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Old 12-19-2017, 01:29 PM   #481
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Originally Posted by debbiejay4444 View Post
ECCB, you made be giggle a bit. Do I start a new thread on this site, or do you mean a Facebook page?

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I hate facebook, please start a build thread here so we Skoolie.net folks can follow along!
You've got the coolest bus of the year, easily!

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Old 12-19-2017, 02:15 PM   #482
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I couldn't help it Charlie, I hope this can cheer you up. -Hillary
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Old 12-19-2017, 02:17 PM   #483
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That does make me laugh.
Thanks.
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Old 12-19-2017, 02:22 PM   #484
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Debbie, a lot of us here are anti-facebook. For me it was having my fb wall plastered with advertising that had absolutely nothing to do with me. Also that's just a little to public, as many of the readers know nothing about buses. I don't want to be entertainment for the masses.

Make sure your camera batteries are fully charged. There are more than a few of us anxious to see how your bus is put together. I'm guessing you haven't picked up your bus yet? It's far away?

You make a lot of us laugh too. It's good to see this working out for you.
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Old 12-19-2017, 02:38 PM   #485
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so what makes him think the cover destruction is the real issue? there are lots of 466E's running around with original covers.. if the coolant was ill-maintained then cavitation of that sluminum cover can occur..

from what i am reading and have heard from those with issues is this..

the damage occurs to the FRONT part of the cover and not the rear part of the cover. the updated cover is the front part, which requires that the rear part be replaced..

so you take it apart and find out whats wrong.. it could simply be the seal is shot.. hell what if Dad is right and the Bolts are just not torqued correct...

so you pull the front part of the cover and find that it is in fact eaten up.. you get on vanderhaags or tuckpartsinventory and find a good solid used non-updated cover, put it on .. correctly maintained coolasnt and you probably go till the engine wears out and needs in-framed anyway..

dont explode this out of proportion.. yeah there is the part about wanting to make things perfect.. im the same way... but sometimes it comes to a point to be reasonable..

my business partner had to pry the software out of my hands because i was intent on making it 110% bug free before i released it.. unreasnable? yes.. in reality even though we find a bug here or there we are the most stable product of its kind on the market...

its kind of like me going crazy trying to get my 444E upgraded to 210 Horsepower and make it run 180 degrees in 100 degree heat.. I can cruise comfortably at 65 on all but the big hills, and I never run above 205... navistar factory doesnt even turn the fan on till 212... I finally realized that im where I want to be.. and to stop buying tools and spending money and time on shop labor to get this magical 20 Horsepower and 1000$ to update to the rad / CAC that your DT466 has.. its not necessary..

so concentrate on making your bus work.. and dont explode things if you dont have to... Roll up one and relax.. and get Logical!!

onto the air compressor.. if your bus doesnt have an air dryer you will get quite a bit of oil in the tanks.. if it has one and you hear it expel on governor cutoff then replace the cartridge in it.. those cartridges saturate and require changing..

-Christopher
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Old 12-19-2017, 03:02 PM   #486
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He said he's seen it on many of the E engines.

I'm really not trying to explode anything.
I'm in way over my head with this. Judging from the other fluids, I HIGHLY suspect the coolant wasn't maintained either. The blue stuff in there looks brand new, though.
I've gotta find a service manual for this thing.
There's an air dryer, btw.

If I get the front cover off and the rear cover is eaten up, what then? Do I put it all back together or have it towed as is?
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Old 12-19-2017, 03:07 PM   #487
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Roxanne is working till 5, then I'm gonna head out and try to pull off the alternator and get a better view of this leak.
I'm thinking I'll spray the area clean with brake cleaner and run it for just a bit before pulling the alternator aside.
Last time I made a huge mess by driving it to the end of the street and back to see how much coolant it would piss out under load.
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Old 12-19-2017, 03:22 PM   #488
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it has happened on some.. enough that navistar created a new cover set..

he has seen it on trucks he gets in the shop because they are broken when they call him up.. how many 'E' engines has he changed oil on, fixed the A/C, changed a waterpump, etc. where the front cover wasnt leaking...

the big thing is whether the rear piece or the front piece was the damaged part.. of course he wants 5k of your money so "the whole thing was bad"... AND the fact he is fixing a truck that likely sees 60+ hours of runtime every week.. so its always going to get the updated cover set.. thats what a reputable shop does..

theres no way to know until it comes apart. no i wouldnt put it all back together if it turns out the inner cover is ate up.. if it were my bus i would probably slowly try and figure out how to pull that inner cover..

