Prevost questions

[DSM56]

Hi all.

New member here.
Just said hi, over in the new members section.

I am definitely having an interesting time with this ‘Ol Girl!

Okay, on to my questions!

1. I can’t seem to get the owners/operaters manuals from the PrevostCar website, when I do a search, it shows some listings, but no links to download?
This is the official Prevost site, yes?
I was able to download wiring diagrams. Very helpful! I Love that Prevost provides this information.

1a. Is there another place to get these manuals? My dashboard switches are faded something fierce and I’d love to sort it a couple of these switches…

2. How the heck do you open the front spare tire compartment on a 1994 H3-40???
I can see the empty space for it through the outside drivers side access panel, can’t see a way to open it though. I guess I’m just a deaf dumb and blind kid!

3. I’ve been searching the internet for info on my new to me Coach. Not a lot of info out there.
Does anybody know of any particular websites, or keywords I might try?
Or, could I use a 1994 H3-45 as my make/model when looking for info and parts?

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

[DeWat]

I don't know if this will apply to your Prevost, totally difference coach, but when I drove the MCI 102C3, the spare time was stored in a space behind the front bumper and there was a lever in the compartment under the driver's window that you pulled down and the front bumper pivoted downward and open.

[Mark3101]

Be prepared for disappointment. You did not say if it was a conversion or seated coach, but in any event, I doubt you will be getting owners manuals for something that old from the Prevost website, or any converter. Best bet would be if someone had one and would copy it for you. You are also in for a very expensive future buying one that old. Wait until you get into the Norgren valves and air bags, fan clutch, leveling valves, brake valves, and heating a/c equipment, alternators etc.

As to getting into the front bumper area, check for a pull cable in front electrical bay under the driver's seat. Should be there if that is how it opens. Don't know, mine were all newer models and all three of them had a cable in that compartment that opens the bumper. I think I read that some were bolted shut, but I don't remember for sure.

Too many people think that a Prevost is bullet proof and will run forever. It won't without LOTS of work and money Also, parts for the old ones are only going to get harder to find and more expensive to boot. Did you get maintenance records with the coach? If not, you won't have any idea where you are at and will have to start from scratch zeroing stuff out. That is very expensive, but so is towing.

Good luck.

[Gary RVRoamer]

Prevost is a chassis and bus shell builder, not a motorhome company. If yours has been professionally converted to a motorhome, a substantial portion of what may need work will be from the coach converter rather than Prevost. Is yours one of the old Marathons or Vogues or Monacos? Marathon is still building coach bodies, but Vogue and Monaco have been absorbed by other companies. And none of them support 30 yo rigs to any extent.


Good luck finding information or parts. Even the suspension & drivetrain components used 30 years ago are obsolete.

[bentjm]

Originally Posted by DSM56

I guess I’m just a deaf dumb and blind kid!

But, can you play a mean pinball?

[Captain8]

Here's the pull handle in my xl2.

Prevost has 2 sites and separate logins for each. Ones partsassist and idk the other one but if you fill out their form and send it to them they'll set you up with a login where you can see all the diagrams.

Like mentioned above Prevost builds the chassis but another company builds the conversion so even if you get the Prevost info you'll be missing all the interior. BTW mine was an entire paperbox with 2 massive manuals, basically everything on those sites just printed.

I wouldn't be too concerned about age. I've seen a TON of 80s XL Prevosts all over and they're built to last forever. These are commercial busses so I'd be surprised if there's an issue getting parts. If Prevost doesn't stock them (parts assist will show you) then there's gotta be salvage yards.

[AZ RV'r]

Prevost Owners Group has a private "member's" site ($100 a year)

Heres a link....

https://prevost-stuff.com/POG_Homepage_112018.html




Also search and join Prevost Owners Group on Facebook... Its free!

Heres a link....

https://www.facebook.com/groups/prevostownersgroup


Post your questions there on the FB page.... and everything you ask will be answered!

Hope this helps!

(click pictures to enlarge)

[Mark3101]

Originally Posted by Captain8

Here's the pull handle in my xl2.
I wouldn't be too concerned about age. I've seen a TON of 80s XL Prevosts all over and they're built to last forever. These are commercial busses so I'd be surprised if there's an issue getting parts. If Prevost doesn't stock them (parts assist will show you) then there's gotta be salvage yards.

Good luck with that too. There are lots of parts no longer available for older Prevost XL's. Yeah, go to a junk yard and number one, see if you can find what you need, and number two, see if it actually works. Detroit Diesel does not support the 8V92 engines any longer, and even the 12.7 and 14L Series 60's are having some issues with parts availability. Even if you could get parts, try finding a mechanic who knows an 8V92 today, for the most part, they DO NOT exist.

Buying a 30 or 40 year old coach makes ZERO sense. Just because it says PREVOST on the front, does not make it a good buy.

[DSM56]

Fantastic and sobering news.

I’m going to look go for the release cable first thing tomorrow, it’s mostly dirty and I was kinda looking for a knob shape. lol
Thanks for that pic! Looking for as loop now.

