Why the rebuilds?

[Ryan Wright]

Dan, I just bought my PT-40 a few months back and I had the same
question you have. Just too many rebuilds sitting around out there -
are these bad engines, or what? Here's what I found: Every coach ad
that interested me but had a rebuild, I contacted the owner and asked
why. Every one of them had been overheated.

So, there's your answer. Don't overheat the engine and it should last
you a long time. Keep up on maintenance - coolant, oil, filter
changes, etc, etc. Watch your gauges. The 8V92 will pull a hill like a
bat out of hell if you tell it to, but that doesn't make it OK. Also,
from what I was told, the slobber tubes discharge oil which tends to
fly around the engine compartment and often gets sucked through the
radiator, clogging it up and reducing cooling capacity. Keep your
radiator clean (I power-washed mine when I got the coach home, even
though it was already clean).

When you stop, look things over. Every time I pull into a rest area,
or stop for lunch, etc, I turn the high idle on and let the engine run
for a few minutes to cool down - while this is happening I take a walk
around the coach and check things out. This way I have an opportunity
to hear, see and smell a nice hot engine while it's running, and just
generally check the coach over, look at the tires, etc. Make this
walk-around a habit so you can really be "in tune" with your coach.
When you can start to feel how she's behaving, you'll be able to catch
problems before they turn into disasters.

-Ryan
'86 PT-40 8V92
Tri-Cities, WA

On 9/3/07, bingomaster05 wrote:
> I am new to your forum, and plan on purchasing a Wanderlodge within the
> next two years. I feel that a used "Bird" is better than most new
> coaches on the market. But here is the question: If a diesel engine is
> capable of up to a million miles, why do so many units I have found
> listed for sale have rebuilt engines? Most of these units have just
> slightly over 100,000 miles. Is this mainly due to being poorly
> maintained and general neglect, or the fact that they sit for extended
> periods of time. I see units with about 100,000 miles and think they
> are hardly broken in, yet they may need rebuilt, it will make it harder
> to know what to choose. Thanks alot..this is a great site.
>
> Dan Thomas
> PT 40 (soon)
> Central PA
>