Won a pretty nice bus at auction, but then I realized it had a CAT3126 - Page 2

cadillackid · 05-30-2016, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by opus

Yes, why yes indeed it does. Do you have one you want to part with?

yea they are esp when I know to build a 600 horsepower Small Block...

AND a cat 3126 now doesnt mean if it dies it cant be rebuilt.. also doesnt m,ean you cant just run it without worry...

I get it when it comes to ROI.. I personally just found that to be a very stressful and unhappy Life.. id have never had a bus if I worried about which engine was perfect and which was not... I say run that cat and enjoy it.. there ARE a lot out on the road..

what you have here in the forums are SOME people that have had REAL LIFE issues with certain engines or transmissions and then newcomers come along and automatically think that certain angines and transmissions are Junk even if they have never owned one or even seen one.. then they too spread the word to new-newcomers and their friends "dont buy a 3126"... sure your 3126 MIGHT have an issue.. and so MIGHT my DT360 and someone elses DT466...

change your oil TWICE... once before you drive your bus home.. then AGAIB after you run your bus Home or after 500 miles if your bus runs less than 500 miles home... change your fuel water separator.. change your fuel filter.. DONT run up the tenperature... if your temp gauge starts to get hit shut it down before it gets too hot... you will be fine and likely as others have said that motor will probably run for many years to come..

-Christopher

RC000E · 05-30-2016, 06:20 PM

Like I said, to each his own on investment strategy...for me, it's kept me self employed, going from one deal to another, for about 17yrs. That's me though...and what works for me. I've done everything from blackjack to restaurants, to exotic cars, you name it....the numbers don't lie. I've monetized every living space I've ever had, to some degree. I don't pay to live. Keep in mind, my way of thinking rejects the masses of America who work all day to pay for their house and car. I've always made a business pay for my house and all my cars. The issue I've run into is, now my business requires me to have more mobility, but the business will cover the expense of movement with a vehicle.

I could finance an rv at 3%, which is great, but 3 yrs of depreciation for a place to sleep will still equal substantial monthly cost. With a bus, I can keep the investment at 11,640.00 all in, spread over three years, and likely never lose that unless the bus goes boom. ANYWAY....

Since we're talking about Corvettes...here's my supercharged Z06...wrapped satin white pearl, 581whp/512wtq, widebody, etc, etc. One of six....but my fav. I'm a huge Corvette enthusiast...have been for about 15yrs. I raced a 1969 A product car in vintage, had several others, and have my C5Z for street fun.

cowlitzcoach · 05-30-2016, 07:43 PM

If the bus you have has a Cat then that is that.

The preferred motors are IHC or Cummins mostly because of the ease of service and parts availability.

The Cat is not a bad engine. Like every engine they have had issues, most of which should have been ironed out by the time your take possession of the bus.

Would I purchase another vehicle with a Cat? Probably not because I have not had good luck with Cat engines. But if the price was attractive enough I probably would go ahead and get a Cat. And the price you paid for that bus is very attractive. At a dealer the asking price would have been around $12K for that bus.

So don't hesitate on this bus if the only question is the engine.

Good luck!

RC000E · 05-30-2016, 09:55 PM

^That's how I feel overall. The bus is a good price, and came out of service fairly recently. If I detect any significant potential issues, as long as I can get it to my shop, worst case I can resell for recovery. Hopefully all is well though, as the design of the bus is exactly what I wanted.

