My bus is possessed!

Iceni John · January 23, 2017, 01:12:53 PM

No, I don't mean it's been repo'd by some burly tattooed dude with his own Fox TV show called Bus Repo Wars, but rather I think it's showing signs of divine intervention. After the last two days of very heavy rains here (yes, it does sometimes rain in Southern California), after each day of rain my coolant overflow bottle has completely filled up with rain water. This bottle is a gallon plastic container with a screw-on cap, through which a short length of hose connects up to the vent outlet on the radiator cap on my coolant surge tank. I've not driven the bus at all after my crappy new fan motor exploded two weeks ago, so how is my coolant overflow container filling with water after each rain storm? The coolant level in the surge tank hasn't changed at all, and I just tested it now and found it's still exactly the same strength as when I last tested it a month or two ago - this shows that rain water isn't getting inside my surge tank and diluting the coolant. Even with the wind blowing some drops of rain inside the engine room, there's no way that one gallon of it can get inside my sealed overflow container - the container's screw-on cap is in place, the tube fits tightly through the cap, and it's hose-clamped at the radiator cap's outlet. So, how is rain getting in?

Maybe my bus has a sort of reverse-stigmata, but instead of bleeding drops of blood it's absorbing water instead. Does this mean my bus is hydrophilic? Maybe I can sell this water to the infirm and weak, claiming it has magical healing powers - oh wait, I think others are already doing things like that . . . At the very least, couldn't I make my bus a site of pilgrimage, then penitants and devotees could make the long and arduous journey to Orange County to receive blessings from an automotive miracle. I could name my bus Our Lady Of The Perpetual Overflow, much nicer than just calling it The Mistress like now.

This will really irk me until I find out why it's happening. Anybody here had anything similar happen to their bus?

John

dtcerrato · January 23, 2017, 02:00:27 PM

Hope none of that water is finding its way into the air cleaner inlets or combustion chambers - hydro lock?!

No on anything similar - you have me wondering...

Iceni John · January 23, 2017, 02:30:16 PM

Quote from: dtcerrato on January 23, 2017, 02:00:27 PM
Hope none of that water is finding its way into the air cleaner inlets or combustion chambers - hydro lock?!

No on anything similar - you have me wondering...

Good thinking, I'll bar the engine over tonight to make sure it's not hydrolocked. The air filter has a vacuator valve to drain out any rain that gets in, but at this stage I'm thinking anything's possible.

Thanks, John

sledhead · January 23, 2017, 03:36:43 PM

do you have any buddy's that live near by and like to pull pranks ?

dave

CrabbyMilton · January 23, 2017, 03:50:56 PM

As long as pea soap doesn't come out of the tail pipe...

CrabbyMilton · January 23, 2017, 03:52:00 PM

Pea soup I meant. Maybe there is such a thing as pea soap who knows.

Lin · January 23, 2017, 05:07:15 PM

I do not know your setup. Is there an overflow drain hole in the radiator cap compartment? If so, maybe that is tied into or finds some access to the overflow tube that goes to the tank.

DoubleEagle · January 23, 2017, 07:43:54 PM

Put a camera in the area to monitor what's going on. If the rain is doing that it might going in other bad places as well. Maybe something got perforated when the motor blew.

Iceni John · January 23, 2017, 07:48:03 PM

Quote from: Lin on January 23, 2017, 05:07:15 PM
I do not know your setup. Is there an overflow drain hole in the radiator cap compartment? If so, maybe that is tied into or finds some access to the overflow tube that goes to the tank.

That was one of the first things I checked - nope, nothing there that would pass a gallon of rainwater. The mystery remains. And the engine barred over just fine, so no hydrolock either. Not even a drop of rain got into the air filter either!

Anyone here do discount exorcisms?

John

Iceni John · January 23, 2017, 07:50:01 PM

Quote from: DoubleEagle on January 23, 2017, 07:43:54 PM
Put a camera in the area to monitor what's going on. If the rain is doing that it might going in other bad places as well. Maybe something got perforated when the motor blew.

The next time it rains hard, I'm going to stand back there to see what's happening. The lengths us busnuts go to for fixing problems!

John

sixtyseven · January 23, 2017, 11:08:55 PM

No need to wait till it rains. Put a sprinkler on your roof. Periodically check on it until the mystery water demands show up

Geoff · January 24, 2017, 08:14:16 AM

I agree with the previous poster that thought it was getting in the collection bottle via the hose going into the cap. There is simply no other way water can get in there. It only takes a tiny gap. Silicon the cap and hose when it is dry.

--Geoff

daddysgirl · January 24, 2017, 08:25:01 AM

Or, you could put a thick tarp over the top roof line, spray it from every angle and see if it's dry.
If it fills up, could there be a hole above the plastic tank? If it's dry, call the priest. Either way, get some flex seal spray it and see what happens?

Jim Eh. · January 24, 2017, 08:26:35 PM

Pressure test the system and find where air is coming OUT.

Iceni John · January 24, 2017, 10:36:03 PM

Quote from: Jim Eh. on January 24, 2017, 08:26:35 PM
Pressure test the system and find where air is coming OUT.

Yes, that's worth a try. I did install a Schrader valve on my surge tank specifically so I could do this exact thing if needed, so maybe tomorrow I'll put about 10 PSI into the cooling system and see what happens. The fun never ends. And now that I want it to rain hard again to check everything, it's forecast to be dry for the next week. Woe is me.

Maybe I should have bought a bus with a Deutz air-cooled diesel instead?

John