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Old 09-12-2017, 01:58 PM   #281
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rusty View Post
good looking unit. looks pricey...
Very shiny but a non-trivial amount of googling and I haven't found anywhere to actually find the price and buy it!

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Old 09-12-2017, 02:06 PM   #282
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this is the one that was compatible with my DT-360. the SB-200 has many part numbers.. you can usually cross one with an existing alternator part number.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

-Christopher
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Old 09-13-2017, 06:50 AM   #283
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Year: 1997
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FYI don't buy a Powermaster alternator. I had2 of them burn up and powermaster would not honor the warranty. So I bought a cheap autozone alternator and never looked back.
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Old 09-13-2017, 10:33 AM   #284
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Autozone was no use to me.. So far things look good with the unit I purchased, it was rebuilt by te shop I bought it fro, and I've had good luck with alternator rebuilders in the past. You can tell walking into their shop that they are serious about it and not just some high school kids asking if you want to add a bottle of fuel system cleaner to your order.

With that said I'm going to see about finding the corect part # for that Bosch. THe link CHristopher shared was a pretty reasonable price, if the one for this thing is around the same that might be an upgrade I make.

Of course, we're about to hit the road again and a few miles of highway driving should bring our batteries back up.. Crossing Idaho and Wisconsin as fast as we can manage... Maybe I'll have forgotten all about it by the time I get to Mount Rushmore.
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Old 09-15-2017, 09:42 AM   #285
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It's raining and in the low 40s today, the perfect time to discover your glow plug relay is bad! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!
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Old 09-15-2017, 09:46 AM   #286
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yowsers!! I started mine without glowing it in the mid 40s and it still kicked over.. but also could be that the glowplugs were runninfg while I was cranking in my case.. i just wanted to try it last fall for kicks..

I guess its like finding you have A/C issues when you are in 104 and sunny!

-Christopher
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Old 09-15-2017, 10:08 AM   #287
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MIne was sputtering just a little bit every now and then but not starting.. I found the first relay that looked like it might be glow plugs and brought my meter over, it was clicking but not actually bridging, so I used a wrench. TO make things interesting it was covered in decades of dirt and grease and even smoked a bit while I was overriding it with my 7/16 craftsman.

I've got a super cheap 100A relay with me but I think I want to try to find a 200A relay that isn't quite so super cheap.
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Old 09-16-2017, 12:22 PM   #288
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OK! So after driving through the Grand Tetons at night, I can say:

1. I now know that I don't have ABS. Ask a very lucky deer how I discovered that.

2. I'm more and more sure that I don't have a thermostat in my bus, or that it's stuck open. Driving at highway speed in frigid temperatures my needle barely comes off the stop. I'm at the lower end of having enough heat to say I have any heat.

3. My new glow plug relay works good!

4. Wyoming has some beautiful scenery but I still hate Wyoming.

Photos following.
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Old 09-16-2017, 12:39 PM   #289
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Photos from eastern Idaho and Wyoming!

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Old 09-16-2017, 01:55 PM   #290
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Glad to see you back on the road. Great pictures!!

You are sure having a steady stream of mechanical/electrical issues.... I sure hope that turns around.

Your revised route was a wise choice. Snow in Montana this morning.

Good travels and no more breakdowns!!
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Old 09-16-2017, 01:58 PM   #291
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It was snowing on us last night in the mountains! I don't like to drive at night but I wasn't too keen on sleeping in the snow so we drove and drove... I just added soe cardboard in front of my radiator to hopefully increase running temps while its this cold!
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Old 09-16-2017, 02:04 PM   #292
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Been there. I think I shared my thermostat experience with Dayton Tractor.....

