New to Skoolies

[RevMark]

Just got bus yesterday, started removing seats today. Lots of hard work but it is coming along. Only four seats total so far, but got all other connections but the four bolt holding to the floor. Grinding with cutoff blades in my grinder, taking about ten minutes per seat, sill breaking a few disks at this point but getting better all the time.

[Mark M]

Originally Posted by RevMark

Just got bus yesterday, started removing seats today. Lots of hard work but it is coming along. Only four seats total so far, but got all other connections but the four bolt holding to the floor. Grinding with cutoff blades in my grinder, taking about ten minutes per seat, sill breaking a few disks at this point but getting better all the time.

Congratulations on your new bus RevMark. Looks like quite a project. Do you need a class 2 license to drive it? Are there any inspection requirements in TX to certify road-worthiness after the modification? Mark

[Doktari]

Welcome. How many pairs of vice grip pliers do you have?. I took all 4 of mine under the bus and clamp them to seat nuts then go inside and unbolt those bolts. Removing the seats went quickly this way. Only a few of the bolts needed cutting on my West Coast bus. No rust.
Enjoy your bus.

[Native]

Nice looking bus you got there. Any idea what engine and transmission it has?


How did it handle on the trip home?


Where did you get it?

[RevMark]

Originally Posted by Mark M

Congratulations on your new bus RevMark. Looks like quite a project. Do you need a class 2 license to drive it? Are there any inspection requirements in TX to certify road-worthiness after the modification? Mark

My understanding is that if vehicle is over 26,000 then I will need a Class B license to operate. Will work to get reclassified to a motorhome after conversion, normal Texas safety inspection before registering. I believe I will have to have an official weight recorded before as well.

[RevMark]

Originally Posted by Doktari

Welcome. How many pairs of vice grip pliers do you have?. I took all 4 of mine under the bus and clamp them to seat nuts then go inside and unbolt those bolts. Removing the seats went quickly this way. Only a few of the bolts needed cutting on my West Coast bus. No rust.
Enjoy your bus.

I have started by removing all the bolts from the inside I can, I have mostly been removing by cutting with a cutoff disk, almost all of mine have slipped, I still try them first, I have not climbed under at this point.

[RevMark]

Originally Posted by Native

Nice looking bus you got there. Any idea what engine and transmission it has?


How did it handle on the trip home?


Where did you get it?

Pretty sure its a cummings engine, not sure of size yet, Allison tranny, the drive is sloppy, but I have driven worse vehicles, It was original to this town school district, got it from someone that purchased it and used it to transport kids from school to after school programs and field trips, they retired three years ago in favor of vans.

[CHEESE_WAGON]

Originally Posted by RevMark

Pretty sure its a cummings engine, not sure of size yet, Allison tranny, the drive is sloppy, but I have driven worse vehicles, It was original to this town school district, got it from someone that purchased it and used it to transport kids from school to after school programs and field trips, they retired three years ago in favor of vans.

Pics would help to ID, but a Cummins engine is likely a 5.9 or 8.3. If by "drive is sloppy" you mean there is slop in the steering wheel, it needs attention very soon, because that is only going to get worse and make the bus unsafe to drive. More than 10% play in the steering (ex. 2 inches on a 20-inch steering wheel) means there is severe component wear. Check out my pre-trip safety inspection thread.

https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f9/re...ist-33026.html

[RevMark]

Will do, thanks for the safety tips, not sure if these help, I have looked and the info on the plackards inside the bus don's seem to help.

[CHEESE_WAGON]

Pics aren't detailed enough, at least through my downloads. The decals I've seen on the interior roof cap will usually give this info... Are there E, ENG or T, TRANS entries? A 2000 is likely a 24V 5.9 or the 8.3. The injection pump will tell the tale from my understanding. A 2000 5.9 has the later ISB pump, an 8.3 will have the ISC CAPS-style pump.

The trans is a bit trickier. A digital display and touchpad is easy - an MD3060 and the holy grail. T-shifter can be AT545, MT643, 1000, 2000 series. Shift pattern on shifter and looking at the trans can point to which one.

[RevMark]

SO the tranny is the Allison AT545, the Engine designation is ER1SB190, yes I am pretty sure 24 volt as there are two batteries but I have not figured out if they are in parallel or not.

I have not found anything about the engine using ER1SB190 in any search.

Thanks for your reply!

[CHEESE_WAGON]

24V is 24 valve with a Cummins. Two 12V batteries in series would be 24 volts, Two 12V batteries in parallel would double the amperage. But that's irrelevant on the engine. The 5.9 only came in a 12 valve version until 1998-1999, that year the 24 valve came out. Yours could be the 24 valve version. A pic of the injector pump will tell whether your engine is the 5.9 24 valve or the 8.3.

[CHEESE_WAGON]

Hold the phone... mystery solved... just found this from a similar bus. Apparently ER1SB190 is a 190 hp 5.9 24 valve Cummins, according to their link selling an engine with the same designation, pulled from a 2000 Thomas bus like yours...

[Native]

Go to your local Freightliner dealer with your VIN. They can print out an information sheet from when it was made. While there, ask them to set up a DTNA login as well as a login to the TBB Portal. One more bit of information ... call the Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp Hotline @ 800-385-4357 and ask them to send what they can on your newly acquired vehicle. They may also change the registered ownership to you so you get any recall notices.