HELP Needed - New Bus Buyer Broken down in just south of Lodi, CA.

luvrbus · June 19, 2016, 06:14:07 PM

Quote from: eagle19952 on June 19, 2016, 05:26:39 PM
it is quite a rare occurrence to lose an injector pump...i wonder if she means transfer pump...
lets hope ...

It's pressure transfer pump not a injection pump 3417660 Cummins # the N14 uses the same pump and they are not expensive

Dave5Cs · June 19, 2016, 07:43:58 PM

Gary I asked because the above from fakebook was pretty confusing the way it came out and was interrupted at times. a lot of things were missed and she never answered you on the filters etc.
Dave

Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM · June 20, 2016, 10:25:43 AM

Dave5Cs - Point well taken. You are right, cutting and pasting from Facebook does not get the entire content of the replies. Thanks for pointing that out. Hopefully you were able to join their group so you can read the entire thread if you are interested.

Latest news is that they stayed in a Hotel last night and the truck/bus company has their bus in their yard. Not sure if they have done anything yet or even checked the spark plugs yet as Cliff Allen first suggested.

John316 · June 20, 2016, 12:27:56 PM

No WAY. Mike Kadletz wasn't up front about the condition of the bus

. I am totally shocked! Say it isn't so!!!

Dave5Cs · June 20, 2016, 12:55:40 PM

Nope we don't do social media of any kind and don't care too other than the 3 boards that take up enough of my time, but did care about someone being broken down ( beings we have been there, and if we could help them out ) and ya I did like the spark plug comment and your Detroit diesel one also, LOL

Dave

Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM · June 20, 2016, 04:23:17 PM

Carey Fiock Another update - apparently it may be the Engine Control Module, since after testing it they are not able to draw the power it needs to fire it up after rolling it over. I am not a mechanic, but basically I am told that translates to an electrical issue, which.... doesn't sound so bad? We have a couple other small electrical issues already so this doesn't surprise me.

Just in case, does anyone happen to have one laying around as I assume these units can get pretty spensive.

luvrbus · June 20, 2016, 06:57:37 PM

Quote from: Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM on June 20, 2016, 04:23:17 PM
Carey Fiock Another update - apparently it may be the Engine Control Module, since after testing it they are not able to draw the power it needs to fire it up after rolling it over. I am not a mechanic, but basically I am told that translates to an electrical issue, which.... doesn't sound so bad? We have a couple other small electrical issues already so this doesn't surprise me.

Just in case, does anyone happen to have one laying around as I assume these units can get pretty spensive.

A ECM from Cummins is going to be 2+ grand you can by cheaper but not better

Iceni John · June 20, 2016, 07:14:59 PM

So, this bus has known electrical issues, someone says the ECM isn't working right, and the battery "melted down" or had a "battery explosion". (WTH caused that? Just replacing the battery is NOT the answer.) Luvrbus mentioned the electric fuel pump. The first thing I would do is measure how much voltage under load (and that's the important part - it's got to be under load) is getting to the ECM and wherever else needs reliable power. Why I say this is because I had major electrical gremlins caused by nothing more than a badly corroded main feed cable that takes power from the alternator to the front junction box - the engine would suddenly die while driving, and even died one time when I just turned on the headlights! The CEL and SEL would sometimes come on for no known reason as well. I rebuilt the 100A fuse holder that all power flows through - no more problems. If you have an electronical engine, the myriad of electrical connections and grounds MUST be clean and corrosion-free, otherwise nothing will work right.

Maybe the ECM itself is OK. Don't start throwing money at it without first checking the basics.

Just an idea.
John

Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM · June 20, 2016, 08:07:34 PM

Here is her last update FYI.

Carey Fiock Hi guys. Reading through these and also the board. At this point, we are hoping that we just need the wire from the ECM that controls the fuel pump to be replaced so that we can get it home. Once home, it will get a complete overhaul including a brand new wiring system that is best suited for our conversation needs. Alternatively, we leave it with J & E and get the entire ECM replaced if that is what has to happen... but it may not be the ECM, just faulty wiring. Signs point more towards wiring as there was clearly an electrical fire at one point. And by the way, replacing the battery was a requirement as one of the terminals happened to melt yesterday morning as we were getting the breaks fixed at a different shop. In retrospect, the faulty wiring is probably to blame for the battery death, and will need to be addressed so we can get to the root of the issue and not allow it to happen again. But nonetheless, there was no way to save the older battery. Lastly, and this is just so ya'll don't have to worry, $2k doesn't faze me and doesn't lower my excitement level of having acquired this bus, nor does it require us to eat mac and cheese for the foreseeable future. We budgeted for problems and the company has ongoing production work in the pipeline otherwise we would never have been actively looking to grow our vehicle empire.

