MC-9 / 8V71 Woes

[buswarrior]

oh phooey.

My suggestion is change the bleeping oil before you do any more theorizing.

If indeed you have 10Wxx whatever in there, it may be seeping past all manner of perfectly good seals that you will unwittingly think there is a problem.

Now, this "run away" event. We need more description of this event. There is a big difference between sticking throttle mechanisms on a coach that hasn't been run regularly, and an engine that is trying to run on lube oil.

Back to the first sentence. Change the oil, just for fun, find all the greasing points on the throttle rods and cranks from under the driver all the way to the back, confirm the emergency stop will function from the driver's seat, run it as prescribed earlier in the post, and see if everything else goes away.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[JohnEd]

While you have all this time on your hands you might want to put together a couple of "ramps".  You cannot escape needing those.  Take them to Quartz with you.  Grease the thing everywhere.  Do you need to unweight the fronts to grease the King Pins?

John

[BlueScarecrow]

If I were going to grease the thing... I would take the weight off the front... yes!

I'm going to have a couple of ramps made out of oak and add a few oak 4x4's and maybe a square or two of 1" plywood.

Have you seen the chocks that go between the drive and the tag wheels? They go top and bottom and get pulled together for a nice tight fit so the wheels won't turn.

Ok... Ok... I'm going to change the oil this week. But I still think the blower seals are toast.

Thanks for writing guys!


Mike
N9EWS

Ps. Who wants to hear a theory about gravity?

[JohnEd]

Those are the best chocks ever.....I think.  I thought that should be intuitive but it doesn't seem so:  When you are pulling on the ramps put the chocks in line with the wheels at the end opposite of the chocks.  Place them the correct distance so they bump when you get to the top flat on the ramp.  Make sure the chocks won't slip and let you go too far.  Make those ramps with a slope off or down the "wrong side".  45 degrees or so....shirt ramp.  With a square cut off the ramp will tip up and you will impale the under carriage on the ramp.  Only makes the ramp 10 inches longer and not much heavier but pushing a ramp through a bay wall or battery box is well ??  OAK!  You must have connections and a strong back.  I would if I could, though if only for bragging rights....Wanna see my solid OAK ramps?  Gonna cost ya a beer.

Send some of the oil and coolant off to be analyzed so you will have data for Clifford and Don whether they want it or not.  I keep saying that cause I am not sure I have been heard...not any way I can be insisting on you doing a single thing though....truly.

John

[BlueScarecrow]

Dear All,

Thanks for all your help.

I have progressed a lot since my last post.

I have since changed my oil to the Shell Rotella T1 50 wt. and the bus is running great.

I’d really like to replace all of the injectors and see if I can get the mileage to come up a little.

I've completely removed most of the unused wiring and I re-wired the front and side marker lights. Oddly the side markers had no wiring.

I’ve also buttoned up a few air leaks and I’m working on the gearbox pulley that runs the squirrel cages. The two pieces of metal that connect to the heim joint actually fractured. It happened while I was driving and the motor just quit while I was making a left from 19th Ave to e/b Bethany Home Road. I like the fact that MCI has a built-in kill device to stop the motor before any damage can occur.

Beyond all this, I’m gutting the entire inside. The bathroom is gone along with the dump tank; and the bathroom floor (the floor from hell) is also removed. It was actually riveted to the body which was under neath the plywood flooring.

I want to take up the entire floor including the chair rails and replace it with painted marine plywood.
Has anyone gone this far and is there an easy way to accomplish this?

Thanks!

[RickB]

I have four words that you don't want to hear said together in a sentence when you're working on dismantling the interior of your bus.

"Work hardened stainless steel"

If you get stainless hot by drilling or cutting it too quickly it will get tempered and you better have some expensive carbide bits and blades if that happens. I learned that the hard way working on my door. So drill and cut slow and use oil if possible when dealing with stainless

Don't ask me how I learned that little tidbit

Rick

[JohnEd]

Everything Rick said.   TWICE!  Use a grinding wheel where you can.  Buy good quality bits.

I have never been where you are.  I have sure seen a lot of others there.  That center section gets enough foul crap in it that it needs shop vacuumed and pressure sprayed when it is open and the bus is empty.  Sprinkle some Zink Sulfide/sulfate in there to kill of any future mildew/mold and some borax for other smells. 

But why would you want to replace the floor if it is solid?  Pull out that rubber flooring and you will destroy some of the sound proofing that the rubber contributes.  I should think that simply laying sheets of Polyisocy. in there at 1 inch min and then covering with 3/8s quality ply would be the hot ticket.  Less work, quieter, insulation.... wheres the down side? Not to discourage spray foam on the underside of the floor/ bay overhead.  Even if I had some soft spots I would try to replace sections and maybe do nothing if that spot was going to be under somthing that didn't need the support.

I have always thought I was missing something from my seat in the Peanut Gallery.  X thousands bus Knuts can't be wrong.

Got milk?

John

[Jriddle]

Use a grinder with a cut off wheel to cut welds on the chair rail. Make sure you take stock in the company before you buy any cut off wheels because you will go through a lot of them. I drove a wedge in the rail to put pressure on the weld as I ground them. When I got close the rail would pop and I could move on to the next weld. I added a photo to explane why you should pull the floor.

[JohnEd]

Is there no way you can get to that center section without puling the entire floor?  All I have ever seen is pics.

There has never been a question that that unholy mess had to be removed.  Not in my mind, at any rate.

John

[DaveG]

Mike (N9EWS) I'm still waiting for your theory on gravity.

Dave G (KI6OWH)