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Old 09-21-2016, 08:31 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Fayetteville, Ar
Posts: 10
Year: 2001
Chassis: Dana
Engine: 5.9 l Cummins turbo
Rated Cap: 30ft
Philippian the Great (2001 Thomas International)

Hello!

So thrilled to find this treasure trove of ideas and inspiration here! We just recently took the leap and bought a beautiful 30 ft. Thomas International with the 5.9 liter Cummins and Allison 545 trans. Seems like a great combo for the size of this bus and is running very well. First analysis passed all of my criteria, no significant rust on the frame or motor, no leaks, and it started and drove 130 miles home to Fayetteville, AR.
I jumped into the demolition right away as to harness some of the energy of excitement, 2 weeks later and all the seats, floor, and the pain-in-the-arse L-track are OUT! Nothing a good ole angle grinder couldn't handle.
I decided to pull the heaters and the long hoses running the length of the bus as well, I just cut the hoses right under the drivers seat, drained the coolant into buckets, and elbowed the two together as to complete the loop from the radiator(right?). After I did all that I poured most of the coolant back into the radiator.
Now, here's my first mystery to solve. I started up the bus and let it idle for maybe 15 minutes and noticed the temp gauge was reading 230 and rising slowly. I turned the motor off immediately and now I'm pondering what could be happening in there. Any ideas?
I would post some pics but they aren't uploading for some reason, I'll figure it out before the next post. So happy to join this community and share the story with you all, Cheers!

-Don't sweat the petty and things, and certainly don't pet the sweaty things.

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Old 09-21-2016, 08:57 PM   #2
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not an expert or anything, but I do not think its recommended to reuse the coolant. Sounds like there is probably air in the system that needs to be bleed out.
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Old 09-21-2016, 09:07 PM   #3
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Fayetteville, Ar
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Engine: 5.9 l Cummins turbo
Rated Cap: 30ft
Oh gee... thats what I get for trying to be conservative with my fluids. ��
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Old 09-21-2016, 10:02 PM   #4
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Join Date: May 2015
Location: Oklahoma aka "God's blind spot"
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Coachwork: 1853FC International/Navistar
Chassis: 35' Retired Air Force Ambulance
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Rated Cap: 6 souls and a driver
Welcome aboard!


I'm about 70 minutes south of Fayetteville...
Was up there Friday afternoon... Hell of a storm passed through! Suburban was slowed down to 20mph coming over the hill...

I'm 20 miles southwest of Fort Smith

I want to get back up there during Habitat for Humanities' ReStore business hours soon.
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Old 09-21-2016, 10:12 PM   #5
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Fayetteville, Ar
Posts: 10
Year: 2001
Chassis: Dana
Engine: 5.9 l Cummins turbo
Rated Cap: 30ft
Glad to hear it! We moved up here from the Conway area a few years ago and we're still lovin it!
The ReStore is a great resource! All the good stuff goes quick I imagine, but there's always something useful around.
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Old 09-21-2016, 10:14 PM   #6
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Fayetteville, Ar
Posts: 10
Year: 2001
Chassis: Dana
Engine: 5.9 l Cummins turbo
Rated Cap: 30ft
Justin, Thanks for the quick response, any idea where the bleeder valve for the coolant system would be on this thing?
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Old 09-22-2016, 05:38 AM   #7
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Rated Cap: 83
https://issuu.com/antdove/docs/cummins_b_series_engines
look on page 48-49

I will be up at my bus this weekend doing a coolant flush and will take some pictures.
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Old 09-23-2016, 08:24 PM   #8
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
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Year: 2001
Chassis: Dana
Engine: 5.9 l Cummins turbo
Rated Cap: 30ft
Wow, thanks for sharing that document, it helped tremendously. Great to see your progress! We are moving right along through the demolition process and tuning up the motor here and there as we go, one small project at a time!
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Old 09-23-2016, 09:30 PM   #9
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its not a good idea to elbow your heater lines together as it may cause the other heaters to not have enough pressure to warm up..

most busses the heaters are in parallel and the rear heater loop distamce piuts just enough resistance (along with a reduction in line size in the coil) to keep a pressure differential between supply and return to force coolant into the other heater cores..

you may be fine, oir may have no heat at idle.. nevertheless i wouldnt cover up that connection until you see if it works fine in the cold winter..

-Christopher
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Old 09-24-2016, 09:52 AM   #10
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
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Year: 2001
Chassis: Dana
Engine: 5.9 l Cummins turbo
Rated Cap: 30ft
I see... That elbow is just temporary, I plan on reconnecting the lines and running them under the steel after we have finished the flooring inside. Probably will reuse the two heaters I removed, just in different locations inside. Should there be a certain distance of line between them, or do they just need to be in parallel to get the correct resistance?
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Old 09-24-2016, 10:30 AM   #11
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got it... temporary should be no issue.. all I did was make sure they are in parallel .. my rearmost heaster has a built-in reducer on it as its effectivelly a loop-through so that created resistance.. I have some heaters far apart and some close together... and all my cores get hot... I do have a boost pump that came with the bus which im sure helps for good flow.

-Christopher
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Old 09-27-2016, 02:21 PM   #12
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
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Year: 2001
Chassis: Dana
Engine: 5.9 l Cummins turbo
Rated Cap: 30ft
Pics

Ok, getting around to uploading pics now. Me and the fam are building a home in this here machine. We're really doin it! Thanks to the creators and contributers of this forum, I hope to add whatever knowledge I possess, and/or entertainment at least.

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Old 09-27-2016, 04:06 PM   #13
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Fayetteville, Ar
Posts: 10
Year: 2001
Chassis: Dana
Engine: 5.9 l Cummins turbo
Rated Cap: 30ft
More pics


Yeah, I'm gonna leave that for a bit.


One by one, they all come out.

Bonus!

After some demolition.


Compressors on top, cool.

The only significant rust I could find on the motor components. (Brake pump & power steering pump?)

We're about to start removing wall panels and ceiling, patching and treating the rust with Ospho and rustoleum. Hoping to have this thing insulated before it gets too cold!

Cheers!

Eric, Katy and Zion

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Old 09-27-2016, 05:11 PM   #14
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Join Date: Jun 2016
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Posts: 160
Year: 1997
Chassis: Saf-T-Liner MVP ER
Engine: Cummins 5.9L Diesel Engine
Rated Cap: 83
Great seeing photos. Its a nice looking bus. The floor looks like its in good shape. Two compressors. Does that mean you have two skirt condensers as well?
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Old 09-27-2016, 05:22 PM   #15
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SWEET lil bus!
YOu really should change your user name accordingly, Rat Baptist.
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Old 09-27-2016, 06:53 PM   #16
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
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Year: 2001
Chassis: Dana
Engine: 5.9 l Cummins turbo
Rated Cap: 30ft
Quote:
Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
SWEET lil bus!
YOu really should change your user name accordingly, Rat Baptist.
Haha, of course! I'll wear it proud
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Old 09-27-2016, 08:02 PM   #17
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Fayetteville, Ar
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Year: 2001
Chassis: Dana
Engine: 5.9 l Cummins turbo
Rated Cap: 30ft
Quote:
Originally Posted by Justin McCormick View Post
Great seeing photos. Its a nice looking bus. The floor looks like its in good shape. Two compressors. Does that mean you have two skirt condensers as well?
Yep, there were two of those big #%^*'s back there. I decided to remove the one for the back, and keep the front one for OTR cooling.
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