Safe to pressure-wash this area? And exhaust pipe question.

[musigenesis]

This is the current state of my bus:



This area is extremely dirty and grimy, and once I get the missing exhaust pipe fixed I'm planning on driving to a do-it-yourself car wash (with 10'4" clearance, fingers crossed) and giving this area in particular as thorough a cleaning as I can (spraying down from inside).

I'm not really sure what's there - is this a place I can spray willy-nilly without worrying about anything, or are there parts I should keep away from?

For my exhaust pipe, the parts I'm going to connect to have a lot of surface rust but are still solid - I was thinking about spraying ospho on the exhaust pipe and then painting it with POR-15. Good or bad idea?

[lebusmagique]

I'm no bus expert but I run a fleet washing service and we spray soap and water into every nook and cranny we can find in the frame of the trucks we wash. Should be fine.

[o1marc]

Nothing there that doesn't see splashing on a regular basis, spray away. The only thing I would watch for is any electric harness connections.

[NauticalNomads]

I just got done spraying then de-greasing, then spraying and then spraying one final time the entire undercarriage of our bus! turned out great and crank up fine after. Super messy job but looks nice now and will be alot better when working underneath. Check out our channel we will have a video up in the next couple weeks that shows me soaking wet, covered in grime and mud! https://youtu.be/HlehgOIA3xk

[Booyah45828]

You can wash all of that, but there are certain spots you should be careful of so as to not ruin anything.

For instance try and avoid the axle vent. You can wash it off, but you don't want soap and water getting passed the breather and into the axle.

Same thing with the U-joints, Don't spray to closely too them or you'll blow pass the seals and push water and dirt into the needles.

There might also be an abs controller back there, don't spray on that too hard either.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Booyah45828

You can wash all of that, but there are certain spots you should be careful of so as to not ruin anything.

For instance try and avoid the axle vent. You can wash it off, but you don't want soap and water getting passed the breather and into the axle.

Same thing with the U-joints, Don't spray to closely too them or you'll blow pass the seals and push water and dirt into the needles.

There might also be an abs controller back there, don't spray on that too hard either.

What do the axle vent and the u-joints look like? And what does the ABS controller look like? I think something has already happened with the ABS controller as a result of the demolition - my ABS light has been on on the dashboard since I got my bus back.

[banman]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

What do the axle vent and the u-joints look like? And what does the ABS controller look like? I think something has already happened with the ABS controller as a result of the demolition - my ABS light has been on on the dashboard since I got my bus back.

The U-joints are at the ends of the driveshaft sections to allow for flex and alignment.

The abs controller will have the brake hoses/lines come together at a junction box that will also have wiring coming into it. Probably easiest to follow the brake line and sensor wire from the rear disc/drum to see where it goes.

The axle vent is often a small nipple located on the top of the differential housing. It may have a metal cap that seems a loose/sloppy fit -- that's to allow air movement.

[Native]

On your bus, the breather will most likely have a little differential oil wetting the outside edge of the breather. I doubt yours has been cleaned EVER, so the presence of differential oil will help identify it and should also be expected instead of alarm you.


I was under mine looking at the differential in preparation for changing the oil. I noticed our breather (top front towards the passenger side) did have some differential oil on the rim. Ours is a Merritor differential.

[Booyah45828]

Take a picture from above the differential if you can and I'll try to label it all for you.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Booyah45828

Take a picture from above the differential if you can and I'll try to label it all for you.

Cool, thank you. I'll take some more pics when I'm over there this afternoon.