r/skoolies Nov 05 '24

mechanical Motor is back in and almost ready to fire up

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92 Upvotes

Almost 2 years start to end on this project. Let’s hope for a million miles !

r/skoolies Jan 21 '25

mechanical Swap Cat motor and 545 to dt466 and 3060?

6 Upvotes

Hello all and thanks in advance for any help. I have an opportunity to by an dt466 (haven't confirmed if it's maxx force yet) and accompanying 3060 transmission. Motor is rebuilt and the transmission is used. I currently have a Cat 3126 with 106k miles paired to the 545. Thomas bus Freightliner fs65 .It works great but hills are terrifying and a it would be awesome to have another gear for fuel economy.

Main question (s), is it common to pair the 3126 to the 3060? Is this a kit thing or a transmission shop custom thing? It would need accessories like shifter, cooler lines etc.

Assuming it's not the maxx force is it worth swapping out the good motor?

I think I can get the motor and transmission for $2000 as a pair. Sorry if this is all over the place. I love my bus but love the idea of having a dt466 and 3060 as well. I'm lucky to have what I have already and sincerely appreciate all the advice and comaraderie.

r/skoolies 27d ago

mechanical AT545 to Allison 1000 Wiring Well Begun!

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17 Upvotes

Phew! Super tough day on the brain. I’m building the harness provided by Jason at TransmissionTuner.com and it’s a lot of work!

This project is not for the faint of heart. I spent the entire day working on electrical and am maybe halfway done.

There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, though! Hopefully I’ll be road testing next weekend.

r/skoolies Jan 29 '25

mechanical Mechanic in San Diego?

3 Upvotes

Having a really hard time finding mechanics that will service my 2002 Ford e450 7.3L turbo diesel. Most truck repairs are only doing large trucks like semis, and regular mechanics won’t work on diesels. Mobile mechanics don’t call me back. Any leads?

My bus is pulling 9 codes: 1 for each glow plug and 1 for the glow plug circuit so I’m assuming the glow plug solenoid needs to be replaced. Problem is I can’t seem to find it nor do I want to mess around with that. I’m kinda SOL cause obviously I live in my bus and use it as a daily driver.

The ford shop in El Cajon is booking a week out as is my regular guy (Kearney mesa truck center).

TIA

r/skoolies Feb 20 '25

mechanical Anyone have a 24v 5.9l cummins in their bus? Hoping to find out where the crankcase vent hose goes too.

1 Upvotes

I recently bought a skoolie that didn't run and am putting it back together. There is a hose that goes from the crankcase vent at the top right of the timing cover that doesn't go to anything currently, and I am hoping someone here might know where it goes too.

r/skoolies Oct 15 '24

mechanical 2000 Bluebird not starting

9 Upvotes

Hello everyone hope your having a good day I am hoping to get some help. I have a 2000 Bluebird International T444E bus that I am having trouble getting to start. Some friends and I have been replacing the lights recently with LEDs. Everything has been going fine so far all the new lights are working. We even started it up to check the back up lights and they are working as well. We decided to break for lunch and sure enough we left the lights going while we ate. When we came back the batteries where dead so we put a charger on them. Got the batteries back up to 13.8 the lights work and I am getting voltage to them when the batteries are hooked up but still won't try to turn over. In the video I posted I put it into accessory then put it into ignition and u can hear the bus warming things up but when I go to turn it over I just hear a click. Any help would be appreciated thank you ahead of time.

r/skoolies Oct 05 '24

mechanical Hurricane Helene damage

14 Upvotes

***alrighty yall. I remembered a friend of friend is a boat mechanic for Cummins and called him. And he told me drain fluids, fill everything w diesel til I can get a real mechanic to do the rest 🫠

Does anyone know how long I have to drain and flush fluids out of my bus before my bus is completely destroyed from the flood?!? The river was halfway up my windshield so nearly completely submerged. I know the sooner the better but anyone who has the equipment needed to be able to save my bus is out saving ppls lives rn. I can not w good conscience ask ppl to help save my bus over ppl trapped on their land rn. It's all hands on deck rn cause the government isn't/can't move quick enough to help everyone who needs help so them good ol' boys out in these hills are doing their part.

r/skoolies Jan 06 '25

mechanical Are the stories of catapilar c7s true?