Truck wouldn't warm up and I didn't want to turn wrenches in 10F weather so I had them put a bad thermostat in so that I could spend too much money, argue with them and finally change the new thermostat with a good one in 20F weather myself.....
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Old 09-16-2017, 02:04 PM   #293
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wow!!! beautiful country!!! I need to get out west in the bus!!

stuck thermostat is fairly common on these.. I had one brand new out of the box this past early spring that was stuck 1/3 of the way open. and even at 1/3 when it was 30 degrees out my temp got up to 135 or so in 40 degree temperatures.. I replaced it with another.. I use 180 thermostat in mine. I worked the stuck thermostat back and forth and then pan-tested it and it worked each time so I save it as a spare in case I need it..

running these engines without a thermostat is difficult as the O-ring seal for it is part of the thermostat itself.

the 180s were a little bit of a pain to find.. on your engine im guessing you use a short beck like mine? I know that time period when yours was built there were changes..

the big thing is making sure the O-ring on the new one is the same thickness as the one on the old one... i found out the hard way when I went to add coolant that my thermostat has the incorrect O-ring.. the next 180 I bought had the right one... same part number... grrrr..

-Christopher
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Old 09-17-2017, 02:10 PM   #294
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So this morning I broke one of my rules: if you have a problem that isn't obvious, check the last thing you changed. This morning, my bus wouldn't start. I was so confident in the new solenoid that I spent hours wenching around thinking it just be my fuel pump ( which is mechanical and on top of the engine!)

We were in the middle of nowhere of course, 80 miles from the closest town, preparing to start asking people for a ride to the next town... Then I decided that even though I was positive the glow system was working I would make extra damn sure before abandoning the bus at a rest stop and when I jumped the terminals and heard the brake motor slow down I knew that was it.

I feel like an idiot of course. My new relay probably only lasted two starts. I guess the longer duty cycle on the t444e was too much for it, these motors continue to glow for 2 minutes or more after starting, mostly for emissions reasons.

So for now I am going to grow about my back hurting and order a continuous duty rated solenoid from amazon and jump the terminals until I receive it.


Crap!

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Old 09-17-2017, 02:57 PM   #295
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Also before anyone points it out, I am going to measure resistance on my glow plugs and make sure none of them are short to ground before I order my new relay! They look pretty challenging to change, the valve cover has to come off to access them, and my bus has a dog house hiding most of the motor.

Oh and I broke my turbo actuator that has only been a problem and never been a problem solver, so now I just need to wire it in place!

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Old 09-17-2017, 05:02 PM   #296
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Brokedown, you are a self fulfilling prophecy.....

I have not figured out if you have a dark cloud following you around or if you enjoy working on your bus more than you enjoy driving it??

At the rate you are going you are going to have a new bus by the time you get back to Florida.
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Old 09-17-2017, 08:28 PM   #297
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George Washington checking out the short bus.

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Old 09-25-2017, 06:20 PM   #298
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Hey Josh,

How are things going? We have not had an update in a while?

Hopefully no more shiny new parts.....

Safe travels.

S.
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Old 09-25-2017, 08:22 PM   #299
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Everything good, updates tomorrow!

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Old 09-26-2017, 09:18 PM   #300
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Ok I was planning to do this update from my laptop but I'm not getting usable internet right now... So you are stuck with a phone post!

Since my last post, we spent the week driving to Minnesota. We visited a friend I have known for a long time but only online, and did a lot of fishing!

We found a really nice lake with a fishing pier and caught lots of white crappie, bass, and bluegill. We could have easily hit our crappie limits both days but we were being picky about sizes.

We made some more friends at the fishing pier. A group of folks with various physical challenges showed up and really put our fishing skills to shame. Our new friend Homer was targeting northern pike and caught 5 of them! We ended up with over a pound of crappie fillets and did some hobo packs on our camping grill.

Monday, the Ms went to the Paisley Palace tour at Prince's compound. She was a big Prince fan and had a good time. I, of course, dropped her off and went to Starbucks.

Monday evening we hit the road. We are headed to the northern peninsula, and should be in Michigan some time tomorrow.

It has been raining and overcast all day today so we got no solar action. I rugged up a very awful jumper to put some alternator juice into the house battery, enough to run the fridge for a bit. Hoping for sunshine tomorrow!

Only a few pics today since I am on paid data!

1. Hillary and a crappie
2. One of my crappie
3. Homer and a 32 inch pike
4. The eventual demise of our catch

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