Mullet's Thunder Bus Build

[cadillackid]

yeah my trip home next week is gonna SUCK... I left ohio on jan 30th and been in florida since... but alas I need to have busioness meetings next week.. and the next imstasll here got pushed a few weeks at least... .. god help those people in the neetings with me as im going to commandeer the thermostats in the meeting room..

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Johnny Mullet

I got lazy and even though the boss said I could take to bus to the shop to fix it, I slept in instead. We got super high winds and the temps are in the 20's. The roads are also covered in salt. I need to do the EBPV and do a complete oil change/grease job, but it can wait for a better day. I miss driving my bus and I miss working on it, but the older I get the more I hate winter.

the one thing I like doing in the cold weather is driving my busses... Bus heaters keep me oh so nice N roasty warm..

[dan-fox]

I must be strange. I retired, moved away from DC with the 13.6 million stupid drivers and the gray slush up to NH with lots more snow that stays white and people and gummints that know how to handle it, and I'm lovin' life! OTOH, it could be something about sleeping in, staying inside all day if I feel like it, and that big-a$$ wood stove over there.

[Johnny Mullet]

I brought the bus to the shop to do the EBPV bypass and noticed I had no heat on the way to the shop. When I got here I noticed the coolant tank was empty. I drained the engine oil and it looks like I have coolant in the oil! Got an oil cooler on the way...........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYdxQZVEPII

[joeblack5]

Oh man. That sucks.may be the temperature got to thevo rings / seals.. How many miles? Lucky you have access to a shop and knowledge how to fix it. How much would estimate at a your companys shop that they would charge between coolant oil filters parts and time .

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

the one thing I like doing in the cold weather is driving my busses... Bus heaters keep me oh so nice N roasty warm..

I live for this life - to each their own, but I can put on a jacket when it's cold, and only take off so many clothes when it gets hot

[peakbus]

Johnny,
Thanks for your videos. You show the reality of owning a bus and put it well in your video- warning the skoolie folks that there is more to our buses than the interior. Many of us can build out a bus interior but fall flat when it comes to engine repairs. Your how to vids are great.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Sleddgracer

I live for this life - to each their own, but I can put on a jacket when it's cold, and only take off so many clothes when it gets hot

I HATE this weather simnply because I cant walk freely outside.. and where i live it seems people expect you to wear lots of layers INDOORS. since the hjeat is never very warm... many dinners in restaraunts I spend half the dinner sitting on my hands to warm them up..



I have no body insulation whatsoever.. so winter is spent constantly in either a scratchy itchy sweater or a bulky noisy ckumsy jacket INDOORS...



driving the bus is nice becasuse I can be warm in short sleeves and I just run the heaters all the weay up... when it gets a little warm I open the driver window and leave the heat blasting..



I also Love to sit outside and work. and watch people and traffic and cities on thje move.. I cant do that in winter..



so yes everyone is different, and agreed you can only take so many clothes off.. but my little body does well in warmth as it finally doesnt shiver..




Johnny - yeah the oil cooler is the most likely culprit.. its really unusual for these engines to blow a headgasket.. the other thing thats somewhat common is the air compressor... I cant remember if you have onboard air?

I had the head crack on my compressor 2 years ago. and it put air into my water and blew all my coolant all over the ground.. but ive heard of instances where the water ends up in the oil as a result.

-Christopher

[Johnny Mullet]

I got the EBPV delete kit installed today and it was a royal pain in the you know what. I had to use the torches to heat all 4 of the turbo to exhaust bolts and use the torches to extract the 3 bolts holding the wastegate on the turbo. This job fought me most of the day, but I am glad it is done. I now hear the turob most of the time driving the bus and it's sweet!

The oil cooler was also replaced. This job was nowhere near as bad. I have no way to know if the old cooler was bad causing my milky oil. I filled the coolant and oil, ran the bus, then drained the oil another time to ensure I got most of the milk out of the engine.

I left with a full coolant jug, but by time I got home it was a gallon low. I am not sure if I still have an issue or if the cooling system had an air pocket. I will know for sure when I drive the bus tomorrow.

[roach711]

I must have gotten lucky when I rebuilt my turbo and pulled the guts out of the EBPV. All my bolts came out willingly and in the E-450 van you work on your turbo inside with the radio playing. It's the only engine work that's the least bit easy on the ford vans.

Actually, the bolts holding the turbo hot side to the center section were all laying in the engine valley. Apparently loose bolts are a thing on that garrett turbo.

[Johnny Mullet]

Checked the coolant this morning before starting the bus at 4 degrees this morning. Warmed it up and still full as I left for work. Stopped for coffee 18 miles away and checked again. Coolant still full. Drove home after work and still good to go. Hoping for the best here.

