A bus owners nightmare

[luvrbus]

Kind of hesitating to post but others not raising fact that owner appears could have done a few things differently. Since no background was provided which is needed before anyone passing any judgement, there are scenarios where more, detailed hovering over this transaction might have prevented this outcome.
Where was the bus before taken to shop? Was it running or broke down on road out of town? Did the owner ask around for references while shopping for a repair? Did the owner do any shopping or vetting of shops? How did the owner make payments for the repair? Lump sum upfront, some to get started, then balance at end? Did the owner keep in direct and constant communication with shop as the repair was being done or waited for call saying job was "done"? So many factors involved that it is pretty hard to know what the hell really happened. This is all second hand at best info.

$#!% happens with the best laid plan Don ,the coach is a nice Custom Coach MCI or the guy would walk away,these shops now days have been screwed and want money up front then they screw you,if the owner wants the info posted he can do it because it not my place to post it and let people tell him what he did wrong,the CV=19 BS in MI started the whole thing   

[Fred Mc]

Kind of hesitating to post but others not raising fact that owner appears could have done a few things differently. Since no background was provided which is needed before anyone passing any judgement, there are scenarios where more, detailed hovering over this transaction might have prevented this outcome.
Where was the bus before taken to shop? Was it running or broke down on road out of town? Did the owner ask around for references while shopping for a repair? Did the owner do any shopping or vetting of shops? How did the owner make payments for the repair? Lump sum upfront, some to get started, then balance at end? Did the owner keep in direct and constant communication with shop as the repair was being done or waited for call saying job was "done"? So many factors involved that it is pretty hard to know what the hell really happened. This is all second hand at best info.

I totally dissagree with a number of your points.
A person SHOULD be able to take it to a shop, get an estimate and not have to constantly check.Sure, if they said a month and its 5 weeks then check. But if your like a lot of bus owners who aren't really familiar with big diesel engines what are you gonna say other than hows my engine coming along. The key is dealing with a REPUTABLE shop.And how do you know who is reputable and who is not? By getting info from boards like this.

[luvrbus]

I think the 1st shop would have been ok but the state of MI shut him down because of the CV-19,the bus is at WW Williams no so he was headed in the right direction IMO and they won't touch it lol but I am no Dr Phil either   

[windtrader]

Fred,I agree we should be able to do many things as you suggest; however, even reputable companies and owners often achieve more benefits with more communications. Not only simply checking on progress, there are daily options and decisions being made by the mechanic and often it is subjective.

For example, as we all know, removing and tearing down a 40 year old motor brings unknowns into the light. Guaranteed, the mechanics makes a subjective determination of the state and condition of many parts, components, and systems. Flip a coin whether it is noted, recorded, and discussed with the owner who may choose to approve or deny work items not known or documented on the work order and estimate.
This topic is important but sensitive to many who have suffered from improper repairs or diagnosis done by both qualified and backyard shops. It is good to have the discussion so each busnut can simply be a lot more tuned in when taking an old bus in with problems.
In addition to doing the needed research to identify reputable repair shops is the need to better understand the nature and detail of the repair. It is the same situation why so many women get ripped off through the combination of lack of knowledge and trusting the shop whether good or bad and often times being on the losing of the transaction.

Clifford - This is one example of many, all unique due to the nature of these no longer mainstream vehicles. There are dozens of scenarios where a good faith repair goes off course or off the rails. Personally, the buyer needs to stay engaged; not doing so increases the chance of being left with a big payment for a bucket of parts and bolts. 

[Dave5Cs]

It also seems like most people who have had problems they don't understand pull in and after they look at their engine in their Bus, they tell them it needs a full rebuild for 35 to 45 thousand and it takes 6 to 15 weeks to complete and most brag about being able to stay in their bus. We all keep asking what the Mechanic said it was and they say how nice he was but never really say what went wrong other than sparks out the tailpipe or they herd a loud bang and all the coolant came spraying out the filler tube etc. It must be nice to just have a pocket full of money and not care that they just got taken.

[windtrader]

dave - in fact, the ones with pockets full of money, get extremely outraged when not getting the best deal or god forbid, getting ripped off. Those not caring are digging real deep for the loose change. LOL

[Van]

Clifford did you find the heads?

[muldoonman]

Think maybe if your engine goes south,  you think it's toast,  and you like your bus,  a company like American Fleet Inc.  would be the first I called. If mine blows up, it's gonna make somebody a nice tiny home. You pay the haul. 

[luvrbus]

Think maybe if your engine goes south,  you think it's toast,  and you like your bus,  a company like American Fleet Inc.  would be the first I called. If mine blows up, it's gonna make somebody a nice tiny home. You pay the haul. 

This was a American Fleet engine the gear train failed another 50D alternator got it

[windtrader]

Clifford
Do you have any history of the motor as it was delivered by American Fleet? How long ago, how many miles, what was wrong? Just curious as American Fleet did mine and I was under the impression these folks are top tier. don

[muldoonman]

This was a American Fleet engine the gear train failed another 50D alternator got it

Is that a design flaw or something else happen. Always heard they stood behind there engines.

[Busted Knuckle]

As Clifford states a 50D alternator is known for taking out the gear train when they fail. It's most likely NOT American Fleet's fault (although it could be) most times they either reuse the customers accessories like alts, compressors, power steering pumps or leaves them off for the installer to put them on. I'm sure IF YOU PAID them too, they would install NEW at an added cost!
  BK 

[lvmci]

I lost my 8V92TA, sitting at a stoplight, when the alternator gave up, and that was the end of the engine, after 600,000 miles...

[windtrader]

Is there any test or inspection to get some idea of a geared DN50 going bad or causing damage to the engine? If not, seems we all drive with a ticking time bomb that usually set far out enough in the future that it is often not the cause of serious engine problems.

[Dave5Cs]

Don Check out your alt because most MCI's are belt drives. At least Mine is.....
If not listen real close for the ticking