I met another Nut today, looking for any advice

[happycamperbrat]

No, I think they are anxious to get home. Im at work now, but after work Im going to swing by Walmart and see if they are ready to follow me out to my house so we can get them on the road.

[Seayfam]

Good job Teresa!!! You da gal!!!
That is one reason to own a bus right there. It seems most bus nuts stick together and help each other out. Will pray they have a safe and trouble free trip home.

Gary

[MDV Maria V]

Hello, we finally got on the site and are at Teresa's and out of Walmart, where we spent two weeks working on systems and waiting for various parts.  The week before was spent up in the mountains where the bus refused to start.  We are Alaskan's, Kristin and
Ron and our "new" bus is a 1962 GM 4106 conversion, bought in Yuma in March, where we spent two weeks getting ready to drive north.  Advertised as "ready to roll", we have had nothing but constant systems failure and over the last two months, have only made it 400 miles.  Does ready to roll mean the roll start we had to do to get out of the mountains?  General consensus appreciated!

[chev49]

"ready to roll" usually means "as-is where-is"

[Busted Knuckle]

Does ready to roll mean the roll start we had to do to get out of the mountains?  General consensus appreciated!

"ready to roll" usually means "as-is where-is"

or "roll the dice" and we all know the name of the famous dice rolling game that keeps Vegas Casino's "Rolling"

Anyway Kristin & Ron welcome to the board! And sorry that yer having so much trouble with yer "new 2 U" bus!
Hang in there it'll get better and there is nothing that you can't overcome with the help from this board!
  BK 

[Seayfam]

Kristin & Ron,
Glad to see you got on board here! You will find, If you are traveling and have access to the internet, this board will be your best friend should a problem arise. Glad you two found someone like Teresa to help out in any way she can. I was going through FB and seen the pics of you and your new bus. That is a really nice 4106! also looks like a no rust bus? I do also recognize you guys from Homer. I worked at Kenai Supply driving trucks and also sales for ten years. My wife is the one that's daughter got hit by a car at the bus stop about 13 years ago.

Anyhow if there is anything good about this situation you two are in.... It's you will know the bus like the back of your hand, and that will be nice when you get into Canada. There are a lot of miles between places there, with not much traffic or people.

Best of luck to ya,

Gary

P.S.
Stop by Laird Hot springs in northern Canada, All the stress will go away. My wife and I love it there 

[MikeH]

Kristen & Ron,

Welcome to the board. Sorry to hear of the troubles you are having with the new bus. You can count yourselves blessed that Teresa found you. She will take good care of you, her specialty is making sure others are cared for. (Ask her son or mom.)

Anyhow, keep us posted on your journey home, other board members may be able to help when you get back on the road. Gary is anxious to hook up with you when you get back home.

Mike

[MDV Maria V]

Thanks for the welcome!  Ok, here is a mystery that we are hoping to solve...From Evernote:
Bus notes as of 5/03
Symptoms of exisiting bus issues: annendum as of 3 weeks ago
Start of  bus  was hard as if batteries were low.  Amp meter on dash showed heavy discharge, as in pegged the needle on discharge side of guage at low RPM.  
When motor was at high RPM, it was charging.  Turned off bus, could not restart.  Starter solonoid hit hard, would not turn over engine.  Separated house and coach systems and determined house system not of issue but never reconnected two systems.
Very slowly and systematically went through electrical system looking for dead short, with voltmeter.  Multiple minor issues found.  Put in new set of brand new 8D coach batteries,  still would not start coach.  Roll started, fired right up, ran well, voltage meter still full discharge. Turned off bus, would not restart. After turning off bus and trying to restart, solonid does not click or make any sound whatsoever.  Spent several days looking for and running down several issues:
1. ignition switch corroded and not turning off completely, minimal amount of power running through at all times
2. all switches on dash faulty, not performing properly or shutting off- corrosion
3.  went over electrical system, eliminated all wires that were not being used.  Re-sautered new ends on all wires in question.  Found one wire with total dead short.  When disconnected, rest of system appeared to not be shorting out
4.  Put new starter in , old starter was bad.  Wire with dead short disconnected..of unknown origin, location at service panel next to driver seat.
5. started bus, bus starts well, total discharge on meter, wire with dead short still disconnected-
with bus not running there was no discharage on batteries when wire with short was disconnected but total discharge when bus was started.

Next issue:
installed rebuilt starter originally in a 4106 w 8v71.  Starter sounds like someone is randomly beating on it with 4 lb sledge hammer when engaged, stops when disengaged.  Were there different starters for different busses? Without having counted the teeth, they appeared to be the same, rotation is correct...getting ready to tear apart again..aargh, so hoping for advise soon!

[bevans6]

First step would be to find out if the charge/discharge is a meter issue or a charging issue.  I would check the voltage at the batteries before and after starting to see if they show a normal charging voltage.  Some buses don't start to charge until the air pressure is up, so that is a possibility.  An ammeter reads  the differential voltage at a shunt, usually, maybe the shunt is not in good shape or the "shorted" wire was to the shunt.  Remember that a shunt is basically just a really low resistance resistor, often way less than one ohm and could easily be mistaken for a short circuit.  Another possibility is that one relay or another may be stuck or not working, keeping a circuit open/closed in error.  You could also try to find out if there is actually a large discharge, meter on the batteries with the engine stopped but all the various switches on.  These electrical gremlins are hard to trouble shoot, unfortunately, but you sure seem to be doing a great job so far!

Brian

[Seayfam]

Ron,
I am not real familiar with the charging system on the GM's. If I had to guess, I would think there is a problem in your alternator or voltage regulator.
What you might do is start a new thread on this topic and you will probably get more replies. Or you might message Sean Welsh on this board. He is the electrical Yoda. One more thought is to start a thread on BNO (Bus Nut Online) There are a bunch of really good GM guys there.

Good Luck

[qayqayt]

Welcome Kristen and Ron,
It would be a good idea to start a new thread if you have any questions or need help.  Often a question about electrical problems will attract someone to read it who can help.  You'll find that these discussions often go off topic (not always a bad thing) and some members (like me) quit reading the thread.

Another advantage to starting a new thread is that sometime in the future, someone might be looking through old discussions looking for a solution to the same problem.  Easier to find it if the subject line is relevant to the topic.

Kudos to Teresa for helping and getting us all involved.  Good luck with your trip back to Alaska and enjoy your bus!!

Bryan

[luvrbus]

Ron, I know of a group of GM owners that are leaving for Alaska around the 1th of June if you wish I can put you  in contact with the guys may be a fun and worth while trip traveling with other GM owners,L Hall in the group knows every bolt and nut on a GM and you can bet they will have a good supply of parts on board  

good luck

[happycamperbrat]

Dallas has been in contact with them and is helping. Today is especially hot too, I think they want out of the desert lol

[luvrbus]

Check the battery hook up sounds like they are not connected in the right order 


good luck

[happycamperbrat]

Check the battery hook up sounds like they are not connected in the right order 


good luck

Okay, I will tell him. Thanks!