Cummins 5.9L Thread

[KC10Chief]

Sorry, don't have the 5.9. But I was curious how fast your bus will cruise on the highway? What's it like with 250 horses?

[phillbus914]

I have a 91 TC2000 with a 5.9 Front engine so I don't know if this will help, my engine serial number is:

44596776

here's a picture of my motor for comparison.



I thought by definition all TC2000's were front engine. I could be wrong...

[KC10Chief]

70 huh? Maybe I'll look at a TC2000 for my next ride. What tranny do you have? I can't believe that your dealer can't find parts for a 5.9. Sounds like he's not trying hard enough.

[phillbus914]

Yeah my bus tops out at about 75-77ish... I don't usually run it that fast becuase the fuel ecomomy drops significantly above 60. It also takes a long time to get up to top speed, so I usually try to go with the flow of traffic. If there's a vehicle in the slow lane I need to pass I plan it way ahead and get over soon enough that I don't have to slow down then speed back up. I hate it when a friend drives and tries passing cars like he's driving a regular car... I would imagine that uses a lot more fuel - constant slowing and speeding back up.

I know what you mean about the turbo lag, for the first few seconds (from a dead stop) it has very little power then when the turbo winds up... look out. I usually pull away from the normal flow of traffic at a stoplight about 1/2 way though the intersection.

I'd much rather have the rear engine, seems it'd ride a lot better. It gets pretty bouncy in the back of my bus. You have to be real tired to sleep in it while going down the road, like ready to pass out tired.

[phillbus914]

woah, how crazy is this...

I just went on google and typed in "bluebird tc2000" and the 1st site that came up was my bus on skoolie... very cool. I don't know if this google is getting so smart it knows I spend hours on this site so it shows me that one 1st or if it's the same results for everyone.

I was looking for photos for rear engine tc2000's - obviously now I'm sidetracked hahaha.

[BassnTruck]

It looks like your run of the mill 12v cummins. If it has 6 valve covers sticking up it is a 12v if it has 1 long valve cover it is a 24v. If you bus parts dealer is that stupid ya can try your local Chrysler Dodge Jeep dealer. For a 12v have them look up a 97 2500 Ram diesel. For a 24v have the look up a 99-01. 98 was the split year early 98s had the 12 and the 98.5s have the 24v. As far as I have found and can tell all the motor parts are the same.

[the_experience03]

I've had the same troubles with Toyota dealers. They want a VIN number or a 10 digit part number to look stuff up. My VIN number wouldn't do them much good since from the waist up my truck is still a 1993, but that VIN isn't going to do them much good when I'm looking for kingpin trunion bearings for a 1984 solid axle. I ended up just getting a dummy VIN from a website and then assembling a part number list. The other thing is they might need the VIN to know the specific specifications of the motor based on tune. A lot of the parts should be the same, but from year to year and application to application there might be slight variances.

[Castro]

When I bought items from my local Cummins dealer they needed my engine serial number. They couldnt do make and model (mine was a 96 Ram). That ID plate was securely in place on every one of mine. Did you take it to Cummins or a local bus dealer? If not Cummins, perhaps you could take it to a Cummins shop and have them look for the ID plate. Just guessin', here.

[Elliot Naess]

Have you tried a Blue Bird dealer? They may -- or may not -- be able to find the engine number when you give them the VIN.

I did not get my engine number, but that may have been because the dealer was having trouble with the copmputer that day, so it may be worth a try. I did get much other info, like my rear end ratio. Blue Bird dealers are listed on the Blue Bird factory web site.

[dlor1]

70 mph out of a 5.9. Is anyone else getting this kind of speed? What kind of tranny and gearing do you have I got a at 545 and 4.33. I'm doin 55 on flats.

[phillbus914]

Originally Posted by dlor1

70 mph out of a 5.9. Is anyone else getting this kind of speed? What kind of tranny and gearing do you have I got a at 545 and 4.33. I'm doin 55 on flats.

I have the same ratio in my bus. My speed-o said it topped out at 57 when I first got it... but I seemed to keep up with traffic as if I was going faster... I had Jason (lapeer20m) turn up my governor for me. Now it says I top out at about 65-68 and at this speed I was passing traffic... so I hooked up my GPS, turns out my speed-o is about 10% slow so 50=55, 70=77 ect...

I don't have a tach on my bus so I don't know my RPM's at any given speed, but I used an online calculator to make sure I stayed under 3,000 - at wide open throttle.

[Jarlaxle]

i used to drive a 1998 TC1000 with a 175HP 5.9 Cummins. It would run 65 all day, and topped out over 70. 65 was about 2300RPM, with 265/70R19.5 tires & 3.54 gears. Trans was a lockup 4-speed Allison.

[phillbus914]

I think my 5.9 is the 190hp model... I'm not sure, but I'm almost positive that it's not 250hp... it's not that fast.

[the_experience03]

What are people finding their 6CT's spec'd at? It seems to me that if you were shooting for 250 horsepower in a bus you would probably go with the 8.3 just for longevity. Then again, there are those guys making 400-500 horsepower out of the old 12 valve Dodge trucks and they seem to have reliability from the flywheel forward. Behind that....perhaps not so much.

[hikertrash]

Hey. I'm looking to buy a new bus, diesel this time and have been comparing different engines etc. I don't know much about them but Im starting to get feel for people's preferences on here. Just curious about people's thoughts on one particular bus. It's a 1992 Ford Cab Blue Bird body with a B6000 (don't even know what that means) 5.9 Cummins and an auto allison trans. The body is in mint condition and it only has 125,000 km on it. Everything runs well. Seems like a good combo to me.

My questions are 1. the guy is asking $5,300 (Canadian, not that it matters much with the dollar now) for it good deal? or can I find something comparable at an auction cheaper?
2. The bus is about 25 ft long and was wondering about the power of the engine and whether or not the quote of 10- 14 mpg that I was given is accurate. I suppose there's alot of variables there.
3. My intention is to run off of WVO and while Im familiar with the set up I haven't heard whether certain engines lend themselves better to conversion than others.
Any opinions would be appreciated since he lives 8 hrs into the middle of nowehere and I have to take time off work and drop a few hundred for gas just to see it
Thanks.

[crazycal]

My 8.3 is 250 hp.