Anybody tried repairing windows?

[kromboy]

I'm planning to keep a few of the bus windows, but the ones I want to keep happen to have the plastic latch stuck, the plastic piece itself is fine and none of them are damaged or cracked. But it just won't bounce back on one side, which means the window will only latch on one side and droop on the other.

Has anybody tried to fix skoolie windows? I'm thinking of just spraying some WD-40 at it and clean around it best I can, but I'm open to ideas that'll address the issue more permanently.

 

[nikitis]

This is an issue I have not tracked yet but will have to before long myself. I have very unique windows for some reason. They are built different than any I've seen on YouTube and even mount differently so if I break one I'm screwed.

 

[desrtdog]

I'm planning to keep a few of the bus windows, but the ones I want to keep happen to have the plastic latch stuck, the plastic piece itself is fine and none of them are damaged or cracked. But it just won't bounce back on one side, which means the window will only latch on one side and droop on the other.

Has anybody tried to fix skoolie windows? I'm thinking of just spraying some WD-40 at it and clean around it best I can, but I'm open to ideas that'll address the issue more permanently.

Are you pulling the windows out and then reinstalling them? If so, you should be able to take the slider portion out of the frame by unscrewing a couple of frame screws at the top, then possibly repairing the stuck latch.

I took the slider out of one of my windows, so can look at it tomorrow to see what needs to be done to access it…

 

[desrtdog]

…Just adding another comment/suggestion… For the windows that you are going to keep, I would highly recommend removing them, cleaning all the old butyl rubber and sealant, and then reinstalling them with new seals. I believe there are a number of posts about the woes of leaky windows, so better to have seals that you know are good than having to rip out finished walls/carpentry to reseal after the fact…plus it makes it easier when painting the bus (less masking)…Also, you can then pick the good windows for reinstallation…

 

[DeMac]

Musical Chairs ....er Windows

I'm planning to keep a few of the bus windows, but the ones I want to keep happen to have the plastic latch stuck, the plastic piece itself is fine and none of them are damaged or cracked. But it just won't bounce back on one side, which means the window will only latch on one side and droop on the other.

Has anybody tried to fix skoolie windows? I'm thinking of just spraying some WD-40 at it and clean around it best I can, but I'm open to ideas that'll address the issue more permanently.

-------------

DesertDog made a couple of good suggestions. I agree with his offering. You really ought to remove, reseal and then reinstall your best windows into the locations where you want to keep windows.


Our IC bus, Freddy D has a few windows that don't open and close very well. We (TC) removed each of them and shuffled the worst ones to the places where we intend to delete them and/or just won't use them often.

All of the windows which operated smoothly were removed and placed where we'll open and close them the most. To these windows, added silicone lubricant to help prolong the life of the windows' moving parts.


TC (an old lady) removed a few windows at a time. Not three or four in a row. She chose one bad window, one good window, and finally, one window located in the space where we would install the bad one.

Sometimes, this required four windows to be out at once.

Each time, TC would scrape and clean the old rubber, install high quality clay based butyl, then reinstall the windows.

A rolling cart helped move the workspace from one to end to the other as she worked.

While our original goal was to just move a couple of windows from one location to another, the work wasn't hard so she continued until she completed all 30 windows.

 

[kromboy]

I was hoping I wouldn't have to, but that seems to be the way, I'll have to take it down so I can check the springs and clear out any gunk.

Are you pulling the windows out and then reinstalling them? If so, you should be able to take the slider portion out of the frame by unscrewing a couple of frame screws at the top, then possibly repairing the stuck latch.

I took the slider out of one of my windows, so can look at it tomorrow to see what needs to be done to access it…

 

[kromboy]

Thanks for all the pictures, that helps visualize what's ahead.

One weird thing about my bus is.. It has at least 4 different window sizes, I'll have to measure them and figure out which ones are swappable.

I guess the good news is that none of them are actually broken, after searching the forums a bit, it seems like the latch cracking and breaking is a common scenario, perhaps the bus having lived its life in the PNW prevented it from extreme heat and sun.

-------------

DesertDog made a couple of good suggestions. I agree with his offering. You really ought to remove, reseal and then reinstall your best windows into the locations where you want to keep windows.


Our IC bus, Freddy D has a few windows that don't open and close very well. We (TC) removed each of them and shuffled the worst ones to the places where we intend to delete them and/or just won't use them often.

All of the windows which operated smoothly were removed and placed where we'll open and close them the most. To these windows, added silicone lubricant to help prolong the life of the windows' moving parts.


TC (an old lady) removed a few windows at a time. Not three or four in a row. She chose one bad window, one good window, and finally, one window located in the space where we would install the bad one.

Sometimes, this required four windows to be out at once.

Each time, TC would scrape and clean the old rubber, install high quality clay based butyl, then reinstall the windows.

A rolling cart helped move the workspace from one to end to the other as she worked.

While our original goal was to just move a couple of windows from one location to another, the work wasn't hard so she continued until she completed all 30 windows.

 

[cadillackid]

ive repaired plenty of bus windows.. I have all my original windows on all the busses.. the plastic latches are still made for most of them.. TAC bus parts sells a good number of different ones..


you need to pull the window out of the bus and disassemble it.. the frames are aluminum and just screwed together..the sash comes out of the frame and you can replace the latching mechanism..


IC busses had lots of window issues.. most times it stemmed around them not being properly closed and then the sash frames bending in the (one latch latched and other not) tilted position.. those you can take apart, straighten and put back in..



