1994 Land Yacht diesel pusher broke down need advice

[mhpkate]

Hi Guys,
I have the chance to buy a 1994 land yacht diesel pusher motor home, however it is broke down in a repair shop. The owner said it has two cylinders shot in the motor. It is in a cummins shop in a very small town and according to them would need a new one at $18,000. That seems a little high. Anything anyone could tell me would be great.

[masseyfarm]

Welcome to the Air Forums.

Unless you have access to cheap parts, or can make some special deal, I would say RUN.

Used engines might be available but the cost to do all that in a shop is going to be high.

A unit of this vintage is probably not worth this type of expenditure on one item unless it is in showroom condition elsewhere???????

I would think you can buy a very nice, well cared for, unit ready for the road for what it would cost to repair that one at shop rates.

Dave

Originally Posted by mhpkate

Hi Guys,
I have the chance to buy a 1994 land yacht diesel pusher motor home, however it is broke down in a repair shop. The owner said it has two cylinders shot in the motor. It is in a cummins shop in a very small town and according to them would need a new one at $18,000. That seems a little high. Anything anyone could tell me would be great.

[blkmagikca]

Ditto to masseyfarm.

I had a '94 LY diesel pusher which I sold almost 3 years ago for $18,000, and it was in relatively decent shape, engine was serviced at Cummins of Eastern Canada. Based on my experience where I was at least the 3rd owner and the previous owners did not properly care for the motorhome, you will need very deep pockets to cover repair costs. Parts are available, but never across the counter when you need them. Chassis and some engine parts come from Spartan, the chassis maker, other engine parts come from Cummins. Tranny is strictly Allison. Body parts, including electric heated mirrors were supplied by Airstream, and since AS stopped making Class A's, it's a coin toss as to whether they can be obtained - the exterior mirrors are no longer manufactured, although last winter I saw a pair of used ones for sale in Quartzsite. Oh, the driver's console is a mixed bag - the HVAC controls come from a Chysler K-car.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by mhpkate

The owner said it has two cylinders shot in the motor.

Two cylinders "shot" covers a lot of potential problems, from worn-out rings to cracked pistons to a cracked block. It may be possible to remanufacture the engine, or it may be worthless except as a "garage queen" to steal parts from to fix another engine more cheaply. No way to know.

Anyway, buying a whole new Cummins diesel engine could cost you over $12,000 depending on the model. That's not including labor to yank out the old one and install the new one, so 18 grand total parts and labor is not terribly far out of line.

A remanufactured Cummins diesel engine— a used engine restored to "zero hours" condition by the Cummins factory— could cost you about $4,000. Again not including labor. But since it's a Cummins dealer, they naturally want to sell you a new one. Ask them about a remanufactured engine and see what they say.

Given what blkmagikca said about his old one, if the engine would cost $18,000 and the total value of the motorhome with a working engine is about $18,000, don't buy unless (1) you can get a replacement engine cheaper; or (2) you can get the motorhome absolutely for free because it's a total loss for the present owner anyway. Which is probably why it's sitting in a shop not getting fixed right now; there's no point fixing it if the repair cost is the same or more than the value of the repaired motorhome.

[NJtoNC]

Here's a 95 for $12k. looks nice inside anyway.
1995 air stream desel pusher