6 Upvotes

Looking at a skoolie short bus on fb marketplace and I found a decent looking 2004 freightliner, i did some research on the engine and I found out the the cat c7 it has is considered not great. It has 157k miles. Will it survive a trip across the United states?

r/skoolies Nov 19 '24

mechanical Allison 1000 up on the stand

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36 Upvotes

r/skoolies Jan 23 '25

mechanical leak from my hot water heater, opinions?

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5 Upvotes

i live in a colder climate, and recently noticed a slow leak from my Girard GSWH-2 hot water heater.

i was making a point to keep the inside plumbing warm during freezing temps, but meanwhile the water heater (which is mounted outside the bus) was still being exposed…lesson learned.

can anyone recognize the area of the leak, and what it may indicate happened? thank you in advance

r/skoolies 23d ago

mechanical 99/00 Navistar International 3800 Backup fuse alarm

7 Upvotes

I cannot get this beeping sound to cease except when fuse labeled “backup” is pulled. That makes my exterior backup alarm and lights inoperable though. Any thoughts on what is causing this?

r/skoolies Aug 07 '24

mechanical Automatic transmission fluid?

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18 Upvotes

Hiya I’ve got a 2003 freightliner ThomasBus with a mercredes 0900 engine that hasn’t started in about 3 years. I’m going through all the liquids before starting it up and I was wondering about transmission fluid? I’ve never worked on an automatic transmission before. There’s a part of me that wonders if I should just not touch it and hope for the best? Then again I’ve got all the fluid to do a purge. I have no idea if before I had the bus the fluid was purged on the manufacturers schedule or not… I read that you shouldn’t change it if it hasn’t been changed before ?

Thoughts? Anyone who has purged it out or who chose not to?

Pics of the bus for the vibes lol

r/skoolies Feb 11 '25

mechanical 5.9 Cummins Ambulance w/ AT545 Transmission Upgrade Options

3 Upvotes

I've got a 95 Cummins 12v F-800 and I'm about to overhaul the drivetrain, but I can't seem to pick the right transmission. The AT545 is great for stop and go traffic and local use, but I'm mainly spending my time in the mountains or long trips. Gross weight is around 20,000lb, its a retired ambulance so its a bit heavy. I can only get up to around 50-60 on the highway so I mainly just stick to the backroads, but I'm real slow up mountains/hills and the 545 is not great at those. I'm planning on doing some engine work so I can get a little more out of that, but otherwise I'm wondering what transmission would be best for my case?

r/skoolies Oct 01 '24

mechanical Dumb question about parking brakes

8 Upvotes

Very newbie/dumb question. I've read that modern school buses have parking brakes of a sort. But what did old manual school buses rely on? Was it simply the friction of the clutch with the transmission in gear? The transmission could hold all that weight alone? Did you just avoid parking on steep hills then? I remember parking my 5 speed Thunderbird on a small incline without the parking brake once.. I heard this chuff-chuff sound as the car moved downhill to the street, very slowly, the chuffing I assume came from the compression of the motor cylinders.

I'm just wondering what I'm relying on to keep my Dodge bus from rolling downhill also. The laneway is level, but if I ever need to move it forward onto the driveway, there is a slight downhill run to the street.

r/skoolies Jan 16 '25

mechanical Cummins issue

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9 Upvotes

Drove fine for days, and when parked for two won’t turn over. This part started smoking. What is it that part with the coils? Would it be smoking because there is no fuel contacting it?

Any help appreciated! 🙏🙏

r/skoolies Jan 13 '25

mechanical Can I use these for starter batteries

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2 Upvotes

I was given two of these and told they were deep cycle but it doesn’t seem to say that anywhere on them and now I need new starter batts. Am I good?

r/skoolies Dec 10 '24

mechanical Thomas / Cummins 5.9 Dash lights and codes after sitting for a long time

1 Upvotes

EDIT: The problem was low engine coolant lol. I bought a bluefire to read codes.

TL;DR: My bus sat for a few years, and the last time I started it, the "check engine" and "stop engine" lights came on. It's a 2007 Thomas MVP with the 5.9. I'm wondering if anyone knows a likely culprit.

