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Old 04-23-2017, 07:34 AM   #161
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that rocks!!! 180-210 is definitely normal for that engine..

do you ever notice if the fan goes crazy when you run the temp up to 210 or so?

the weather turned cool up here.. im still P***D that I had to miss the gathering.. its made my weekend bummy.. esp when with summer coming theres not likely to be any florida skoolies for awhile.. alas my Fan hasnt even run in like 3 days.. I noticed since I did the rad flush, coolant change, watter wetter, etc that the natural cooling without fan seems to be more efficient.. whats interesting is that now I have ZERO fan when the clutch is off.. whereas before I had like 25% fan all the time..

im thining if you did nothing more than FLush, steam the rad, go to a 40/60 or 25/75 mix with water-wetter type stuff, and we make sure your clutch works then you may not need to spend the big $$ on a full rad replacement.. at least not right away.. save the $$ for RYO getting it buttoned up and water-tight.

-Christopher

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Old 04-24-2017, 07:27 AM   #162
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Maybe its my tinnitus but I just don't really ever notice the fan.
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Old 04-24-2017, 07:48 AM   #163
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Maybe its my tinnitus but I just don't really ever notice the fan.
if you arent hearing a distinct ROAR.. think like when a Semi truck turning a corner goes by you with that crazy loud fan sound... yours on High speed would sound the same.. im guessing your clutch is staying at minimums and not fully engaging..

if your clutch is good, then when you first start the bus and drive you'll get that fan roar sound for like the first 1 or 2 minutes you drive, exp when the revs go over like 1500-2000. then it goes away until temperature..

its a lower pitched sound so should be heard over tinnitus.

-Christopher
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Old 04-24-2017, 08:14 AM   #164
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if you arent hearing a distinct ROAR.. think like when a Semi truck turning a corner goes by you with that crazy loud fan sound... yours on High speed would sound the same.. im guessing your clutch is staying at minimums and not fully engaging..

if your clutch is good, then when you first start the bus and drive you'll get that fan roar sound for like the first 1 or 2 minutes you drive, exp when the revs go over like 1500-2000. then it goes away until temperature..

its a lower pitched sound so should be heard over tinnitus.

-Christopher
I've tried to notice it. When I start the bus, it seems like its working.
Just can't hear anything at speed. Maybe its the WC lift rattling around loudly, idk.
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Old 04-24-2017, 08:30 AM   #165
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it may never be engaging fully at speed.. Factory on the electric clutch is 212 coolant temp.. so im guessing they try and emulate that with the Viscous,

the facotry adjustment on my Old Viscous clutch before I lowered it, had me up to about 216 at times before the fan every kicked in.. if I dropped my RPMs.. the fan would pull up... there are centrifical forces at work in a viscous clutch which sometimes raise the engagement temperature at higher RPMs ..

once I lowered my temperature then at full RPM (2400-2600) I would get engagement at 205 or so MOST times.. but still was inconsistent and sometimes would only run for a couple minutes or so..

according to Borg-Warner that was mostly normal for a viscous... a Clogged radiator would make the situation worse..

with the electric clutch I have very definite setpoints.. I have my sensor for the fan in the top of the waterpump on the engine side of the Thermostat.. so im using the Hottest water to measure my fan temp from.. right after it comes out of the engine and is about ready to be released to the top radiator hose..

in a truly technical sense I should be measuring it at the inlet of the water pump to gauge how efficient the radiator has been...

My fan result is more defined from how much the engine has been cooled which I feel is the right place to be.. the on-temp is a bit zealous but is more in-tune with engine load.. if I nail it hard to pump a hill, my temp will start to jump quick as im seeing the heated water.. so I kick the fan...

when I get off the power, the fan kicks off after the residual engine heat has bene transferred to the coolant.. im providing a nicely cooled coolant to the engine.. so I go fan off once the engine has been cooled, not so much the rad..

the results are my temp fluctuates a bit.. but I also have Max cooling to anticipate a heat load.. ie starting a hill climb my engine temp spikes and has the fan running before the rad is over-capacity..

perhaps a little too much science.. but I see its gonna be in the 90s this next week in the orlando area.. that stretch of I-4 about 10 miles south of orlando until about 15 miles north of Tampa seems to be Brutal on cooling... all the bridges are up-hills , the wind is usually head-wind.. the traffic is heavy, and the sun beaming.. so that will be a stretch I test my Bus out.. if it fails then I go to Full-Rad methods.. if it passes then I know its probably good for any place I'll take it..

-Christopher
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Old 04-26-2017, 01:52 PM   #166
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Nice!
Looking forward to hearing about that.

