August 2012, I bought a Grand Villa in Texas, USA, Sight unseen, Bought it off Google,
It then went to California to be converted to Right hand drive and other ADR compliance work for Australia,
It then got shipped to Australia, Via a stop over in Japan for a few weeks,
In March 2013 it arrived in OZ,
After much work and worry and stress, Yesterday, I got my Bus registered, Whoo Whoo,
$500 for Rego, Discount for being a Pensioner, $2800-00 for stamp duty, Ouch,
How can I describe driving my new Coach,
Find the biggest comfiest arm chair around, stick it on an air cushion and then send it down the road with you in it,
At 70 MPH, This Bus drives like a big luxury car, Impressed, Is not the word for it,
Cruises so effortlessly, 300 Horsies certainly makes the difference,
I put in 100 litres of diesel, or $155-00, AUD, It moved the needle, A bit, It sucks air on the climb up my drive, 1 in 3,
So I have to drive around a bit when I get up my drive, To get rid of the air in the system,
Even the little bit of smoke is clearing up with the new fuel in it, God knows how long the diesel has been in it, Hahahaha.
It hasnt been run for any length of time in over 18 months, So it should be a bit smoky for a while, Untill I put a good run through my Coach and clean out the carbon,
Now to get the gas set up so I can use it, I pulled the big tank out, And will replace it with two Stainless tanks, The weight saving is tremendous, And still gives me 140 litres of gas in tanks,
Very Impressed all round, And the quality of it stands out, Love my new Bus,
Approx cost all up, $70,000-00 AUD Drive away, Well worth the effort, I still have a very cheap and good Quality bus,
b^.^d :dance:
Fabulous! Now the real adventures begin! I hope you share your travels with the forum
I don't quite understand the stainless tanks issue but That's OK. We are anxiously awaiting hearing about you experiences down the road. We love our Grand Villa.
Brian, You have way more patience than I do. Glad to see that you are rolling, enjoy the ride.
Gary B
Sold and drove alot of those 300 cat ataac coaches. Shocks were either too soft or too hard if memory serves me. Think too soft. The 10r tires bigger diameter needed stiffer shocks. Switched them with the 250 cat shock which were too stiff. Fixed both of them.
Adjustable Koni's are probably the fix.
Got one of those in the air at max speed once twice in three miles. Goes 90mph at 3000 rpm. Needs the throttle cable stretched. Bet its not broken in yet.
Belts are a matched set for the multiple set. Tighten them tight.....
Left on a trip where it would barely rev 2800 when I left. 3000 miles at full throttle it would rev 2950. Up hills.
8mpg at wide open. 10mpg driven normally.
What hills?
Fun fast.
Bob
Brian,
You may be sucking air as you described going up your driveway, especially if the tank fuel level is low but consider you may have picked up a bit of algae on the way over in the high humidity ship environment. Going up the driveway uses more power and perhaps a little more fuel than the partially blocked filter can supply. After you get up the driveway and are again at light load, the fuel pump can push more fuel through the filters than the engine needs. Have had this happen several times on customer diesels. Good way to check is going up a long grade at full throttle with a loss of power after 30 seconds or so if that is the problem. If you stop, keep the engine at a fast idle until it smooths out. If you turn it off before it smooths out, it may not want to start for a while.
Always good to check hoses and clamps for leaks too.
Pierce
Yea - -
Hahahha, The crap I pulled out of the filters, All 3 of them, Yukko, Its a wonder it ran, I did put more fuel in it,
But I turn the bus around now, Up the top of the drive, before I turn it off, It has fixed this problem of sucking air,
I think it may have been the way I threw it up the drive the first time. Flat stick, I didnt want any thing to happen on my first trip up my drive,
Out of control 10 ton bus, on a Very steep gradient, Its not a Vision I care to think about, and will the brakes hold if I need them, ????????????
The Scary bit is all in the Memory now, My Coach exceeds all my expectations, Now to get the gas and electrics up and running, Yeeeaaahhh.
Glad you found the culprit. Partially blocked filters are always at the top of the list for "usual suspects" when there is a loss of power or rough running/idle.
Not that the sea voyage caused the algae growth but with a bit of algae in the tank at the start of the voyage, the high humidity and warm temperatures in the tropics are the perfect environment for rapid growth. With condensation adding more moisture, the warm water/fuel interface will bring a smile to the faces of all the little creatures.
If you have a diesel generator, don't forget to change the fuel filter(s) on it also as it comes from the same fuel tank where the bugs are. The new main engine filters will only provide a temporary respite as the gremlins are still in the tank. Don't know what the environmental laws are down under but check what is legal to add to the fuel to get rid of them. A mirror and a strong flashlight may be used to see what is at the bottom of the tank if the coach is leaning toward the filler cap. If you spot anything black on the bottom of the tank, it may be possible to use a small pump and suck it out. The aluminum tank should be nice and bright on all the vertical surfaces inside.
Pierce
My Genny is on gas, so no filters there, Its out of the Bus for repairs, Bearing is shot in the rear of it, Gen end,
I lived on my Cat, Full time, in the tropics for 3 months, Fiji, I know all about that black creepy stuff that likes to live in my diesel tanks, A couple of extra separators in the line do keep on top of it, It may stop the motor with clogged filters, But it dont get into the injectors, Or polish it out,
My fuel tank is between the chassis rails, Very hard to get at,
We can put additives in the diesel to get rid of the growth and clean the injectors,