2009 Bluebird Cummins ISC 6.7 or 8.3?

[Farmhills53565]

I bought a 2009 Bluebird that I think is an All American RE. It was never a yellow school bus and just to the left of the door it has a small sign that says Handy Bus. The question I have is how do I know which engine I have, 6.7 or 8.3 ? I was told it was the 6.7. The parts house sold me an oil filter that was supposed to be for a 6.7 in a Bluebird school bus but it is to small. My nephew the Diesel guy told me it should take 3 gallons to change the oil in a 6.7 and it took 5 gallons due tot he large filter size. So I am wondering if I have the 8.3. What is the quickest way to tell?

[Truthseeker4449]

Originally Posted by Farmhills53565

I bought a 2009 Bluebird that I think is an All American RE. It was never a yellow school bus and just to the left of the door it has a small sign that says Handy Bus. The question I have is how do I know which engine I have, 6.7 or 8.3 ? I was told it was the 6.7. The parts house sold me an oil filter that was supposed to be for a 6.7 in a Bluebird school bus but it is to small. My nephew the Diesel guy told me it should take 3 gallons to change the oil in a 6.7 and it took 5 gallons due tot he large filter size. So I am wondering if I have the 8.3. What is the quickest way to tell?

Send us some pictures or locate the engine data plate/sticker. Some Scan tools will display which engine it is, tho not everyone has access to this on a whim.

If the engine serial number is displayed on a data plate inside the bus, you can also go to the Cummins Quickserve website, make a free account, and punch in that serial number to get all the Cummins service information whenever you like.

IIRC, the 8.3 has a much larger front cover than the 6.7

[Farmhills53565]

I am unable to determine how to upload a photo. Do I have to upload it to a website then share the link?

[Farmhills53565]

I uploaded some pics

[cadillackid]

Looks to me like an 8.3 with a broken Air-conditioner.. (belts been off for a long time)

[Truthseeker4449]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

Looks to me like an 8.3 with a broken Air-conditioner.. (belts been off for a long time)

I agree, also it appears there is an idler pulley missing for the AC. Must be a nice beefy AC system for a compressor that large.

[cadillackid]

Very well may be the whole reason the bus was sold off. I’ll maintained air conditioners can and will break costly parts.. I’ve fixed enough them that sadly were maintained incorrectly.. crappy dirty coils, one or more fans bad, so much dye and stop leak in the system that a combination of oil loss from freon leaks , overheated condensers and the like ruin one or more compressors. Those big coach style compressors can be upwards of a couple grand l.. let alone the flushing , new dryers , freon, labor and of course fixing the underlying cause that ruined it in the first place.. many a school will simply sell a 12 year old bus at this point. I replaced a compressor already this spring on a local Thomas church bus because the church maint guy had replaced 2 noisy condenser fans with cheapies from autozone that moved 1/2 the air the original SPAL fans did..

[WIbluebird]

Do the later 8.3 ISC's suffer from the front engine cover cracking under the stress of the AC compressor belt assembly? Or was that the earlier ones only?