Bus #2! Excited and lots of questions!

[Bryan]

hey guys! I'm excited to announce that I have a new bus in my life. 96 Prevost XL. Being that it is my second bus purchase I knew a lot more than I knew on my first... you all know how that goes! And I've always been so thankful for all of you that have helped me with things... so I'm made a list of a few questions that some of you may be able to answer. To make the post more fun interesting, I've included photos for every question (even though most aren't necessary) Thank you in advance! :-)



1. I had Jake Brakes on my first bus so I got real used to coming down hills without having to downshift and just riding the jakes... this one doesn't have jakes, so I feel I need to understand a little more the proper way to down shift... first of all.. I don't want to shift down to far and over wind out the RPMS... how can I be certain of that? second... once I press the down button on the pad to shift down, I assume it will stay in that gear until I tell it to do different... but how do I tell it go back to taking control of itself totally in shifting?




2. What is the H2O button? I hear a humming noise when I flip it on




3. How often do I need to be pulling these 4 cables to drain these air tanks?




4. If fast idle switch is on, when I take off the park brake, it automatically turns off fast idle even though the switch is on. So since it does it for me... is there any reason to ever turn the fast idle switch off since we want fast idle on while sitting?




5. My passenger mirror has a lot of rust type stuff on it, and it also tends to shake, any suggestions on this? where I can get another one? or stop the shaking?




6. Some of my flaps behind the tires are either torn or totally not there... are they important? should I try to find replacements? if so, where?




7. Where can I get these markers in LEDs?




8. My check engine light comes on from time to time. A couple mechanics looked at it, and said it was a sensor that didn't really even matter. But is there such thing as a cheap reader that I can buy to plug in to make sure that it's only that sensor that is having issues? I know there is for cars, but what about buses?





9. How do I know how many gallons my diesel tank holds?




10. Any suggestions on best way to clean stainless?



11. Any issues with me walking on top of the bus and spray painting my satellite dome and top air units?

[luvrbus]

Most Prevosts of that vintage have a retarder transmission behind the series 60 is the series 60 a 11.1L or 12,7 L,do have a retarder switch  

[eagle19952]

#3. Daily, as in each day that you run it.with the motor off of course...
#7 why ? LED's are over rated..OEM is less problematic...exterior lamps are lamps.

[Utahclaimjumper]

 Shift it out of a lower gear by pressing D .>>>Dan

[TomC]

1-Put it in D and the transmission goes through the gears. Push the down button and the selector will show what top gear you have selected-always still starting in 1st. You can get torque converter lockup by selecting 1. To cancel manual gear selection, just push D. If you do pull down the transmission to saw 3 to hold the transmission in 3rd, if you over rev the transmission (like around 2,300rpm) the transmission will up shift to save the engine from blowing up.
2-H20 is most likely the auxiliary water pump for the heating system to push more coolant up to the front for warmer air.
3-Test the air drains everyday after driving. If the bus has an air dryer (you can tell because when the air is up to pressure, the air dryer will spit with a definite air expulsion). When you don't have water coming out of the tank drains, that's when you know it is drained.
4-there are times you might not want a fast idle when idling.
LED's are fine, take less current and are typically brighter. Any big rig supply store will have LED clearance lights-and some RV stores too.

[luvrbus]

I don't ever use the fast idle switch I use the cruise control to speed the engine up just enough so it doesn't shake and rattle,lol the 60 series is not even close to being smooth at idle as the old 2 strokes 

[robertglines1]

Info source     prevostcar.com     use last letter in your serial # yours should be U then last 4 digits  Example mine is W -6553   Which is year W=1998        6553= unit number     Bob 

[MB LeMirage]

Just a reminder that we need exterior/interior shots of your new bus. It helps to feed the bus porn addiction.
Ryan.

[scanzel]

#7, led in 24 volt for these are very hard to find to match up to any existing holes in the stainless siding. Plus the replacements if you can find them 24v can be expensive. I find bulbs do last a long time. It's your bus so it your way.

[niles500]

You need to contact Prevost car US and set up account. Through parts and tech support you have access to everything you need including the Operators Manual. HTH

[Jon]

Draining air tanks daily is good advice if the coach does not have an air dryer. It likely has a Wabco air dryer with a spin on cartridge mounted high on the frame rail, passenger side, in front of the drive axle.

A good practice when you do drain tanks is to actually see the drain so you can determine if you have water or oil in the system. It is best to drain each tank completely because even if full of water the compressed air in the tank will blow a hole through the water and you really won't see more than a fine mist until the air pressure is almost nothing. A good practice is to drain the tanks completely in sequence. If the next tank in  line, starting with the wet tank has pressure the protection and check valves are doing their job. If the succeeding tanks have no pressure you have a problem that needs attention.

www.prevostcommunity.com

[robertglines1]

clearance lights on my 98 are 12V. I bought new led off e-bay for around $7 ea. complete assembly.

[Boomer]

Get an operator manual and a maintenance manual.

[Bryan]

Thank you guys!

I do have an air dryer on the coach, I hear it blow every few minutes. So that means I don't need to drain tanks after every drive right?

So there's nothing wrong with leaving fast idle switch on all the time. Like you said, it revs the engine just enough to not vibrate the coach LOL

I've been to Prevostcar.com but can't find where to setup an account.

Last few questions... can I walk on the roof and spray paint air units and satellite? And do we know how to know how many gallons my diesel tanks holds?

[robertglines1]

roof yes I do try to stay on ribs as much as I can. 147  gal stock  250 is long range tank.