Control Switch Labeled Pump and veggio oil tales

[nyrockingchairs]

There is a rocker switch on my driver control panel labeled Pump and is an on/off switch. Just wondering if anyone has a clue what this drives. Bus is 19 years old if that helps.

We took our first camping trip this weekend up to Pulaski, NY on Lake Ontario and the in-laws slept on the bus with us and though it was great. Everything worked out well. Coming back on Sunday we drove through the rain and found that the bus leaks around the wipers so I have to take those out and do some kind of gasket sealer on them.

Only hiccup was my alternative fuel (veggie oil) pump didn't want to pump anything during my systems check on Thursday afternoon, so once we were at the campground Friday afternoon I pulled the fuel hose off the pump and things ran fine after that, my best guess was an air pocket trapped in the pump somehow.

We are mixing veggie oil into the main 40-gallon diesel tank at a ratio of about 1:4, helps save some on diesel fuel fill-ups, we still switch over to 100% veggie oil once we are all warmed up. I am now mixing veggie oil into my diesel Volkswagen and my diesel Kubota tractor at the same 1:4 ratio, saves me about $15 a week in fuel costs, more when the snow starts to fly and I am plowing and snow-blowing every day or so.

Converting the VW over completely is a waste of time because it gets 50 MPG and my commute is only 32 miles one way, so there is not enough distance to warrant switching back and forth. During next summer I will try ramping up the oil/diesel ratio to a 50/50 mix and then back down to the 1:4 during the cooler months. Probably be down to a 10% mix during the winter months. I am getting about 15 gallons of Veggie oil a week from my local diners.

My male German Shephard, all 90 lbs of him, decided the best spot on the bus (while camping) is sitting in the driver's seat. He can see all around and keep tabs on everyone. He sat there most all morning Sunday since it was raining. Will get pics of the bus and camping, and the bus cake from July, posted as soon as I can get to it.

[the_experience03]

I think that switch is probably the auxiliary engine coolant pump to get the hot stuff to the rear heater core without overstressing the belt driven unit on the engine. That is what the switch on mine that was labeled the same was for.

[nyrockingchairs]

Makes sense. I was kind of under the impression that switching on any of the heater switches would turn on that pump. I don't know where I got that impression, I think it was when I looked at that pump and saw about half a dozen wires coming to it and figured maybe they wired all the switches to it in some way rather than a bus bar behind the control panel.

[KC10Chief]

Mine has a pump switch too. It pumps the hot antifreeze to the rear heater and it separate from the heater switches. My pump is on the firewall up high on the passenger side. I'm going to be removing my heater in the back though. I'm sure that's gonna be messy!

[lapeer20m]

after removing rear heaters in 3 different buses, i've decided that the least messy way to do it is to remove a few feet of the protective metal covering along the floor that the coolant lines run inside of (from the heater toward the front of the bus) This gives enough movement of the coolant lines and allows you to pick the heater up higher than the motor. Last one i did i set the heater core on top of a new clean 40 gallon garbage can. That made it so the lines were higher than the motor so they would not leak much coolant, and also made it so the coolant that was inside the heater core had a place to go besides on the floor.

[nyrockingchairs]

I had not given much thought to removing the heater. I did locate the pump when I first got the bus, but figured it ran no matter what heat element was turned on, didn't notice the "Pump" switch until recently.

As far as the rear heater I was planning to just build a platform over it and maybe build in a dresser on top of that platform. I did not want to remove it since we are planning to use the bus for driving to my parents in the winter months and would like the heat back there while driving. Better to use the inherent hot water systems than stress the electrical system and use the space heaters, which could fly around when we hit a bump or something.