Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 06-18-2020, 01:20 PM   #321
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Posts: 1,791
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: B3800 Short bus
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 36
Sealed a leaking oil pan and rear main seal while in Ottawa then driving home!



Click image for larger version

Name:	20200613_093620.jpg
Views:	16
Size:	377.8 KB
ID:	45770
Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_20200615_110840_01.jpg
Views:	11
Size:	396.5 KB
ID:	45771
Click image for larger version

Name:	20200615_083127.jpg
Views:	11
Size:	294.5 KB
ID:	45772

__________________
My build page: Armageddon - The Smell of Airborne Rust
jazty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-18-2020, 01:42 PM   #322
Bus Geek
 
EastCoastCB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
Good to see an update! Love that green and white bus!
EastCoastCB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-18-2020, 07:45 PM   #323
Bus Crazy
 
plfking's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: N.C.
Posts: 1,136
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Bluebird
Engine: DT466E
Rated Cap: 34
Quote:
Originally Posted by jazty View Post
Sealed a leaking oil pan and rear main seal while in Ottawa then driving home!
Glad to see you posting again......have a safe trip back to the homestead.
__________________
Don

The Busted Flush
plfking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-07-2020, 10:20 AM   #324
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Posts: 1,791
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: B3800 Short bus
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 36
Out grabbing some hay.
Looks like the bus could use a wash!


Click image for larger version

Name:	index.jpg
Views:	11
Size:	214.7 KB
ID:	46448
__________________
My build page: Armageddon - The Smell of Airborne Rust
jazty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-02-2021, 09:16 AM   #325
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Posts: 1,791
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: B3800 Short bus
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 36
Still using the bus on a regular basis! Being that we are just coming out of winter it's been used for hauling more than for camping lately. This spring I decided to try out one of those injector shim kits sold on eBay by user "truckrental": https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_from...m+kit&_sacat=0


I bought the $60 kit, which lacks some of the tools that I already had.


On a T444e in a dog nose bus the job was easy-peasy. Takes about a half hour to get both valve covers off, then maybe 10 minutes per injector if you're slow like me and want to double/triple check everything. Also noticed that the connector came off of 2 of the glow plugs, so I squeezed the female contacts with needle nose pliers to tighten the grip and re-connected them.


I haven't driven it enough since to know if there's much of a difference. Before shimming each injector I did check the clearance using the feeler gauge and there were probably 4 that were well outside of spec, so I expect to see some change in engine operation.


Now, I know that the shim kit is a band-aid fix. The proper way is to get injectors rebuilt and that shimming can ruin the injectors beyond re-use. And that's ok with me I'm not planning on dumping money into this engine ever, really. If ever something costly goes wrong with this one I'll hunt around for a full-length dognose with a lower mileage T444e and do a swap. Though they may be getting harder to find, so I should probably scoop one up soon and put it in my "Resource Pile" (aka junk yard) soon!
__________________
My build page: Armageddon - The Smell of Airborne Rust
jazty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-02-2021, 09:42 AM   #326
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Posts: 1,791
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: B3800 Short bus
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 36
Oh, I also shimmed the fuel return valve spring. These mechanical pumps make a fuel pressure gauge bounce around quite a bit. Before shimming the spring the upper PSI was just under 60psi, probably averaging roughly around 50psi.
I used one of the old injector solenoid screws as a shim, ground down to fit perfectly into the valve seat.
Now the gauge bounces almost as high as 70psi, probably averaging around 60psi or so.


Will it do anything useful? Who knows! But it's an easy thing to undo if I don't like it.


Note that the pressure regulator is different on the T444e fuel bowl than the 7.3l Power Stroke. Not sure if this is simply due to the age of my engine, or if it is for all T444e engines.


Here's a fuel flow diagram:





And here's a picture of the pressure regulator housing (not my photo):




I had to undo the return fuel line then unscrew the pipe fitting. That's all that is required to have access to the spring.
__________________
My build page: Armageddon - The Smell of Airborne Rust
jazty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2024, 12:58 PM   #327
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Posts: 1,791
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: B3800 Short bus
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 36
Still using the bus regularly.

This past summer I lost an injector and - instead of replacing all injectors - picked up a donor bus with a lower mileage and lower hours engine.

2003 T444e with Allison 2000 attached.

I just swapped the whole engine+transmission, since the Allison has over drive and the Spicer 5-speed did not. I miss the low end grunt of that Spicer, but cruising the highway is much quieter.

I may still look at what diff is in the donor bus to see if it is a better fit.
With the current 4.33 diff ratio I get 1700rpm at highway speed. I have a feeling that might be a touch low; probably doing better around 1900-2000rpm. A 4.78 aught to get that RPM. Any thoughts?
__________________
My build page: Armageddon - The Smell of Airborne Rust
jazty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2024, 01:03 PM   #328
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Posts: 1,791
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: B3800 Short bus
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 36
So many apologies for not getting a single photo of the whole ordeal


I took on the job only a couple days before departing for a week long camping trip with the bus up north. It was a busy few days, but with the help of the neighbours tractor we managed to swap the engines. I left home later in the day than I had hoped, but with no issues along the trip!
__________________
My build page: Armageddon - The Smell of Airborne Rust
jazty is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Rust Buckets norreh1 Classifieds | Buy, Sell, Swap 30 04-30-2014 02:49 PM
The smell of fuel... Henukaw Mechanical and Drivetrains 7 10-29-2013 06:38 PM
The smell of fuel... Henukaw Mechanical and Drivetrains 1 10-27-2013 10:35 AM
Service records a thing of the past? Bad smell here. putterspitt Conversion General Discussions 3 02-21-2011 09:51 AM
After Armageddon Abbott Everything Else | General Skoolie Discussions 14 04-14-2010 11:53 AM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:20 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.