Test Drive and Maiden Voyage

[epretot]

Took the bus out last night for about 1 1/2 hours. Did a lot of maneuverability in a large school parking lot. Then went for a spin in traffic.

Got back safe and parked it just before dark.

Every mechanical system worked, so that's good.

However, several of the cabinet locks failed and opened. The stove also moved about an inch.

And the fridge was more "wobbly" than I would like. So, I'll spend the day fixing that stuff.

We leave Saturday morning...

[bronson]

Where are you heading?

[epretot]

Florida to visit family.

I also have a job to do.

[windtrader]

Glad the maiden shakedown cruise well. Gerat to see you getting it down the road finally. Good luck and happy and uneventful travels.

[epretot]

Made it to the campsite by dark.

Nothing went terribly wrong

Biggest issue is the driver windshield wiper over traveled and broke. Fixed it when i got to my destination.

Tag axle light comes on and off regardless of switch position. Mostly off...

Got over 5 miles to the gallon. I ran the generator to keep the house A/C running so that uses some fuel.

I'll give an update after day 2.

[plyonsMC9]

Great reporting!!  Very interesting to read.  Please keep the updates coming if you can.   

Kind Regards, Phil

[bronson]

How did you do on jellico mtn? That was the big test on my first big trip. Safe travels!

[epretot]

Sorry for the delay. I was busy getting us set up in the new location.

Here is the day two travel update.

The door opened on my way up jellico mountain. I messed up the switch messing with the door and it thought it was open. Good news was it happened right before an exit and I was able to fix it in 2 min. But that scared the wife pretty good.

I also successfully navigated my first fuel stop which was one of my biggest concerns. Only problem was the pump kicks off at 125.00 which was annoying. Are the big truck stops like that?

The wiper was a continued issue as I think there is a gear slipping or something. I knew about this immediately as I tested it before leaving the campsite.

I bought some rain-x at a stop a few exits away and applied it. Then proceeded to drive to Tampa without wipers. The rain-x helped a lot. In fact it rained really hard for a while an I could see fine. However, I was driving 35 mph through the rain.

I lost the bushings to the front driver side shock. So I have to replace those. Just replaced some rear ones...

And finally...I was able to pull the bus in to our families house with little effort. Of course they all come out and tell you to watch out for the hydrant, ditch, vehicles, tree, etc. Like you, this commotion brought a lot of peace and confidence.

So, i looked for the hydrant, ditch, vehicles, tree, etc. and proceeded to pull in after shutting the driver window to drown them out.

I was genuinely afraid to drive the bus at first. It is amazing how just a couple hours of maneuverability practice helped. It was a little scary at times.  Ultimately I had a blast despite having to be on high alert the entire time.

I describe it as being "switched on" for hours at a time. It's kind of exhausting.

But that's it. We made our maiden voyage without any major issues.

[Coach_and_Crown_Guy]

If you've never driven a full size MCI or other brand 102" 45ft long coach before, then you have every reason to be afraid of driving it. If your weren't frightened I'd suspect your sanity and long term ability to drive it safely. You don't mention any previous bus experiences and I assume as a senior member you must have had one before this. If so then you already have the basics down, but the 102" 45ft is just bigger than you're used to.

I drive these 45ft coaches for a living still and believe me when I tell you that they give me pause sometimes and I've been driving every kind of Coach and Crown for the past 55 years. That's one reason why I like my 96" wide Crowns and the 96" MC12 I recently picked up. I wouldn't mind getting a really clean Western Region rust free MCI D sometime, they were only 40ft long and even though 102" they are much less of a hassle when you get them in close quarters than the 45ft big boys. You want to feel real fear try taking your DL to San Francisco and do the city tours like I used to do with an MCI J Coach. That'll get the adrenaline flowing for sure. I always came away thinking that the damn buses were not really intended to go into the city proper. Just too big and unwieldy, even though we all did it and still do because that's what the industry uses as the de-facto standard today. 

But for my own personal fun and joy I find a solid 96" wide older model works better since I intend to go places and into mountains and out of the way places where the 102" is just asking for problems, and 45ft, no way, they are actually restricted from several of the most scenic roads in the country. Highway 1 south of Big Sur for instance down to San Simeon, no 45ft buses allowed.

My thoughts on your WS wiper problem is to ask if you have the air powered wipers and air motors. You'd know if you have the rotating air valves one for each side that you turn to the left to start the wipers running.
Turn to the right to "park" the wipers when done, that's a spring loaded position. If they are still the factory installed air wipers, again the industry standard back then until very recently they all started using electric motors. The air wipers are something you need to get used to and learn the various little tricks and symptoms they can give you. They are an acquired taste and can be rather finicky to get set and adjusted correctly, but once they are set up right they can be very reliable and give good service for many years. But they are becoming rather a lost art in how to operate them and properly maintain them.

For instance. If you haven't run the bus for a while and the air system hasn't been run up to full pressure you'll find that the WS wiper control valves on the dash will leak....Tweak them back and forth and they should stop leaking, caused by drying seals in the valves. This is very typical of and the perfect example of how the more the bus sits without being run and driven all manner of little leaks, weeps, rattles, vibrations etc. will be exaggerated, but they will all start to go away as you drive it more regularly. Drive it as much as you can afford to and know that they are all designed to be driven HARD and often while in commercial service. The more you drive it the better it likes it and the little annoyances will soon start to fade away. It's amazing to see how the buses start to perform better with fewer little problems the more you drive it. We as private owners with less operating capital can never approach the tempo of the commercial operators and how they tried to run these things 24/7 to make as much $$$ as they could, and the buses did this for years at a time, and hundreds of thousands of miles.....pretty awesome when you really think about it.

