Diesel Mechanic Recommendations near Orlando / N. Florida

[Negsor]

Hello all,

I'm buying a 90s Commercial Passenger Coach Bus and need to either have the engine rebuilt or do a full swap. I've had ABC in Orlando quote me for the engine swap but it VERY expensive, even providing my own engine. Does anyone have any recommendations for someone that can help me with this in Orlando or northern Florida? The bus has blue smoke out of the exhaust at startup that goes away when you run the coach above idle once its heated up. It has a Cummins 8.3 in it now and a new Allison B400 Transmission.

Thanks!

[cadillackid]

if it has a smoking problem and is an 8.3 that engine should be able to be in-framed and not have to be replaced.. these are wet-sleeve engines and in most busses can be rebuilt without removal of the block..



has anyone actually diagnosed the blue smoke as engine failure? or is it possibly bad injectors or valve seals issue? someone shoul;d diagnose it before you throw it away and put a new engine in..

[Negsor]

A mechanic looked at it and said that the injectors are bad and that the engine should probably be rebuilt. The engine is a rebuilt or remanufactured engine that the current owner has 230K miles on according to him. Figured with the issues and low mileage that I may want to just scrap the engine, but you bring up a good point. Other than the Cummins place in Orlando, any recommendations on who could do the rebuild and/or the swap?

[cadillackid]

If it’s a full reman engine in there it’s possible the last firm who rebuilt it never rebuilt or replaced the injectors . Causing ring damage at 230k, wet sleeve engines are designed to be rebuilt over and over until either the block or a hard part goes out of spec. Ie so many miles that the crank needs replaced. Cams are always concern on8.3 .. I don’t know of any shops in Florida but I know most true coaches were designed where pulling and replacing engine / trans was somewhat routine.. ie greyhound busses that run 24/7 wire out engines pretty regularly and could be swapped in a matter of hours. That said coach work can be real pricey..

You might try a coach conversion board as there are quite a few Floridians who have converted coaches and might be a good pointer for major mechanic work in Florida.

[Negsor]

I'm being quoted about 70 hours of work to do the swap with a brand new (remanufactured with OEM parts) drop in motor. That seems like a lot of hours to me. At $122 dollars per hour thats not cheap!

[cadillackid]

I dont know the coach in question, model or design. but 70 hours seems high for an identical engine swap. unless there is a lot of other stuff going on too.. or maybe with their tools and equipment they need to throw 3 guys at it


with that kind of money involved it may just be better to not buy that bus and go look for another that has a good running drivetrain in it..