New Bus Owner Questions

J-M · January 27, 2012, 09:55:12 AM

HI Folks,
I am a new bus owner and I am hooked. I bough a 1982 MCI 9 bus off of E-bay. That was my first mistake. But it was under $4000.00 so now I think I really get to pay for it. My bus has a v871 engine in it. I have oil dripping out of the exhaust pipe after you run the bus for a while. Folks have told me this means the engine is shot. Is there a professional opinion out there on this? The air line seems to have lots of oil in it to and the air dryer does not seem to be working. when it is cold the bus will start but it will not air up and then I can't shut if off. If on warmere days it does fine and I hav drained everything I can find I have been told the oil in the line means the compressor is shot and I need to replace it as well. Also, I need windshield wipers drivers, the gaskets around the passenger windows, and lots of other parts. The squirrel cage rocks side to side and I think the back bolts are missing or broken. The air piston that tightens this belt is also shot. Is there a good place to purchase this stuff? I live in Colorado; I drove my bus home from Louisiana. There is a local transit company that has been very helpful but I feel bad for bothering them so much. Is it worth replacing engine or should I just scrap it? I has so many problems that I know of I could not put it back on e-bay and let someone else get stuck with it. What are others expeiances and thoughts?

muldoonman · January 27, 2012, 10:24:28 AM

I know how you feel. I bought my 91 prevost last summer and the bus had been sitting for about 8 years in a bus barn. I started at the frige and just replaced a lot of the goodies. (Tires, water pumps, water faucets, motion sat. dish, sat. radio, and the list goes on and on. The boys at Texas Custom Coach outside of San Antone did the work. My bus was pretty tight with only 56,000 miles total since new and the 20 kw genset only had 35 Hrs. on it when i bought it.. I'm going to get the genset looked at because it will die if the outside temp is above 85 degrees. I've found that if you do the work yourself you will go broke, just a little slower. Just kidding on that last comment. My wife loves this thing and regardless of cost, I'm in it for the long haul. Hang in their. If you have the means, theirs nothing like it.

PS.
the folks here are a wealth of knowledge and very helpful.

redbus · January 27, 2012, 10:26:16 AM

How much oil did you use on the way home? Do you have 40w oil in it or 10w40?
Sam Caylor in Rantoul,Ks. has used parts.

muldoonman · January 27, 2012, 10:42:18 AM

Friend of mine ran 50 weight is his oil burner. It helped, but than again it was down South Texas.

chev49 · January 27, 2012, 10:50:19 AM

If the engine was marginal, and have a long list of other issues.. i would probably list on ebay and sell it "as-is, where is" and i imagine you would get your money back as thats close to scrap price. The reason being is that you can get a bus for twice that or a bit more that will have a good engine, and other parts, not have to do a ton of work, etc. In fact i think you could get a cheaper conversion for that price at this point in our economy, which might save even more time.
Just a dummies thoughts.

luvrbus · January 27, 2012, 03:06:44 PM

Are you sure it is oil or is it fuel ?

Brassman · January 27, 2012, 03:09:09 PM

Well, if you're going to keep it, you best be out there fixin'. I'd inspect the airbox drains, and rotate the engine, while looking at the rings and the piston through the intake ports to see if they look OK. If OK, replace engine oil, and filter. Use straight weight oil. Run it, and see if that helps. Inspect, maintain, and repair air system.

Then you're ready to start working on your bus.

J-M · January 27, 2012, 03:38:43 PM

Quote from: redbus on January 27, 2012, 10:26:16 AM
How much oil did you use on the way home? Do you have 40w oil in it or 10w40?
Sam Caylor in Rantoul,Ks. has used parts.

I used about 5 quarts comming home. I put 10w40 in it becasue that is what the folks who had it said to use.

