How long should an Eagle hold air?

[CindyandJohn]

After reading the post by ekhedge - I got to thinking of our Eagle's air. Once the pressure is up and I shut the bus down, it will keep air for a few days. Overnight it will drop to about 90 pounds then decrease after that to zero in a couple more days. I found a slow leak that became a big leak two weekends ago - my air ride seat line decided to blow, thankfully while parked and the kids were playing with the air horns (at the Pocono Nascar Race). fixed that but it still drops.

a second item I have been thinking about - when I turn the steering wheel to the fullest direction either left or right I here a lot of air? Is there some function of air assist or is this one of my air leak culprits? Is there an air line in the steering column, the horn? I hear the air from the actual steering wheel center no something down under the driver.

another air issue I am aware of - the drivers air wiper makes lots of air hissing noises when running the wipers but not while they are off. I am in need of some air wiper parts if anyone knows a source - I want to rebuild both pumps and install new arms and blades unless someone has some good used ones out there.

Too many questions at once - Sorry - but many thanks to those that read them.

John

[SmoothJazz]

John,

An Eagle should hold its air pressure consistantly. Having said that, all buses develop minor leaks that are hard to detect. Using soapy water and spraying it on all valves and fittings will help find the leaks quick.

The air noise you hear in the steering column is probably the pressure relief on the power steering gear. Make sure you do not hold the steering against the steering stops for more than a few seconds as this may cause damage to the steering gear.

As far as your air wipers, this noise is normal as it is the air exhausting from the motors. There are electric wiper kits available.

[Dreamscape]

On our Eagle we had one huge leak, DD-3 and several small ones at the tank drains. Ours still leaks down to zero in about 10 hours, which is a lot better than before. I would like it to not leak down at all, one more thing to add to my list. I probably will crawl down under with a soapy spray bottle and go at it one day. Our air wiper valves are shot too, but here in Texas we don't get much rain and we are parked a great deal of the time. I'm not sure where to get parts. Have you called Jefferson Bus yet? They have always been helpful for us in the past. I'm sure Clifford or other knowledgeable Eagle guys will chime in.

I don't know anything about air assist, sorry. I wouldn't think you have any air line in your steering column, the noise you hear just might the air assist valve/cylinder at the end of it's stroke which would be under and blowing up, dunno. You will have to get dirty and crawl under to listen.

You might get a quicker response over at http://www.eaglesinternational.net/forum/index.php

[luvrbus]

John,  the places I found where Eagles leak down are the shut down cylinder on top of the engine,the automatic tank drains, the air switches in lower panel and the air dryer.
Dan has it right for the noise in the steering wheel there is no air assist on a model 15.
Bus Services in Sharon Ks and Jefferson in OKC has parts for the air wipers and IBP and Sliver Eagle have the electric wipers.
My Eagle will leak down to 60 lbs in about 2 months so I quit chasing leaks you are never going to stop every small leak being they leak at different pressures.   

good luck

[DaveG]

That's what I was thinking...make sure it is air assist before assuming anything

[CindyandJohn]

Thanks guys.

I guess I will have to get a little dirty and poke around underneath. I haven't tried the soapy water deal yet - I would love for our Eagle to last two months on air. Another item for the list. I just wanted to be sure that its normal (not good, but normal) for the air to drop quickly. The wipers work well enough but I do need to work on them a bit. Unfortunately we get lots of rain and I use them often. I will look at the sites for those air supply vendors. I also need to rebuild my window washers - the valves to the canister are all broken and I have removed most of the broken parts - perhaps I might need to look at that area for leaks? Anyhow.

Thanks,
John

[luvrbus]

John, you will like the electric pump washer better with the wet arms on your wipers can be bought at most truck parts places.
I never could keep the air washers working for a very long period of time   


good luck