[Rivetboy]

Originally Posted by Johnny Mullet

Checked the coolant this morning before starting the bus at 4 degrees this morning. Warmed it up and still full as I left for work. Stopped for coffee 18 miles away and checked again. Coolant still full. Drove home after work and still good to go. Hoping for the best here.

The Gods of anti leakage are smiling on you.

[Johnny Mullet]

Here is the video on the EBPV replacement with the delete kit........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgOET6m_0Jg

[cadillackid]

lets hope for good things that the coolanbt in the oil is Solved!! you were mentioning a wastegate.. but that turbo is like mine and isnt waste gated.. these are actually pretty nice turbos .. the 444E got better turbos than the fords got.. they are decently big.. 56mm wheel with 1.00 AR for both turbine and compressor.. they dont do great at the lower RPM's. but a wickedwheel2 will solve that issue from what I understand.. on mine I see boost of 20-21 PSI at 2400-2500 RPM and that helps keep the EGTs in check. getting rid of the EBPV altogether is a great thing to do.. those things are the source of oil Leaks in a lot of cases..

-Christopher

[Johnny Mullet]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

lets hope for good things that the coolanbt in the oil is Solved!!

-Christopher

Drove the bus to and from work again today and the coolant level never moved. I am going to say this is a win! I am very confident this is solved because when it was using coolant, the tank emptied pretty quickly because I check my fluids constantly.

If there was an engine issue like a head gasket, I would totally repair it because I have done about 3 head removals on Powerstroke engines.

If it turned out to be a cracked block, I would not hesitate to drop in a reman or known good used engine in the bus.

The reason I say this is because for coolant to get in the oil, the leak would have to be where the oil pressure is lower than the coolant pressure when the engine is running. That is not possible. If the engine is turned off when hot, then the oil pressure goes to 0 and the still pressurized coolant would find it's way into the oil. First suspect would be the cooler or cooler gaskets. I replaced the whole thing to be sure and got lucky. I could have totally wiped out my bearings if I did not catch this as soon as I did.

[cadillackid]

The oil cooler failing is a fairly common thing on these engines.. as for pulling heads, I’ve heard of flat lifters on powerstrokes and in navistar infinite wisdom they out hydraulic lifters in a position that the only way to retrieve them is remove the head..

Your experience is perfect example for why we should check our fluids often and listen and notice signs that something is not right when the bus acts differently than we are used to.. ie you checked the coolant right away after the heater wasn’t working right and then pulled the oil cap.. yeah you caught it early! Good for sure!
Christopher

[Johnny Mullet]

Here is the video on the oil cooler replacement. So far the bus has been good to go after day 4 of driving it...........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRh-eELMqRw

[Johnny Mullet]

My bus is no longer a "Slow Turd" after the modifications I have done so far along with the help from cadillackid. If you all remember one of my first posts, it was about the bus I drove before I purchased it. I called it a "Slow Turd" because it really was. After buying the bus and then making sure it was all caught up on maintenance, these are the things that brought this bus to life........

1) Straight pipe the exhaust by removing the muffler and replacing it with exhaust pipe.

2) Meeting up with cadillackid to have the horsepower config changed from 190 to 210

3) Installing the EBPV delete kit with new pedestal and turbo outlet.

The combination of these three things was the best improvements to waking up this engine! After driving the bus all this week to work I notice how the bus accelerates faster, maintains speed better, and climbs hills like they aren't even there. I no longer hold up traffic when starting from a stop or climbing even the slightest of hills.

The best part is the sounds! The exhaust tone from the tailpipe on my bus is so freaking cool! It's not loud, but the deep tone along with the whistle of the turbo makes it turn head as I go by. Especially all the diesel pickup guys I go by. Sitting in the driver's seat the turbo can be heard all the time now! When pulling a hill that turbo whistle winding up is like music to my ears. I used to listen to the stereo to drown the engine noise. Now I leave it off so I can hear the power from this beast!

There are no more modifications planned for my bus unless issues develop. For instance, if I need to replace the injectors, I will install the Stage 1 injectors. If the turbo needs work I will rebuild it with a Wicked Wheel 2.

[cadillackid]

some of those mods are things I am going to do..

I need to get my exhaust straightened out.. I already have a non EBPV pedestal.. I have stage 1 injectors in a box I never put in yet.. plus im thinking ill WW2 the turbo like you, too..
now if Ohio weather would just make it easier to work on stuff....
-Christopher

[consti2tion]

Originally Posted by Johnny Mullet

Here is the latest video upload. I also share a story of helping someone out........

Just watched this video man, the story about the dude on the bike dude! Good on you! There aren't very many people out there worth a **** anymore but good for you doing something like that!