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Old 05-09-2016, 01:35 PM   #1
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Georgia
Posts: 2,264
Year: 2001
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: IH
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 14
Another New Member

Well, I did it. I finally joined the forum, having just picked up my first bus. Specs: '87 International 9 Liter IH engine, 131,xxx miles Allison AT545 (I think) Hydraulic brakes, Dayton wheels (22.5's up front, 20's in the back) Former church bus, originally a school bus. Purple/green/white paint. 5.38 gearing Carpenter body, 22 seats still in place (and about 75" headroom, as I am 6' and had 2-3 inches headroom) Front & Rear aftermarket A/C, presumably added by the church, both use R134 refrigerant and both blow cool. Tires are ... OK. Lights mostly work, some of the marker/clearance lights are out, one tail light out, dash lights and high-beam indicator are out. Left turn signal and 4-way flashers are out, but right turn signal works. Flashing lights still in place and said to work (did not check myself, yet). The church seemed to really keep up the maintenance on it - at least the mechanical stuff. Belts, hoses, coolant, oil and fluids all looked good. Drove it around the lot, transmission seems to shift fine and engine pulls strong. No smoke observed, I did smell a little "burnt diesel" the first minute or so, but this may be due to it sitting and the fuel not exactly being fresh. Spoke with the fellow who drove it to GA from SC, he says it drove out fine and had no problems, though only had a top speed like 55 on the road. Parking brake seemed a little weak, but we think adjustment may help it out. At some point I may re-gear the axle, but for now the original gears will get me around. Not sure if the speedo can be reprogrammed, or if it's a mechanical gauge. Also soon to come is removing the lettering and giving it a bath!

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Old 05-09-2016, 02:30 PM   #2
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Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 447
Year: 1988
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Chassis: International
Engine: Navistar 5.9 Diesel
Rated Cap: A butt-load...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad_SwiftFur View Post
Well, I did it. I finally joined the forum, having just picked up my first bus. Specs: '87 International 9 Liter IH engine, 131,xxx miles Allison AT545 (I think) Hydraulic brakes, Dayton wheels (22.5's up front, 20's in the back) Former church bus, originally a school bus. Purple/green/white paint. 5.38 gearing Carpenter body, 22 seats still in place (and about 75" headroom, as I am 6' and had 2-3 inches headroom) Front & Rear aftermarket A/C, presumably added by the church, both use R134 refrigerant and both blow cool. Tires are ... OK. Lights mostly work, some of the marker/clearance lights are out, one tail light out, dash lights and high-beam indicator are out. Left turn signal and 4-way flashers are out, but right turn signal works. Flashing lights still in place and said to work (did not check myself, yet). The church seemed to really keep up the maintenance on it - at least the mechanical stuff. Belts, hoses, coolant, oil and fluids all looked good. Drove it around the lot, transmission seems to shift fine and engine pulls strong. No smoke observed, I did smell a little "burnt diesel" the first minute or so, but this may be due to it sitting and the fuel not exactly being fresh. Spoke with the fellow who drove it to GA from SC, he says it drove out fine and had no problems, though only had a top speed like 55 on the road. Parking brake seemed a little weak, but we think adjustment may help it out. At some point I may re-gear the axle, but for now the original gears will get me around. Not sure if the speedo can be reprogrammed, or if it's a mechanical gauge. Also soon to come is removing the lettering and giving it a bath!
If it wasn't for the engine, I'd say you have my doppleganger!
Well....yours is a carpenter, mine is a ward...so there's that, too!
I think top speed of 55mph is pretty normal for the at545, mine does the exact same, downhill, tailwind, and another bus pushing!

Also thinking about chaning gears in the rear diff. in the near future, but first i want to see if driving it like this is really that bad.

After all, increased speed does increase wear and tear on everything else...BUT...long trips can become reeeeeally long!

Pics, please!
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Old 05-09-2016, 03:19 PM   #3
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Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
Post some pics!

Haven't seen any 9L's on here ever. You're the first as far as I know.
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Old 05-09-2016, 11:23 PM   #4
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Join Date: May 2016
Location: Georgia
Posts: 2,264
Year: 2001
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: IH
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 14
Having done my homework beforehand, I found these 9L engines were used by IH from the late 70's until the late 80's (it was actually a dieselized version of the 549 gas engine from the late 60's), and was intended as a direct competitor against the 3208 Cat motor. It was during a time when bus builders were trying to wean school districts from gas engines, but did not want to spend a lot of extra money on engines like the DT466, a "poor man's diesel", if you will. Not sure how many buses had these engines, but they were popular in municipal trucks at the time too. Early versions had very high head gasket failure rates, later redesigned head gaskets remedied the problems. I had the local IH guru run the VIN; the service history showed head gaskets replaced (date and mileage unlisted), fuel tank crash cage installed under warranty recall, and at some point, turn signal switch replaced. Speaking of which, I did all the light checking during daytime, making the marker/clearance lights hard to see, so I went back at night to check again. I have 1 (out of 8 ) dome lights out, several of the 12 marker/clearance lights out, and the left "upper" tail/brake light out ... I had checked it earlier and had it working, but I'm going to replace *ALL* the 7" tail lights, as the plastic housings have deteriorated over time, and LED ones draw much less current. I thought the left turn signal and hazard lights were inoperative, but checking them at night revealed it is only the indicator is out (along with the high-beam indicator and instrument lights) ... the lights over the heater and A/C switches work, though. So I have an instrument cluster to disassemble and lights to check. The amber/red alternating flashers still work, one of the red ones is out. I probably won't ever need or use these, but they're still present and functional. Now ... how do I do pictures?


