Friday, 15 February (Part I)
Camp Tiffin — Red Bay, Alabama
Temps: Lo 35F / Hi 57F (1.5C / 14C)
We were up early this morning to drive the 1.1 miles (1.8 km) to Bay Diesel & A/C to keep our 8:00a appointment to have the M3 service done on the Phaeton.
The collage shows the zig and zag that gets us to Bay Diesel and the facility itself.
We went to Bay Diesel prepared to drop off the coach and make ourselves scarce for a couple of hours. It turns out that we were welcome to stay in the service bay to watch the work being done and ask questions. So, as a team of three techs went to work on the long M3 checklist, that’s what we did.
There goes the Phaeton up into the air again.
Mui chats with Chris Morrow, the owner of Bay Diesel, and gets some of his questions answered.
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Both the generator oil and the engine oil are drained and replaced.
a pump mechanism is used to refill the engine oil.
Doug (right) and Josh replace the air dryer as part of the service we receive today.
In addition to the M3 service, we got a new tailpipe while we were at Bay Diesel. This wasn’t on our list, but Chris noticed the rusted tailpipe and called Freightliner to get a free replacement authorized. Who are we to say no to a bright and shiny tailpipe ;-)
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Josh cuts off the old tailpipe, and soon we have a new one in place.
Mui bids the old tailpipe adieu!
The new shiny tailpipe gets a star for its more elegant design.
Before we left, Chris showed us some of the new work he’s offering to customers. Having done enough damage to the wallet today, we politely declined … but I thought I’d share them with our readers in case others are in the market for some coach mods.
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Left: In addition to custom ceiling light fixtures, Chris Plans to offer under-coach rope lighting.
Right: body armor along the edge of the basement doors is a good idea, but it’s a bit
too much bling for my taste. Now, if they can be painted, we might consider it.
While today’s M3 work was not inexpensive, it’s one of those essential things that will pay dividends in the future. The better we take care of our Phaeton, the better it will take care of us as we go tooling down the road. We came away pleased with the service we received from Bay Diesel, and are happy to add our name to the extensive list of satisfied customers they already boast. I couldn’t find a website for the company, but you can reach them at 256-356-8803.
After we left Bay Diesel, we returned to Camp Tiffin, parked the Phaeton in our site, and drove into Belmont, Mississippi. We had a two-pronged plan that included lunch and a tour. But that’s for another post …
Not only does Bay Diesel do quality work, their prices cannot be beat. They are the most reasonable we've found anywhere.
ReplyDeleteBet the motorhome drove like it was brand new. It is expensive to own these rigs, but the money is well spent for the lifestyle they give us.
ReplyDeleteVery cool that you could be in the shop and watch the work. And that new tailpipe, very nice!
We've used Bay Diesel for all of our required maintenance intervals and will be over there sometime again during this trip to Red Bay. Nice shiny tailpipe! A known problem with Freightliner tailpipes rusting.
ReplyDeleteWe have never had them do work for us, but Paul did buy parts from them. We have only heard great things about their service.
ReplyDeleteI am starting to develop maintenance envy:)
ReplyDeleteWhoa. Excuse me, Sir? Could you please back away from that button !?!!
ReplyDeleteSparkly body armor would match the new tail pipe. Phae with jewelry, gaudy girl ;))
Wow, you are taking care of a lot of stuff! Isn't it good to take care of it all at once instead of in dribs and drabs? The difference between the old and new tailpipe is kind of amazing.
ReplyDeleteWe just had M2 service done last week; very impressed with speed of service and cost. Wished i had known about being in service bay when work was done. Although that would have probably added a couple of hours to the service time!
ReplyDelete