I have a line on two Crown Supercoach II's, awaiting decommission. Both have a Cummins I believe. I like the Crown Supercoach II design due to belly storage and roof height, along with the clean appearance. I gotta admit though, this Thomas is pretty close. Hopefully the CAT is good to go. I'm equipped to handle any general repairs, but my shop is outfitted more for auto, not for heavy equipment like this. Unfortunately I'd be at the god awful mercy of random repair guys in the world, if something significant occurred....something I'm not tremendously comfortable with...but it is what it is, just gotta budget for it.

cadillackid · 05-30-2016, 11:09 PM

yeah and being lack of knowledge and random repair guys can be a bad scene... I lost an air compressor on the way home with my bus... used a mobile repair service.. since I flew down I didnt have my tool box.. and not knowing much about how the bendix system works, I trusted in the repair service.. only to end up with incompetence and probably a fix that I couldve made myself to at least get me home where I couldve researched the real issue... imnstead I ended up down for a couple days at the mercy of a lackluster service company... so i spent more $ than I needed to and more downtime...

alas learn as much as you can about how your cat works and about the various issues others have had so you can spot them early on if they may be occuring or warning signs they are about to occur.. thus you can plan for a repair if needed, and / or perhaps make the repair yourself if its something well documented... knowledge is power and knowledge often helps keep the budget down too!
-Christopher

RC000E · 05-30-2016, 11:13 PM

It'll take a major issue for me to seek repair service help, that's all I know. I'm already reading up on the CAT's and the injector/pump design, oring replacement, etc etc. I've only got the summer to get this thing in order, so I need to get movin. My local laws seem pretty straightforward, so that shouldn't be an issue. Just gotta get up to Kentucky and grab this thing.

EastCoastCB · 05-30-2016, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RC000E

It'll take a major issue for me to seek repair service help, that's all I know. I'm already reading up on the CAT's and the injector/pump design, oring replacement, etc etc. I've only got the summer to get this thing in order, so I need to get movin. My local laws seem pretty straightforward, so that shouldn't be an issue. Just gotta get up to Kentucky and grab this thing.

I've had two KY buses that were pretty solid.

boojiewoojie · 05-31-2016, 12:50 AM

Looks like a nice bus. I've seen several from Ky. that had air suspension front and rear so maybe this one does also!

EastCoastCB · 05-31-2016, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boojiewoojie

Looks like a nice bus. I've seen several from Ky. that had air suspension front and rear so maybe this one does also!

Indeed. Air ride is always nice.

boojiewoojie · 05-31-2016, 09:52 AM

RC000E, just wondering where you're located. And where you have a line on two Crown Supercoach II's

Looking through the pictures on eBay... the ratty looking driver's seat means it probably has a lot of hours on it... however, the school district they're from is in a big city so they probably have pretty good maintenance on them. Also, they don't have the high clearance roofs which is kind of a bummer.

RC000E · 05-31-2016, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boojiewoojie

RC000E, just wondering where you're located. And where you have a line on two Crown Supercoach II's

Looking through the pictures on eBay... the ratty looking driver's seat means it probably has a lot of hours on it... however, the school district they're from is in a big city so they probably have pretty good maintenance on them. Also, they don't have the high clearance roofs which is kind of a bummer.

Thanks for the insight on that. I talked to the guy who middle mans the deal. He said he is getting out of the business but, that the trio of Thomas busses he got here were some of the nicest he'd seen. I mean...I take that with a grain of salt but, the body appears pretty good. No hours indicated in the listing, nor did he know off hand. What can ya do really...gotta take a chance overall I suppose. Good to know it likely have good fleet maintenance schedule.

On the Crowns...yeah, I'm in discussions. These aren't listed anywhere and are in service at this time. I also know of a Twinkie Crown with a turbo cummins missing the turbo, that could go cheap. These are owned by a bus company that I have an inside line to. Depending on this Thomas, I may still go with the Crown...I have to see how this pans out.

The two Crowns are legal until the end of 2017, so they are good to go until then. The ownership would like to not go to the end of the line though, and simply get new buses. I have an opportunity to buy multiple at once, for a bulk sum, and we are negotiating that now. If so, I'd be essentially seeking "partners" to buy in and hopefully get a couple of Crowns cheap (indicated there may be 4 in total). I'd have no interest in taking profit, just covering costs, time, travel (if necessary) and ending up with one of the buses. Legitimate interested parties should contact me direct. These buses will have 300k+ miles on them, but are constantly maintained and are used frequently. I've known about them for over a year.

boojiewoojie · 05-31-2016, 12:36 PM

Thanks for the info. I intend to take my bus offline next spring and start converting it but a nice Crown could be tempting...

