"New" 2002 IC 36-passenger bus

[cofrari]

Just picked up my "new" 2002 36-passenger bus from a school district in Kentucky. Has 7700 hours and 164,000 miles. The GovDeals site had it listed as a DT466 with an Allison 2000 trans. A mechanic at the county was nice enough to check and top of all the fluids before I left the lot and he told me he was pretty sure it had a 2600 transmission and not a 2000. I'm just wondering if there is an easy way to tell, especially since I never heard of a 2600?


Drove the bus 400 miles today on my way to CT. It drove amazingly: quickly accelerates up to 65 MPH at about 2100 RPM. Manages to go up hills without losing any speed, and gets about 11 miles to the gallon. This is much better than what I'm used to with my 72-passenger 2004 bus with a T444e and a 2000 transmission that gets 8 miles per gallon!

[shortbus4x4]

When they say Allison 2000, they mean the series which has different sub models in that series. Hence your new bus with a 2600 Allison. PM me the last 8 of the VIN and I can look up your build sheet through Navistar. I work on a lot of school buses for my job as a mobile tech for an International dealer. Your engine is a good one.

[cadillackid]

Kentucky busses tend to be pretty good ones from what ive seen... they are often higher horsepower and design for highway / rural and hill use.....

[Dbacks2k4]

Originally Posted by cofrari

Just picked up my "new" 2002 36-passenger bus from a school district in Kentucky. Has 7700 hours and 164,000 miles. The GovDeals site had it listed as a DT466 with an Allison 2000 trans. A mechanic at the county was nice enough to check and top of all the fluids before I left the lot and he told me he was pretty sure it had a 2600 transmission and not a 2000. I'm just wondering if there is an easy way to tell, especially since I never heard of a 2600?


Drove the bus 400 miles today on my way to CT. It drove amazingly: quickly accelerates up to 65 MPH at about 2100 RPM. Manages to go up hills without losing any speed, and gets about 11 miles to the gallon. This is much better than what I'm used to with my 72-passenger 2004 bus with a T444e and a 2000 transmission that gets 8 miles per gallon!

You can pull your full build sheet by using RepairLinkShop.
https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f37/n...ase-38729.html

[cofrari]

The RepairLinkShop was an awesome tool! Thank you!



I'm going to assume the "2600" in the Engine Model represents the transmission:
INTL DT466 ST 175HP/2600 GOV
Is that a correct assumption?



My second bus is a 2004 37-footer with the following Engine Model:
T444E 195HP/195HP PEAK 2600 GOV


With a weight difference of only 4000 pounds between the two, I'm amazed at how much better the shorter bus with the DT466 performs with acceleration and hills. Does that come down to the difference between the DT466 and the T444e since the rest of the specs are so similar?

[Dbacks2k4]

Originally Posted by cofrari

The RepairLinkShop was an awesome tool! Thank you!



I'm going to assume the "2600" in the Engine Model represents the transmission:
INTL DT466 ST 175HP/2600 GOV
Is that a correct assumption?



My second bus is a 2004 37-footer with the following Engine Model:
T444E 195HP/195HP PEAK 2600 GOV


With a weight difference of only 4000 pounds between the two, I'm amazed at how much better the shorter bus with the DT466 performs with acceleration and hills. Does that come down to the difference between the DT466 and the T444e since the rest of the specs are so similar?

No, the 2600 in the engine model depicts maximum RPMs. The transmission will be listed somewhere at the bottom. See the screenshots from mine. Go to the Detail List page and then set the Vehicle Build List to "Show all"

The DT466 is an inline-6 cylinder 7.6L whereas teh T444e is a V8 7.3L. In my opinion the I-6 is a much better engine all around.

[Dbacks2k4]

I should also add, that this only shows you what the bus was originally built with. If anything has been changed out over time it won't reflect that. A lot of people change Allison AT545 Transmissions to something else. The only way to know for sure is to crawl under and look at the tag on it.

One of the buses in my fleet, for example, has a reman'd Allison 2000 under it that we had no idea about until we actually crawled in and looked at the tag.

[cofrari]

Thanks! I do see it in there:


ALLISON 2000 5-SPD LESS PTO & RETARDER