I use a 3M small beaded putty-like butyl product.. its a round snake i put around the opening then put my window back in.. ive not had them leak using this product.. it stays somewhat plyable so wont harden and crack like caulk often will...



and then when closing windows do it the right way and make sure both latches snap, and dont just drag the windows up like a lot of school bus drivers do.. squeeze the latches and push the windows up.. dragging the windows closed wears down the metal tang that latches into the frame..

 

[Malevolence4845]

This is an issue I have not tracked yet but will have to before long myself. I have very unique windows for some reason. They are built different than any I've seen on YouTube and even mount differently so if I break one I'm screwed.

How do yours mount? I know our rigs seem to be similar when it comes to the bus body itself. I'll give you some of my complete windows, I have probably 12-15 intact ones sitting in a storage bay right now. They serve me no purpose. I just hate scrapping things that aren't broken.

 

[nikitis]

How do yours mount? I know our rigs seem to be similar when it comes to the bus body itself. I'll give you some of my complete windows, I have probably 12-15 intact ones sitting in a storage bay right now. They serve me no purpose. I just hate scrapping things that aren't broken.

Yeah I think you and I do have the same windows. We talked about it before. I have the 3 screws on each side with the 1 hidden screw above under the seal type but yeah I'll take some of them so you don't have to scrap them. If you aren't coming to the Octoberfest event this weekend, I may can drive up to meet you after it since you are kind of on the way for me on the way back from there.

 

[Malevolence4845]

If you aren't coming to the Octoberfest event this weekend, I may can drive up to meet you after it since you are kind of on the way for me on the way back from there.

I'd love to go but it's deer season so I'll be out trying to fill my freezer all weekend, but I'd be more than happy to meet you somewhere and hand them off. I live right off I-75 essentially. I can also tell you key areas to avoid from Chattanooga Tn to Atlanta if you aren't familiar with the area , I'll send you my cell number in a PM

 

[kromboy]

So I took one window out just to test it out, wasn't too bad, just had to find a robertson bit to take the screws out and cleaned her up nicely.

Now the latches work just fine, but even when I push the windows up all the way, it latches like 1/8 inch down from the top? There is a piece of metal guard that sticks up from the window so it doesn't leave an air gap, I will weather strip it to get a good seal I suppose.

But the way it is right now, makes me wonder if that's just how bus windows are supposed to be? Before one side would slide all the way to the top and the other side would droop down like quarter of an inch, now they're both level, I just didn't think it's supposed to sit a little lower. Not a big deal, just a weird observation I made, maybe I missed something during the reassembly.

Overall it took me like 15 minutes going slowly, I can probably knock out all the windows in one day when I feel like tackling it all, then I gotta figure out the window deletes for the ones I'm deleting.

Thanks for the tips everyone!

 

[cadillackid]

thats bluebird windows.. my red bus does the same.. but out of my 3 busses those are the only windows which dont leak when i wash the busses.. the weather stripping is designed to seal without being smashed into oblivion.. the carpenter and superior feel like their windows fit tighter however they sash the weather strip completely and have probably destroyed it over the years...


but really school bus windows are not designed to be weather tight.. if you a=want good weather tightness put in RV windows. (im *NOT* a fan of hosue windows in a bus)..

 

[kromboy]

That's good to know! Thanks for confirming my suspicion.

Lol that brings me to my next point, only about 5-6 of my windows actually sit a little lower, rest of them are either stuck all the way up or drooping on one side, I guess they all need a good cleaning.

thats bluebird windows.. my red bus does the same.. but out of my 3 busses those are the only windows which dont leak when i wash the busses.. the weather stripping is designed to seal without being smashed into oblivion.. the carpenter and superior feel like their windows fit tighter however they sash the weather strip completely and have probably destroyed it over the years...


but really school bus windows are not designed to be weather tight.. if you a=want good weather tightness put in RV windows. (im *NOT* a fan of hosue windows in a bus)..

 

[Diesel bus fun]

Some of my windows on a IC bus 2010 didn’t latch on one side …. After taking window out & moving some around, they kind of rejust for latch to work better ….. keeping EXIT Windows cut bus down down from 12 windows to five windows ….. Exit windows have a better frame for better Latching, but other windows has a better way to put window screens on outside of frame

 

[hcarter951@gmail.com]

Tool for Ic windows

Stumbled across this video a while back. Seems like the tool could be a great thing to have in your box

https://youtu.be/swOvtrC_XI0?si=61Owt7AisReiMGw3

Get it here if you can't make one....

https://www.apartswarehouse.com/Product/Show/1893/ic-passenger-window-latch-repair-tool

Got lots of other skoolie interest parts. Not a sponsor

 

[Toddthomp]

I know this doesn’t have to do with the window latch (BTW, thanks for posting the link to the window latch repair tool hcarter951) I thought I would share some of our window repair story. We took all our windows out and resealed them with butyl tape but then found leaks from the rivets below the windows that needed sealed. After sealing the rivets we had a couple more leaks coming from the rubber gasket between the aluminum frame and the glass so we painted on this sealant (see attachment) and so far they haven't leaked.

 

[schoolbuspins]

Not WD40

I'm planning to keep a few of the bus windows, but the ones I want to keep happen to have the plastic latch stuck, the plastic piece itself is fine and none of them are damaged or cracked. But it just won't bounce back on one side, which means the window will only latch on one side and droop on the other.

Has anybody tried to fix skoolie windows? I'm thinking of just spraying some WD-40 at it and clean around it best I can, but I'm open to ideas that'll address the issue more permanently.

I would suggest you use a light spray of silicone on the tracks and/or latches. WD40 will react with the aluminum to create a black film. From 30 years driving and supervisor experience.

 

[schoolbuspins]

I would suggest you use a light spray of silicone on the tracks and/or latches. WD40 will react with the aluminum to create a black film. From 30 years driving and supervisor experience.