Today I started the process of replacing the roof hatch with a steel cover and RV style roof vent.
The buzzer didn't come on when I opened the hatch with the bus running. Huh.. Go figure. So I went ahead and disconnected the two wires, and now I just have to get a piece of steel cut and rivet it down. I'll have this done by the weekend!
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Old 04-26-2017, 02:22 PM   #167
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Old 04-26-2017, 03:00 PM   #168
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CB, you're going to have a plethera of cross top screws on hand when you take that bus apart. That perforated ceiling metal brings back bad memories too.
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Old 04-26-2017, 03:38 PM   #169
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Sure glad that hatch didn't do something wierd with the wiring and make the bus not start or something.

Did yours leak? Wait maybe there's not a such thing as one that doesn't..
Christopher
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Old 04-26-2017, 04:20 PM   #170
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My hatch hasn't leaked all winter, and I open and close it frequently for ventilation.
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Old 04-26-2017, 04:24 PM   #171
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on another note to EC - its 87 here in Columbus and sunny.. bus on the freeway cycles between 197 and 205 at 64 or so highway.. fan runs 5 minutes at a time, unless im floored accelerating then it runs longer..

we def gotta get your coolant mix reduced, watter wetter in and your rad flushed.

I was hoping that used truck place would respond to my emails and phone calls about the nearly full-rad setup I found... that looks to be a near drop-in setup that we could make work for yours.. (or similar)
-Christopher
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Old 04-26-2017, 04:44 PM   #172
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CB, you're going to have a plethera of cross top screws on hand when you take that bus apart. That perforated ceiling metal brings back bad memories too.
Pshhhhhhhh- This thing's a piece of cake compared to the thousands of rivets I dealt with on my RYO bus.
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Old 04-26-2017, 04:46 PM   #173
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on another note to EC - its 87 here in Columbus and sunny.. bus on the freeway cycles between 197 and 205 at 64 or so highway.. fan runs 5 minutes at a time, unless im floored accelerating then it runs longer..

we def gotta get your coolant mix reduced, watter wetter in and your rad flushed.

I was hoping that used truck place would respond to my emails and phone calls about the nearly full-rad setup I found... that looks to be a near drop-in setup that we could make work for yours.. (or similar)
-Christopher
Yeah, I've noticed a lil bit of difference with the coolant additive. Its similar to water wetter.
Agreed, I definitely want to make sure the cooling system is functioning 110% the way I plan to use this bus.
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Old 04-26-2017, 04:49 PM   #174
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My hatch hasn't leaked all winter, and I open and close it frequently for ventilation.
Every AmTran hatch I've ever laid eyes on leaks the same way all three hatches on my buses leak.
These things are a joke. no way I'd build on the bus without addressing this. When it rains or I wash the bus, it GUSHES water like a faucet from the hatch.

I'll open and close my vent/fan frequently for ventilation!
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Old 04-26-2017, 05:06 PM   #175
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If I'd had that kind of trouble with my hatch I'd have certainly covered it over. My hatch did leak when I got it, and the bus barn warned me about it. I took it home in October and it immediately started raining, The hatch was dripping constantly, but only a couple quarts every 24 hours. When I finally got around to cleaning the hatch I also tightened up the exterior knob which had become loose. I went back into the bus and the hatch no longer leaked, but the bucket stayed there under the hatch for another three days before I trusted that it wouldn't leak. It hasn't leaked since.
After being broke into twice I'm not wanting a hatch any longer.
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Old 04-26-2017, 05:17 PM   #176
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My bus came with 2 hatches installed, I've already removed & covered one hole & have the panel cut for the other but now I'm having thoughts of keeping the second one to make it easier to get on my roof, Thoughts, I know if I keep it I'll need to frame it out & cover it from inside with insulation & wooden cover.
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Old 04-26-2017, 05:22 PM   #177
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Stu & Filo. T; For some reason I though your bus was finished. Did your hatches leak or did you consider it a security issue?
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Old 04-26-2017, 05:22 PM   #178
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My bus came with 2 hatches installed, I've already removed & covered one hole & have the panel cut for the other but now I'm having thoughts of keeping the second one to make it easier to get on my roof, Thoughts, I know if I keep it I'll need to frame it out & cover it from inside with insulation & wooden cover.
I'm glad the shorty only has one hatch. Saw one for sale recently- 6 row shorty with two roof hatches!
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Old 04-26-2017, 05:28 PM   #179
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Stu & Filo. T; For some reason I though your bus was finished. Did your hatches leak or did you consider it a security issue?
No not finished yet & no leaks noted, Just that I thought it would be easier to carry a smaller 4 step ladder & get on the roof thru the hatch instead of a extension ladder leaned against the side, Origanal thought was remove both, cover then put my Ac units there
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Old 04-26-2017, 06:21 PM   #180
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Yeah, I wish I'd covered mine. We makes our choices and pays the price.
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