Help! New skoolie owner with snow balling issues

[Allan Balmer]

My brake booster for the 81 international harvester s1723 bus I just bought is leaking bad, and I forgot to lift the parking brake today leaving work...I managed to catch the parking brake on fire and get it out quickly and safely. I don't see any visible damage but I necessarily know what to look for. Please all advice is welcome as long as you're being helpful not just talking down at me for making a noobie mistake. I'm just trying to prepare myself for the possibility of seriously high cost repairs. It has the gas 392 engine and I don't know what model transmission is in it by part name just that it's a 4sp manual transmission.

 

[nikitis]

My brake booster for the 81 international harvester s1723 bus I just bought is leaking bad, and I forgot to lift the parking brake today leaving work...I managed to catch the parking brake on fire and get it out quickly and safely. I don't see any visible damage but I necessarily know what to look for. Please all advice is welcome as long as you're being helpful not just talking down at me for making a noobie mistake. I'm just trying to prepare myself for the possibility of seriously high cost repairs. It has the gas 392 engine and I don't know what model transmission is in it by part name just that it's a 4sp manual transmission.

No worries, where was the fire at? I think that would be the first place to start for investigation to see if it's still safe, or is it just some black burn areas that can be wiped off. I'm assuming hydrolic brakes since you have a parking brake. It's possible some sparks were made from the pad hitting the rotor causing the fire at high speed. If it still holds it's probably okay to continue like nothing happened.

See if the brake still works, and just following the line down and inspect. I would assume if it caused a fire it's gonna be at the end or on or by the transmission if it's a transmission brake. But I don't know those types of systems as well. Someone else can chime in.

 

[Omnibot2000]

Let's deal with the parking brake that caught fire. Assuming it's a driveline brake it could be located at the transmission side a driveline side.

Regardless where it is. It now requires a full disassemble and inspection. Should be a round drum and a set of shoes. May need to replace all the hardware and I would say the seal on the trans or diff.

Now bare with me here. I might be wrong on your park brake set up as I was only 2 years old when that bus was made.

Now you all know how old I am, I'm going to go hide.

 

[Kentucky Dreaming]

Now bare with me here. I might be wrong on your park brake set up as I was only 2 years old when that bus was made.

Now you all know how old I am, I'm going to go hide.

That's the year I graduated high school. Maybe I should be the one to go hide. :biggrin:

 

[nikitis]

Yeah Omnibot2000 knows more than I do on those so I'd go with what he says.

I was only giving advice based on how I would approach it as someone who doesn't know much about it.

I would venture a guess if it's a transmission parking break it's a far more serious issue, but if it's just a drum parking brake an inspection is in order at minimum.

 

[cadillackid]

Yeah Omnibot2000 knows more than I do on those so I'd go with what he says.

I was only giving advice based on how I would approach it as someone who doesn't know much about it.

I would venture a guess if it's a transmission parking break it's a far more serious issue, but if it's just a drum parking brake an inspection is in order at minimum.

international in that year typically used a drum brake thats mounted to the back of the transmission with a handle that sits on top of the mini doghouse. ive seen a few that were mounted to the rear diff... the OP didnt say which he has



f the brake was loose enough to easily drive away and not have huge drag then it was time already to inspect it..



it is set up very much like regular drum brakes you might find on a car...



the drum comes off and you can change the shoes.. if the drum is worn down or damaged it will need replaced..


since it caught on fire you may need to replace the rear seal in the transmision (or the pinion seal if its on the rear end)...

 

[Allan Balmer]

international in that year typically used a drum brake thats mounted to the back of the transmission with a handle that sits on top of the mini doghouse. ive seen a few that were mounted to the rear diff... the OP didnt say which he has



f the brake was loose enough to easily drive away and not have huge drag then it was time already to inspect it..



it is set up very much like regular drum brakes you might find on a car...



the drum comes off and you can change the shoes.. if the drum is worn down or damaged it will need replaced..


since it caught on fire you may need to replace the rear seal in the transmision (or the pinion seal if its on the rear end)...