Van · January 27, 2012, 03:44:10 PM

AH-HA!

scanzel · January 27, 2012, 04:25:05 PM

40 weight only no 10/40 or 15/40. Change the oil and filter and then see what happens if you decide to keep it.

sledhead · January 27, 2012, 05:04:00 PM

j-m I have a 6v92 ta and when I first got it I had a shop change my oil. They installed 15w40 as that is what they said is the right oil !!! ha ha ha I drove 1600 miles to florida and used 22 gal. of the same oil .what did buy

. after I changed to 40 w oil the same trip I used 5 gal of oil . after out of frame rebuild I use 2 gal on the same trip now with no leaks, a lot faster , no smoke hope this helps dave

chev49 · January 27, 2012, 05:17:10 PM

a gallon ever 150 miles.. u musta had to stop a lot...

sledhead · January 27, 2012, 05:28:32 PM

ya and I oil sprayed my toad to the point it took 3 complete car washes to see through the win.

artvonne · January 27, 2012, 05:46:18 PM

I thought he meant 5 quarts from Louisiana to Colorado. 5 quarts in 150 would be awful. 5 quarts in a 1000 isn't so bad. I would think 5 quarts in 150 miles would smoke like the dickens.

Couple things Ive learned here. The full line on the oil dipstick is often to high and they barf out the excess until they are happy. If you were filling to the full line, a loss of 5 quarts may only be the engine trying to spit some out. Listen to the advice about straight 40.

Oil out the exhaust may be related to the engine trying to barf out that excess oil, or it could be fuel and you have a bum injector. Neither one signify a major engine problem.

On the compressor, lot of stories of guys getting bum rebuilts. Quite a few have had good luck just fixing whats there. Not sure on the oil but it could be something a minor repair would solve? Whether its junk or not it wont kill anything to pull the head or play with the unloader stuff. Drain the coolant first!!!

Before you bail out, I think you owe it to yourself to give it a chance. Somehow I dont think it could be too bad if it made it from Louisiana to Colorado. If your afraid of tackling the engine yourself, go to someone these guys here recommend and have someone attempt tuning it up or determine if its toast. If the engine is bad, however, youll be wasting your time and money fixing any of the other problems if you end up scraping it. If you get the engine situation settled, then you can start attacking the other problems and youll probably be okay.

Does it smoke profusely?

J-M · January 30, 2012, 10:02:07 AM

It did not smoke when I got it. It does smoke profusely now. I did only use 5 quarts coming home from to Colorado. It was around a 1400 mile trip. My problems did not seem to start until after I added the wrong oil.

Thanks for the advice folks, I will try the oil and filter change first. I will let you know how it works out.

Quote from: artvonne on January 27, 2012, 05:46:18 PM
I thought he meant 5 quarts from Louisiana to Colorado. 5 quarts in 150 would be awful. 5 quarts in a 1000 isn't so bad. I would think 5 quarts in 150 miles would smoke like the dickens.

Couple things Ive learned here. The full line on the oil dipstick is often to high and they barf out the excess until they are happy. If you were filling to the full line, a loss of 5 quarts may only be the engine trying to spit some out. Listen to the advice about straight 40.

Oil out the exhaust may be related to the engine trying to barf out that excess oil, or it could be fuel and you have a bum injector. Neither one signify a major engine problem.

ON the compressor, lot of stories of guys getting bum rebuilds. Quite a few have had good luck just fixing whats there. Not sure on the oil but it could be something a minor repair would solve? Whether its junk or not it wont kill anything to pull the head or play with the unload er stuff. Drain the coolant first!!!

Before you bail out, I think you owe it to yourself to give it a chance. Somehow I dont think it could be too bad if it made it from Louisiana to Colorado. If your afraid of tackling the engine yourself, go to someone these guys here recommend and have someone attempt tuning it up or determine if its toast. If the engine is bad, however, youll be wasting your time and money fixing any of the other problems if you end up scraping it. If you get the engine situation settled, then you can start attacking the other problems and youll probably be okay.

Does it smoke profusely?