1995 D3 - Questions

[Oonrahnjay]

Here are the last 4 years of maintenance records. ... Any thoughts on this insanity? 

        Looks like careful service (good) but a lot of recent air conditioner repair -- which could mean that the system is totally up to date, finely tuned, and ready to go years ... or ... that it's about to trip and fall on its face dying like a marathon runner.  If it's the latter, bring $$$.
        There's a fair amount of service on the air dryer system.  It's a good idea to stay on top of the replaceable parts (filter, purge valve), but "other things" could mean the brake system is tired or the air compressor on the engine is not working well. 
        Tires should be good but you have to check the date codes on the tire (probably the inside of the tire) -- look for something like 0714, that's the middle of February, 2014, 1-52 for week of the year and the last two digits of the year.  You do NOT want to see 0706.
        But the big thing is that you're looking at a vehicle that has been driven to the moon and back and it's over 20 years old.  The big thing is the inspection and that's not 100% foolproof.
        A good thing to do is to cultivate friendship with a small local charter outfit.  If you can get on their good side, ask them about the sharpest, most experienced, and most reasonably priced mechanic.  One place that might be good is Rondout Charter Bus, they're near Wawarsing on US209 south of Kingston (not too far south of Sue Sternberg's place) -- I've never met them and they might not be friendly/helpful but it's worth asking, I guess.

       Get a good inspection and a consult on bull gear/bearing replacement.

[k9disc]

        Looks like careful service (good) but a lot of recent air conditioner repair -- which could mean that the system is totally up to date, finely tuned, and ready to go years ... or ... that it's about to trip and fall on its face dying like a marathon runner.  If it's the latter, bring $$$.
        There's a fair amount of service on the air dryer system.  It's a good idea to stay on top of the replaceable parts (filter, purge valve), but "other things" could mean the brake system is tired or the air compressor on the engine is not working well. 
        Tires should be good but you have to check the date codes on the tire (probably the inside of the tire) -- look for something like 0714, that's the middle of February, 2014, 1-52 for week of the year and the last two digits of the year.  You do NOT want to see 0706.
        But the big thing is that you're looking at a vehicle that has been driven to the moon and back and it's over 20 years old.  The big thing is the inspection and that's not 100% foolproof.
        A good thing to do is to cultivate friendship with a small local charter outfit.  If you can get on their good side, ask them about the sharpest, most experienced, and most reasonably priced mechanic.  One place that might be good is Rondout Charter Bus, they're near Wawarsing on US209 south of Kingston (not too far south of Sue Sternberg's place) -- I've never met them and they might not be friendly/helpful but it's worth asking, I guess.

       Get a good inspection and a consult on bull gear/bearing replacement.

Thanks for the response, Oonrahnjay. Sounds like great info...

I hung out with Lou from Rondout Charters yesterday. He's got a couple of 95 & 97 h3-41s for sale pretty cheap (lancer insurance - 845 phone #). They're out of service, and a bit rough, but they were pretty cheap. Love his hoist. Holy cow! quite an experience seeing a big bus like that from underneath!

His son does most of the work on the coaches. I'm planning on hitting him up in the future on bus stuff. He seems like a good guy to know and we kind of hit it off.

Thanks again for the thoughtful and informative reply.


He's a super cool guy, thinks MCIs are junk and the Prevost is the only way to go...

[bandsaw]

Hello, I am in the process of converting a 1998 H3-41. It has 675,000 miles on it.  I had someone scare me about the bull gear issue.  I pulled off the alternator drive pulley and put a dial indicator on the bull gear and the play was less than 0.001 inches.  The alternator drive pulley had worn bearings and the seal leaked. I put in a rebuilt alternator drive and stopped worrying about the bull gear failure.   

I am very happy with my coach.  Mine was poorly maintained with spotty records. I bought it because the body and structure were in good condition.  I repaired the issues related to poor maintenance. 

On the D3, when was the last time the transmission was rebuilt? The B500 go around 400,000 miles. 

Bandsaw