Broke down in Boise

thomasinnv · August 15, 2016, 07:49:28 PM

Here we are setting in front of the shop in Boise waiting for a ecm. We were traveling from Cascade to Fruitland yesterday, stopped north of Horse shoe bend for lunch and then the bus would not start when we wanted to get back under way. First thing i did was to pull the fuel filters and made sure they were full, then next to remove and clean all the battery connections to the ecm, clean and retighten the cable connections in the engine compartment and still no joy. Pulled the following codes: 42, 43, 44, 54 and 62.

I called smith diesel and they sent out a mechanic to change the srs, when that didn't work he checked the harness at the ecm, THEN hr decided it would be advantageous to plug in the computer. Nothing showing up for the srs or the trs. He says the ecm is bad. One has been ordered and will be here in the morning. I'm not totally convinced but I did let it be known I am not paying for unnecessary parts changing. $2056 for the ecm plus tax and labor. Setting at about $4000 if this fixes it. Fingers crossed.

DoubleEagle · August 16, 2016, 07:26:34 AM

I hope that fixes it for you, but stories like this take away any longing I might have for a stronger newer engine. Mechanical 2 cycles have their problems, but they don't usually cost that much in one stroke while on the road. Adding oil every so often is not really so bad, and crawling up the mountains allows you to see more scenery. The Series 60 is a good engine, I have had it in several trucks, but boy, those computers cost.

luvrbus · August 16, 2016, 07:37:17 AM

Did you check the coolant before you went to Smiths that is a good shop by the way.I haven't figured how the coolant lift pump works on mine yet but if the tank gets low of coolant it will not start I found that out when I changed the coolant,I do like the tank it is so easy to fill

thomasinnv · August 16, 2016, 08:53:55 AM

Yes the upper tank is well above the sensor and the lower tank also has coolant in it. When they hooked up the computer to the ecm they were not seeing any input from the srs or the trs when cranking.

Do you have a coolant pump switch on the rear engine control panel? Depressing that should activate the pump if the level is low.

John316 · August 16, 2016, 09:32:15 AM

Quote from: luvrbus on August 16, 2016, 07:37:17 AM
Did you check the coolant before you went to Smiths that is a good shop by the way.I haven't figured how the coolant lift pump works on mine yet but if the tank gets low of coolant it will not start I found that out when I changed the coolant,I do like the tank it is so easy to fill

The lift pump switch is on the rear control panel. The pump is mounted up pretty high, so sometimes you have to bleed the air pocket in the line. Then all you have to do is keep the surge tank on the passenger side full, and if you ever need to, just use the lift pump to top off the top tank.

Derrick. Sorry about your troubles! Not fun at all!

luvrbus · August 16, 2016, 09:51:27 AM

Derrick are those flash codes ? I think the ECM is bad. I upgrade to a DDEC IV and have a spare DDEC lV now, you better get a spare for the B500 also, John gave me a spare ECM for the B500 cost me 200 bucks to have repaired but it is cheap insurance I think

thomasinnv · August 16, 2016, 09:58:56 AM

Cliff i got the codes by pressing the button in the luggage compartment. On my list of spare parts to aquire is another ecm, srs and trs sensors, air governor, and now i will also add a transmission ecm.

I have a spare mt42 starter for the 8v71. Is that the same as for the 11.1?

luvrbus · August 16, 2016, 10:19:48 AM

Quote from: thomasinnv on August 16, 2016, 09:58:56 AM
Cliff i got the codes by pressing the button in the luggage compartment. On my list of spare parts to aquire is another ecm, srs and trs sensors, air governor, and now i will also add a transmission ecm.

I have a spare mt42 starter for the 8v71. Is that the same as for the 11.1?

Buy yourself a MT39 it takes away some of the pain in changing 1 and low voltage won't kill it

TomC · August 16, 2016, 12:15:25 PM

MT42 starter is a direct drive monster. MT39 is the newer gear drive starter-half the weight, half the cranking electrical draw, twice the longevity. Good Luck, TomC

thomasinnv · August 16, 2016, 01:39:15 PM

They put in the ecm and still won't start. They are scratching thier heads and playing guessing games on my dime.

luvrbus · August 16, 2016, 01:46:22 PM

Ok I bet it was interlocked to handicap door you removed

thomasinnv · August 16, 2016, 01:55:12 PM

I did mention that but they don't believe there is anything that would prevent it from starting. The handicap lift was connected to the fast idle and park brake solenoids.

They are not seeing any rpm on the monitor while cranking. Srs and trs are showing nothing.

John316 · August 16, 2016, 02:45:14 PM

Derrick,

I've got an idea for you. We lost a fuse for our transmission (B500 on a DL3 - now Clifford's bus) in Boise. It would not allow our bus to start. The fuse was in the front J box, behind a bunch of wires, crammed against the front wall of the bus. I would start looking at the transmission. If the engine can't read it, it won't let the engine start. In this case, since we lost the fuse, it couldn't tell if it was in N, so it would start.

thomasinnv · August 16, 2016, 03:01:30 PM

Hey john316 when you lost the fuse did it still crank?

thomasinnv · August 16, 2016, 04:15:18 PM

So far they have replaced both sensors twice, replaced part of the wire harness, and connected an alternate power source directly to the ecm. They rolled us out for the night and will get back on it in the am. They are going to take a close look at the bullgear, and make sure the pin hasn't relocated itself to the pan. Hmmm, I suggested that they look at the bullgear hours ago. We will see.