Prevost air door locks

[bigred]

Someone please educate me on how the electric door lock on a Prevost works.And for all u guy's that are getting ready to say"push the button on the dash" ,been there.done that!! What I am wondering is could this thing lock you out if accidentally tripped,and what about if you needed to get out of this thing in a hurry and it wouldn't trip.The one on my bus quit working and I am in the process of having it repaired.I am not so interested in keeping boogers out as I am in reducing wind noise around the door!! The old buses I used to drive had a safety cable for getting in the bus if the door got closed ,but there is no such thing on the Prevost.I sure wish one thing (just one )would pop up and it be as simple as a tripped breaker or a blown fuse!!

[Jon]

Red, you don't say the vintage, but since you are using it to minimize air noise I presume it is the one that engages in the center of the door latch side as on an XL.

If you are accidently locked out because the lock was engaged, just dump all the coach air. As long as you can get in the engine area you should be able to dump air such as by tightening and loosening the belt tensioner. I have no clue how you would engage that lock from outside the coach. If you are inside and the button won't work to disengage the lock do whatever you can to dump air such as dumping the air bags and trying to refill them until you have no more air.

[robertglines1]

?? was your coach a factory(marathon etc) conversion or seated coach? Next to co-pilot seat just off floor is there a box/enclosure that houses a air cyl to push a wedge into the door that pulls it tight against seal? Bob

[bigred]

Robert,it is a Country Coach conversion ,and yes we have found the air cylinder .it Is getting air but has lost it's electrical connection.And we can.t figure out where the thing is fed from.Country Coach was darned good at hiding relays.This is another one of those "now it works ,now it won't".

[robertglines1]

FWIW: for diagrams of original production configuration as delivered to country coach.  Go to   prevostcar.com    Tech publications.   Enter last letter in your serial number(denotes year prevost built shell) and last 4 numbers.. Example mine is W-6553     That will give you basic operation as to where relays etc are.   There is a group directly above throttle pedal that is attached to frame of dash. It looses ground sometimes.  You will need to play with prevost site a little until you get use to it but is a great tool.  Bob

[robertglines1]

page 355 in P-1082 manual. solenoid on top of air door lock cyl. 24 volt. I put a separate push button release  just below door handle on a past coach.

[sixtyseven]

Bigred,  A couple I met at a campground told me about their dog that they left in their coach, happy to see them return, wagging his tail, and guess which switch he hit    So it could happen !   
Bleeding the air like Jon said would work but the air for that switch is supplied from the front tank so if the check valves are working properly dumping air at the rear might not work.  You will have to use the cond. drain in the steering box compartment.  After hearing that story I put spare keys in my toad so I always have access to that compartment.    The air solenoid for that should be located under the floor below the passenger seat or steps.  I don't know what country coach did to the wiring but on the  Prevost factory seated coaches terminal  # 53 in the front panel feed that solenoid.   

[Jon]

The accessory air tank on a Prevost is up front over the steer axle, but it supplies air to all non-brake functions, including rear belt tensioners. Some early model Prevost coaches did use air from the wet tank for belt tensioners but I think Red's uses accessory air.

If he has a Country Coach his electrical issue might be related to the CC control boards in the first bay. CC interfaced with a lot of Prevost functions unlike most converters that kept house and chassis systems separated.

[bigred]

I really appreciate all the input,and yes Jon ,if I had a do over ,I think I would forgo a CC conversion.Doing away with most of the 24v and converting it to 12v thus doing away with most of Prevost's controls was an asinine move.May have worked good when new but as they age these touch switch's tend lose grounds etc.Even with decent info on the wiring from CC ,it is amazing how often you wind up lost .My mechanic ,who is a very experienced bus mechanic has managed to fix things that have went wrong,but he has spent a lot of time scratching his head.   

[luvrbus]

Bigred ,it is not just CC why Prevost did some things is beyond me when 1 valve would do the job they would use 4,I have a friend with a 2010 Parliament it's a electrical and air nightmare,the back wall in the rear bedroom is completed covered with wires,controllers and relays.
Gary has been in the Prevost service center in Ft Worth for 2 days now with Norgren valve problems on his front door and kneeling system it never stops on his $$$$$$$$$ coach    

[Jon]

Big Red, I hope the site administrators forgive me for suggesting you might want to register at http://prevostcommunity.com/index.asp because you will find a lot of our members might be able to provide CC specific advice.

Don't leave here either because this site has a lot of good information.

[lostagain]

It is a French cultural thing, ingrained in their DNA. Making something simple would seem dumb, unsophisticated. Sometimes it is to the good, like in French food, and culture. But in things mechanical, like in Prevost buses, not so much...

I have enough French left in me after all these years over here to understand why they engineer them that way...

JC

[luvrbus]

There are also some FaceBook pages dealing with Prevost problems, some sharp guys on those pages a couple of the guys are Prevost factory techs

[luvrbus]

It is a French cultural thing, ingrained in their DNA. Making something simple would seem dumb, unsophisticated. Sometimes it is to the good, like in French food, and culture. But in things mechanical, like in Prevost buses, not so much...

I have enough French left in me after all these years over here to understand why they engineer them that way...

JC

LMAO  good morning JC   I was at B&B Tue and a Joe was there in his Prevost and he was having transmission problems on his way back home to Canada he was chasing down wiring the code 52 was giving him fits  

[Boomer]

You should call your Prevost regional tech rep.  They can walk you through the problem over the phone and solve the problem in no time.  That should be your first call not a bus board.