Well, now that I've decompressed from my journey... Last Thursday I flew down to Phoenix, and after a three hour delay, made it to the bus barn to pick up my new ride just before they closed. I asked if anyone could show me the ins and outs of my new bus and out came Sue, a mechanic of 17 years experience in the yard. She spent half an hour showing me all the controls and giving me pointers on the engine. She was awesome!!
Then it was a quick trip to DMV for a trip permit, and Home Depot for supplies to secure the doors. After a short night in a Mesa motel, I was on the Highway. The poor bus did great! I say poor bus, because it probably never hit the highway in 20 years of service but I put on 1400 miles getting back to Idaho and right out of Phoenix is about 10,000 feet of climbing (ups/downs)
Spent the first night onboard in a rest area in Southern UT and found out that AZ diesel bus wasn't used to cold. I had nowhere to plug in. With glow plugs, she'd fire but not stay running. After some anguish, I gave it a quick shot of starter fluid and away we went. Topped out at 7920" of elevation that morning and ran up through UT, ID and MT to Dillon, MT where I had a hotel waiting with a plug for my block heater
Made it home on day 3. The AT543 Tranny did ok despite the hills. Only slowed to 40 on the steepest grades and managed to run at 58-60 pretty well. Downhill was easy-Looks like I may have a transmission brake on the shaft behind the tranny?!
Questions for the group: A loud fan noise would cycle on intermittently on the first warm day. I assume an external transmission fan??
Can the manual throttle control on the dash be used for cruise control, or only engine idle?
Any other cold starting tips? I tried cycling the glow plugs several times as someone suggested here. I have hear starter fluid and glow plug engines don't mix well. Thought?
What RPM should I shoot for cruising at on the highway with this T444E and the AT tranny?
Thanks for all your wisdom!
Chris-
"The bus came by and I got on. That's when it all began"