luvrbus · June 20, 2016, 08:45:00 PM

On the Cummins M11 and N14 the ECM is grounded to the starter then to the frame, then it draws power from the starter if the starter has been replaced and some re builder left the protection device off the stater and re wired it different the ECM takes the low voltage hit hence they burn up.Lol that guy better have a bundle of money if he plans on stopping wiring problems on that model of Vanhool.ABC Bus is going to love him he has no idea

I worked on those for the local casinos till they bought different buses

bigred · June 21, 2016, 05:42:12 AM

Shoot No GARY!!!! It did get us home .Lost a 200.00 hub cap on the way home ,but now two years later I am still trying to debug this thing .Bought mine from an outfit called "Karolina Koaches" who evidently are the "Mike Kadletz" of the east coast!!!

B_K · June 21, 2016, 07:34:42 AM

Aw come on guys "Mike Kadletz" is an honest bus slaes man and should be right up there with Hillary an Bernie running for President under the Democrat party lines!

Honestly Mike literally knows NOTHING about the buses he buys for pennies on the dollar from other dealers or companies that couldn't sell them outright themselves without out & out lying to people about their condition!

But since they are not Mike's buses and he has no prior knowledge of what condition they were in before they say for long periods of time before someone got desperate an accepted Mike's super low ball offer just to get them off their property, he really isn't lying about them except he may or may not know about issues between the place he bought them from an his place.

I can personally guarantee you Mike has NO KNOWLEDGE of the JUNK he buys up front as he buys them sight unseen and hires somebody to drive them out to his place from where they sit before he bought them.
As I have driven buses to him from:Florida decent running & driving bus just breaking in half @ drive axle bulk head, and throwing belts like mad!)
Texas major piece of $#!% that had to have mechanic spend a full day or more getting it running! (not road worthy but running! mechanics own words) that was missing 1/3 of the upper windshield, had a bad wheel bearing and various lights missing/not working! (got pulled over by Texas DOT and ordered to shut it down until the wheel bearing was fixed and ALL lights wear in working order! Added LUCAS to wheel bearing because Mike didn't want to pay to have it fixed, waited till day light to drive for same reason above, and made it to Phoenix, AZ before I HAD to have wheel bearing repaired. (shop took it apart and packed it full of grease as per Mike's instructions and that is all he approved paying for over the phone!) Barely made it to his place in CA with bearing smoking like crazy!
New Jersey really clean looking bus all around and even ran like a top, but had MAJOR rust issues and electrical issues! (mostly due to rusted out/off grounds) Later saw it advertised as RUST FREE CALIFORNIA BUS! and asking 8 times what I know he paid for it + expenses to get it home total cost!)

But those are the only examples of HONEST "Mike Kadletz" I can verify do to my "LIMITED" exposure to him! (limited - because I refused to have anymore dealings with him!)

BK

luvrbus · June 21, 2016, 07:48:53 AM

Yep BK you nailed it ABC probably sold Mike that bus for 2500 bucks because it wasn't feasible for them to do the repairs which would have been more than the bus was worth.Mike patched it up and dumped it that is the way it is ABC keeps the good ones for resale

bigred · June 21, 2016, 09:28:53 AM

That is the way Karolina Koaches does .Their advertising says and I quote "We do not check every drawer and every light bulb,but since you will be buying this coach at a super low price ,we figure you can afford to do these miner repairs".I will promise you ,by the time you get through with the needed repairs ,you will have far more money tied up than if you had went to a reputable (joke) dealer and paid top dollar for one just like the one you are looking at .They have a couple of Country Coaches down there now that they are trying to sell for over a hundred thousand dollars and any body that has spent any time at all around RV'S knows that the CC'S are an over engineered piece of crap and I will bet you they don't have 40 grand in these things.

Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM · June 21, 2016, 10:25:32 AM

Just to make everything very clear, if you don't already know, Bus Conversion Magazine is no longer owned or even affiliated with Mike Kadletz. I purchased the magazine and website from him in 2012 and he has no part in it anymore. So if you may have cancelled your magazine subscription because of something he may have done, please give us another try because the magazine has been improve substantially as many of our long time subscribers will attest to.