So Heather and I are nearly at the 5 year mark fulltiming in our 1984 MCI 9. We had some issues initially baselining the coach and getting some minor maintenance items dealt with including replacing both radiators and filling with fresh Detroit coolant. We drive somewhere between 5,000-10,000 miles a year (probably slightly less than that even). I wanted to just share that our bus has been remarkably reliable during our 5 years of owning it. At this point it's a bit slow and short on power and I think we will ask Scrosby to look at it this summer for us, but all in all this bus has been a reliable beast. Starts up every time and drives us thousands of miles without any issues. I'm growing to trust it more and more. I know so many people jump onto the forum to announce their bus woes, but there are a ton of bus owners out there driving their buses without issues and no one posts "hey, my bus isn't having problems" because well, that would be weird. So for anyone considering a coach bus, specifically MCI's I can vouch that they can be run reliably and possibly inexpensively. Obviously major stuff breaking would change that but again, just posting my positive experience with our 9. Our 102C3 will hopefully get to stretch her legs this fall with 7,000 miles planned for her in a 4 month time frame. We will see how she does. (https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fuploads.tapatalk-cdn.com%2F20160314%2F5cbec5c0c0e306dc5bca2240510aa958.jpg&hash=dc5822fcde302ba1ec5c7628d4b997f550f70a28)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Scott I am glad you posted this.
When I bought my Eagle and then started visiting the different forums and reading about all the problems people were having and how much it cost to fix everything I started to regret buying my bus.
I have owned motor homes most of my adult life and traveled many miles in them,mostly trouble free. I still own a very nice Pace Arrow Class A that my step son is living in.
I decided to treat my Eagle the same as I had treated my other motor homes and be proactive with repairs and servicing.
I am still working on finishing my conversion and have only put a few hundred miles on the bus but I feel confident driving it.
Hopefully I will have few problems like you have, if not I'll be posting about how much work and money it takes to own a bus! ;D
Wes
I cannot relate to a seated coach conversion, but I have had a Prevost since 1990. Not the same one, but three. I ran the first two until they had 250,000 miles and bought my current one which now has 120,000 miles. It is an underused baby compared to most, but during my 26 years of bus ownership I found if I am anal about preventive maintenance my problems are virtually non-existent. It isn't cheap, but if you are worried about the cost of bus ownership maybe you shouldn't have one.
I replace tires at around 6 years, batteries at 5, air bags around 10 years, etc. I am proactive in replacing things like valves, and I change oil and lube it every 5000 miles and do a comprehensive chassis inspection every time I am under it. My attitude is to try to never have a trip interrupted, and to only do mechanical work or repairs in my own garage. With the exception of a bus engine area fire as a result of a mis-installed air conditioner compressor (by so-called professionals) we've never had a trip mechanical failure that stopped us. I think my total mileage driven over the 26 years is around 350,000 miles.
All my work with the exception of tasks requiring special equipment such as alignments is done by me. So far, so good.
Thanks for the post,encouraging for us first timers, plan on stretching the legs on my 4104 this year for the first time since I owned it from 2014, learned a lot from these post from you experienced bus nuts. Nelson
Guys,
Your good luck with bus reliability is probably no such thing. You guys obviously picked good baseline buses and then maintained them well. Like most of the people on this board, you realize that a bus is not a new (or even "pre-owned" car) and requires preventative maintenance to keep rolling. I do not have a converted coach and I don't rack up anywhere near the miles you guys do but I am on my fourth vintage coach and have traveled hundreds of miles in a day for bus shows and the like. My secret is, for the things I can't do, I have a good mechanic and he is willing to teach.
Longest trouble-free trip? 1,100 miles from New York to NC and back in a 1967 GM suburban fishbowl moving some small items to a new home.
- Seaton
- Charles
Scott,if your engine is running good and not smoking leave it alone the 6v92 is not going to win any power contest in 40 ft bus towing a heavy vehicle like yours.The old 2 strokes are sorta like people they find a happy place in their world and enjoy it and don't care much about changes JMO
Cliff, you're probably right. The thing never overheats, and gets around 6mpg. Can't even compare it to my 8v92 102.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have driven our coach for over 10 years now and I did have 2 sort of brake downs well on the road . the worst was a 4 hour delay because it would not start ? it would turn over buy not fire ? after waiting until 8:00 am I called Leids diesel ( my repair guys ) for advice . long story short we chased it down to a bad connection on the back of the start switch at the drivers seat ? . fired right up after I cleaned it up . got home and cleaned all the switches . no cost repair
second time was a leaking seal on the drive axle . pulled off the road and had a guy reseal it and fill it at a t/ a truck stop . 2 hr repair at a cost of $ 150.00 and after I got home I drained the rear diff. and put in new diff. oil .
so in the 10 years on the road not much to report as in problems , but I due a ton of pre trip work on the coach .... like out of frame rebuild of 6v92ta ( in 2010 ) , new brakes , air bags , new air lines , new brake cans , new air drier , new air regulator , as well as oil , trans oil , and all filters changes , grease each year
I had it rebuilt only because of all the old leaks and for piece of mind and the unsure use before I got it
so yes very reliable after all , in the 85,000 klm I have had it on the road
dave
Scott,
If your travels bring you near Springfield Missouri, please stop by for a tour of our facility. And if your bus needs a oil change or something, we can get that done at the same time as well. I have been wanting someone from this forum to come and check us out so other will know who we are.
Quote from: Detroitenginespecialist on March 14, 2016, 08:08:18 AM
Scott,
If your travels bring you near Springfield Missouri, please stop by for a tour of our facility. And if your bus needs a oil change or something, we can get that done at the same time as well. I have been wanting someone from this forum to come and check us out so other will know who we are.
