new purchase

[James Murphy]

After purchasing a 2000 beaver patriot concord 33' discovered dash a/c not working. Took to repairman for repair, prior owner said he would pay. That was 2 weeks ago. mech said compressor so on order. He also said relay leaking. Mech says a/c working for now but must be fixed cause he is not sure how long it will because of leaking compressor seals etc. We are anxious to take  a little trip to burn up old diesal fuel that has been sitting for over a year so we pickup coach while parts on order. Take off down road and smell burning brakes we have dash a/c on and no cool air what so ever. We keep getting smell of burning brakes through a/c vent. Have generator running and roof a/c on, very hot outside 90+ finally turn off dash a/c since its only blowing warm air and smell of burning brakes seems to have gone away. Then abs warning light comes on. We are about 50 miles from our destination so continue on. We get to our destination, stay 3 days with 30 amp service. On our return trip abs light still on. Get back home and take coach back to mech for dash a/c fix part now in. Tell mech about abs light. 3 days later call mech to see if coach ready to go. He says a/c fixed and working good but problem with abs light was that caliper burned up causing abs light to come on. OK so now parts on order to repai/replace caliper. This tells me we must of had a hydraulic fluid leak causing caliper to overheat and therefore abs light to activate. Now its been a month since we purchased it and have spent 3600.00 for michelin tires, 260.00 for cat mech to replace fuel filters, oil change and general insp of engine, dash a/c prior owners expense, now calipers. Whats next?? I guess this comes with the territory on owning a motorcoach. Guess i will tell mech to replace brake fluid while he is at it since i haven't a clue when it was last changed. I think they recommend every two to three years. We have a trip planned in two weeks and hope there is nothing else that goes bad. The coach is nice and has been well taken care of 39k miles on cat 330, think it has been sitting to long over a year.

[Joel Ashley]

If you got away with only $260 for what most of us pay $350-$500 for annual service, that's good.  Best to use CAT authorized service provider, which you did;  he will use the best parts and fluids.  Yes, annual service is a built-in expense of ownership, for any diesel.  You should budget for something to go haywire frequently, since these coaches are loaded with complicated parts and devices;  there's always something that needs attention or repair.  

Our coach hasn't been on the road for 19 months, so I expect there will be consequences to that - just hope we can afford them, and they don't ruin our next trip.  When nothing goes wrong, and we can afford to, we both enormously love using our coach.

-Joel

[Gerald Farris]

Your brake caliper is problem is probably related to underuse (the coach has less than 4000 miles a year) of the coach especially if the coach was driven were roads are salted for snow or ice causing corrosion and then stored. The caliper repair may not be related to your ABS problem because an ABS fault code is usually caused by a wheel speed sensor or wiring problem, unless the overheated brake overheated and damaged the wheel speed sensor.  

The other expenses are normal in that you will need to change the oil and filter every year, and a leak on a ten year old A/C system is not uncommon in any car, truck, or motorhome.

Gerald

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

OK, I am thinking you are a bit disappointed by now.  What you seem to be going through, we have been through on each of our motorhomes.  I call it the catch up phase.  This will pass and you will enjoy your investment!
My suggestions;
1) Short trips for a time until you feel confident in the state of your coach again.
2) Make a copy of the (daily,weekly, anual) maintenance list found at the back of your chassis owners manual.  Check them off as you verify that they are up to date.
3) Familiarize yourself with the maintenance log (most owners keep one) and compare it with the chassis manual and CAT operators book so you can eliminate recent work and inspections done.  This will also help to prioritize needed work so you can budget for it.

As things get done you will be able to just enter and turn it on (whatever you need) and have it work.  I dont know about you but that is the point where I begin to trust again and feel confident about making a trip.

Sorry to hear about your difficulties.  Just know that it will get better soon.

Keith