Heater Removal

[DAVEHOLMAN]

So, the lines to the heaters have valves under the hood. Is it sufficient just to close those valves, or should I loop one line back to the pump so coolant will continue to circulate?

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by DAVEHOLMAN

So, the lines to the heaters have valves under the hood. Is it sufficient just to close those valves, or should I loop one line back to the pump so coolant will continue to circulate?

are you taking out all of your heat including your defrosters?

you can loop that line, however the busses were made to run with those valves closed in the summer time.. some schools Masked other cooling system deficiencies by leaving those valves open.

in a normally equipped bus that meant there was another few gallons of coolant ot heat up as a ballast.. so when you close them, test drive your bus to make sure there are no other cooling system issues..

if you are leaving some heaters you will need to leave those valves and the lines going into that part of the cab.

-Christopher

[AlleyCat67]

You could also run those heater lines to an auxiliary radiator and fan to add secondary cooling to your engine, if you need or want it and have space to mount it somewhere underneath. You'd probably also want to rig some kind of shielding to keep road debris from getting in there and clogging it up.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by AlleyCat67

You could also run those heater lines to an auxiliary radiator and fan to add secondary cooling to your engine, if you need or want it and have space to mount it somewhere underneath. You'd probably also want to rig some kind of shielding to keep road debris from getting in there and clogging it up.

on my way back from texas in my new bus with the bum fan clutch there was once i used the heaters as radiators to keep the temp from going up to 230...

you might even be able to take a bus heater.. swap the fan out for one thats weather proof and mount it underneath somewhere...theres your protective enclosure... couple of 1 inch lines going to it.. you could easily dissipate 50,000+ BTU of heat which can make a huge difference if you are pulling a hard hill in hot weather..
at least that bus isnt an international with the half radiator setup...

-Christopher

[DAVEHOLMAN]

Thanks. But the point is moot. Someone disconnected the rear heater long ago. But just left it and the hoses.
When I bought this bus and the drivers heat and defrost worked, but the rear heat didn't, I assumed it was just broken. But when I went to disconnect the hoses they were dry. Moving up to the drivers area, I pulled the hoses and they slid right out. Someone has put a U in the hoses inside the box already. I'm removing the rear heater and hoses, to save some weight. Might as well leave the rest as it is. Heat and defroster up front.

[AlleyCat67]

Yea I kinda guess that does make the question irrelevant.... hang onto the stuff for a little while though, you might want or need to do it in the future and it would save having to go purchase new parts. Just my 2 cents.

[cadillackid]

chances are the rear heater core sprung a leak... the rear heater used a flat fan blade instead of a blower on a lot of busses.. kids being kids loved to stick things in the fan and make loud noises..pens, etc.. all it took was one to bend a fan blade.. that blade would run against the heater core and make it leak.. if the school was cheap or retired the bus with the leaky heater.. someone probably disconnected it altogether.. so my guess is that rear heater is probably shot..

since they looped those lines you MAY have poor circulation in your driver heater.. youll know on a cold winter day if when you idle down you get very little heat out of the front unit.. my guess is that the front and rear were parallel.. and in that case you would just cap the lines where the U is and all would be fine.. if you have a strong coolant flow then it wont be an issue..
-Christopher
-Christopher

[KashMoore31]

Is there any reason that I couldn't run the hoses underneath the bus vs. along the bottom of the wall?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DoubleO7]

Originally Posted by KashMoore31

Is there any reason that I couldn't run the hoses underneath the bus vs. along the bottom of the wall?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As long as the antifreeze level is up to snuff, no problem.
But if your wanting good heat in cold weather, your radiating heat from the hose before it gets to the heater.
Unless you wrap it in insulation.