Thomas Followed Me Home Today

[golfersmurf57]

Tango I used to hear of em using l.p. instead of nitrous for diesels

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[golfersmurf57]

While nitrous does produce HP it isn't practical on a diesel because of the natural slow acceleration gas engines accelerate because ing timing changes with the fuel rate. Not so much on a diesel

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[golfersmurf57]

Besides they don't make hemi diesels yet. A couple hundred rpm. Isn't gonna blow your engine but might help your road speed. Would think they wouldn't care if a private owner's bus runs 98mph. If they said some I'd tell em I haven't painted the sponsor logos on yet


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[golfersmurf57]

Wonder if you'd make the news if ya took a run at local drag strip

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[EastCoastCB]

I'm not trying to sound rude at all, but man you really should use "quotes" and condense your responses to a single post. This is how threads get hard to follow, man.

[golfersmurf57]

Back in my RV days we had a class A that was built wrong. It would bring the front wheels up. Only found out cause customer couldn't steer it on a rough road. Most of the heavy stuff was at the back of coach. And it was M500 with a 440 Chrysler chassis on a 20 footer. Yeehaw!

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[golfersmurf57]

My line ticket says mine is 4.78 gears doesn't say which trans but its 4 speed. Mechanical not e shift.

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[golfersmurf57]

Is that a545?

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[Tango]

You might want to do the jack-it-up/wheel rotation thing and count the revs on the drive shaft just to confirm what gears you actually have. Parts get swapped out along the way and who knows what might be in there.

I had been told mine was 5.43 but it turned out to be 6.17. The count showed the difference and it was confirmed when the cover was pulled. Chevy used to stamp the ratio right on the ring gear.

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by Tango

You might want to do the jack-it-up/wheel rotation thing and count the revs on the drive shaft just to confirm what gears you actually have. Parts get swapped out along the way and who knows what might be in there.

I had been told mine was 5.43 but it turned out to be 6.17. The count showed the difference and it was confirmed when the cover was pulled. Chevy used to stamp the ratio right on the ring gear.

Well I have an MD3060, so I can be fairly confident of the gear ratios in the transmission.

I will do a wheel rotation and count the times the shaft rotates if the Scangauge doesn't clear it up.

You are right, that method does nail down the FD ratio.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

There was someone here that posted a smartphone app for an acoustic tac app.
It is under the search button.
It might help you and it might not.
I was only looking at it because I am tactless and the only way I can add one is to open my alternator and solder another wire connection out.
That was a year or so ago? but it worked but as far as accuracy I have nothing to compare it to.
Have fun.

[Twigg]

After a bit more investigation, it appears that Thomas has one of the last mechanical 8.3L engines. A 6CTA250, build date March 1998.

Now I am wondering how much use the Scangauge will be, even though there is a J1939 connector waiting for it.

There may be a brand new Scangauge for sale in the next few days.

Engine also has a small oil leak somewhere at the front. It's not major, but it is making a mess. It's not bad enough to be dripping on the ground, just coating stuff with oil on the lower front of the engine.

Things that are sent to try us

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Twigg

After a bit more investigation, it appears that Thomas has one of the last mechanical 8.3L engines. A 6CTA250, build date March 1998.

Now I am wondering how much use the Scangauge will be, even though there is a J1939 connector waiting for it.

There may be a brand new Scangauge for sale in the next few days.

Engine also has a small oil leak somewhere at the front. It's not major, but it is making a mess. It's not bad enough to be dripping on the ground, just coating stuff with oil on the lower front of the engine.

Things that are sent to try us

Buddy of mine on the forum got a 99 bluebird with a mechanical 8.3.

[Tango]

Pretty clever little tach here...

https://tinytach.com/diesel-tinytach

I'm putting one in.

[cadillackid]

your transmission is electronic. if the engine is in fact fully mechanical your transmission will be what that J1939 connector is for as its an MD3060, whether the scangauge can read any SPN's from it is anyone's guess.. is it a 6 pin or a 9 pin. connector under your dash?

6 pin is J1708 only and 9 pin can be both those was generally J1939. allison liked to run WTEC mode the most which was essentiually J1939. if the scangauge can decode Transmission related PGN;s you can read some useful info from it like trans temp, gear selection, and any error codes it may have..
-Christopher

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by golfersmurf57

I have a photo tachometer comes with a stick on strip you attach to crank pulley
Also has physical rotation piece in end so you can manually sample be careful. It is rather pricey though. I'm pretty sure there's a way to test the factory tach. Usually they either work or not.

I have one of those- I like for small motors. They got chinese cheap



I love my scangauge D. It's a nice bit of kit. I like how small it is so I can use it in other vehicles.

I also ordered the B+B's Heavy Duty Vehicle interface adapter that Christopher (Cadillac) likes. They are only 20 mi from my house ! It will be wicked cool to put the data up on a tablet like Torque Pro app. Bit of work first...

I bet your tach issue is a flakey connection.

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by Rusty

I have one of those- I like for small motors. They got chinese cheap

Attachment 17799

I love my scangauge D. It's a nice bit of kit. I like how small it is so I can use it in other vehicles.

I also ordered the B+B's Heavy Duty Vehicle interface adapter that Christopher (Cadillac) likes. They are only 20 mi from my house ! It will be wicked cool to put the data up on a tablet like Torque Pro app. Bit of work first...

I bet your tach issue is a flakey connection.

I am saved the expense of all the lovely electronic tools I like, because it turns out that I have a fully mechanical engine. It must be one of the last Thomas ever fitted to a school bus.

So the Scangauge that arrived today is useless to me. It shows Transmission Fluid Temp and Voltage, and very little else.

Linear Logic are one of those great companies that not only offers a 3-year warranty, but also a 30-day money back option. I will avail myself of that. Pity, I like the tool.

I have ordered one of those laser tachometers, it will be here tomorrow and then we get to the bottom of the tacho issue.

In other news ... there is a minor, but annoying oil leak. I suspect the front crank seal which appears to be easy enough to get to. I'll clean the engine and see where the oil reappears from.

There is an equally minor coolant leak that should be easier to trace.

The good news is that the engine sounds great, smokes a tiny bit on a cold start then not at all. Transmission is good, shifts well through all 5 (current) gears and locks as it should.

Instrumentation needs sorting out, but absent any other symptoms I'm not worried about it. The 102k miles might even be close to genuine.

Oh yeah ... Gotta love Trip Buses. The front Air-door has a factory fitted locking deadbolt. I'm keeping it.

[M1031A1]

Originally Posted by Twigg

Oh yeah ... Gotta love Trip Buses. The front Air-door has a factory fitted locking deadbolt. I'm keeping it.

*JEALOUS*

I have my air tools for Sunday. Should make those seats come out reeeaaaally easy!

This should be fun!

M

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by M1031A1

*JEALOUS*

I have my air tools for Sunday. Should make those seats come out reeeaaaally easy!

This should be fun!

M

Well there really is no rust to deal with.

However, there is a 10' long, pass-through basement so I'm not sure how easy it will be to get to the underside nuts.

[M1031A1]

Originally Posted by Twigg

Well there really is no rust to deal with.

However, there is a 10' long, pass-through basement so I'm not sure how easy it will be to get to the underside nuts.

The pass-through makes it even EASIER!!!!! WoHOO!!!!!

Pvvvpt, ppvvvpttt, ppvvvpttt. Done!

M