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Old 10-24-2019, 08:30 AM   #21
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For making a short bus with a 5.9 a TC makes lots if sense.. and they are usually bargain bin buses.

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Old 10-24-2019, 08:33 AM   #22
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5.9 shorty is cool, but you can find one of those factory built. The elusive 8.3 shorty is what we're all waiting to see.
Remember when I got trolled by that shill account by "skoolie homes" aka DebbieJay? That 8.3 shorty never materialized. I still wana see one!
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Old 10-24-2019, 12:41 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brokedown View Post
Hey Steve, posted about some TC2000s with ISB and A2000 trans the other day. Are your welding skills up to the task of making them short? Evidently that combination wasn't uncommon after Y2K or so, which was news to me and will forever change the way I look at auctions. Embrace the TC, join the collective!
Ideal drive train for what I want but in the wrong bus

If it was TC1000 or CE 5-7 window I could make it play but the task of significantly shortening a TC2000 is a fair bit beyond what my skills and energy level.

Thanks for the thought.
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Old 10-24-2019, 12:46 PM   #24
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Where have all of the CE shorties gone?

It seemed like they were everywhere until I started looking at them. Now all I am finding are cutaways. Not going down that road again...

If you all see any 5-7 window CE with a 5.9 let me know.

Thanks.
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Old 10-24-2019, 04:27 PM   #25
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Location: Dawsonville, Ga.
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Engine: DT466/3060
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jctrembly View Post
MD-3060's are normally 6th gear unlocked on AmTram/International buses. Thomas Buses are normally restricted to 5 gears.
My experience has been that 6th is very seldom unlocked on a school bus. I have yet to see a pre-04 school bus that has 6 operating gears in it.
I own a International AmTran, no open 6th.
Allison built that tranny for many applications, some requiring 6th gear. In a school bus they determine 6th allows too high of a top speed, probably why that was governed to 65. Mine in 5th will do 90 easily, and Allison will not authorize an unlock.
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Old 10-24-2019, 09:21 PM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PNW_Steve View Post
Where have all of the CE shorties gone?

It seemed like they were everywhere until I started looking at them. Now all I am finding are cutaways. Not going down that road again...

If you all see any 5-7 window CE with a 5.9 let me know.

Thanks.
I always find em nov-feb. In bursts. Buy two when you find em!
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Old 10-24-2019, 09:22 PM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by o1marc View Post
My experience has been that 6th is very seldom unlocked on a school bus. I have yet to see a pre-04 school bus that has 6 operating gears in it.
I own a International AmTran, no open 6th.
Allison built that tranny for many applications, some requiring 6th gear. In a school bus they determine 6th allows too high of a top speed, probably why that was governed to 65. Mine in 5th will do 90 easily, and Allison will not authorize an unlock.
If you were buying school buses for highway trips you could totally have ordered them with the 6th gear enabled. There aren't many but I've seen school buses with the 6th gear already unlocked.
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Old 10-24-2019, 10:04 PM   #28
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just beware that is you are changing out from an AT545, you are going to need the transmission wiring harness for whichever trans you get, my wiring harness for my allison 2000 cost me $750 to have made, more than the transmission with the TCU cost me, factory price on the harness was over $1600
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Old 10-25-2019, 09:14 AM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kubla View Post
just beware that is you are changing out from an AT545, you are going to need the transmission wiring harness for whichever trans you get, my wiring harness for my allison 2000 cost me $750 to have made, more than the transmission with the TCU cost me, factory price on the harness was over $1600
The outfit that I talked to about the 2000 has the whole bus. I am hoping to get the TCM and harness from them.
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Old 10-25-2019, 11:59 AM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
If you were buying school buses for highway trips you could totally have ordered them with the 6th gear enabled. There aren't many but I've seen school buses with the 6th gear already unlocked.
So you agree with me totally.
When I refer to a school bus, I am referring to route buses. Activity buses are almost always equipted better.
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Old 10-25-2019, 12:13 PM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PNW_Steve View Post
Christopher,

I did read your thread detailing the swap. You went a little more 'top shelf' than I am looking at a used transmission and flex plate etc. But, I am looking at having someone to do the swap so it may be a wash in the end.
Steve,

I'm looking for something similar for my bus. I'm on the opposite side of Spokane from you but maybe we could get a deal having someone do 2
I'm learning a lot but not sure I want to tackle transmission replacement myself. Where are you sourcing the parts? I don't want to compete but would like to do a swap at some point.
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Old 10-25-2019, 12:27 PM   #32
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Quote:
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Steve,

I'm looking for something similar for my bus. I'm on the opposite side of Spokane from you but maybe we could get a deal having someone do 2
I'm learning a lot but not sure I want to tackle transmission replacement myself. Where are you sourcing the parts? I don't want to compete but would like to do a swap at some point.
Small world I used to live near Sagle.

I have been looking at an outfit in Spokane for as many of the parts and pieces. For bus specific pieces I would be calling Harlow's or the Bluebird dealer in Everett.
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Old 10-25-2019, 07:54 PM   #33
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the wiring harness..... -- having a scrapper pull a wiring harness is often like having a bull take the china down from the top shelf... when that thing is ripped out and a big ole ball of wires in your hand you still have to know what goes where and what came from where...



if you had the opportunity ti pull it yourself you might do better at not chopping off necessary wires...



many of the wires are TCM to trans direct.. but there are some that go to the bus chassis..


