Is it worth it?

TheBryceIsRight · 10-30-2021, 05:53 PM

So I'm talking with a fellow about purchasing his 2004 Thomas Saf-T-Liner MVP with a CAT C7 and Allison transmission. From a body stand point it's great. Already had a roof raise done, racks for solar panels installed, maxxair fans installed, tropicool on the roof, and framing done by a professional carpenter already in. Guy is just trying to get rid of it so gave me a great deal at $4000.

Drawbacks,
The C7 is a little nerve wrecking. Had it brought in to a mechanic and its looking like the coolant reservoir is either leaking or someone didn't reconnect the hoses when they took out the interior heaters (said the engine got real hot real quick), and the tires are all 10 years old.

If I buy it will have a 700 mile trek to make (fortunately on fairly flat land).
So am I fool to not get it, considering all that's been done to it and the price, or am I entering a death trap with the potential mechanical issues. What am I walking into here?

Thanks!

o1marc · 10-30-2021, 05:56 PM

Some places are getting twice that just for a roof raise, so it sounds like a deal to me as long as the motor issue can be worked out.

Oscar1 · 10-30-2021, 09:32 PM

As Marc has said that's a lot of valuable work already done. I'm a little confused by "took it to a mechanic and coolant tank is leaking or someone didn't hook heater lines back up" if he's a mechanic can't he tell?
or is it a case that the coolant is just low and he's assumed that's why. Maybe after they removed the heaters they spilled some coolant and forgot to top it up. Either way these engines don't like to get too hot and if got real hot fast there could be something wrong more than just low coolant. " got hot real quick" what does that mean? Did he time it? Did he verify temperature?
When you say "had it brought to mechanic" is that you did or seller did? 10 year old tires may make that trip but maybe not, age and condition can vary big time.
Lots more questions need asked and answering. Worth further investigating.
Where is it from? Rust? High mileage?
There are many on the Internet who dont like the C7 but I also suspect that many people are just repeating what others have said without first hand knowledge. I happen to be very happy with the C7 in my bus and I also drive them at work. The key is regular maintenance, but that applies to any engine.
Good luck

TheBryceIsRight · 10-31-2021, 08:10 AM

Thanks for the responses!

Yeah overall I think it's a great deal considering what all has been done. And I'm 6'2" so the raise will make life really nice haha

To clarify a few things,
I drove it to a mechanic to just give it a once over to see if there were and glaring issues with the engine or transmission. So nothing super thorough as far as running diagnostics, mostly a visual inspection. Really I just wanted to make sure the thing had no clear signs of blowing up on me.

With the coolant, he noticed the reservoir was very low. He said he just followed the lines to see if any leaks were happening and noticed that some hoses were just open. That whoever gutted it, after removing the interior heaters, never went and reconnected the lines back up. But without diving deep in the engine he wasn't sure if there might be a bigger issue with the radiator. So currently they're going to do a little more thorough inspection. To verify the reason for the low coolant. I hope that makes sense haha

The engine temp he said that from just starting it, in idle, the engine got overheated. He did not verify the temperature and how long it took to "overheat" Could be some mechanic BS to get more money or it might just be related to the low coolant.

As far as further bus details, it's in Kentucky so other than some rain and cooler weather I don't think there's any severe environmental damage that could be done. I checked the thing up and down and only minor surface rust on some of the trimming and around the storage handles. Couldn't see any gapping holes underneath. Now the when the owners had purchased it, it had already had the subfloor put in. But I'll be pulling it out cause apparently no insulation was laid down. So not sure if I'll find a giant rust mess underneath that, but I feel like whoever had been working on it, with the level of care put into the framing, I don't think they would have neglected taking the necessary precautions of treating it. But regardless I plan on still giving it a nice rust treatment.

And it currently has I believe 186k on it. So as far as I can tell not a crazy amount. The school district it was a part of isn't very big so I don't think it was ever really being put to the test.

And yeah the more I read on the C7, and of course everyone's recommendation of Adept Ape's work. My concerns have been quite lulled about it. I think as long as this coolant issue isn't a giant mess and it really is that the lines just need to be reconnected then I will be going forward with the purchase. I probably might go ahead and chuck the money at new tires before I drive it back, saw a few cracks in the tread and one tire looked like someone had scrapped their giant teeth across the side and took a nice bite haha.

I hope this explains a few of the questions y'all had. Thanks again, you've already been a huge help. It's almost as if this community looks out for each other and has lots of experience and wisdom. Who would have guessed?! haha

DoubleO7 · 10-31-2021, 09:03 AM

If you drove it with the heater lines open, you maybe were pumping the coolant out along the way.
Unless there are some shutoff valves in the right place(s), they really do shut them off.
That engine might also require the heater lines to return fluid to the engine versus just plugging off.
Might instead just be a stuck thermostat that needs replacing.

When you drove it to the mechanic, did it overheat?

TheBryceIsRight · 10-31-2021, 01:12 PM

I unfortunately was not paying attention. This was actually my first time driving (I'm a baby at this I know haha) And so I was more in the mode of panic and making sure I wasn't hitting anyone. So wasn't noticing what the temp was running at.

Mekanic · 11-10-2021, 04:19 PM

With it having 196K on it. Take look at the oil pressure. If it is less than 35 at a hot idle.REPLACE THE OIL PUMP.

The 03 bus I drive last year had 20 at hot I’d le and it then spun a rod bearing. (202K)
So then our mechanic swapped in another used engine. He installed a new pump in this 185K engine. It now has 65 at cold idle 55 hot idle.
This 55 psi number is either factory bearings nothing else changed at all.

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