how much was involved in maintaining
one of these coaches. However, having said that, I would NOT drive anything
else out into traffic with all the idiots on the road. I firmly believe that
I can survive most vehicle accidents just as other Blue Birders have, because
of the way these coaches are built.


Tom Meservey, USN (Ret)
'81FC33' Naval Weapons Station, Goose Creek, SC



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[w3ww]

Thank You TOM for the very informative post.

Don Mohney

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[davidkerryedwards]

Where do you typically do your work as a full-timer? In a campground? I think
the throttle
linkage seal you mentioned replacing is a typical weakness of the 3208. At
least I seem to
recall some mention of it on a diesel site somewhere.

Kerry

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, tommy240842@... wrote:
>
>
>
> Posted by: "Chris Reed" _chrisreed26@... _
> (mailto:chrisreed26@...?Subject= Re: Road trip blues) _chrisreed26 _
> (http://profiles.yahoo.com/chrisreed26)
> Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:36 pm (PST)
> Aside from belts and hoses, what else can I do as far as preventive
> maintenance to make sure I don't end up on the side of the road....I can't
imagine
> going through what Kerry is now....what else should I be checking under this
> bus?
> Chris Reed
> 83 FC35 SB
> Plant City, FL
> Waiting for new/rebuild engine cooling fan....
>
> Hi Chris (and the rest of the group);
>
> This is one of the reason's that Mike H. and some others caution "newbee's"
> to be very careful when buying a used coach, and have deep pockets. These are
> very complicated coaches, lots of systems, many things that can potentially
> fail with little fore warning. Your coach is 23 years old, mine is 26 years
> old: how many other brand coaches do you see "up and running strong" after
> that period of time? Most are junked because they have fallen apart.
>
> We have lived in our '81 Blue Bird exactly 10 and a half years, and been on
> the road full time for ten years. I had to rely solely on the BB factory
> when I first got mine for information, the good news was, I only lived 11
miles
> from the factory. They were invaluable, but I did not have the collective
> expertise of 'forum' members.
>
> I have replaced ALL engine hoses, all belts (about every 2-3 years), hot
> water heater, HWH jack hoses (especially the front ones), engine water pump,
> fresh water pump, radiator, had the HWH jack levers rebuilt, power steering
pump
> rebuilt, replaced all the air bags, height adjustment valves, pilot control
> valves, air compressor (un-necessarily), I change the oil every 6,000 miles,
> fuel and air filters on schedule, I've had the valves adjust, timing reset,
> throttle linkage seal replaced, replaced the two 45 amp battery boilers with
a
> 40 amp TruCharger, had the Redi-line worked on so that it works, replaced
> the ice maker and refrigerator, replaced the LP regulator on the tank and new
> shut off valve, replaced existing sewer drain system, with electric drain
> valves ( I came to the conclusion I am way too old to be crawling around on
my
> hands an knees once a week to empty my waste tanks), replaced the seal in the
> rear end and transmission where the drive shaft goes in, the exhaust manifold
> seals, which really weren't seals but have seals in them now, had the
> alternator rebuilt, it failed, replaced it with a LeeceNeville, replaced one
of the
> roof A/Cs and the rear one is on its last legs, new carpeting and hardwood
> flooring, and replace all six tires; whew and that list goes on. On the
> generator, I have the 7.5KW Kohler, I have replaced the brushes, brush
holder,
> switches, relays and there are LOTS of things left in there that can fail
with no
> notice.
>
> And here I sit, waiting on a pitman arm seal (seal kit), because when I turn
> the wheel really sharp it puts so much stress on that seal and the seal is
> 26 years old, it spews power steering all over the place. Every time we
spend
> a bunch of money on repairs, my darling wife says, "there, now there isn't
> anything else that can go wrong." I just silently laugh because I know that
> there are LOTS of things that can "just fail."
>
> This is not meant to be a discouragement to 'newbee's' , but you know? it
> was a real eye opener for me, when I look back and see all the things that
went
> wrong or could go wrong, and fail at the worst possible time. I.E. the
> little copper water cooling line that goes from the engine block to the air
> compressor, breaking right at the fitting on the block, behind everything.
This
> happened in the pouring rain on a lonely desolate road in Alaska.
>
> I truly believe that someone buying a used Blue Bird needs to be aware of 1)
> how complicated these coaches are (the more bells and whistles, the more
> things to go wrong) 2) be somewhat mechanically/electrically/plumbingly
> competent. At least be able to trouble shoot. 3) in lieu of the above, have
very
> deep pockets and a BB contingency fund for repairs. Owning one of these
> wonderful machines if NOT for the faint hearted. Trying to find someone
competent
> to work on them is always chore. The mechanic I have here is Charleston is a
> wonderful mechanic, but working on my Blue Bird is always a learning
> experience for him. I.E. removing the pitman arm on a over the road truck,
open the
> hood and it's right there. On my Blue Bird it means removing the batteries,
> steel battery holder, steel plate above battery holder, tie numerous wires
> and hoses out of the way, so I am looking at probably a couple of hours labor
> before he even starts on dropping the pitman arm.
>
> So Chris, to answer your question, check everything feasibly possible. Do
> NOT let any seeping or leaking of any fluid go un-investigated, frequently
> check under and inside the coach for hints of failure (even then things like
> seals will just give up the ghost without warning).
>
> Didn't mean this to be such a long post, BUT when I bought this in 1995,
> there was no forum, and no one to tell me how much was involved in
maintaining
> one of these coaches. However, having said that, I would NOT drive anything
> else out into traffic with all the idiots on the road. I firmly believe that
> I can survive most vehicle accidents just as other Blue Birders have, because
> of the way these coaches are built.
>
>
> Tom Meservey, USN (Ret)
> '81FC33' Naval Weapons Station, Goose Creek, SC
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>