Bonnie Blue

[Mountain Gnome]

Originally Posted by JDSquared

Here's the shock absorbers. The huge ones are rusty a bit. Can I change these as easy as I think?Attachment 40755Attachment 40756

The nuts on my BB in the back were crazy tight, and hard to get to with a regular breaker bar and 1/2" sockets. But once they were free, it's slip off / slip on / tighten. Try using an impact wrench, that should be easy. I did mine in the parking lot of a hotel.

[JDSquared]

A question about the air tanks, if anybody is reading this. They drain out when I am gone. It used to take a few days, now overnight they are at zero. I don't have an air seat but I do have an air activated door. That doesn't lose pressure anymore though. I am not sure what I changed. Well, I took the stop sign off, which worked with the air. There is still a pressure valve (is that what it is?) in my electrical panel. I cut the hose from there to the stop sign when I removed it, but not the air to the valve. You can twist it and it forces it open and you can hear air escape. I leave it closed. I don't hear air leaking form anywhere.

So I was under the bus and looking at the tanks. I didn't get pictures, but I was trying to remember what I read here about wet tanks and dry tanks, and I can't tell what is what. There's a tank in the back, for the rear brakes, with a ball valve drain to let out water. There's two more in front under the driver seat. One seems slightly smaller diameter but not by much. They both look the same as the back. The smaller one still has air in it when I drained the water yesterday. The other is empty, so I assume one is for the door and the other the brakes.

They fill up no problem when I run the engine. No problems stopping. But overnight they empty and I can't hear air escaping at all. Any ideas or is this normal?

[JDSquared]

Originally Posted by Mountain Gnome

The nuts on my BB in the back were crazy tight, and hard to get to with a regular breaker bar and 1/2" sockets. But once they were free, it's slip off / slip on / tighten. Try using an impact wrench, that should be easy. I did mine in the parking lot of a hotel.

Thanks that's what I was assuming. I don't know where or how to order them yet lol. I was looking someone up locally, I forget the company. But they didn't have anything that large. I will measure them though before tearing anything apart.

[JDSquared]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Those pics make no sense. The inside looks spotless and new, but the box itself rusted away like that?

Yeah It's a bad rust spot right around that box. You can see rust getting in a little, and the ground screw barely in the picture has some corrosion on it.

This box is next to the tire, and next to where the heater hoses connected to the foot warmer and went inside the bus. Those clamps are corroded onto the hoses, so I think she was spraying coolant under there as well as whatever NJ roads were kicking up. But behind the tire isn't rusted. On the other side, as well... Behind the tire is a bit rusted and the stairs in front of the tires are rusting away. I figured that was because they were lower than the floor. IDK

[Mountain Gnome]

Originally Posted by JDSquared

Thanks that's what I was assuming. I don't know where or how to order them yet lol. I was looking someone up locally, I forget the company. But they didn't have anything that large. I will measure them though before tearing anything apart.

My TC1000 has:
Front shocks:
BlueBird = 1658525 = C2.28
Gabriel = 85971
Monroe = 65121
NAPA = NS-65121


Rear Shocks:
BlueBird = 1746163 = 02013
Gabriel = 85006
Monroe = 65459
NAPA = NS-65459
KYB = 345616


Don't know if they will fit a TC2000 with a different suspension, but maybe.


I only found Monroes for the front, and Gabriels for the rear. The Monroes are compressed air and want to extend at all times with force (but I can still overcome it by hand). The Gabriels simply resist in both directions, and stay where you leave them. Not sure about the ride in the rear, but the front is bouncy. But that is a typical TC1000 with the short wheelbase, long overhang front and rear, and seemingly short-throw in the suspension travel.

[Mountain Gnome]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Those pics make no sense. The inside looks spotless and new, but the box itself rusted away like that?

My box looked spotless and new, but leaked water to the inside and all the connectors were maddly corroded. To the point my bus computer wouldnt come on.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Mountain Gnome

My box looked spotless and new, but leaked water to the inside and all the connectors were maddly corroded. To the point my bus computer wouldnt come on.

So you had like the exact opposite of JD's situation? Bus rust is so weird.

[Mountain Gnome]

Air ttanks leaking down overnight is normal. Better if you open the drains every evening, and bleed out the air yourself. For me, however, that means locking the double swing door, or they won't stay closed.

