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Old 08-15-2016, 12:13 PM   #41
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 25
Sorry for taking so long to respond, i'm in the middle of moving, moved in (per se) but still living in the cottage until we can see the floor!lol
So, many ways to skin a cat, I would go to a schoolbus junk yard and get a tach from a same model bus if possible. Note the wiring on the back of the alternator and wire it in. Worst case trade him alternators if yours doesn't have the tach tab on it. Could also pull the whole dash panel and install the panel with the tach in it to make it look factory. My bus never had a tach so when the previous owner swapped engines he pulled the tach out of the 5ton truck he got the motor from and installed it in the bus as well. Regardless of how you do it, you should confirm with a hand held rpm counter. Any diesel garage should have one, it's a piece of silver tape stuck on the damper then you point what look like a timing light at it and it tells you the rpm. If it close, great, if not use fingernail Polish or liquid correction stuff to make the importand rpms.(1700 for lowest lugging point, 2000 for cruising and 2500 for the highway. Final one would be 3000 as a redline, yes it's below the factory redline but it's a safe cushion in case you get coasting down a hill and don't want to overspeed the engine....still on my BlackBerry and typing sucks! Lol.

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Old 08-15-2016, 12:29 PM   #42
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,707
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
you can also use a strobe light function on your iPhone or Android phone..

on your engine crankshaft damper pulley draw a white or light green chalk line... from front to back across the pulley

start the bus and adjust the engine speed to where you want it...
watch the pulley and get an idea of how fast its spinning..

now in the dark shine the strobe light on your iphone at the pulley and adjust the speed of the strobe UP until the chalk mark and the pulley appear to be stopped. your flash rate should be about the speed at which you looked at the pulley spinning in the daylight..


double the speed on the phone and the chalk mark should stay stopped.. if not.. then adjust slightly till it is...

your phone app likely tells you how many flashes per second your are set at...

multiply the number by 60.. and then if you are setat the "doubled rate" divide by 2 and there is your RPM...

it is how i tested my tach and they both matched..

-Christopher
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Old 08-15-2016, 12:31 PM   #43
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 25
HA! Just went out looked at the bus... must of been thinking of another one I was working on as mine has 5 wires coming out of the tack and a pickup on the bellhousing.....so...there are other possibilities too. Again grab a tach and depending on the type, grab the sending unit or transducer it's sometimes called, and get either the harness or as much as you can, or just get a wiring diagram and wire it yourself. There is always the option of picking up an aftermarket tach from a tractor trailer supply place and installing that too. I tend to go cheap as possible and do all the work myself, you might not want that though. (and i've spend an hour fabricating something that in hindsight, was only 10 bucks if I just went and bought it) lol
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Old 08-15-2016, 12:35 PM   #44
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 25
Quote:
Originally Posted by cadillackid View Post
you can also use a strobe light function on your iPhone or Android phone..

on your engine crankshaft damper pulley draw a white or light green chalk line... from front to back across the pulley

start the bus and adjust the engine speed to where you want it...
watch the pulley and get an idea of how fast its spinning..

now in the dark shine the strobe light on your iphone at the pulley and adjust the speed of the strobe UP until the chalk mark and the pulley appear to be stopped. your flash rate should be about the speed at which you looked at the pulley spinning in the daylight..


double the speed on the phone and the chalk mark should stay stopped.. if not.. then adjust slightly till it is...

your phone app likely tells you how many flashes per second your are set at...

multiply the number by 60.. and then if you are setat the "doubled rate" divide by 2 and there is your RPM...

it is how i tested my tach and they both matched..

-Christopher
Wow, I should of known there was an app for it! Bwahahaha! Didn't know that cadillackid, thanks.
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Old 08-15-2016, 06:18 PM   #45
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Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: North carolina
Posts: 651
Year: 1986
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Ford
Engine: Detroit 8.2
Rated Cap: 60 bodies
I said there were several options but ny tech. Challenged butt never thought about the phone strobe? My new company phone only does strobe level9 so I it won't work.
My alternator only has one small spare grounding lug towards the top. Almost in the same spot that a video I watched showed drilling a hole and installing your own from the insides of the alternator? Is this where I should be looking at for attaching a tach?
Also setting idle speed/rpm does not give me under load RPM correctly.
No bus graveyards around here to get parts from are I would have already had any and all that I wanted so I have to create as I go.
Any comments/advice good or bad will give me something to think about.
I know hard love more than anything well except my normal job and the company work for and the men under me are the only ones that enjoy me there.
The rest? I can speak my mind and they either have to accept it or figure out how to deal with my decisions!
I didn't lose my mechanizing roots in me but I haven't done much since I sold my 75 Chevy short bed with a 396 under the hood? Man walked up and offered me double what I had in it. Cash in hand? Couldn't say no with teenagers in the house but that paid the bills and bought a bus. Now I need to make 8.2 decisions properly?
I can rebuild a tractor or welding machine motor blind folded but I know them cause I took them apart so I guess you can say I am a parts changer.
Need help on adding to my well maintained 8.2 and 545
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Old 04-04-2017, 08:28 PM   #46
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Better yet get rc tach....works on phone off sound...awesome...by the pro version for a couple bucks

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