Not overly worried about parts and service, I’m barely young enough to do almost all my own work. Pats aren’t overpriced or unavailable to the limited amount I looked. I mean, I found a radiator yesterday that almost made it here today, barely missed the cutoff, so Monday.
I’m fully aware that’s almost never always gonna be that way. I’m prepared though. I’m willing to have parts made, if need be!
A few more years and I’ll retire, then I’ll some pay some younger stronger kid to get it done!

Ours is a seated coach. I don’t recall the first owner, second owner was a local high school, third owner was the church. They bought it in ‘02. Has been well maintained until two years ago, then small leak and bad decisions led to radiator literally rotting away.

Rest of the coach is in fantastic shape for its age, drives beautifully! Starts almost instantly. Sounds good, lots of power.
Just the left rear corner will need some very serious TLC and a wee bit of sheet metal, just a bit on the back wall, rest is remediation.

I’m mostly just looking for general information? I guess to learn what I can about my coach and the Prevost world.

[Captain8]

Originally Posted by Mark3101

Good luck with that too. There are lots of parts no longer available for older Prevost XL's. Yeah, go to a junk yard and number one, see if you can find what you need, and number two, see if it actually works. Detroit Diesel does not support the 8V92 engines any longer, and even the 12.7 and 14L Series 60's are having some issues with parts availability. Even if you could get parts, try finding a mechanic who knows an 8V92 today, for the most part, they DO NOT exist.

Buying a 30 or 40 year old coach makes ZERO sense. Just because it says PREVOST on the front, does not make it a good buy.

It's not just because it says PREVOST on the front but because they're well made and designed to last 1 million miles. Literally says that on their spec sheets.

Definitely agree with buying an old Freightliner or Spartan chassis manufactured RV as they're designed to fall apart and not last.

As far as parts there's plenty of series 60 and even 8v92 engines on eBay fully rebuilt and everything. Not sure what you mean by hard to get.

Ever since I bought my xl2 I've been looking at other Prevosts and see so many XLs on the road. Yes things break and might be a bit hard to find parts but they're the built as best as they can be.

[Mark3101]

Originally Posted by Captain8

It's not just because it says PREVOST on the front but because they're well made and designed to last 1 million miles. Literally says that on their spec sheets.

Definitely agree with buying an old Freightliner or Spartan chassis manufactured RV as they're designed to fall apart and not last.

As far as parts there's plenty of series 60 and even 8v92 engines on eBay fully rebuilt and everything. Not sure what you mean by hard to get.

Ever since I bought my xl2 I've been looking at other Prevosts and see so many XLs on the road. Yes things break and might be a bit hard to find parts but they're the built as best as they can be.

I guess we will have to disagree. I have had three Prevost conversions, and not one of my spec sheets said they were designed to last 1 million miles. The chassis is well built. It is designed as a charter bus. They have modified some as shells to be converted to motor homes or entertainer coaches. Since they build the entire vehicle except for the interior on a shell, it is a totally different animal.

Finding a mechanic to work on 8V92 engines today that is good at it, is almost impossible. They have been discontinued for many years and genuine parts are almost nonexistent. Maybe you would trust eBay for an engine purchase, but I sure as hell wouldn’t.

I also don’t agree that Freightliner or Spartan builds a chassis designed to fall apart. Since they don’t build the house, they have no control over that. Each brand of the house is somewhat different, and saying they are designed to fall apart and not last seems a bit disingenuous. I still would not buy one that is 30 years old. That makes no sense either.

Buying a 30 year old seated coach is a crap shoot. I don’t think he knows what kind of shape it is in, and he did not say that he had any records, so that usually means no. I fear he has a money pit and he doesn’t know how expensive it may become. Sounds to me the Prevost name is not going to do him any favors, but I could be wrong.

[Captain8]

Originally Posted by Mark3101

I guess we will have to disagree. I have had three Prevost conversions, and not one of my spec sheets said they were designed to last 1 million miles. The chassis is well built. It is designed as a charter bus. They have modified some as shells to be converted to motor homes or entertainer coaches. Since they build the entire vehicle except for the interior on a shell, it is a totally different animal.

Finding a mechanic to work on 8V92 engines today that is good at it, is almost impossible. They have been discontinued for many years and genuine parts are almost nonexistent. Maybe you would trust eBay for an engine purchase, but I sure as hell wouldn’t.

I also don’t agree that Freightliner or Spartan builds a chassis designed to fall apart. Since they don’t build the house, they have no control over that. Each brand of the house is somewhat different, and saying they are designed to fall apart and not last seems a bit disingenuous. I still would not buy one that is 30 years old. That makes no sense either.

Buying a 30 year old seated coach is a crap shoot. I don’t think he knows what kind of shape it is in, and he did not say that he had any records, so that usually means no. I fear he has a money pit and he doesn’t know how expensive it may become. Sounds to me the Prevost name is not going to do him any favors, but I could be wrong.

Here's my spec sheet for the xl2... first thing built for over a million miles. The entire coach is stainless steel including the frame. Closed cell perfectly molded insulation and thick plywood. Stainless exterior. All wires have id's on the actual wiring and full diagrams of where each one goes.
https://www.prevostcommunity.com/PDF/XLII%20Specifications.pdf

Prevost makes 3 types of each chassis , bus, coach, and entertainer. They're all a bit different.

