How do I resurrect a 6V92?

[Crown_Guy]

Thanks Steve. I'll have a look. Another couple for ya: what does this switch do and what does this hose go to? Both are back by the engine...

That's not a switch. It's an air valve with an adjustable pressure regulator next to it that it's feeding. The picture appears to be rotated 90 degrees and it's a little too tight to see the other stuff around it but I'd hazard a guess since it looks to be right below the squirrel cage radiator blower outlet into the engine compartment (it blows down) and sucks air in through the side radiators. The belt that drives the upper fan pulley attached to the double-ended gearbox that drives the squirrel cage blower(s) is air pressure tensioned with a pneumatic cylinder and that switch/valve is used to dump the air to the tensioner so the belt will relax and you can change it easy peasy. At least that's what I think it is. A better pic showing the overall engine and compartment would be helpful. Those valves were positioned in a couple different places through the years so I may be off on what that one is, but the A/C belt had one too. But I guess that's all been removed, the Bus A/C system machinery I mean.

Who knows what that hose is, I may even be from the removed A/C, if of course it's really been removed. A pic of the engine area will tell me a lot.

I noticed something interesting suggesting that engine is a pure mechanical and not a DDEC controlled engine. I'm not sure from the pic but I see a couple air actuators which usually are associated with the governor for fast idle and one looks like it may be a shutdown actuator but I can't see the governor housing. Another pic of that area might help.


Your mission now is to reverse engineer and figure out what the **** the previous guy was thinking and were he might have put stuff....like pumps and such. That's the giant thing I have against dealing with anybody else's conversion. We all have our vision, but others may not execute it well at all, or the vision sucks. Take you pick. It looks generally pretty good overall you just need to figure out where it all is, catch up to it and make it eventually all yours.

 

[Mtrdrms]

Thanks crown guy. You continue to help considerably. If I could get home before it got dark, I would send good pics of the engine bay.
I can't find the delo oil anywhere but I can get the rotella t1 so I think I'll go with that? Also, there is a Napa 1970 filter on there now. If my research is good, I can use a wix 51970. Is that correct?

 

[Mtrdrms]

Your mission now is to reverse engineer and figure out what the **** the previous guy was thinking and were he might have put stuff....like pumps and such. That's the giant thing I have against dealing with anybody else's conversion. We all have our vision, but others may not execute it well at all, or the vision sucks. Take you pick. It looks generally pretty good overall you just need to figure out where it all is, catch up to it and make it eventually all yours.

Yeah man. I get it. See anything wrong with this picture? (I know its not a great pic. I've been working late so its dark)

 

[Mtrdrms]

Some crappy night pics of the engine bay:

 

[o1marc]

Awning mount on a cargo door?

 

[Mtrdrms]

Awning mount on a cargo door?

Yep. And thats the door that needs to open to drain the black tank...

 

[o1marc]

That is an important door, so I recommend you pull the awning off and give it to me, win/win for both of us.

 

[Crown_Guy]

Yeah man. I get it. See anything wrong with this picture? (I know its not a great pic. I've been working late so its dark)

Like I said...some guys get really funny ideas, or obviously here didn't "get" how tab "A" doesn't go on top of tab "B" or bad stuff happens. If this is any indication you may be in for some extremely interesting times. Go slow and don't cut wires or remove stuff until you really know what its all connected to...if anything. Great caution and thinking every move through carefully seems in order till you get this thing under control and can begin to make it your own. Good times huh??

 

[Crown_Guy]

Some crappy night pics of the engine bay:

OH MY! Yep that's exactly what I'd expect a 30 year old road salt exposed MCI to look like. I'm amazed it isn't in any worse condition with real structural issues. That's a testament to how well MCI builds them. They know how to make them last in that environment with the right materials and such. Canadian donch'Ya know.

And Oh My GOD that's apparently a real live honest to goodness pure mechanical 6V-92turbo with no DDEC computer in sight. I see the mechanical Teleflex throttle cable coming to the throttle shaft on the top of the governor as well as the shutdown lever and it's pneumatic actuator cylinder. Also the Fast Idle pneumatic actuator going into the side of the governor housing. There's a couple more things a little unclear but it's pretty obvious to me it's a pre-DDEC computer all mechanical engine. This may be a blessing for you or not. Like I said it's kind of neutral and as long as the engine runs and it all works good you'll find yourself as one of the only survivors with an operating vehicle after any EMP attack. There is that.