I get back from nashville tomorrow hopefully.. Ill look and see if I hasve a DT-466 book.. im pretty sure i have one for the mechanical which from what i can tell the cover R&R is similar... otherwise I know its in the OnCommand which I can burn on a USB stick for you. (its 6 gigs)..

other options are (dont laugh).. drain the coolant, clean the area around the leak , rough it up a bit, and JB-weld it! i did it on a transmission once with EPOXY! ..

damn tranny shop wanted 1500 bucks back in 1990 to rebuild that tranny.. it sprung a NASTY leak.. a quart every 10 miles.. no way i had that dough then.. so I epoxied it up and drove that car for quite a while... a couple years with no issues..

is JB a permanent fix? nope! but if it seals then it lets you cruise your bus around like you want to do... and its easy to put back on if it fails again!. until you gather the info to make the repairs yourself or $$ to hire a mechanic...

go through with the blackstone test too.. see what they say about the oil as a whole.
-Christopher
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Old 12-19-2017, 03:37 PM   #489
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Originally Posted by cadillackid View Post
it has happened on some.. enough that navistar created a new cover set..

he has seen it on trucks he gets in the shop because they are broken when they call him up.. how many 'E' engines has he changed oil on, fixed the A/C, changed a waterpump, etc. where the front cover wasnt leaking...

the big thing is whether the rear piece or the front piece was the damaged part.. of course he wants 5k of your money so "the whole thing was bad"... AND the fact he is fixing a truck that likely sees 60+ hours of runtime every week.. so its always going to get the updated cover set.. thats what a reputable shop does..

theres no way to know until it comes apart. no i wouldnt put it all back together if it turns out the inner cover is ate up.. if it were my bus i would probably slowly try and figure out how to pull that inner cover..

I get back from nashville tomorrow hopefully.. Ill look and see if I hasve a DT-466 book.. im pretty sure i have one for the mechanical which from what i can tell the cover R&R is similar... otherwise I know its in the OnCommand which I can burn on a USB stick for you. (its 6 gigs)..

other options are (dont laugh).. drain the coolant, clean the area around the leak , rough it up a bit, and JB-weld it! i did it on a transmission once with EPOXY! ..

damn tranny shop wanted 1500 bucks back in 1990 to rebuild that tranny.. it sprung a NASTY leak.. a quart every 10 miles.. no way i had that dough then.. so I epoxied it up and drove that car for quite a while... a couple years with no issues..

is JB a permanent fix? nope! but if it seals then it lets you cruise your bus around like you want to do... and its easy to put back on if it fails again!. until you gather the info to make the repairs yourself or $$ to hire a mechanic...

go through with the blackstone test too.. see what they say about the oil as a whole.
-Christopher
Still waiting on the blackstone test kit. Do they usually send an email or anything?
one thing I wonder about- Is the updated cover set different when it comes to gaskets? Will I need a non-update gasket set?I'm having a surprisingly hard time finding crucial info on these engines when I need it!
I'd only do the jb weld thing if I were trying to dump it on CL. This is the bus I want, so I'm pretty committed to seeing this fixed properly. I'm hoping that buying a used front cover is the worst case scenario.
I'm in no way itching to buy brand new parts, trust me. I'm really hoping for a miracle here.
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Old 12-19-2017, 03:47 PM   #490
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Sorry so many troubles lately ECCB. If you were in VA id roll u one!
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Old 12-19-2017, 03:51 PM   #491
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Sorry so many troubles lately ECCB. If you were in VA id roll u one!
Doug
Thanks, I'm admittedly a bummed out mess!



When I get the bus fixed, we fully plan on a run up to the est coast to see the mountains and we'll hit you up for that!
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Old 12-19-2017, 04:10 PM   #492
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MAYBE i will have made up my damn mind by then and actually be building mine
Im not near the coast unfort......im 20 mins from Skyline Drive( to west)45 mins from DC(to North). Almost dead center between I-81 and I-95. But any schoolie people travel nearby are welcome. The church behind me have given me permission to park there once I buy one. They have a HUGE fenced/ barbed wire parking behind church. So atleast somewhere to park.
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Old 12-19-2017, 04:10 PM   #493
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Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
Well the good news is I've found a nice, competent, trusted community diesel guy.
I walked in, he climbed down from a Pete he was working on, and we talked about my bus' engine and the coolant leak.
When I described the leak he knew right away what I was talking about! FINALLY!
That's where the good news ends.

The bus is LIKELY going to need a new front and rear timing cover and the associated gaskets. I could tell he knew what he was talking about when he asked if my engine had "the updated cover". I'm pretty sure it does not, which means I need to find the front and rear cover used (but the updated parts) or buy brand new and the parts alone would be $3000. A couple grand in labor.
So 5 grand to have it fixed right. 3 grand to maybe fix it with used parts.
Even the mechanic said I could do the front cover. But that rear one he said is a real PITA, especially if you don't have the shop, the tools, etc.

