Won A 2nd Bus - Page 3

o1marc · 08-13-2018, 02:38 PM

I go to the county bus yard to see if anyone wants some side work, got no interest. I go to "Expert Diesel", explain my situation and he says he can get someone out here tomorrow and it's $125/hr from when he leaves the shop until he gets back. I have one more out with a place I have used for 30yrs, told they do roadside service. So I pull the full engine cover off to take a look at how the DD is set up and immediately see the culprit, a broken "V" belt to the compressor. That is only part of the issue. On the way home from purchasing it it developed a loud squeak/squeal like a waterpump bearing going out. It got loud and then suddenly stopped (belt broke). Apparantly I made it home on the air in the tanks. So now I have to turn all the pulleys and see if anything is seized up. looks like a brand new belt, got under the bus and found a brand new starter

brokedown · 08-13-2018, 03:02 PM

How much was the new belt? If it was cheap I'd throw it on and fire it up, and see what accessory doesn't want to turn. Not everything is easy to turn by hand but I assume you have good visibility to the front of the motor.

Those shop rates are crazy, that's why I end up doing all my own stuff.

cadillackid · 08-13-2018, 03:39 PM

I lost a compressor in my DEV bus on its maiden voyage home.. im assuming your pressure gauges were normal? when I had the air system on my red bus freeze it actually ruined the governor so the compressor never shut off and there wasnt a pop-off anywhere.. the dash gauge went past the 150 and all the way around till it pgged at 0.. that one actually blew the compressor head gasket and blew air in my coolant..

point being that if something similar occured where the governor didnt cut out it could run up the pressure, overload the belt and snap..

-Christopher

o1marc · 08-13-2018, 03:42 PM

Totally not worried about the cost of a belt. Haven't run up to the part store for one yet. $125 was not outrageous, the local auto shops are at $110/hr. I'd get a better deal have the diesel mechanic come to the house than taking my truck in for service.
Speaking of auto service, my truck needed new rear brakes. Like all in my family I haven't taken a vehicle in for repair in decades, learn to do it all yourself. So after major open heart surgery 5 months ago, while I'm a whole lot better, I still don't have the energy I used to. I got the truck up on jacks and go to work changing the rear cylinders. I go to remove the flare nut and it shears the lines right off, the lines are that rusty. So I go get 2 new lines, assuming I will break the other side, as the inner flare nut on the right sheared off flush also. I can't work on my back or over my head for more than 5 minutes without headaches and nausea. I get the one line done and then it decides to rain for the nest week. I can't go anywhere, have no wheels other than an unregistered/uninsured bus. So I finally decide to bite the bullet and call a shop that did a lot of business at O'Reilly's when I worked there. I call them last Monday and request a tow to complete the brake job, she says he's out on a tow and will send him my way as soon as he gets back. I call 2 hours later and he tells me he's just eating his lunch and he'll be out right after. 2 hours later I call back and he starts with he's the only one in the office and it'll be an hour and a half before he can get out here. Day ends with no contact. I expect to be first on the list in morning but no call, no tow. I finally call and get the son on the phone and ask if there was something I said or did that made them not want my business? He says "no, Why" I say your Dads been jacking me around for 3 days on a tow. He says I'll send him back out there right now. He comes back on the phone and says his dad says I might want to go elsewhere, WTF. So I call some other shops in the area, I gave to have this done. I see a new name, Premier Auto Repair, give them a call and they say Berry's can tow and they will do the job for $130-$160. WTF, just changing pads that I supplied and changing a wheel cylinder and a line, should be under $100, since a normal brake deal around here is like $89.99 for rear job including pads. At this point I just need it done and money is not really an object. I call Berrys towing and while he is loading the truck he mentions that they do a bit of auto work at the shop, went in one ear and out the other, because I already had a place set up to do it. He drives off and then call me 10 minutes later asking the name of the place, he's 10 miles in the other direction and has never heard of Premier, nor had I. I google and realize by their address they are the Express Lube place directly across the street from the place that blew me off. Tow drops my truck and puts the keys in the drop box as instructed, shop said they would get on it first thing in the AM. Around 11 I start calling them and try for the next 3 hours and no one answers the phone. I get my neighbor to haul me up there to check on it and find it still parked out back. This shop was recently purchased by some Pakistani's or similar. I hate to be racist but it irks me when they buy up businesses and then jack the prices out the roof. So I get there and ask the kid about it while he speaks to his dad in their language, not good. He tells me it's a lot worse than I describe and will be considerably more money as they will need to replace the complete brake line system. Sorry, it needs "maybe" 1 line that I supplied and pads put on the right and a cylinder and pad change on the left. If you're not willing to do that I will just take it elsewhere. He tries to lay the liability trip on my, I say I will take it away. It's now after 2pm, I call Berry, who only charged me $55 for the tow, everyone else is $75, tell them I'm getting jerked around and to come get it if he wants to do the work. Says he will. I go back home and expect a call in the morning to pick it up. I get a call at 4:50pm saying my truck is ready. Now that's the kind of service I expect. They didn't even break the other brake line. I had a pair of new front pads on the front seat with the box of rear pads, they went to install them also, but realized when they took the first front wheel off that I have new pads on the fronts and the other set is a spare I got having to dick around with O'Reilly"s lifetime warranty on pads they no longer carry.
Berry's charged me $100, including the second tow and a replacement e-brake cable. I've been driving unboosted brakes for over a year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadillackid

why a bus if no travelling?

you should be able to drive any drivetrain to PA pretty easily.. take it easy in the mountains and you'll do just fine with it. be sure to change the oil though... that 444E uses oil for hydraulic flkuid so moist or dirty engine oil can ruin the injectors in pretty short order..
-Christopher

o1marc · 08-13-2018, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadillackid

I lost a compressor in my DEV bus on its maiden voyage home.. im assuming your pressure gauges were normal? when I had the air system on my red bus freeze it actually ruined the governor so the compressor never shut off and there wasnt a pop-off anywhere.. the dash gauge went past the 150 and all the way around till it pgged at 0.. that one actually blew the compressor head gasket and blew air in my coolant..

point being that if something similar occured where the governor didnt cut out it could run up the pressure, overload the belt and snap..