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Old 05-10-2016, 02:57 AM   #5
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Georgia
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Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: IH
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 14
Let's see if I can do photos.










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Old 05-10-2016, 03:03 AM   #6
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Texas
Posts: 218
Year: 1997
Coachwork: AmTran
Chassis: Genesis
Engine: DT466
Rated Cap: 84
Pictures!
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Old 05-10-2016, 05:48 AM   #7
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Andrews,Indiana
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Year: 1991
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: AARE
Engine: 3116 Cat 250hp
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No pictures
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Old 05-10-2016, 06:27 AM   #8
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Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: EHT New Jersey
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Year: 2003
Coachwork: AmTran
Chassis: International 3000RE
Engine: T444E/AT545
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You may want to host them on imgur, Photobucket or Flickr. Google sometimes gives the site agita.
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Old 05-10-2016, 11:25 AM   #9
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: May 2016
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scooternj View Post
You may want to host them on imgur, Photobucket or Flickr. Google sometimes gives the site agita.
......... Odd that I'm seeing them just fine? I'll see about hosting them somewhere else later this evening.
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Old 05-10-2016, 11:36 AM   #10
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: SW New Hampshire
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Originally Posted by Brad_SwiftFur View Post
Odd that I'm seeing them just fine? I'll see about hosting them somewhere else later this evening.
Is the embedded URL something like "C:\bus pics\img01234.jpg"? In which case you will see them just fine and be the only person in the universe who can. The picture hosting sites are easy enough to make friends with, and there's a HOWTO around here somewhere.
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Old 05-10-2016, 11:49 AM   #11
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Georgia
Posts: 2,264
Year: 2001
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: IH
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 14
Let me try adjusting the Google album settings, see if I can make the links publicly view-able, I forgot to change it from private.
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Old 05-10-2016, 12:45 PM   #12
Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Johnstown, PA
Posts: 248
Year: 1999
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Chassis: TC 2000
Engine: 5.9
Rated Cap: 83
Hi and welcome to the best site on the net. If you go to the conversions and tutorials section the second post down tells you how to post pics. You have to upload them to photobucket etc. then to here. Good luck to you.
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Old 05-10-2016, 01:01 PM   #13
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Georgia
Posts: 2,264
Year: 2001
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: IH
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 14
I have a fair grasp on posting/linking pics as I've done it on other sites, just haven't used Google for hosting before.
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Old 05-10-2016, 06:10 PM   #14
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Texas
Posts: 218
Year: 1997
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Chassis: Genesis
Engine: DT466
Rated Cap: 84
They worked last night, but now are gone. Dunno. It was a nice looking bus.
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Old 05-16-2016, 10:00 PM   #15
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Georgia
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Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 14
It's been a few days since my last check-in. Not much to report, so far. Much of the lettering has been removed and some of the marker/clearance lights have been checked/fixed. I plan to replace them with LED versions as finances permit ... and I don't want to tie up a lot of money in it until I get the title sorted out. The tail/brake lights also need replacement. One wasn't working and when I took it apart to check, the back of the housing started falling apart due to age and deterioration. All four 7" lights will be replaced with red LED versions, the turn signals will be wired up for the tail lights to come on with the rest (the originals were amber and did not have/use the tail light portion). I want maximum visibility and redundancy when running at night. The reverse lights and smaller lower brake lights will eventually go the way of LED's, but they work for now so it's a lower priority. The rear clearance lights I have not had a chance to check yet; I will do that when I remove the rear lettering. The instrument cluster (I/C for short) lights are out, the left turn and high beam indicators were out but have since been replaced/fixed. I took out the I/C to check the lights (there are 6), did not have my volt meter with me at the storage lot, but using a bulb to test, was not reading voltage at the I/C plug. Before I went too far, I opened up the switch panel. Found evidence that some mice had a home there at some point (evidence removed); checked the rest of the wiring and re-routed a couple to prevent chafing but all else looked good. Also traced the wiring and found the I/C lights on a separate lead from the dimmer switch, so I figured that was a good place to check for voltage before getting too far into the I/C and plug for it. I figure these old buses were fairly straightforward and there's no point looking for a complicated problem when I have yet to check the simple one. I also want/need to replace the oil pressure sending unit, as it shows 100+ psi of oil pressure when starting up (my Volvo did the same thing, the oil pressure sensor was indeed the fault). I took out one of the seats (by myself), which involved being under the bus and trying to hold the tops of the bolts; this will require 2 people for any form of efficiency. But I got some needed measurements and that was my short term goal for that endeavor. Also, the parking brake was kind'a weak, I looked up how to adjust it (driveshaft brake), the knob on the handle was already at its limit and the threaded portion of the linkage had about 1/2" left ... I ran the linkage to its limit as well. The parking brake seems tighter now. Haven't tested it on a slope yet. It's slowly getting there.
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Old 05-17-2016, 08:22 PM   #16
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Georgia
Posts: 2,264
Year: 2001
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: IH
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 14
Quick update - I took a volt meter with me today and messed with the instrument cluster a bit more. Turns out the I/C lights are not on the same circuit as the switch panel lights, but are dimmed with the headlight switch. I did get some of them to work (and did not mess with the others), so that's checked. All that may be moot, as I may have other plans anyway. More to come.
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