I drove over to the bus, looked all over for the "nail in the tire" and couldn't find it. Climbed into my van, popped open the roof vent and took a nap on a couch I'd just picked up from my moms. I awoke to Shauns highly medicated dad pressure washing my van all high and telling me just to over torque the cover bolts and hope for the best. The next suggestion was to run it with the rad cap off. THe next suggestion was to try to sell it to "a woman on Craigslist".
At this point I'm a bit frustrated, my head is spinning. So I headed to Starbucks for a coffee, grabbed a pack of smokes, and headed back to my house.
Buying any used vehicle is a crapshoot. Hell, Subaru taught me even a brand new vehicle is a crap shoot.
I've crapped out a few times, this ones the biggest gamble I ever crapped out on.

I have no way of paying for this even if I did it all myself, so now I'm going to have to do some fund raising. With the wedding coming up I don't think I'll be driving this bus for the next year or so.
Sorry to be so bummed, but damn.

Would it be cheaper and easier to just replace the whole damn engine?
https://www.nexttruckonline.com/sear...01&s-type=part
Very sorry to hear this after you were so good about the sale of Roll Your Own, and so excited to get this one.

Take a breath ...

SPend some time trying to find the updated covers at a reasonable price. One way would be a newer engine being scrapped for other reasons, or a cheap scrap bus with a blown engine of the right type. MidWest had one going for $2000 a little while ago. Something like that could be had, even from MidWest, for $1500. Drive it to the nearest salvage yard, have them pull the engine and give them the scrap.

Then you have the covers you need and a van to get them home in. You can do the engine pull on the shorty. Once out the work is much easier. It takes time but between you and your mates you can get this done.

Or sell it, and buy another.
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Old 12-19-2017, 04:12 PM   #494
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Hey CB, hang tough man! All of us reading here are feeling your pain and yes, you have had a tough few months, no doubt. This is just a bigger test than most troubles, but fixable, so DO NOT GIVE UP.
There are things you can do in the meantime. I tend to agree with Christopher that this might not be as bad as first appears. However it will take some patience and skinned knuckles to do.
Not sure what tools you need but suggest a really good torque wrench that will do any job you run into in future.
Seeing as you are really into buses you might as well find or make a gantry if you can't find an engine hoist. Pic below of what I suggest. That will take care of a lot of heavy lifting.
When I look at the pics of the cover front and rear, it looks like the weakest part in the whole engine design. This is something every one owning one of these engines might give extra attention.
Get that front cover off and make that bus useable by cleaning up what you can and reassemblee using the best gasket shite you can find for high temp. Being a high point on the block you can bet that gets pretty hot.
Just get it back to a dependable runner, don't aim for perfection this trip.
I looked at that engine in Miami and it wasn't a rebuild at all. Just pulled from some other vehicle and may not be any better than what you have down the road.
Lots to consider for sure..one step at a time man, we are all pulling for you in this. We want to see you go honeymooning in that baby...
Roll on,

John
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Old 12-19-2017, 04:32 PM   #495
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I agree with Chris in the use of JB Weld. It would be better to have a hillbilly fix on that cover and be able to use it than to just park it and wait until you can afford to do it "the right way."

I also thought everybody would laugh, but JB weld has saved my but more than a few times.
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Old 12-19-2017, 04:38 PM   #496
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I agree with Chris in the use of JB Weld. It would be better to have a hillbilly fix on that cover and be able to use it than to just park it and wait until you can afford to do it "the right way."

I also thought everybody would laugh, but JB weld has saved my but more than a few times.
Ouch! You might want to rephrase that Robin. Did you suddenly sing soprano after using that on yer butt?

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Old 12-19-2017, 04:40 PM   #497
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Sucks about the repair, but we bus warriors earn our stripes.

I just found out today my engine computer took a crap on me. They decided to mount it on the side of the hot engine, then act surprised it failed??? **** happens, but there is only 1 direction- onward.

You gotta listen to Chris and do it on the cheap ( I'm scrounging boneyards for ECU).


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Old 12-19-2017, 04:42 PM   #498
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I agree with Chris in the use of JB Weld. It would be better to have a hillbilly fix on that cover and be able to use it than to just park it and wait until you can afford to do it "the right way."

I also thought everybody would laugh, but JB weld has saved my but more than a few times.
Well I'll just have to respectfully disagree. No way am I putting JB weld on this. NO WAY.
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Old 12-19-2017, 05:02 PM   #499
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There will never ever ever be jb weld on Charlie's bus!

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Old 12-19-2017, 05:03 PM   #500
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I never used JB on anything buy my own personal vehicles. Never on things I sold. I've patched gas tanks and lots of other things. Like Chris, I was broke and needed my vehicle to work. I couldn't afford to park it. I never had a JB weld fix break, even years later.

You're letting a gap about the thickness of a fingernail make you park that bus. You can always fix it right later.

Ssssssssh. We won't tell anybody if you use it. Or if you have the cover off, you could go roll one and Chris might accidentally drop a blob of JB on the cover.
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