:D some of us know you are
Quote from: Charles Seaton on March 14, 2016, 04:50:49 AM
Guys,
Your good luck with bus reliability is probably no such thing. You guys obviously picked good baseline buses and then maintained them well. Like most of the people on this board, you realize that a bus is not a new (or even "pre-owned" car) and requires preventative maintenance to keep rolling. I do not have a converted coach and I don't rack up anywhere near the miles you guys do but I am on my fourth vintage coach and have traveled hundreds of miles in a day for bus shows and the like. My secret is, for the things I can't do, I have a good mechanic and he is willing to teach.
Longest trouble-free trip? 1,100 miles from New York to NC and back in a 1967 GM suburban fishbowl moving some small items to a new home.
- Seaton
- Charles
My second coach had some miles on it, and no service records so rather than take a chance I zeroed the chassis out. I drained and replaced every drop of fluid. I replaced all filters, belts and hoses. I replaced the air bags, brake chambers, the Norgren valves that control the suspension, and replaced a leaky hub seal. And I had it for another 8 1/2 years and it never let me down. Whatever I spent to zero the coach out was cheap compared to having to deal with an issue while traveling.
Brian, I think we may just do that. We are coming throughish on our way to Michigan in April. Won't have much time but could stop by :)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Quote from: luvrbus on March 14, 2016, 09:09:53 AM
:D some of us know you are
Please tell me this isn't where the cat bus got it's motor....
? I don't think it was?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Quote from: eagle19952 on March 14, 2016, 06:36:28 PM
Please tell me this isn't where the cat bus got it's motor....
Sounds like the cat bus would have toasted it if it had come straight from DD, new and wrapped in gold foil.
Isn't that the truth. No matter where they got it from or who rebuilt it, no engine will take that sort of sustained abuse.
Ryan.
the way i read it (the story) the 4 liners were pressed in with a 22 lb. hammer... no one could have nursed that motor to success.
i have seen cab drivers and grocery baggers drive B-70's and R-35's after having passed a grocery cart exam not be able to kill a Detroit.
if the motor is built right and not over sped and they have oil in them AND anover temp shut down...
which really is not that much to ask....
they are bullet proof and quite frankly some of the stories i've read here prove my point :)
Our longest trip in "The Sparrow", our 1987 mci96A3,6v92, Allison 740, was 3,068 miles over 12 days. From central WV to Pigeon Forge,(Dollywood),Tenn. where we stayed for two nights., then to Hurricane Mills where we stayed at Loretta Lynn dude ranch for two nights.. on to Memphis and stayed one night at the Graceland RV park. Then to Lake Charles LA for two nights with my niece. On to Huston TX and two nights with my sister. on the trip home, for one night, Nashville Grand Ol' Opera for one night after a CDB show and one night in WV at our favorite lake.
No problems, great adventure!
Busboy, was this in the summer?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I would have to say that my first bus, a 1974 Silvereagle Model 05 with the Spicer 4 spd. and the 8V71, that I got in 1996, has been pretty dependable. Before it was even finished inside I took it on multiple trips out west (from Ohio) to Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming, Texas, South Dakota, Missouri, Minnesota, and everywhere in between. The only events that ever slowed me down, besides the mountains, was a ruptured fuel return line that had rusted, and a incorrectly wired (by me) generator that was putting out full current which boiled the batteries. My current project is a 1984 Model 10 Eagle, which has only had trouble with a skinner valve malfunction which was overcome by reaching in and pulling the fuel stop back so I could start. Considering the age involved, these buses are pretty amazing. Of course, you have to be mechanically inclined, or have lots of ready cash when things do go bad, but compared to a RV of a similar age or newer, we are better off.
Last summer drove my 4104 to a local car show , total trouble free miles driven last year, about 20, but I have to say one of the most exciting and fun things I have driven in a long time.just an amazing machine. Besides driving it around the block here and there, you feel like you have left the nest and your hard work is starting to show, looking forward to 100 times those miles this year after I get the new tires, can't wait. Nelson
PS. it was a big hit at the car show too
Just got home a couple of days ago from a trip from Blackie near Calgary AB to Fort Worth TX. By myself in the bus, and without a towed: nice, and nice... Taking a model air plane for my sons U of C team to a SAE International competition. The kids flew there and back. The bus ran strong and smooth as usual. The 6V92, like all 2 Stroke Detroits, is made heavy duty to run for hours and hours around the clock. Once set up and tuned up properly, it will run and run for 300000 miles before a change of bearings and a tune up. This was my first trip with 15W40 in the HT740 (from trans fluid). It shifts a little smoother, and a little cooler.
My only annoying problem is an oil leak at the back of the engine getting worse. And a coolant leak that started at the pipe flange to the intercooler. Both will be tough to get to. I am going to have to drain the coolant and remove some parts to get to that flange. And hopefully I can see what's what about the oil leak through the floor hatch in the bedroom. Neither leaks are gushers, but it is messy, and need to be fixed.
Just wanted to post this to show that these buses are tough, heavy duty machines that, if maintained properly, are very reliable.
JC
We take our bus out about three or four times a year. Since we switched to the L10 and ZF we have only had two issues. One I should have caught before it was a problem -- the driveline came loose and shook like crazy -- the other one was a fluke. We drove through some wet conditions and got water into the brain box for the trans. We bypassed the brain box with some long distance telephone help from the transmission rebuilder and a rats nest of wire and made it home. We also do an annual schedule of maintenance -- Just basic stuff if you are going to have trouble free travel.
Melbo