I also see that the A/C compressor is gone verified by the empty sheaves on the crankshaft pulley for the two belts that drove it. This is so very common. You may want to carefully check out what other stuff he might have removed that was part of the A/C system. Left side condenser outside behind left front wheel, large evaporator in the sealed compartment in front of the first bay through the bulkhead access panel where also lived the main squirrel cage blowers for the whole bus ventilation....this would be a good thing to have left in place since the bus heater core for the people inside is in there as well. I bet he took it out along with the A/C evaporator...dope.

That may be the same first bay door with the awning attached to it....double dope.

And before you ask...the photo you have of the right side of the engine bay right behind the rt. rear wheel-well has what looks like a valve thingy in a water line running forward (to the front) of the bus. You'll be relieved to know that's exactly what it is. It's the main feed for the heater core for the whole bus heating system, oh, that would be the same heater core he may have removed, you should find out. Also it feeds hot water to the front defroster core in the dash as well. So if you don't have any defroster heat this valve should be checked to see it's open all the way. It's designed to isolate the engine cooling system from any leaks up front or maybe uncontrolled heating with a stuck thermostat, or so you can turn off all the hot water in the summer months for maximum cooling. For the front defroster core and driver heater core there's also a couple of funny looking handles on the side wall next to the driver seat under the side window close to the floor. These turn off the hot water to each of them individually. But the one in back has to be open or no hot water will make it to the front at all.

This looks like it'll keep you occupied, and out of trouble(?), for a while until you get it all figured out. Good luck and happy adventuring. It's like a treasure hunt with all kinds of mysteries to be found. You wanted a challenge after all, this qualifies. Have fun.

Way more to go over so I'll stop for now. Oh and get a full set of manuals from MCI or wherever you can find them.

 

[Iceni John]

Thanks crown guy. You continue to help considerably. If I could get home before it got dark, I would send good pics of the engine bay.
I can't find the delo oil anywhere but I can get the rotella t1 so I think I'll go with that? Also, there is a Napa 1970 filter on there now. If my research is good, I can use a wix 51970. Is that correct?

Sorry for the belated reply, but I just got my manuals from my bus this evening to see what it says about 6V92 oil filters. In a word, not much! The Detroit Diesel 7SE270 0401 manual titled "Engine Requirements - Lubricating Oil, Fuel and Filters" (revised January 2004) states exactly what fuel filters to use, but for spin-on lubricating oil filters it merely says that Detroit part 23515823 is the Standard Kit, and there are two other kits which are for different applications. Oil filters are installed by the vehicle manufacturer, not by Detroit, so provided they have sufficient flow rate they should be OK. My bus uses a Luberfiner LFP911 oil filter with 1" hoses to and from it. Wix shows eight different filters, including the 51970 which is a Standard-Duty Full-Flow Spin-On. Fram shows a PH3612 and PH3612FP, while Donaldson shows a P551670 which (according to them) is equivalent to an OEM 23530407, presumably Detroit's number.

So, all this is a complicated way of saying that the NAPA 1970 should be OK, and NAPA's filters are good quality. I'm not sure how good Wix and Fram filters are, but Donaldson's are also very high quality. Fleetguard also make some good filters that should interchange.

Sorry if this isn't much help for you, but it's all I can find for now.

John

PS - As Mike says, get the MCI manuals. You can never have too much info when working on buses!

 

[EastCoastCB]

Wix and Napa are the same. Napa buys their filters from Wix.

 

[Mtrdrms]

Guys, thanks for all the great info. I wouldn't be nearly as far along with my knowledge of this project if it weren't for the generous contributors to this thread.

I am still waiting on service manuals but I happened to run into a guy with a converted Prevost and he just happened to have an owners manual for an MCI 96a3. Crazy. But a few observations:

1)You were right, it says to shift it off the governor. Ring its neck. Awesome.
2) 30 (?) Gallons(??) Of coolant. Wow.
3) There's a spare tire behind the front bumper! Checked...its gone.
4) The fire axe is gone too. Dang.
5) The fuel tank whistles, by design, when you're filling up and stops when its full.

Well, that's it for now. Stay tuned for the next installment of "holy crap, this bus is huge and I have no idea how it works."

But actually, the suspension is next. Gotta get the ride height situation (raises up much higher on the left) figured out and go after loose front end components.