PigPen

[PigPen]

Anyone know if it's necessary to be able to access the fuel lines going into the tank from inside the bus?

Our bus has that inconvenient design where the lines came through the inside of the bus briefly. It was covered with a piece of metal. This metal cap was sealed with adhesive and screws to the wall and floor. I'm currently planning on reusing it to make it easy to keep water out of the interior of the bus, but I don't want to seal it up if I'll ever need to open that up for some reason. I can't see any reason it would be necessary, but I've been wrong enough to know to ask!

[Robin97396]

The access hole is so you can get to the top of your fuel tank without dropping onto the ground to gain access.

[PigPen]

Sorry, I did a bad job explaining. This is unrelated to the access hole to get to the tank. I guess it would be called the filler neck? I'm not sure. It's the area where the nozzle goes in when pumping gas. On my bus, this intrudes into the interior space and was covered by a piece of metal that screws to the floor and wall. I've never done work on this area, on any car or truck, ever, but I don't want to permanently seal it up if there is some other reason for it other than they had to route the 'filler neck' inside the bus for gravity to do its work and get the fuel into the tank.

[Robin97396]

They used to do that on pickup trucks too. You should be able to do whatever you want to do with it. Just know that at some time you may need to open that up for some reason yet to be determined. In other words don't weld over it. Beyond that don't put a screw into the filler neck.

You can cover that with a piece of sheet metal or whatever you want as long as you don't pierce the filler neck. I'd probably screw a home made cover down over it and seal it with caulk. That would be easy enough to take out if you need to later.

I've got to say, you've been doing a lot of various kinds of work on your bus. You've learned a lot since you've been here. That's pretty cool.

[PigPen]

Thanks for the advice.

And yes, working on this bus has been very eye-opening and a great learning experience. We're taking it one step at a time and enjoying every moment of it for sure.

[Robin97396]

You've always been very careful and methodical. I remember back when you were searching for the right bus. You looked at a lot of buses.

I think we all reexamine our bus choices, especially when things go wrong. I've done a lot of back peddling wishing I'd have gotten another shorty. I'm pretty sure mine is a bit large for one person. There's hope for next time.

[PigPen]

The progress continues! Take a look at this...



Above you'll see 1 inch of XPS foam covering the entire floor. We thought about going thicker, but ultimately want to save the headroom. I'm about 6'1" and with about a two-inch total floor and a ceiling that extends a 1/2" beyond the 1 1/4" ribs, I'll still have about an inch. Our bus is tall inside, and I'm happy I won't have to stoop. We may need rugs for cold feet in the future, but that'll be good enough for now!

Grammarly wants me to change rugs in the last sentence to drugs. That would help too, I'm sure

Next we have...



After much deliberation, we went with 3/4" (23/32") Advantech by Huber Engineered Woods. It's a special OSB that is made the whole way through with a water resistant glue. We were sold after seeing that every local contractor swears by it for never absorbing water or losing shape. The stuff is solid as a rock. Much higher quality than anything else available at our local stores, INCLUDING the plywood. We wanted something very rigid because we chose not to frame the floor and just lay directly over the foam, inspired by Jazty.

Here's the final product:



The floor is incredibly sturdy. No give at all, and best of all, no squeaks! Unbelievably happy with how it turned out. Mistakes were made and it isn't the best skoolie floor ever, but it is GOOD ENOUGH

One last note, this is how I feel when entering the hardware store now:



We're approaching the point where there is more PL Premium on the bus than steel...

[Robin97396]

No cold feet in you bus. It doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to work.

[PigPen]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

No cold feet in you bus. It doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to work.

Exactly. As long as it works, we're happy.

[PigPen]

The last few days have been dedicated to getting the bus running. It has not been going well.

As mentioned elsewhere, we got a replacement air filter assembly, only to find that the resonator box was also shattered the whole time.

In prepping it to get started, the following has all been taken care of:

1. Modified the air intake system to work without a resonator box. This mod is called the resonator box delete and has been performed by many other people, though I don't know if it has been discussed on the skoolie forums before. I'll update this thread with our approach to doing so later when I can upload pictures.

2. Changed the fuel filter.

3. Performed half of a coolant flush, up to the point where you run the engine to continue getting crap out.

You may be wondering why we started the flush before getting the engine running. Our hands were tied because we had already lost half of our coolant when we cut the hoses going to the rear heater. To get to the point where we could even consider turning the keys, we had to take out the 2 t connectors so nothing flows to the unused hoses anymore. The hoses will also be removed.

Side note: Doing any work inside the engine compartment of an e450 w/ a 7.3 powerstroke is nearly impossible. We have more room and access in our toyota corolla!

So we tried to get everything done all at once, but so far, no start.

The starter is coming off tomorrow. We're hoping that it's bad. Beyond that, we'll have to start considering the possibility of a serious compression problem from dirty air making its way inside and messing with seals and what not. I want to do a blow by test, but for obvious reasons, that hasn't happened yet.

At least we're learning.

