A day in the life of a busnut

[belfert]

This will be my final post on this topic.

Ace,

I am sorry to be negative, but it seems that every major trip I do I have issues.  I have done four major trips to date and had problems on three of the four.

Trip #1: The engine was leaking a quart of oil an hour.  Now, I knew this in advance and part of the trip was to get the problem fixed so maybe this doesn't count.
Trip #2: Serious coolant leak near water pump.  Radiator and water pump had been replaced and one hose and clamp wasn't centered properly.  We spent three hours fixing this on the road by adding another clamp and replacing lost coolant.  This problem took about 1000 miles to show up.  The bus had been test run and taken on short trips after the repairs with no issues.  This repair is still holding over 7,000 miles later.  I do carry spare hose and clamps just in case things like this happen.
Trip #3: 1,600 miles with no issues I can recall.
Trip #4: Short developed in rear tail lights as we were leaving.  We spent 90 minutes rewiring the rear tail lights to a constant 12 volt source.  Bus had been test run a few days before to hopefully work any bugs out.  We noticed the tail light fuse blown, but a replacement fixed it.  The day we left the fuse would blow as soon as lights turned on.  At our destination I checked the wiring harness from front to back and couldn't find anything wrong.  I will look at again in the spring.

I have had terrible issues getting my windows to seal to the body which was a major reason for redoing the interior this summer.  I am pretty sure the window issue has been fixed for now.  I have been checking after each rainfall and no puddles inside like before.

It is human nature to complain about things.  Ask any retail store how many complaints they get versus compliments.

I admit I need to keep a better log of issues so they get fixed.  I also need to be sure to do a complete pre-trip on every trip, even short ones like this weekend.  I probably spend as much time on preventive maintenance and repairs in a year as I ever do driving the bus.

I would just like to get through one major trip without a show stopper issue that has to be fixed to continue the trip.  I will admit that most of my issues have been very minor compared to blown engines, blown trannies, and other major expensive repairs.  I haven't had to be towed or call a service truck and all the repairs were done without going to a shop so that is good.  I don't expect a bus to be as problem free as my car, but neither do I like constant repairs.

The bus is parked for the winter now so I will have to deal with the air system in the spring.  The rear tanks have auto drains so I don't know if they aren't working or what.  I suppose putting in manual drains might be a good idea.

[buswarrior]

Scrap auto drains. They do not work very well.

Neat idea in theory, don't work in practice, and Doctor Busnut wants to see what comes out....

happy coaching!
buswarrior