5.9 at545

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

wierd that your heater is weak? nornally bus heaters blast out the heat... open the 2 valves under the hood and the one inside then turn every fan on high thats marked 'HTR' or 'Heat'.. the booster opump usually isnt needed at highway speeds.. only when in town stop n go to increase the coolant flow..

though its common to find the heater cores clogged up with dust and dirt so you can take the units apart and clean themn out they will probably work just fine and heat up as much of the bus as you want. bad door seals will make for a chilly bus.. on one of my busses the wheelchair door seal is bad so i get a ton of cold air in there.. im still warm in the driver seat but if anyone were riding with me they would be freezing..
-Christopher

Funny, I've never had a bus with functioning heaters.

[Robin97396]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Funny, I've never had a bus with functioning heaters.

You'd make it a point to have functioning heaters if you lived up north. Much the same as us northerners don't usually bother with AC.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

You'd make it a point to have functioning heaters if you lived up north. Much the same as us northerners don't usually bother with AC.

Never had a bus with functioning AC either.

[cadillackid]

there should be a port omn the front bumper or near there (or the rear if your bus is a reaer engine).. that opens up and has a regular electric plug on it.. plkug an extension cord in and it will pre heat the engine...
-Christopher

[cadillackid]

first thing i make work on any bus I have are the heaters.. then the A/C, if it doesnt have A/C then I add it..

just replaced a dying heater motor today in RedByrd

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

there should be a port omn the front bumper or near there (or the rear if your bus is a reaer engine).. that opens up and has a regular electric plug on it.. plkug an extension cord in and it will pre heat the engine...
-Christopher

You might have to hunt around.

Mine has ports on both front and rear, they are empty. The actual cord is hiding behind the coolant-fill door

[Robin97396]

It seems like the bus barns would have had block heaters in most buses already since they function all winter. I haven't found an electrical plug anywhere on mine.

Considering the water heater type of technology, these freeze plug block heaters are way to expensive.

[cadillackid]

Robin and t depends on the climate where the bus was run an what the engine manufacturer recommends. For iNstance my DT360 manual says the engine is always gonna start down to 20f without a block heater .. so they are saying if it gets to zero your on your own. I started it at zero but it was a tad rough.. so I’m Ohio the heater was ordered factory. Your engine might be good to well below where the bus would be run .. ie some cities will close the schools if it gets down to 10 pitside( south).. others run busses when it’s -20(North). Myctexas bus doesn’t have one.. it was minus 7 this morning and that bus was Tango Uniform... granted my batteries were weak ( fixed now).. alas if I plan to cruise that one in wicked winter I’ll install the webasto
Christopher

[BlackJohn]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

It seems like the bus barns would have had block heaters in most buses already since they function all winter. I haven't found an electrical plug anywhere on mine.

Considering the water heater type of technology, these freeze plug block heaters are way to expensive.

Huh? Too expensive for 2 hours on? My gawd, how much is that in your area? About 50 cents here in the cold.

John

[Robin97396]

The electric heating element type block heaters that replace a freeze plug are no more than an electric water heater element. A heating element like that is like $15, but if it's for a truck it's $60.

It might cost a quarter or fifty cents to heat a block up good. I don't know. That would be a good project for someone with a killawatt to check at this time of year with real time heat dissipation.

I'd never get this bus done if I was worried about 50 cents. I'm trying to ease up on the franklins.

[cadillackid]

There’s no reason to leave your bus plugged in 24/7 unless maybe it’s so cold you worry about your coolant freeze level being deficient.. most block heaters I’ve seen are 1500 watt, if I take the simple man approach of reading an electric bill and dovinding what they say I used by the $$ then I have my rate.. 1500 watts at 2 hours is 3 kWh, at my house that’s 30 cents. 2 hours will warm it enough to give you a good start.
I don’t know how cold it gets in Oregon .. I know we are having unprecedented cold wave here in Midwest USA .. Columbus Ohio should be 19 at night and 36 by day.. it’s been 0 to minus 10 at night and 10-15 by day since Christmas .. last night was warm, it’s 9 now and won’t go up much today as a new front sinks south. There are other heater options, I’ve seen add on coolant heaters and magnetic oil pan heaters.. though pan heaters suck as you must remove them before driving.

To be cheaper you could probably pull a freeze plug heater off a junkyard bus..

What does a starter motor cost when you burn it up from cold crank or glowplugs from repeated multi cycling.. I guess the 5.9 doesn’t have glow plugs but an air intake heater?
Christopher

[Robin97396]

Yeah, mine has the grid heater. It looks like someone else had problems starting this bus because it's got a fairly new starter on it. I've gotten good at cold weather starts, but it took me until this year to figure it out.

I'm not complaining about the cost of electricity for a block heater. I was complaining about how much they charge for one of the freeze plug block heaters when it's only water heater technology. I don't like getting used stuff because I usually can't make it work. I have enough trouble with new stuff.

I'd like the electric block heater for when I'm on the grid and a webasto type coolant heater for when I'm off grid. I'm not keen on the idea of putting little hoses all through my floor to produce heat, so the question remains about how to get the heat out of the coolant while off grid. Convection heat using old heater cores seems to be my best option.

We're still having mild weather, for this time of year, in the 40s days and barely freezing at night. I really needed a mild winter this year, but it aint over until the fat lady sings.

[KGZ91]

Hey guys,is it common thing for starter to spin until battery is drained?i tried to cold start it right now and it kept spinning even after i turnd off key(for about like 20 sec)
then second time same thing but battery seems died completely.
is this common for buses or i have problems

[cadillackid]

definitely Not normal.. sounds like your solenoid stuck... if the solenoid is going bad sometimes it arcs inside where the contacxts are.. and the spring stays engage even after you release the key... its also possible that you ignition switch is bad abd didnt cut the power.. but thats a lot less likely than the solenoid being bad..
-Christopher

[KGZ91]

so i need to replace starter i guess

[cadillackid]

most starters you can remove the solenoid and replace it or clean it.. if the solenoid is attached to the starter its still usually a separately replaceable part. you may have to pull the starter off to get it apart but id only replace the startewr itself if its bad. you can have them tested.

of course the next question is what happened that the bus didnt start..
-Christopher

[KGZ91]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

most starters you can remove the solenoid and replace it or clean it.. if the solenoid is attached to the starter its still usually a separately replaceable part. you may have to pull the starter off to get it apart but id only replace the startewr itself if its bad. you can have them tested.

of course the next question is what happened that the bus didnt start..
-Christopher

school guy said it have hard times start cold,should be plugged in all the time.
ive just read it seems i might in trouble with injectors or pump.as i found i have vp44 .but im not sure.
i hate mechanical **** especially after i paid 5k for this *excellent running condition* lol

[cadillackid]

the Navistar manual says that my DTA360 mechanical engine is only designed to start down to 20f. without being plugged in.. i was able to start it at 0f but it required a lot of crank-stop-wait .. a few cycles ofthat and it ran. but judging from where you are its likely you are in the 0f range of temperatures? id expect the bus NOT to start at that temperature without being plugged in or having a working grid heater...

do you have the grid heater on your 5.9? or just the block heater..

-Christopher

[KGZ91]

yes it does have right in front.temp is right now 5f.

[Rivetboy]

HA are you an old HVAC guy?
"boilers are always easier to fix thanA/C..."