Any info on a 7.6L DT466 Engine?

[Gretchup]

I am looking at a bus up for auction with a 7.6L DT466 engine, bus was built in 1995.
I know absolutely NOTHING about engines, big or small, and would love anyone's input on whether or not this would be an easy-ish engine to work with.
We want to travel a fair amount across the country, so drivability and ease in maintenance are a pretty high priority for us.
The one piece of info I was given by a another bus enthusiast was to only get a cummins engine.
I looked up this engine and the little that I understood told me it may be a fairly decent engine? Correct me if I am wrong, or if there is anything I should look out for potentially!!
TIA

[EastCoastCB]

Its THE engine, if you ask me.
The most universal, easy to work on setup you'll likely find in a bus. MEchanical 466's are the way to go and can be overhauled in-frame.
No real "known issues" that I can think of. Mine has a quarter million miles and only 190hp and my 40 footer does 63-ish. Fairly good fuel economy, but I haven't gotten that tabulated for sure yet.
Can't really go wrong with a good running dt466. "fairly decent" is an understatement, for sure!

cummins are good engines, too. I'd only look at Cummins or Internationals. The 5.9 isn't as heavy duty an engine as the international 7.6 is. The Cummins 8.3 is even more heavy duty.
But the 7.6 is common, robust, and is the one I chose to look for when I started bus shopping this time around.

My first bus was a gas Ford/Thomas and it was horrible. You're definitely right to find out about engines before buying. The transmission is just as important. Look for a 643 or 3060.

[Gretchup]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Its THE engine, if you ask me.
T The transmission is just as important. Look for a 643 or 3060.

the auctioneer doesn't detail what type of transmission, unfortunately. they say "A/T" which I assume means Automatic?

i apologize for my obvious ignorance... trying to learn as much as i can!!

[EastCoastCB]

Its usually the at545 or the mt643, maybe a 3060. They're in that order in terms of how heavy duty they are.
The 643 is what I have. Its great compared to the 545 in my last bus, but a 545 isn't the end of the world. It all depends on your intended use.

I like manual transmissions and always buy a car with one. But I don't like them in trucks or big stuff.
The auto keeps the turbo spooled and makes for a much better drive, imo.

[rensch26]

The DT466 is a great engine. Been in production for over 40 years so they're definitely a proven powertrain. International has built a couple million of them so there are parts readily available and more importantly they're affordable.

[boojiewoojie]

Another thumbs up on the DT466. I have the electronic one (466e) in my '02 International RE which isn't as DIY as the mechanical version. Lots of resources on the mechanical version.

I had my engine rebuilt a little over a year ago. The parts only ran about $1100 for the complete top end kit. Since I'm a bus contractor and this bus is used daily for my route I went ahead and replaced other major components just to be on the safe side (and to have more tax writeoffs). All of that to say there's no super expensive parts that might leave you stranded somewhere with not enough money to get back home.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by boojiewoojie

Another thumbs up on the DT466. I have the electronic one (466e) in my '02 International RE which isn't as DIY as the mechanical version. Lots of resources on the mechanical version.

I had my engine rebuilt a little over a year ago. The parts only ran about $1100 for the complete top end kit. Since I'm a bus contractor and this bus is used daily for my route I went ahead and replaced other major components just to be on the safe side (and to have more tax writeoffs). All of that to say there's no super expensive parts that might leave you stranded somewhere with not enough money to get back home.

Do you also post on the school bus fleet forum?

[veggievibrations]

this is my first ever forum post of any kind.

so i dont know if im doing this right

Just bought a international 4300 with the dt466. its a 2006 with 500k miles on it. the chasis is striped down to the frame and the engine seems to run well. drives well too.
i dont know much about diesels as i just havent the experience yet. but i am pretty good mechanic if i can wrap my mind around it. the cab interior is pretty much destroyed but what the hell. i paid 2500 for it. took the money out of our savings that was intended for buying land. we figured lets build a home on this thing instead............and then reality kicked back in and i paniced.

what should i do with this thing forum world?
do these engines do well with greese conversions?
Wil i have to spend a ton of money to get it going?
any ideas welcomed!

[rensch26]

500k miles is quite a few. I'd assume your truck is on it's second, if not third, set of fuel injectors. It has also likely been in-frame rebuilt once by this point. As far as running vegetable oil as a fuel source in a DT466e I wouldn't recommend it unless you have lots of experience with vegetable oil. These engines rely on motor oil to fire the fuel injectors and they tend to run better once the oil has warmed up and thinned out. Adding cold, thick vegetable oil to the equation may lead to a rough running engine when it's cold.