Twigg-SKO
Senior Member
What a 24 hours ...
I rented a car yesterday and drove the 480 miles from here to Kearney, NE, at 40 mpg. I didn't get that on the way home. On the other hand, I was being pushed by 8.3L of Cummins goodness, and a great deal of diesel.
Got a couple of hours sleep in the car before finally making it to the dealership by 8.45 am. They kinda just handed me the very small key, and said "Bye". To be fair, one very nice lady showed me a couple of things first, like where the steering wheel was, stuff like that.
So with much trepidation, I edged the beast out of the yard and pointed it South. Ten hours later, I was home. I have never driven a bus before and it was a bit of an eye-opener.
First the good stuff. It starts, it runs, I can barely hear the engine but it's an eighteen-year-old bus, so it has noises. Wind, rattles, very loud heaters, four of them and they all work. The outside is flawless and the inside is dirty, shabby and looks uncared for. Good job it's the inside that is slated for removal. A few windows don't stay fully closed, but they are all tinted. Windshield has a crack, but it too is tinted with a tinted-in sunstrip, so it will stay cracked for a while. The crack is fairly low so it doesn't interfere.
It has lots of switches and buttons, many of which do not seem to work. It has about a hundred switches just for the heaters, and they all work, when they want to. It has a bunch of gauges and some of them work. The single most important of which is the coolant temp. gauge. This one works. It warmed up to 195 and pretty much stayed there all day. It moves around a little, maybe between 190 and 200, but it's hard to tell as it seems to be random. However, I'm thinking that 195 is not so bad and the engine just ran.
The speedometer is amusing. It works occasionally. Fortunately I had already figured out the RPM for 50, 55 and 60 before it went on its first vacation. It would work, then it wouldn't, then it would. Sometimes, just for a laugh, it would jump all over the place. The odometer stops when the speedo stops, so who knows how long it has been broken and what the actual mileage on the engine is. The Hour meter works and it's showing 5000+ hours. If that's accurate then that is good.
The Transmission Temp. gauge doesn't work, but all the others do. There is a small discrepancy on the air meter between front and back, but there is plenty of air and I wasn't concerned. I'll check to see how long it holds pressure, but the complete comedy of errors in our yard just now as I tried to close the door, depleted the tanks.
Brakes work well, if a bit grabby if you stamp on the hard. I did look at the inner face of the wheel hub earlier, and the ring seems to suggest ABS. I haven't checked for a light when starting, I'll do that tomorrow.
It started, it stopped and it drove home ... It didn't steer so well. There is a vibration at around 40 mph which might be wheel balance, but there is also a "clunky" noise that suggests wear. It's not too vague going doen the road, but it can be improved. I never felt either unsafe or worried, merely noted that work needs to be done. All six tires are good with the exception of a small split very close to the tread on one of the fronts. It doesn't look too bad but caused me to be cautious. The whole ride home was between 55 and 60 mph, when not in tows.
I found the actual business of getting around corners and maneuvering pretty straightforward. That was a pleasant surprise as I have never sat in front of steer wheels before. The Air Ride seat of awful, but maybe that's because it isn't working properly. I'm sure it can be improved.
What else ... Yeah, the right rear indicator wasn't blinking. Fixed at a truck stop. The headlights are truly horrible. Why do I have better headlights on my 7 foot motorcycle than on my 40 foot bus? I know how to fix that.
ANyway, it's in the yard and I'll get pictures tomorrow. I haven't opened anything on the outside for fear of not being able to close it again. I did investigate the mystery hatch by the passenger door ... It has four air-bleed valves insode which will save the dirty business of getting underneath to drain the tanks ... bonus
If y'all have questions I'll try to answer them.
Oh, I meant to say.
I did run it up to 70 mph and it was still pulling when I backed of at 3100 rpm
2100 RPM is around 55 mph
I rented a car yesterday and drove the 480 miles from here to Kearney, NE, at 40 mpg. I didn't get that on the way home. On the other hand, I was being pushed by 8.3L of Cummins goodness, and a great deal of diesel.
Got a couple of hours sleep in the car before finally making it to the dealership by 8.45 am. They kinda just handed me the very small key, and said "Bye". To be fair, one very nice lady showed me a couple of things first, like where the steering wheel was, stuff like that.
So with much trepidation, I edged the beast out of the yard and pointed it South. Ten hours later, I was home. I have never driven a bus before and it was a bit of an eye-opener.
First the good stuff. It starts, it runs, I can barely hear the engine but it's an eighteen-year-old bus, so it has noises. Wind, rattles, very loud heaters, four of them and they all work. The outside is flawless and the inside is dirty, shabby and looks uncared for. Good job it's the inside that is slated for removal. A few windows don't stay fully closed, but they are all tinted. Windshield has a crack, but it too is tinted with a tinted-in sunstrip, so it will stay cracked for a while. The crack is fairly low so it doesn't interfere.
It has lots of switches and buttons, many of which do not seem to work. It has about a hundred switches just for the heaters, and they all work, when they want to. It has a bunch of gauges and some of them work. The single most important of which is the coolant temp. gauge. This one works. It warmed up to 195 and pretty much stayed there all day. It moves around a little, maybe between 190 and 200, but it's hard to tell as it seems to be random. However, I'm thinking that 195 is not so bad and the engine just ran.
The speedometer is amusing. It works occasionally. Fortunately I had already figured out the RPM for 50, 55 and 60 before it went on its first vacation. It would work, then it wouldn't, then it would. Sometimes, just for a laugh, it would jump all over the place. The odometer stops when the speedo stops, so who knows how long it has been broken and what the actual mileage on the engine is. The Hour meter works and it's showing 5000+ hours. If that's accurate then that is good.
The Transmission Temp. gauge doesn't work, but all the others do. There is a small discrepancy on the air meter between front and back, but there is plenty of air and I wasn't concerned. I'll check to see how long it holds pressure, but the complete comedy of errors in our yard just now as I tried to close the door, depleted the tanks.
Brakes work well, if a bit grabby if you stamp on the hard. I did look at the inner face of the wheel hub earlier, and the ring seems to suggest ABS. I haven't checked for a light when starting, I'll do that tomorrow.
It started, it stopped and it drove home ... It didn't steer so well. There is a vibration at around 40 mph which might be wheel balance, but there is also a "clunky" noise that suggests wear. It's not too vague going doen the road, but it can be improved. I never felt either unsafe or worried, merely noted that work needs to be done. All six tires are good with the exception of a small split very close to the tread on one of the fronts. It doesn't look too bad but caused me to be cautious. The whole ride home was between 55 and 60 mph, when not in tows.
I found the actual business of getting around corners and maneuvering pretty straightforward. That was a pleasant surprise as I have never sat in front of steer wheels before. The Air Ride seat of awful, but maybe that's because it isn't working properly. I'm sure it can be improved.
What else ... Yeah, the right rear indicator wasn't blinking. Fixed at a truck stop. The headlights are truly horrible. Why do I have better headlights on my 7 foot motorcycle than on my 40 foot bus? I know how to fix that.
ANyway, it's in the yard and I'll get pictures tomorrow. I haven't opened anything on the outside for fear of not being able to close it again. I did investigate the mystery hatch by the passenger door ... It has four air-bleed valves insode which will save the dirty business of getting underneath to drain the tanks ... bonus
If y'all have questions I'll try to answer them.
Oh, I meant to say.
I did run it up to 70 mph and it was still pulling when I backed of at 3100 rpm
2100 RPM is around 55 mph
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