The bus doesn't overheat when puttering around town, only on the highway.The first leg of their journey, while towing a trailer, was, for the most part, uneventful - no overheating.When checking the oil, there appeared to be no water in it - it was typical DD two-stroke black.That little bit of info suggests to me that the engine itself may be ok, it's just a cooling issue.
Doug ,Jamie ,please do keep us posted as to the reply if any from the previous owners response,if that doesn't work I'm shure that an out pouring of folks here could go to their website to express a need for them to help in this (respectfully of course ),they could very well be on the road singing also(haven't checked their appearance dates yet).I will obviously wait for a reply from them first and go by what you feel should be recommended,whoa! Van
Doug really needs an experienced, engine skilled bus nut to look at it. It could be something as simple as one or more of the fans died or is losing rpm's. Personally, I think that system needs to be torn out asap anyway and replaced with the original type of fan/shroud.
That's a nice looking bus. Definitely not a scrapper. Were there any documents supporting the rebuild? How was driving it anyway, did the steering brakes suspension feel right/tight? (Hard to say if this is the first bus you have driven). Also if it has spring brakes/Maxis it is already pretty good value. Hopefully the PO will give you some $ back as the fan system sounds really wrong and they should have at least told you about it. You guys were careful about not overheating it which is great, so maybe all we're talking about is a new fan drive and shroud, which given how nice the bus looks (does it look as good in person?) is reasonable for the $ you paid. Anyhow welcome to the community, sounds like you are getting a lot of help already, don't know how you are going to fit all the kids in there, some folks have built bay bedrooms with hatches etc that could work, maybe this is a starter bus and later you'll get a scenicruiser.
Anyway check and see it they or the guy that did it stall has the parts laying around so that they can be reinstalled!
No documents supporting the rebuild. Yes, this is the first bus I have driven. Driving was pretty good although when I would brake hard, it would make a loud thump and pull to the left but if I didn't step on the brakes too hard, it was fine. It "floated" a little at 60MPH (the few times she got there) but overall, it seemed pretty tight. High side winds were a little scary the first time, but I just slowed down and white knuckled it for a while. To the PO's credit, they did tell us about the cooling system, but they assured us that it was adequate and that they had never had any issues with it. Being neophytes, we believed them. Hard to believe in three years they never experienced over heating.God Bless,Doug
IT seems like the gospel group was short on funds and when the hydraulic fan drive went out they went cheap and put the electric fans on it.We all know this is not enough to keep the 871 cool.if the did have it on there for 3 years and are telling the truth about cooling.Did they pull a trailer, drive in the heat, climb any mountians?Seems to me this is a short term thing that they did just to sell this thing.Anyway check and see it they or the guy that did it stall has the parts laying around so that they can be reinstalled!Also the good news is that from what is being described the engine is not junk!!!John