3 wires - J1939 Link from TCM toi a 3 pin connector under the hood (2002 and newer ECMs do a MUCH better job of talking engine - to - trans than previous ones).. on an older bus you may need to replace the diagnostic connector fro ma 6 pin to a 9 pin so you can incorporate the CAN low and CAN high wires in the same connector. in a newer bus it likely already has the 9 pin connector you just have to wire in the 2 pins to it..




2 power wires - 1 BAT and 1 IGN


neutral safety 1 or 2 wires

Reverse Lights 1 or 2 wires


Speed signal - 1 wire (you must reprogram the trans type in your engine ECM to 'allison MD' from Allison AT/MT. or your speedo will be flaky and the cruise control will be disabled. plus you'll likely need to reprogram the ECM for pulses per mile. as the AT545 puts out 16 and the default for an allison 2000 is 40 (can be changed in the TCM as well).


Econ mode button 1 wire
Check trans light 1 wire




im sure im missomng some stuff.. but heck its been well worth it having (in my case 6 gears) for highway cruising..
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Old 10-26-2019, 08:20 AM   #34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jctrembly View Post
I am curious on the spec of those IC/Amtram buses... Conventional, RE, FE... MD3060 or the World transmission? Rear End ratio? The Amtram RE's I've seen with the 6th gear unlocked would normally bump against the governor at 65mph. That was also my experience as I searched for the bus I bought. The rest of the conventional buses in my area from that period are all manual transmissions. When I drove school bus they were transitioning to automatic's as it's becoming harder to find folks to drive the manuals.
The Amtran/IC I have has a 6.18 rear end, limited to 55mph and governed at 2500RPM. 2004 year RE MD3060 and T444E
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Old 10-27-2019, 05:57 AM   #35
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Engine: DT466e, at545
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I’m in the process of this swap. Hope to be wrapped up this week. Need to get TCM mount bracket as well. It isolates the TCM from being grounded to the frame. I got everything I could from the donor bus. Bus is a 99 international 3800 with dt466e. I have j1708 plug(old style 6pin) the diagnostic plug will not be attached to backbone. Trans harness has round 3 wire can-low plug. I’m changing to a flat plug to match plug on ECM. Hope all goes well!
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Old 10-30-2019, 11:55 PM   #36
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Engine: 427 chevy converted to 466
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3060 Allison swap

Just got done doing the swap, a 1995 3060 6 speed WT2 hooked to a DT466 out of a dump truck shoehorned into my bus. I followed the wires from the tranny to the dash and starter and took the harness out. The nice thing about an Allison is the TCM is stand alone, the only thing it needs from the vehicle is power to work (words right from Allison). Mine had 6 wires in an 8 pin plug behind dash plus the main power plus additional wires on rear. After weeks of research I finally bought a troubleshooting manual that had the right schematic. First there is a pair of power wires going to the starter for pos and neg for main power for trans. Then 6 wires plug in behind the dash to help the vehicle and tranny communicate together. The wires are numbered so here we go: Orange A346-switched power to trans; gray 24 and 24AC came from truck into harness and went so some kind of warning light that I didn't use; white A315-do not shift; A358-dash light dimmer for shift console; A357-speedometer pulse out to dash. There are some more wires at rear of tranny that have single plugs and they are:blue323NO- neutral start; yellow323CM-neutral start; blue323NO- backup lights; yellow 313CM-backup lights. I am guessing the NO means normally open at relay and the CM means circuit made. That's it, switched power, do not shift, dimmer power for your selector, neutral start in and out, back up in and out, speedo signal. By the way Stuart-Warner has a speedo that is programmable for any trans pulse and a tach that works off hall affect or magnetic trigger pulse on engine flywheel (specific). ONE other thing...this transmission is MASSIVE, larger than your 5.9 engine, be sure you have room for it and understand your tranny mounts. Get compete harness from donor vehicle, driveshaft yoke also. Mine is early one so the TPS is an adjustable push pull cable running from throttle to sensor bolted to rear of tranny externally. Good luck.
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Old 10-31-2019, 05:53 AM   #37
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Richmondville ny
Posts: 14
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Coachwork: International 3800
Chassis: 3800
Engine: DT466e, at545
Rated Cap: 71 pass
545-2000 swap

It’s easier to do this swap than deal with this website!!! After a half hour of typing details and questions all is lost. Maybe I’ll try again. Thanks for everyones input! Got my bus running yesterday. Trans is currently in limp mode. Going to check some other connections today thanks to Sportyrick...
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Old 10-31-2019, 07:39 AM   #38
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If you check the box "remember me" then you won't lose your posts, I was having the same experience.
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Old 10-31-2019, 12:46 PM   #39
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
. Buy two when you find em!
I appreciate the suggestion but I really do like being married
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Old 10-31-2019, 09:07 PM   #40
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Richmondville ny
Posts: 14
Year: 1998
Coachwork: International 3800
Chassis: 3800
Engine: DT466e, at545
Rated Cap: 71 pass
545-2000 swap

Re-cap 99 international 3800, dt466e. Trans is out of a 2001 6 window that had a 7.3. Installation complete. Grounded wire that previously went to neutral safety switch on the 545. Eng starts no problem. No trans light illumination at all. Should have it when I start it. Correct? 545 had electronic shift module. Wires from bus harness to the old shift module not connected. 3 wires, black, yellow, green connected to ECM. 2 single gray wires from trans harness seem to correspond with bus harness. 2 wire orange plug correspond with same on bus harness. What’s not connected is a 2 wire plug that is gray and 1 brown wire. Trans in limp mode. Reverse lights work. Large plug that would got to backbone of j1939 not connected either. My bus has the j1708 6 pin. Hope to get into this tomorrow. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks for the “remember me” tip
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