[Mountain Gnome]

Originally Posted by JDSquared

Found these filters. I have questions

Attachment 40752

The first is a fuel water separator. It's in line with my air tanks though? Or is that a fuel line. Has a spin on drain. Should I drain this? Should I close a valve first?


This is a desiccant air dryer. that's inline with my air tanks too. What do I do with this? When do I change it?

Attachment 40753

The last one I thought was an oil filter. Thought it was small. It's transmission though. How often do I change this?
Attachment 40754

I want to know about that screw-drain thing at the bottom of the fuel seperator as much as you do.


I would reccommend (not as an expert on trannies, just a bit of experience with them in general as a service mechanic) changing the tranny spin on filter at least every 7500 miles. So far I did mine with every motor-oil/filter change. That tranny spin on filter catches any rust or debris from the cooling circuit, and if it is clogged even a little, your tranny wont cool as it should. But it is a pricey filter.



There is a filter in the tranny pan, also. You have to remove the pan, and drain a good bit of the oil in the process. Some oil will stay in the torque converter. measure what you collect, and refill with the same amount, checking the level carefully as you reach the last quart. Do this every 12K-25K miles, depending on how you drive (easy goes it accelerating on flat roads, vs. towing or running up and down mountains at top speed). There is a magnet at the bottom of the tranny pan, also. It collects the metallic dust from stuff in the tranny rubbing together (gears and such). It is essential for xtra longevity to keep this magnet and the internal filter clean. Since some oil stays in the torque converter, if your oil is burnt before changing that internal filter, refill the tranny pan and connect the cooling circuit to a tranny flush machine (if you can get access to one) before you start the motor to finish the final filling of new tranny oil. When done properly, all new fluid will be in the tranny. If you cant get access to that flush "machine", you can just refill to proper level and drive. Next time you do an oil change, drain and refill the tranny fluid again, also.
Use full-synthetic tranny oil, IMO. I've personally seen the difference it makes.

[JDSquared]

Originally Posted by Mountain Gnome

Air ttanks leaking down overnight is normal. Better if you open the drains every evening, and bleed out the air yourself. For me, however, that means locking the double swing door, or they won't stay closed.

Yeah I have a lock on the door but broke it. It used to be that every day there would be less and less air pressure, and after 4 days the doors would stay open. Now I am prying them apart every day, or flipping that open switch and leaving them open. Maybe that air tank leaked out through the stop sign, and now that it's gone it's not leaking any air? I would have thought if two tanks were draining so would the third. I need to look under in more detail. I am hoping to not purchase an air compressor for my build and tap into one of these tanks.

[JDSquared]

Originally Posted by Mountain Gnome

My TC1000 has:
Front shocks:
BlueBird = 1658525 = C2.28
Gabriel = 85971
Monroe = 65121
NAPA = NS-65121


Rear Shocks:
BlueBird = 1746163 = 02013
Gabriel = 85006
Monroe = 65459
NAPA = NS-65459
KYB = 345616


Don't know if they will fit a TC2000 with a different suspension, but maybe.


I only found Monroes for the front, and Gabriels for the rear. The Monroes are compressed air and want to extend at all times with force (but I can still overcome it by hand). The Gabriels simply resist in both directions, and stay where you leave them. Not sure about the ride in the rear, but the front is bouncy. But that is a typical TC1000 with the short wheelbase, long overhang front and rear, and seemingly short-throw in the suspension travel.

Thanks for these it's a good starting point. It wouldn't surprise me if they were the same.

[JDSquared]

Originally Posted by Mountain Gnome

My box looked spotless and new, but leaked water to the inside and all the connectors were maddly corroded. To the point my bus computer wouldnt come on.

That would suck.

[MacC]

Originally Posted by JDSquared

A question about the air tanks, if anybody is reading this. They drain out when I am gone. It used to take a few days, now overnight they are at zero. I don't have an air seat but I do have an air activated door. That doesn't lose pressure anymore though. I am not sure what I changed. Well, I took the stop sign off, which worked with the air. There is still a pressure valve (is that what it is?) in my electrical panel. I cut the hose from there to the stop sign when I removed it, but not the air to the valve. You can twist it and it forces it open and you can hear air escape. I leave it closed. I don't hear air leaking form anywhere.