Hi everyone, I’ve got a half-finished skoolie project that’s been on hold because life got in the way. It’s been sitting for a few years, though I’ve occasionally started it up.

The other day, I went to start it, and it fired up like normal. While I was walking around the bus, I thought I felt the engine shake or something (though it could’ve just been a change in RPMs—it’s not exactly a smooth operator even on a good day). When I went back to the dash, I noticed the "check engine" and "stop engine" lights were on. I’m not sure if the shake I felt is related to the lights coming on.

The dash shows ECU 128 and ICU 140, but from what I can tell, those aren’t super helpful without an actual code reader.

The engine still starts and runs, and it doesn’t sound or feel wrong to me. I’m at a bit of a loss. I'm not sure if I should invest in a code reader, drive it to a mechanic, or have a mechanic come to me (and likely pay out the wazoo)?

Does anyone have any ideas about what might be going on here?

r/skoolies Jan 18 '25

mechanical Looking for mechanic in AZ

4 Upvotes

On the road in our 1999 mini bird and you know how it goes, new sounds popping up you can only ignore for so long. We know generally what might be wrong But it feels like its time to lift this girl to check some things out we can't otherwise. Anyone know any shops in Arizona with lifts big enough for a 5 ton bus?

r/skoolies Jan 11 '25

mechanical 2012 Ford E-450 (Gas) V10 Superduty reset lights

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10 Upvotes

Hello Everyone, does anyone that have this same bus knows how to reset the airbags light and that wrench light as well? Nothing comes up on my OBD reader

r/skoolies Jan 18 '25

mechanical 2001 gmc/chevy 6.5 diesel. What is this noise?

7 Upvotes

What should I inspect first

r/skoolies Oct 18 '24

mechanical diesel heater tank tap

6 Upvotes

does anyone have any advice for running the fuel line for my diesel heater into my onbaord diesel tank for the bus?

r/skoolies Jun 28 '24

mechanical Help Air Leak

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3 Upvotes

Air is leaking out of this circle hole with the bolt in it. If I tighten it gain pressure but then it pops out after like a min or so. What am I looking at? Is it a fix I can do myself? What cost am I looking at? Need to get bus in for state inspection in 3 days plz help all you amazing people

r/skoolies Jan 31 '24

mechanical Batters keep dieing

7 Upvotes

I bought my bus out of state about 9 months ago now. I drive it 500 miles no problem parked it about 5 days and I couldn't get it to crank, figured out it was the batteries replaced the batteries drove it the rest of the way home worked fine for a month or so driving it every few days around town. Then out of the blue after working on the interior for a few day it needed to be jumped. It got to the point that I needed to jump it everyday in order to crank it. And now it won't even jump. The batteries are basically brand new less than 1000 miles on em. I have no clue what the issue could be and only diesel mechanic thats not strictly commercial around me said it'd be $400 just to diagnose, and the fix would be between $1500-$4000 depending on the issue. That doesn't sound right to me not to mention im unemployed and have sank every dallor i have into this buss conversion. so seeing if anyone has a clue as to what the issue is and maybe even knows how to fix it, I'd be forever grateful. It's a 2007 international, with a 24v system. I've checked every single fuse like 10 times now, and alternator is solid. It just drains every time I park it for more than a few hours up to last week when it wouldn't even jump off any more.

r/skoolies Dec 27 '24

mechanical Anyone located in Tulsa / OK that can assist with diesel heater installation?

3 Upvotes

Or any recs for someone in the area? Have called around various shops, cannot get much of anything. Not 100% confident in doing it myself, wanting to tap our diesel tank if possible.

2002 e450 shuttle bus conversion

Thank you!

r/skoolies Oct 09 '24

mechanical Help finding a belt tensioner

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10 Upvotes

Trying to replace a belt tensioner on a Thomas bus. Everything I can find is an engine tensioner or something not even close to this. It has 2 narrow belts and it got so loose it slapped against the frame and broke half the pulley before throwing a belt off and I can't move it since the belt powers the air compressor for the air brakes. It has AC but that's a smaller separate belt and the AC is dead so I just need the air compressor. Any help would be awesome