It's a drum on top of the drive shaft right behind the transmission. It started back up and drives but I definitely need new shoes it looks cracked so relining them won't work. I'm honestly thinking it was the original set of shoes so definitely time to replace no matter what

 

[Allan Balmer]

It definitely needs to be replaced, thankfully nothing else is damaged just covered in soot

 

[DeMac]

Picture : 1000 Words

international in that year typically used a drum brake thats mounted to the back of the transmission

with a handle that sits on top of the mini doghouse.

ive seen a few that were mounted to the rear diff... the OP didnt say which he has



f the brake was loose enough to easily drive away and not have huge drag then it was time already to inspect it..



it is set up very much like regular drum brakes you might find on a car...



the drum comes off and you can change the shoes.. if the drum is worn down or damaged it will need replaced..


since it caught on fire you may need to replace the rear seal in the transmision (or the pinion seal if its on the rear end)...

Maybe the photos help.
The OP will recognize the items in the photos above or he has something different.

 

[Allan Balmer]

Original poster here

Any suggestions on where to look for parts for a bus of this age? I'm finding most of the parts stores either can't find the stuff I need or just can't order it.

 

[Allan Balmer]

My handle is to the left of my steering wheel over near the control panel

 

[Omnibot2000]

Wait.... what....

Is that an external brake band on a drum????

If that is, I saw something like that 20 years ago on a 30 year old piece of construction equipment so it would now be 50+ years old now.

 

[Allan Balmer]

I did say it's an 81 which would be 44 years old this year when you do the math.

 

[Allan Balmer]

Also didn't think about mentioning this until just now it was built at their plant in Canada I can't read the exact city name but it clearly says Ontario Canada on the vin tag

 

[Omnibot2000]

Thinking now.

You might find a shop that specializes in clutches and brakes. Near me we have a shop that relined a clutch friction plate on a Cadillac that had a manual trans. If I remember it was $150 to do it, GM wanted $750 for a new clutch assembly. No aftermarket

 

[Allan Balmer]

There's a one in Syracuse (only a couple hours away) and I'm sure there's gotta be at least one in Rochester (30 minutes away) or Buffalo (also a couple hours away). I just haven't had the time to look for them. I bought the bus and drove all night back to NY napped about 3 hours and started my 40+ hour work week. Sunday this hadn't become as much of a priority (I hadn't set the parking brake on fire yet) and was more focused on getting the power steering leak figured out as well as where to get new wiper arms that are short enough so I can have modern wiper blades that clear more of the windshield than just the middle 3 feet (split windshield each blade is about 18 inches long the one factory arm is 17in dead on and the driver's side that is a close enough to work is 16 and 3/8 inches long.)

 

[nikitis]

Neat pics. Never seen such a thing. Learn something new every day.

I wonder why they did away with them? Was it because it causes fires like in OP's case potentially?

 

[Allan Balmer]

The first couple pictures aren't mine the other ones are of mine. -OP

 

[Omnibot2000]

Neat pics. Never seen such a thing. Learn something new every day.

I wonder why they did away with them? Was it because it causes fires like in OP's case potentially?

Who knows. Before my time.

I like the brakes now. You need to adjust it you spin the knob on the handle to take up the slack and the brake is set.

However I see to many people back the knob off so it's easy to set the brake....problem is the brake don't work.

So then if I can, get underneath the truck and adjust the cable length with knob backed off and give a little extra so the operator now has to really yank on it to set the brake.

Driver wants to be a lazy dumbass not having a set brake, you'll pay for it.

Enjoy working on fleet equipment now where the driver is given a truck and no crying customers who own a truck.

 

[Allan Balmer]

I think it's because it was probably easier and more cost effective for the manufacturers to do the same components as their heavy duty trucks and semis on top of the added safety factor like previously mentioned. That said it's not impossible to smoke out/burn up shoes and drums on air brakes it's why there are the emergency run off spots for semi trucks on major trucking routes that have steep grades. (My dad drove truck for a long time only job I ever remember him having)