[Robin97396]

Yeah, that's the kind of learning that makes my head hurt.

What do you think is keeping you from getting your bus started? Fuel filter change or possibly an interlock issue?

[joeblack5]

Looks great so far, why do you think the starter is bad.

When you put it on contact check if the glow plug light comes on.
Listen to the glow plug relay, You can here it click very clear.

Depending on year the 7.3 have a mechanical or electrical fuel pump.

When was the last time it ran? what did you do in the mean time to the engine?

Good luck J

[cadillackid]

Tell me more, I didnt realize you had a no start, I thought your air box was just jacked? So I'm understanding you get no crank or spin and no start?
I'd only pull the starter if you get no spin or very slow spin and no start.
Are you getting fuel? Are your glowplugs working?
Did you do anything with the oil where you might have run the HPOP reservoirs dry? Ie changes oil and didn't fill filters before replacement?
This thing was running till you turned it off to convert it, correct?
Christopher

[PigPen]

Well I didn't realize we had a no start either.

We've had rough starting since we bought it, typically only when it sits for any length of time. When it was being driven regularly, it started fine.

The batteries were the assumed culprit. They tested fine sometimes and bad others (tested on pro equipment). But they were the ones bought with the bus, and went through being hooked up backwards. During the fall and early winter, the bus started when the batteries got help from a second vehicle further leading me to assume batteries. Yes, the bus has worked and been driven since the reversed terminal ordeal.

The starter spins and you can hear everything trying to get it started. It just seems like it isn't going fast/hard enough to start. I don't know how to listen for glow plugs. A light comes on that says wait to start for about 10 seconds and then goes off though.

Oil was changed by me. What filters needed filled? I prefilled the actual oil filter it that's what you mean.

I do not think that it's a fuel problem. It has a clean filter and from the beginning has always showed signs of getting fuel. It will smoke while trying to start and the smoke stops as soon as it's actually running. I'm also pretty sure you can hear the pump running when the key is turned on (before trying to start)? I hear something run and I always wait for it to finish.

Several months since last start at this point.

[cadillackid]

almost acts like you have glowplugs that arent working or the glowplug relay.. the glowplug relay is a huge culprit in these 7.3's, it looks like a starter solenoid on top of the engine.. on my navistar its a little bit back and to the right of the fuel filter..

yeah you fileld the oil filter before installing, and since you have smoke you likely have fuel.. its possible the fuel drains back in the tank and the fuel pump has to push it back up.. you can place a gauge on the fuel pressure test port and see what kind of fuel pressure you have while cranking.. it may be you have fuel but not enough..

though hard starts are often glow plug related.
-Christopher

[PigPen]

Is there a way to test the glowplugs / glowplug relay?

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by PigPen

Is there a way to test the glowplugs / glowplug relay?

if you can get to the relay.. it looks like a starter solenoid, should have 2 large wires going to it.. one is the input from the +12 volts, the other large terminal is the output and provides power to the glowplugs..

the first test is key on, and while thew wait-start light is on if you test with a meter or test light .. one lead on ground, and the red lead to the each termonal, you should have power at both terminals.. (dont test across them, from each one to ground) I cant remember which is in and out, on that id have to hop under the hood of my bus to see..

if you only ever have power at one of those large terminals then the relay is never engaging the glowplugs. if you dont have power at either terminal, then the power feed going to the relay is bad..

im sure on a van that will be in the hard to reach area near the firewall..

here is a pic i found online of where to find it..

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https://i.ytimg.com/vi/j-sqAJ_Kh50/maxresdefault.jpg
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[PigPen]

Thank you for the picture and explanation.

I think I may have an easier time getting in there since the resonator box is out. I'm taking a break from work for the rest of the afternoon to go work on it.

When you say the glow plug terminals, what exactly do you mean? Excuse my ignorance.

[PigPen]

I read on a different forum to watch the battery meter to pop back up to full voltage to know when the glow plugs are done, which is well after the wait to start light goes out. I did this, and it took about 45 secs to a minute.

No start.

I tried about 7-8 times. It seemed very close on some, others it seemed like there was barely anything.

New symptom found which may or may not be related:

White smoke coming from turbo (I believe up pipe?)

Here is the whole thing:



Here is the guilty area:



Can you tell anything from this info and pics? I don't know much about turbos yet, so I won't even share my guesses lol

Also, towards the end of starting attempts, exhaust smoke turned black. It's usually white and thin at startup.

[cadillackid]

Is your check engine light on? Might b time to se if any codes are present. Black smoke is usually overfueling, white smoke is common when trying to cold start, I'm interested in codes to see if it is failing on a crank position sensor or such that would mess the fuel timing up. Or if you are getting ICP / IPR related codes .. those control the high pressure oil which regulates how much fuel is going in. And of course checking fuel pressure, it seems like you have fuel but checking fuel pressure at the test valve is always the real deal. How old is yourxfuel? It sounds like this has been an issue for awhile so I'm guessing you have refueled recently.
Christopher