-Christopher

Dual pressure gauges worked properly when I embarked. Didn't pay much attention to them enroute. Knew I would get the buzzer if they went low. That's what's strange, I probably drove another 10 miles or so with no belt, must not have used the brakes much on the way.

o1marc · 08-13-2018, 03:54 PM

One belt run the compressor of an idler and the fan. Pump is seized tight.

o1marc · 10-10-2018, 02:48 PM

I put a new compressor in and a new battery. A ton of labor involved. Fired right up, but has no oil going to the pump, not sure if there's any oil pressure in the motor. Looks like at this point I'm going to part it out and salvage the rest.

brokedown · 10-10-2018, 03:16 PM

No oil pressure gauge on that bus?

o1marc · 10-10-2018, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brokedown

No oil pressure gauge on that bus?

Yes, as I mentioned before. The oil pressure gauge never came off "0", I test drove the bus around 2 miles before the purchase and then 12 miles on the way home before the pump went dry and seized, I drove another 10 mies home from there. I assumed the gauge was faulty and that surely the bus would not go 25 miles with no oil pressure. I now believe the gauge may work.

o1marc · 12-05-2018, 06:29 PM

I decided there was going to be no ROI if I continued to put money into this thing. After installing the pump and firing up the motor I confirmed that the motor has no oil pressure, yet runs fine. I pulled the pump off and I will list it on eBay or CL. The parts store I bought it at is refusing to refund because the pump was mounted. I won't be going back there. Pulled off a bunch of the turn signal and brake lights because some of the lenses were in better shape than my 99, they have obviously been replaced at some point. Someone mentioned the turn signal painted lenses are worth a few bucks. I had contemplated putting them on my bus because mine doesn't have painted arrows, the ones on the 87 are not in that great of shape, paint fading, so
I decided to just paint my lenses, but I will pull these and throw them on Craigslist or eBay. Once I get to salvage I'm pulling the wheels and tires off, all in really good shape.
If the bus weighs 15000 lb, at $7 a hundred should net me $1050. If I can get a thousand for 6 wheels and tires then I will have doubled my investment and that's all I was looking to do. Would have been nice if there was oil pressure and I could have flipped it in a week instead of six months.
If anybody wants anything off it speak now as it's supposed to go to salvage tomorrow

cadillackid · 12-05-2018, 06:43 PM

Is this one air conditioned ?

o1marc · 12-05-2018, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadillackid

Is this one air conditioned ?

No it is not.

Brad_SwiftFur · 12-05-2018, 08:57 PM

What's the rear axle and gear ratio?

o1marc · 12-05-2018, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brad_SwiftFur

What's the rear axle and gear ratio?

Don't know, it was a route bus. I was pushing it to maintain 60 on the way home.

Brad_SwiftFur · 12-05-2018, 10:48 PM

I'd be interested in the rear gears if I could use 'em. Looking for 4.44 or 4.10, in a N175 or N190 axle (I believe both will interchange).

o1marc · 12-05-2018, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brad_SwiftFur

I'd be interested in the rear gears if I could use 'em. Looking for 4.44 or 4.10, in a N175 or N190 axle (I believe both will interchange).

I'll try and get under it in the morning and see what it is. But it's 30 degrees out and I'm in no position to pull a rear end. If you can use it make me an offer and come pull it yourself, I'll hold off on the tow to salvage.

Brad_SwiftFur · 12-06-2018, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by o1marc

I'll try and get under it in the morning and see what it is. But it's 30 degrees out and I'm in no position to pull a rear end. If you can use it make me an offer and come pull it yourself, I'll hold off on the tow to salvage.

Sounds good to me. A call to a dealer with the VIN can yield the axle info and avoid having to crawl under it (especially to find the axle sticker is missing). I can do this if you wish.

o1marc · 12-06-2018, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brad_SwiftFur

Sounds good to me. A call to a dealer with the VIN can yield the axle info and avoid having to crawl under it (especially to find the axle sticker is missing). I can do this if you wish.

VIN is 1 b a b m c w a 7 HF 07889 1

o1marc · 12-06-2018, 02:29 PM

Called the bluebird dealership, they don't have any records on the computer dating back that far and couldn't tell me what gear was in it. I crawled under and looked and there are no tags or identification at all on the rear end.

o1marc · 12-13-2018, 01:39 PM

Well that ended up working out good. Hauled the bus to salvage hoping it would weigh more than what the tow guy said it would at 12 to 13,000 pounds. My gutted 37 footer weighs 19400 lb empty so I was pleasantly surprised to see that the full bluebird weighed in at 19600. They deducted 1140 lb for the six wheels and tires and paid me right at $1,300, which is more than I had in it. Now I will sell the six wheels and tires that are dated beginning of 2017. I wish I had known and had the energy and time to pull more off. Tow truck driver looked at it and said the brakes and drums were brand new.

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