international bus engine question.

[skoolbus]

Howdy, im a newbie and this is my first post to skoolie.net!

I have a 1986 International School Bus, i was told the engine is a 466 diesel..

at idle, i have about 70 pounds of pressure. once the engine warms up and is idling it drops to about 10 pounds. when I am driving (engine warm) the oil pressure goes up to about 70 pounds again...


what do i do?

bus has 218,000 miles on it.


also appears to have a leaky rear seal in the motor...


im planning on going to colorado in january, should hold off because of the motor?


-thanks

 

[KC10Chief]

I wouldn't worry about it a whole lot. As long as it has some oil pressure. Diesel's don't idle fast at all. As long as it's not in the red. My diesel's oil pressure is low at idle too. But as long as oil is getting in there, you're fine. As for your rear seal, it would really suck to have to replace that thing. I'd just check the oil every time you stop. Depending on how bad it's leaking, just get a couple gallons of Shell Rotella to keep in the bus. The 466 is a great motor. If you have a small leak, I'd try some stop leak stuff before I went and tried to change that seal.

 

[KC10Chief]

Oh yeah, welcome to the forums! Do you have any pics of your bus? Do you have it converted or what? We will need some pics though!

 

[the_experience03]

10 psi per 1000 RPM's is the generally accepted rule for minimum oil pressure. I think you're probably fine.

That said, you aren't idling much anyway, are ya? If the bus is going to be sitting for say 5 minutes or more you really should have it high idled somewhere in the 1200-1500 RPM range. This is especially important on your wet sleeved diesel because it will prevent cavitation between the liner and the block wall, thus keeping it alive longer.

Welcome to the board!