So I was under the bus and looking at the tanks. I didn't get pictures, but I was trying to remember what I read here about wet tanks and dry tanks, and I can't tell what is what. There's a tank in the back, for the rear brakes, with a ball valve drain to let out water. There's two more in front under the driver seat. One seems slightly smaller diameter but not by much. They both look the same as the back. The smaller one still has air in it when I drained the water yesterday. The other is empty, so I assume one is for the door and the other the brakes.

They fill up no problem when I run the engine. No problems stopping. But overnight they empty and I can't hear air escaping at all. Any ideas or is this normal?

Just throwing something, see if it sticks. Maybe a check valve letting air go back to the compressor. If it takes 10 hours to drain off you might not hear it. Especially if your hearing is no better than mine. Even with my bad hearing I can normally hear a spool valve leaking. Air always goes to the path of least resistance. If it is a fast leak and you can't hear it it almost has to be a small leak into a big opening. Just a few thoughts.

[musigenesis]

My air tanks lose their pressure very quickly, too. I also have a problem where the low-air-pressure beeper comes on randomly for awhile, even though both tanks are full up (I have both the beeper and a wig-wag which stays in the up position). Somebody a while back suggested that I might have a faulty beeper which is also leaking air slowly.

[cadillackid]

I had an issue where my low pressure beeper came on randomly while I was driving, turned out to be the unloader valves were sticking.. and wit ha bad check valve on the air dryer.. the wet tank drained down to the On-point of the governor but the compressor wouldnt fire.. my primary and secondasry would slowly start going down as I drove.. and the system would catch itself and fire up..



it finally quit altogether and wouldnt charge the air at all.. a new governor didnt fix it.. ended up being the unloader which wasnt serviceable on the compressor in that bus (and I had just got that bus so was still learning)...



so it could be that either your governor isnt kicking back in when wet tank pressure drops.. or the unloaders.. governors are cheap and easy to replace..

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

it finally quit altogether and wouldnt charge the air at all..

Did this happen while you were out driving?

[ted@campbycanoe.com]

Musigenesis: My bus does this sometimes, too. It seems to be when the tach isn't working. I wonder if the warning buzzer is somehow tied to the cluster, which I think in my case has the cracked solder syndrome that I haven't gotten around to fixing yet....

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by ted@campbycanoe.com

Musigenesis: My bus does this sometimes, too. It seems to be when the tach isn't working. I wonder if the warning buzzer is somehow tied to the cluster, which I think in my case has the cracked solder syndrome that I haven't gotten around to fixing yet....

Huh, that's interesting, I hadn't noticed that with my bus but I'll check that out. I have (had?) the solder problem with the dash, although I haven't seen it in a few months. Sometimes for a couple of minutes, all of the gauges (except air pressure which is manual) freeze wherever they were, but that happened without the beeper coming on (at least I think it did). Next time I get the beeping I'll see if the gauges are working.

I've been waiting for the dashboard problem to come back, so I can justify buying the bluetooth connector thingamajig and putting all the dash stuff on a tablet.

[JDSquared]

I decided to not be an idiot and to pull out my windows to reseal them. Look at all that dust and dirt. The caulking comes off the bus easy but it's taking more time to get it off the window frame. Oh well. One hour or so per window and I get to spend about an hour a day on the bus. I'll be done with this part in a month.

[JDSquared]

Here's sort of a before and after shot under the bus. Two different sections. The first pic is the very rear of the bus, opposite side of yesterday's picture. I was spray painting gray primer but I don't like the coverage. The pictures from yesterday I switched up and used the rusty metal primer that I had from my floor.

The second pic is same side but I haven't worked on it yet.

The Ospho seems to look best after three days. After that a quick wash and a prime holds well. There was a part of my floor I waited on and after a week it was trying to rust again.

I'm tired already of rust and prime and Ospho falling onto my head. But now that I know it's working, and there's still only the couple of sections to rebuild, I can work on the windows in the am, go to work without being filthy, and some evenings work on the rust before going home to shower without feeling stressed about rebuilding the floor.

I feel like I'm spinning wheels and have no plan and getting nowhere. But that's not true. I bought the bus ahead of schedule. I knew there would be little progress until the spring at least. But I can't wait for longer days and more sunlight!