With the Thomas I would definitely go through with the deal. The way the front headlights appear with the black trim and the Saf-t-liner logo tells me that they are the heavy duty version instead of the lower line, more common MVP version. I'm not an expert but that would be my guess.

RC000E · 05-31-2016, 12:50 PM

Yeah, I am definitely moving forward. I'll have to get the bus in hand to really make a decision, but the bet here is small enough that I feel pretty positive about it. I saw some mentions of air suspension and what-not...have to say I'm kind of conflicted on that being a good or bad. Granted the ride quality is improved, and I suppose that'd be a somewhat off the shelf airbag type of suspension setup, again though I wonder about repair/component costs for things like that. Hell, my ride leveling shocks on my Escalade were a fortune! I loved that vehicle, but I had to dump that money hog....for now. That may be a mobile office platform for me in the future though...a high roof Suburban that is...I don't need the premium money shiny stuff.

aaronsb · 06-01-2016, 11:01 AM

The M1077 lmtv (us military) uses a cat 3126, they aren't a bad engine. Certainly have their share of stupid problems, but not really any worse for other engines of that size.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RC000E

Thomas bus with nice belly storage, 84 passenger, rear engine...ticked all the boxes I wanted. I recalled seeing it had a DT466, but must've mixed up some listings. Low and behold, I win the auction and realize it's a CAT3126.

Now I wonder, should I purchase, convert and possibly sell, or take the chance with this bus, OR pass on the auction? 126k miles on it, says it was in regular service up until mid last year. 3500.00

I've felt like most reading says to avoid the CAT like the plague.

Need some advice.

RC000E · 06-01-2016, 11:15 AM

I was bidding on a number of LMTV's...those military mechanics dont speak too highly. Then again, when you have a bunch of 19 years old working on diesel equipment, that's bound to not go well. I frequent a lot of gov auction sites...the work you see done on LMTV's and Hummers...I mean...it's laughable at times.

I agree though...people scream about every engine out there. They all have their problems, but you're seeing pocket cases versus the hundreds of thousands on the road. I'm not worried about it...if it shits itself, then it shits itself.

cadillackid · 06-01-2016, 12:18 PM

Sounds like you got it at a good enough price you could probably unload it and not lose anything if it ends up not being what you thought it should be..

Best way is like you say get it home and drive it. It's bound to have kinks and quirks..

I've Been driving my bus around as a daily driver just to learn it and fix things I find..

Christopher

jake_blue · 06-01-2016, 12:29 PM

Every brand and model has its share of problems; it's just a matter of the Beast you know

EastCoastCB · 06-01-2016, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadillackid

Sounds like you got it at a good enough price you could probably unload it and not lose anything if it ends up not being what you thought it should be..

Best way is like you say get it home and drive it. It's bound to have kinks and quirks..

I've Been driving my bus around as a daily driver just to learn it and fix things I find..

Christopher

I'd flip it on CL.
Put "tiny house" in the title or description and double your money, man.

jake_blue · 06-01-2016, 02:40 PM

Well my 20002 Saf-T-Liner purchase ended up falling through so if you decide to flip it I may be interested. Mine ended up not being geared for highway speed.

RC000E · 06-01-2016, 09:53 PM

I don't foresee flipping it. If I can grab a decent bus, then I'll initiate the conversion process quickly. Of course, I need to see what the gearing is going to give me. I need to drive it approximately 450 miles home, so I will have a pretty good indication by then I'm sure. We'll see...hopefully I get lucky.

On the crown note, the initial number on the supercoach 2 was 23k...ahhhhh....no. It still has a year of service left though so, I'll be waiting that one out.

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