I'm not sure how parts are hard to get but they're on ebay but you can't trust them means.

The houses of manufacturer coaches are horribly built and designed to be as cheap as possible and fall apart. Freightliner and Spartan chassis are the same. They're competing to be the cheapest and don't want to last over 10 years.

Every RV is a money pit. But at least when he has to replace something he has Prevost pass to help him roadside and an entire support network to help him get the parts he needs. Then that part is meant to last

[Mark3101]

Originally Posted by Captain8

Here's my spec sheet for the xl2... first thing built for over a million miles. The entire coach is stainless steel including the frame. Closed cell perfectly molded insulation and thick plywood. Stainless exterior. All wires have id's on the actual wiring and full diagrams of where each one goes.
https://www.prevostcommunity.com/PDF...ifications.pdf

Prevost makes 3 types of each chassis , bus, coach, and entertainer. They're all a bit different.

I'm not sure how parts are hard to get but they're on ebay but you can't trust them means.

The houses of manufacturer coaches are horribly built and designed to be as cheap as possible and fall apart. Freightliner and Spartan chassis are the same. They're competing to be the cheapest and don't want to last over 10 years.

Every RV is a money pit. But at least when he has to replace something he has Prevost pass to help him roadside and an entire support network to help him get the parts he needs. Then that part is meant to last

An advertising sheet is hardly a guarantee, and not what I thought you were talking about..that being the actual build sheet for the coach from Prevost that has all the components listed, called the coach final record. Prevost has many coaches that have gone over a million miles, but how much was spent in service work to attain that? I don't know and neither do you. How much cost is acceptable to a charter company? The same amount of dollars to a motorhome customer? I doubt it.

As to the support network, Freightliner has a MUCH larger network than Prevost. Spartan has less than Freightliner, but they are getting better.

I agree that a motorhome built on a Prevost chassis shell is usually a better built product, if built by a reputable conversion company. But they have issues too. I have had 3 either new or late model Prevost conversions and I can tell you that they are not trouble free at all. I spent a lot of money on all 3, and had many things fail on both house and chassis side. No motorhome is going to be perfect, but a 30 year old seated coach starts out at a huge deficit no matter what. Some parts are not available now, and that is only going to get worse. PASS is good for some things, but it can't fix you by telephone, only tell you who is the closest repair shop or recommend a towing company to get you there.

We can go round and round about this forever. A 30 year old seated coach is not a good buy period. A 30 year old motorhome the same.

[Captain8]

Originally Posted by Mark3101

An advertising sheet is hardly a guarantee, and not what I thought you were talking about..that being the actual build sheet for the coach from Prevost that has all the components listed, called the coach final record. Prevost has many coaches that have gone over a million miles, but how much was spent in service work to attain that? I don't know and neither do you. How much cost is acceptable to a charter company? The same amount of dollars to a motorhome customer? I doubt it.

As to the support network, Freightliner has a MUCH larger network than Prevost. Spartan has less than Freightliner, but they are getting better.

I agree that a motorhome built on a Prevost chassis shell is usually a better built product, if built by a reputable conversion company. But they have issues too. I have had 3 either new or late model Prevost conversions and I can tell you that they are not trouble free at all. I spent a lot of money on all 3, and had many things fail on both house and chassis side. No motorhome is going to be perfect, but a 30 year old seated coach starts out at a huge deficit no matter what. Some parts are not available now, and that is only going to get worse. PASS is good for some things, but it can't fix you by telephone, only tell you who is the closest repair shop or recommend a towing company to get you there.

We can go round and round about this forever. A 30 year old seated coach is not a good buy period. A 30 year old motorhome the same.

Idk about others but mine is an 08 built on a 05 chassis. Built by nashville coach for Aardvark which has a ton of custom commercial prevosts. When I bought it with 193k miles it was at the shop for an annual inspection and not a single issue, always serviced at Prevost and I saw their records and all seemed normal, nothing major in the almost 200k miles.

Maybe our definitions of issues are different but I drive quite a few high end cars and every time they're in for service I'm just used to a few grand in repairs so assumed with a coach it'll be 10-20k annually. I'm at 204k miles and only maintenance is an oil change and a $40 noregen valve I broke. I do have an air leak on my rear hose at the engine I'll have replaced next time I drop it off at Prevost for repairs. I've only had it 5 months or so but every discovery I'm more and more impressed with the build quality and performance.

That being said a Prevost is in another league and there are a lot more parts and components inside these. Yes Freightliner has a lot more service centers because they have a lot more vehicles and they're not designed nearly as well.

Check out busforsale.com they have a ton of prevosts with well over a million miles, some over 1.5 million and for sale usually while still in use. Typically companies sell seated coaches and specialty vehicles because of reliability not repair cost. They need these busses running every day and have schedules they must maintain. This is very different than a truck as it's not an issue for a package to be stuck in a warehouse for hours or a day but huge issue for people to be...