Prevost leveling problem

[jok]

Hi darrenayres,

Here is what Sammy e-mailed me.

"I've been trying to troubleshoot your problem with the air schematics. There are 3 potential"correct" ones to . All are for your VIN number series, all are in French and the copies are tough to read. You might have a Norgren valve that is sticking or binding, causing the suspension to stay down. I'm sorry to say I won't be much help this time. Did you try to contact Prevost tech support?
Best of luck.
Sammy"

I'm hoping to check out the valve soon. I was able to look in front of a drive tire and saw the valve with the adjusting rod, but I didn't dig into it yet. It seems that now both sides are going down in the rear even when parked. I'll let you know when I get into it more. I also have not contacted Prevost yet.

jok

[darrenayres]

Just talked with a friend of mine who is a former Prevost mechanic. He currently drives for Marathon Coach and if you've ever watched that ABC show 'Extreme Home Makeover" he is the bus driver who moves that bus!

He said your problem is probably not a leak but a failed manifold coil. The bus starts out with full bags and as you go down the road and it lists from side to side, air dumps from your leveling valves but doesn't fill back up. Eventually, you run out of air. Look in the compartment below the driver. In the bottom right corner you should see an aluminum air manifold with 4-5 hoses. John was on the road so he was working from memory. He thinks your coach should have five. Each hose has an electric coil that controls flow of air. Again, he thinks it might be second one on top. It may have wires that travel up to your ignition switch. I'm not sure. Anyway, one of these coils has probably gone bad. You may not be able to buy individual coils from Prevost anymore. They may only sell the whole manifold kit. If so, try and locate a company out of Denver called Norgein. They made the coils for Prevost. To remove the individual coil, John said to remove the e-ring clip and slide it off the shaft.

Hope this helps.  Darren

[jok]

Thanks Darren,

That would makes sense. The day I started having the suspension problem I also had a pinched wire that controls the drivers heat blower motor. I was on the road when the short occured but I didn't know the rear suspension had a problem until I pulled into my driveway. The next day I repaired the wire and the blower worked okay. I assumed that it was protected by a circuit breaker. Maybe the short tookout the electric coil. I'll have to check that out.

How does your friend like "driving the bus"? Is he on the road alot with the TV crew?

John/jok

[darrenayres]

Hey Jok. I don't get to talk with him that often. We became acquainted in 2000 when we were both driving coach's for Marathon. He still does a lot for them with NASCAR when he's not doing the TV gig.  When we talked earlier today, he was in his pickup enroute to Phoenix to pickup a coach and return it to Coburg, Oregon.  Darren

[jok]

Low Level problem fixed. Thanks everyone for your ideas and suggestions. The problem was as darrenayres and his mechanic friend thought, thanks Darren, and pass my thanks on to your friend with the great memory. It was infact the second coil from the top that had failed. I called Prevost and a new coil was $25.00. I installed it in less than 10 minutes and it works great. Before replacing the coil I had to use the Low Level controls to raise the bus. Now it goes up on it's own and stays there. I printed out all the responses for future reference. Thanks, John

[DrivingMissLazy]

Ain't This Board GREAT!       

Low Level problem fixed. Thanks everyone for your ideas and suggestions. The problem was as darrenayres and his mechanic friend thought, thanks Darren, and pass my thanks on to your friend with the great memory. It was infact the second coil from the top that had failed. I called Prevost and a new coil was $25.00. I installed it in less than 10 minutes and it works great. Before replacing the coil I had to use the Low Level controls to raise the bus. Now it goes up on it's own and stays there. I printed out all the responses for future reference. Thanks, John

[jok]

Yes, it is great. I can't imagine how I could have converted or maintained my bus without the help and knowledge of the people on this board.

John

[bigred]

Can any one tell me the quickest way to check the Level low switch? I have a 94 XL which has a combination Prevost and Country Coach leveling system.The automatic system will level the bus [slowley] but Ican not get the Prevost system to respond.My next plan of action is to get a long length of wire that will reach from the 24 volt systm to the lead feeding the center solinoid on the solinoid stack.This will tell me if the air system is working correctly but it won't tell me which electronc sw might be at fault .

[robertglines1]

bigred I would start this all over again as this topic was a 2006, subject and several guys have since moved on. First check your voltage on center coil some converters changed them to 12 volt. The center coil just enables the coach over the road leveling system.  yours can be a prevost system that has HWH controls or something strange that country coach did. Voltage will be stamped on coil.  Fresh topic wish your specfic info would be best.  I can help with Prevost stock level low system and even it is year and sometimes unit specific.   Bob

[luvrbus]

Contact HWH or download the manual from their site I am pretty sure your bus has the HWH Active Air system most Country Coaches did even their MH models