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Old 04-28-2015, 03:52 PM   #21
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Location: MNT CITY TN
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atleast RE is easy to get to front of engine ;)

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Old 04-28-2015, 05:43 PM   #22
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Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Dowdy Lakes, Colorado
Posts: 1,444
Year: 1989
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Saf-T-Liner ER
Engine: 3208 CAT/MT643 tranny
Rated Cap: 87
This is a COMPLETELY different set up than my 2000 Safe-T-Liner MVP ER.... Mine is belt driven. Sorry for the confusion........
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Old 04-28-2015, 09:49 PM   #23
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Location: Stony Plain Alberta Canada
Posts: 2,937
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: TC2000 FE
Engine: 190hp 5.9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 72
The pump is where all the power steering pumps are on Cummins engines.

Facing the back of the bus, its on your right side of the engine, under the injection pump. Its run off the timing gears in the front of the engine.

It's a big pump, we never have them fail at the shop, unless run dry. Depending on the unit, I have seen $800 price tags come back on rebuilds.

The entire system will also need to be flushed, and it may have caused the fan motor to fail also. That is another $250 or more.

And yes, they run just normal 10w 30 engine oil.

Don't use diesel engine oil. It contains too much detergent.

Depending on the bus, it's a 4 to 12 hour job.

Nat
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Old 04-30-2015, 01:50 PM   #24
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Join Date: Mar 2015
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Year: 1991
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Saf-T-Liner
Engine: RE Cummins 5.9
So now that I had a day off to finally look into the issue, it was indeed the power steering. 14 quarts of oil later, and the fan spins beautifully. I'll have to take her out for a test run. Thanks all for telling me how this system works. Please forgive for being a noob.
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Old 04-30-2015, 03:06 PM   #25
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Location: West Ohio
Posts: 3,678
Year: 1984
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: International 1753
Engine: 6.9 International
Rated Cap: 65
Hate to tell you this, but it's not fixed. The fluid didn't just disappear. Now you have the joy of finding the leak(s) in the system. Congrats!
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Old 04-30-2015, 04:12 PM   #26
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Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freight-shaker (Freightliner)
Engine: Cat 3126b 250 HP
Rated Cap: Only 1 seat
Kathos, Don't feel intimidated. Most of the folks on here have been doing their rebuilds for some time. So if they seem to be short it isn't you, they more get frustrated because they want to help you fix your bus as fast as possible, but don't have the details to guide you properly.

And Nat is rough around the edges, but is a SH*T POT full of knowledge!

Deep breathing, a few cans of adult beverage of your choice (except for Bansil, then it's a few bottles!), and continue learning. Together we all learn and grow and continue to make our community better.

Try waiting 10+ months for your lazy ass mechanic to finish your motor swap!

-Doc

And by the way, welcome to the gang!
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Old 04-30-2015, 04:55 PM   #27
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And now you have knowledge to pass on to others, Gandhi said it best:
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

Now for the leak issue

Safety first, that fluid is flammable, if it hot and sprays onto a turbo housing or exhaust manifold it can and will catch on fire

Auto-trans fluid, brake fluid etc are the cause of more fires than a diesel leak

Please remember this

I would spray the area pump,reservoir, etc with a cleaner, follow up with brake cleaner or something

Once it is clean you can see where leak is coming from
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Old 04-30-2015, 05:55 PM   #28
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Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 8,462
Year: 1946
Coachwork: Chevrolet/Wayne
Chassis: 1- 1/2 ton
Engine: Cummins 4BT
Rated Cap: 15
When I was a kid, my father told me...

"Son...live everyday like it's your last. Sooner or later you'll be right".
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Old 04-30-2015, 06:03 PM   #29
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Location: Winlcok, WA
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A lot of times on older equipment leaks are due to things getting loose over time.

I was driving an MC-9 that had well over a million miles on the coach. The weekend before I drove it the bus drove over 300 miles on roads where chains were required. That was a lot of shaking going on.

The lines from the transmission to and from the cooler worked loose. In order for me to get home I poured almost five gallons of ATF through the transmission in a little more than 200 miles.

Needless to say, the back of the bus was pretty dirty and it really marked it's spot wherever it parked that week.

So I would agree--clean everything up and see where the oil is leaking out. It is more probably something simple than something difficult.
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Old 05-01-2015, 10:17 AM   #30
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 26
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Saf-T-Liner
Engine: RE Cummins 5.9
I managed to get a hold of a service manual for my bus so hopefully I can engage in this fixing expedition safely. Once I fixed the low fluid levels (i have yet to examine for leaks, i need to clean the engine something fierce) now I'm experiencing what I can only assume is electrical issues. Now pushing the gas petal doesn't rev the engine. The fuse box is a mess though so I guess that's next up. I may just wait for the service manual so I'm not flailing blindly at the issues. I have no headlights or turn signals, probably also related to my dirty fuse box. I think a critter made a home in there at one point.
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Old 05-01-2015, 10:31 AM   #31
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Stony Plain Alberta Canada
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Year: 1992
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: TC2000 FE
Engine: 190hp 5.9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 72
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kathos7 View Post
I managed to get a hold of a service manual for my bus so hopefully I can engage in this fixing expedition safely. Once I fixed the low fluid levels (i have yet to examine for leaks, i need to clean the engine something fierce) now I'm experiencing what I can only assume is electrical issues. Now pushing the gas petal doesn't rev the engine. The fuse box is a mess though so I guess that's next up. I may just wait for the service manual so I'm not flailing blindly at the issues. I have no headlights or turn signals, probably also related to my dirty fuse box. I think a critter made a home in there at one point.
That bus should have a air controlled throttle.

Nat
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Old 05-07-2015, 05:30 PM   #32
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Location: Ocala, FL
Posts: 635
Year: 1995
Coachwork: Bookmobile body by Farber
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: Navistar DT466/Alison MT643
Rated Cap: 1
"A clean bus is a happy bus."

When I got my bookmobile, my neighbor at the time (a former long-haul trucker) told me to clean the engine and keep it clean. He said it would pay dividends anytime I had to take the vehicle to a shop for work. If a technician has the pleasure of working in a clean engine bay, they will usually leave a nice note on the driver seat. They may also assume that someone with the anal retentiveness to spit-shine a diesel engine will check their work, so they may do better work than usual.

I used Simple Green cleaner and a pressure washer on my engine and it looks great ... after three or four washes. Simple Green is also biodegradable.
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