My new bus 1991 TC 2000 28 feet

[Rivetboy]

Hi listers I am Rivetboy.
Nice to be here and with a new project. The bus has a 5.9 Cummins with the intercooler and an Allison 545 behind it. Runs great shifts great new tires and new brakes. 151K
Clean as could be.
Only one small problem, it leaks engine oil badly. The 3 shops say front and rear engine oil seals and maybe the gear cover seal also.
They also say ballpark 60 hours @$135.00 an hour.

Bus is inside my shop on concrete.

Any one pulled an Allison 545 out of a Bluebird TC2000 Handy Bus??

Would love to hear what worked for you pitfalls whatever.
These silly oil leaks are in the way of my conversion!!

Thanks so much

RB

 

[jmcustom]

Hi listers I am Rivetboy.
Nice to be here and with a new project. The bus has a 5.9 Cummins with the intercooler and an Allison 545 behind it. Runs great shifts great new tires and new brakes. 151K
Clean as could be.
Only one small problem, it leaks engine oil badly. The 3 shops say front and rear engine oil seals and maybe the gear cover seal also.
They also say ballpark 60 hours @$135.00 an hour.

Bus is inside my shop on concrete.

Any one pulled an Allison 545 out of a Bluebird TC2000 Handy Bus??

Would love to hear what worked for you pitfalls whatever.
These silly oil leaks are in the way of my conversion!!

Thanks so much

RB

All 5.9s of that vintage leak oil in some form or another. The major problem with removing the 545 is getting the bus up high enough. You don't need to completely remove it from under the bus, just pull it back enough to get at the rear main.

Id recommend a set of semi truck jack stands to start. Or if you're handy with wood you could make ramps and drive the bus up on them to get the clearance you'll need. Just remember, the higher you go the higher you'll need to raise your jack to support the trans.

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[Rivetboy]

All 5.9s of that vintage leak oil in some form or another. The major problem with removing the 545 is getting the bus up high enough. You don't need to completely remove it from under the bus, just pull it back enough to get at the rear main.

Id recommend a set of semi truck jack stands to start. Or if you're handy with wood you could make ramps and drive the bus up on them to get the clearance you'll need. Just remember, the higher you go the higher you'll need to raise your jack to support the trans.

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Thanks JM that is good insight. Already have wood ramps from another project so here we go.

 

[Njsurf73]

Before you start tearing everything apart, look at the tappet cover gasket.
Mine leaks bad (going to do something about it soon).
It leaks on the side of the engine... But drips like a rear and front main.
Degrease and wash the engine then get under it with a mirror and while it's running find the leaks. If it is the front and rear, it is, but it would be a huge time and effort waster to do all that and find it is something else. The tappet cover gasket is about 20.. gear puller about 20 and a couple of other sized sockets about 20... Then it's just your time.. should take most of a day.

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[Rivetboy]

Ok thanks here is silly question is the bus metric or sae pretty sure the Cummins 5.9 is metric6

 

[Njsurf73]

Everything I've had to remove so far has been metric.. but I have used SAE on stuff like 13 mm

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[jmcustom]

Everything I've had to remove so far has been metric.. but I have used SAE on stuff like 13 mm

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I agree, there's several sizes of metric that will interchange with SAE. Good call on washing the engine off and looking for leaks. I figured that had already been done which is why I skipped the most important first step when searching out oil leaks.

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[Njsurf73]

Mine sprung a leak halfway through an 800 mile trip home. From where it was Dripping I thought it was the rear main seal. But I parked it and looked it was dripping from where the front seal was and from where the rear seal was. I degreased and scrub the engine and crawled under with a flashlight and a mirror I could see exactly where the gasket was broken and it was running along the engine block depending on where it was canted front or back. In my opinion a tappet cover is a DIY job that could cost under $100 if you had to buy all of the tools. I hope it is that easy for you. Another thing to look for is if you have heavy Blow by... And you replace a bunch of seals it's going to find the weakest link.

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[BigDavid]

$8k for some gaskets?
I'd just get a rebuilt engine. It would be cheaper & come with a warranty.

 

[Rivetboy]

The continuing saga,

A few years back I fabricated some aircraft jacks for my Piper Cherokee with long stroke Harbor Freight 8 ton jacks. Guess what fits perfectly right at the leaf spring front on the frame?
You got it now I am building jiggery to clamp the Allison to my 800 lb Harbor Freight Trans jack and remove th trans. Am going to stab an engine hoist through the drivers window and chainfall the tail end of the 5.9 up to remove the bell housing and get to the rear engine seal.
Also have decided to install a remanufactured Allison 545 as they are very affordable.

 

[Rivetboy]

By the way, also bought a pair of 12 ton jackstands from Harbor Freight to support the bus while it is being serviced.
My wife thought it was worth the $100
She really hates taking the trash out that much..

 

[Rivetboy]

This thread is moving to the Cummins driveline thread
Thanks

RB

 

[Rivetboy]

Thanks for your interest

Would not be suprised and would bet it is leaking there also. So, my solution is to replace the front seal, check for the KDP tab being installed along with the valve lifter cover and the rear seal also. The 545 is starting to leak front and rear so the decision has been made to replace it with a remanufactured unit.
Gosh darn there might be a trip to my driveline overhauler to have the u joints replaced.

 

[Njsurf73]

I think the killer dowel pin was mostly with the 12 valve engines. Cummins pretty much had it sorted by the time the 24 valve was out. Although maybe the first year or so of the 24 valve....

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[Rivetboy]

Hey, whats up, this is a 1991 5.9 so it is one of the affected ones.

 

[Njsurf73]

Hey, whats up, this is a 1991 5.9 so it is one of the affected ones.

Ah sorry. You are correct.

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