2004 high mileage bus

[t-chuck]

I am looking at a 2004 (2003 chasis with 2003 dt466 engine according to serial number 470H) and an unlocked MD3060 trans with
14,000 hours
236,000 miles
The wheel wells are rusting through but otherwise rust seems minimal.
The tube that comes out of the valve cover and points down to the ground has a steady stream of white smoke (condensation?) and dripping. I am not sure if this is normal or not. There is no smoke out the tail pipe.
There is a fair bit of oil on the engine.
I drove it around on 35mph roads and the engine & trans seem to work well. It has more vibration than I expected at idle (I have not driven a bus for about 30 years though).
There is a strong smell of exhaust in the cabin.
The steering pulls to the right and is a bit hard.
Not an encouraging viewing. However it checks all of our boxes for size and features (AC works) and is local.
I feel it is overpriced and maybe getting to the point where everything will need replacing soon. Any thoughts if this is worth pursuing with a mechanic inspection? or is it obvious that there will soon be a lot of repairs due to the hours & mileage?

[musigenesis]

If the wheel wells are rusting through, you probably have a lot of rust damage elsewhere in the bus that just isn't visible yet. Maybe not this bad, but maybe it is.

[La Camioneta]

White smoke is not good - internal coolant leak. Will need some kind of major repair/rebuild/replacement.

You'll find many squawks with busses that seem in tip-top shape. From your description, this bus is unsound - engine shot, exhaust leaks, rust, alignment problem.

My opinion is that if you were given the bus for free you'd need to dump $20k into it to make it reliable enough for use.

Please save yourself the financial pain and heartbreak and search out a bus that's mechanically sound.

https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f37/d...oke-18111.html

[sportyrick]

Look elsewhere!

[t-chuck]

@musigenesis

It's definitely not to the point of yours yet, but I could probably remove the edge where the wheel well bolts to the floor with my bare hands. I've read a bit of your build and don't have the time for that now. Although metal working/welding is on my list of things to learn.
Do you have any pictures of your bus floor before the rubber & plywood were removed? Or the undercarriage? I am curious how hidden your rust problem was from above.It's definitely not to the point of yours yet, but I could probably remove the edge where the wheel well bolts to the floor with my bare hands. I've read a bit of your build and don't have the time for that now. Although metal working/welding is on my list of things to learn.
Do you have any pictures of your bus floor before the rubber & plywood were removed? Or the undercarriage? I am curious how hidden your rust problem was from above.

[Booyah45828]

Look elsewhere, or get it dirt cheap and expect to pay/perform a large amount of repair work. From your description it sounds like a lot of stuff on this is worn out and due to be repaired/replaced. Honestly, if a newbie even mentions that it's overpriced, it's probably waayyyyyy overpriced. So I'd look elsewhere for sure.

[t-chuck]

Thanks for all the input.
I pretty much decided against it, but wanted a bit of confirmation.

Is there ever a case where smoke/steam/water should come out of the valve cover vent?

[fo4imtippin]

Originally Posted by t-chuck

Thanks for all the input.
I pretty much decided against it, but wanted a bit of confirmation.

Is there ever a case where smoke/steam/water should come out of the valve cover vent?

Diesels run positive pressure in the valve cover so "some" blowby is natural.


A fast way i use is to rest the oil cap on top and it should usually slowly wiggle off. If it blows off quickly, then too much blowby for me. That's about as far as i would go on an auction bus. If you were doing a full inspection private party, then you may want to compression test the cylinders and things, but that may take a few hours and have to take things apart (more liability of who broke what).

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by t-chuck

@musigenesis

Do you have any pictures of your bus floor before the rubber & plywood were removed? Or the undercarriage? I am curious how hidden your rust problem was from above.

Unfortunately no, I took no pictures of the bus until those ones in the linked album. The only visible indications from inside of how bad the floor was were the severely rusted feet of the seats and the rust at the base of the back driver's side corner. Otherwise it looked fine (to me) and there were no soft spots anywhere in the floor. That's because the plywood was actually in very good shape and not really rotted at all - the metal underneath had rusted through so badly that the plywood was able to dry out periodically and not rot.

The rust damage was much more visible from the outside and the underside, with bubbling paint at the back corners and on the sides where the wheel wells met the interior panels. If you see that sort of thing, run - the bubbling paint is pretty much all that's left there. The trashed-out nature of the wheel wells was also obvious when looking at them from underneath, since the school district had already make a couple of crude attempts at repairing them.

[cadillackid]

I looked at a bus a few years ago that had "a little wheel well rust" when I actually crowled under it and got inside it.. the seats were loose.. and underneath ribs were rusting really badly.. on the outside it actually looked like a nice bus.. so like others say when it shows a bit then its likely worse and needs seriously investigated..



the engine is really easy to tell if its truly an 03.. it will not have EGR coolers and will have the large single computer box on the side of the engine.. if it has EGR coolers visible or doesnt have the single large computer box then its an 04+ engine..