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Old 03-23-2016, 11:31 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
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Year: 1997
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Air Compressor Troubles!

Hi,
I've got a decent problem going on with my compressor. I was headed to take the bus in for emissions and suddenly lost power steering. I managed to get the bus off the road, but then lost most all of the air pressure in the brake system.

Upon further research, I figured out that the compressor wasn't charging at all. I removed the compressor (Bendix TU FLO 550) and found that the entire drive shaft was snapped off. I'm assuming that this compressor is done for...thoughts? I turned it over several times and there is a lot of movement inside and several shards of metal came out.

My main concerns/questions now are:
1)Why did the shaft break so violently at that point? And where to I look next?
2)What's the best place to get a reman'd compressor? I see them on eBay, but is that the best place?
3)What else may need replacing while I'm at it, just to be safe?

You can see my gear and broken shaft below!

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Old 03-23-2016, 11:46 PM   #2
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Old 03-24-2016, 04:11 AM   #3
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Jon,

I take it the shaft goes to the compressor, correct? If so (I've never worked on a DT 466 yet), then if it's like other compressors I'm familiar with you're better off getting a replacement and reconnecting the gear to that one. Forget about rebuilding that one altogether. My suspicion is you need to do an oil sample from the engine to see if you have shavings in the oil pan coming from somewhere. Get a kit, get the sample, and send it off to be analyzed and make your next best move from there. My gut instinct is telling me you may have serious engine trouble. Compressors usually don't just don't fill up with shavings and lock up without something else going wrong inside the engine first.

Just my two cents.

M1031
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Old 03-24-2016, 10:35 AM   #4
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Thanks! It seemed like the shards were pieces of the inside of the compressor. And, yes the shaft is from the compressor itself. It sounds like it got gutted inside there. The engine ran just fine after the compressor failed, which was surprising...Thanks again.
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Old 03-24-2016, 01:11 PM   #5
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i've just replaced (my mechanic) the compressor, air governor, and the air dryer.

the compressor shaft breaking makes sense to me. i would check your air dryer and make sure its working properly after you replace the compressor. in my limited knowledge of the system, i believe a faulty dryer could cause failure of the compressor by never cycling the compressor off. a compressor piston could have seized...something downline in the air system. or it just could be old.

i don't think the compressor shares engine oil. but i don't know for sure.

if you can service your air dryer, i'd do that now, but you wouldn't know anything until the compressor is replaced.
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Old 03-26-2016, 12:56 PM   #6
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I'd replace it with a reman off ebay or amazon and the change engine oil.

Some compressors use engine oil for lubrication and some use engine coolant for cooling as well.

The governor is what controls the compressor. It also causes the dryer to purge. I doubt that it stuck and caused this to happen because there should be a relief valve on the compressor to prevent such a thing. There are also similar protection valves at a lower psi on the dryer and the tanks as well.

Most likely it was a lubrication issue or it was just plain wore out.

Check the governor for correct operation when installing the new parts.

I'd also recommend changing the desiccant filter in the dryer and flushing the lines between the two out as well.
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