The fueling issue where it stops at $125 is usually a factor of the credit card being used and or sometimes the station will shut it off if being paid with a card. You should be able to either pre-pay what you think it will take when you open the pump, or pre-pay with cash which amounts to the same thing. One thing to keep in mind is just how much that DL fuel tank holds. It should be very close to 200 gallons, the J Coach I drove held 225 gallons and boy when I loaded that baby up it cost $700/800, ten years ago outside of Kalifornia.

Without knowing what engine you have in it I'd guess you can get 1000 miles+ range easy before needing a large fuel load again. 5-6mpg is pretty par for the coarse on all the large engines used in the MCI's at that time period. By the way I think the pre-2002 period preferably pre-1999 vintage years were the best for all around simplicity and overall reliability where a private owner could manage to keep it maintained without breaking the bank or needing extensive computer diagnostic tools etc.

Relax into your DL and allow time to get really used to the edges and corners that are always looking to hit something. You know, like the rear right corner, top and bottom, with trees, hydrants, poles and such. The other favorite is the right side just in front of the drive axle when you turn too sharp and forget it's a REALLY LONG 45ft bus. That's the new-driver favorite trick. Another thing to pay close attention to is when you pull away from a curb to NOT turn too hard to the left to merge into traffic. Pull away in a very shallow departure...or else you end up hitting that dreaded right rear corner on something.... The very most important thing to always and forever be aware of is the very real danger of driveways, both entering, and leaving, and the extreme risk of high centering the bus between the drive axle and front axle. Also you can drag the tail and catch it there as well which is just as expensive to call a tow truck to get you out of the jam. Go ahead, ask me how I know this..... You WILL find this all out for yourself if you drive it long enough, we all do. Anyone who tries to tell you they've never high centered a 45ft coach is either too new to have experienced it yet or is lying to you. It's a right of passage as it were. Once you do you'll forever feel the fear of driveways and sharp dips and parking lots and many other terrain features that can and sometimes do ruin your whole day. But not to worry, it's usually the one you don't see coming that gets you, as in all things big vehicles.

See. That's why I like my nice predictable and much more forgiving 96" with more clearances all around and underneath and 40ft max length. They are less stressful and able to get into places. I like to say that with a Crown if I can drive into something and it turns terrible I can usually manage to drive myself out of it. With most any Coach I can't say that and that's why I always get out and walk the terrain to scope it out first before I even try to take the bus in. You would do well to consider the same procedure. When in doubt... just don't do it. If you must, get out and walk it first to make sure you can turn around and get yourself out again if it goes bad. Sorry for the rambling but I get carried away and want you to get the most out of your new bus before you find trouble.... but Murphy never sleeps and trouble will find you eventually anyway. Happy Trails!

[windtrader]

Glad it went well, all things considered. You might want to choose truck stops for fuel. Get an EFS card and you'll find good prices, not the lowest,  but the pumps are setup for big rigs. The local stations can be full of surprises and it is very easy to graze something along the island.

[plyonsMC9]

Glad the trip went well!

Re: high centering, I learned a lot from this thread from a few years' ago:

https://www.busconversionmagazine.com/forum/index.php?topic=21477.0

And that was just for the 96" x 40' MC9!!  I did end up having a spotter walk along side - and I did work the models described in the thread as well.  Ended up instead needing the spotter to lift a low powerline off the bus.  Crossed the tracks w/o issues and didn't smash the genset exhaust pipe.

Managing the high center / rear end drag challenge by doing when I can w/the diagonal approach I think has saved me many headaches.  At the same time,  I will walk a parking lot (or ask wife to do so) looking for the least extreme angle.  And if I'm concerned, as posted by Coach_and_Crown_Guy, I just don't do it.  I've had enough problems over the years to ask for me. 

I do believe the 96" buses are much easier to maneuver, I think the difference is the width.  At least that's my suspicion.  Length doesn't seem as problematic.  And I know that the turning radius for an MC9 vs DL3-45 with trailing tag axle is supposed to have the same turning radius as the 40' MC9, but it just doesn't feel like it's the same turning radius. 

No matter what, I do love driving the DL3, and I'm working hard to master the "gotchas".  It is a beautiful model bus, IMHO.  Keep working hard and respect the vehicle - it seems almost always to be a mistake to just "go for it".  Double/triple check things. 

Kind Regards, Phil

[Tom Y]

I take my card and leave it at the counter and have the pump turned on. Then they run it when it is full.

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

I take my card and leave it at the counter and have the pump turned on. Then they run it when it is full.

One good thing about the EFS card, which was great during COVID, is that you can start the pump without having to go into the Fuel Desk. You run your card and type in your secret code (or your friends), and the pump starts and you can fill your tank with no credit card preset limit.  Then, when you are finished, you hang up the pump, and I take a photo of the quantity and $ amount, and leave the Fuel Station without having to step into the building.  You are in and out of the Watering Hole much faster.

Using a credit card sometimes requires two trips to the Fuel Desk. Unlike in the 1970s, there are fewer people working the Fuel Desk, and there is frequently a line that could take a while to get through.

With the EFS card, you get a receipt in your email the next business day.

[dtcerrato]

10-4 on the EFS card. The best part is the discount.

[epretot]

Thanks everyone for the tips.

I'll look into the gas card and be sure to read about the high center.

In the meantime, we're getting cooked by the Florida sun and I'm preparing to apply ceramic nano film.