Bus down on Illinois- Wisconsin border-anyone around here to help?

Dreadnought · July 03, 2017, 08:00:48 PM

My 64 bus is down. Was misfiring and running rough at higher loads. Got progressively worse until it no longer idled. Runs rough. I wonder if there's any fuel left. Or if the pump is non op. No friggin gauges. Broke down on the way to get fuel. Any help appreciated!

Dreadnought · July 03, 2017, 08:15:48 PM

I seriously doubt it's out of fuel: the generator runs which draws from the same tank

Utahclaimjumper · July 03, 2017, 08:21:27 PM

First order of business is: check the fuel filters,<<<Dan

Dreadnought · July 03, 2017, 08:31:11 PM

Roger that. Checking. I need to get out of traffic first

Dreadnought · July 03, 2017, 09:45:57 PM

The fuel filter was changed in October and I haven't done many miles since-maybe 1000. Still at the side of road so don't want to start taking things a part here. I knocked the filter a few times. Police came- were pretty helpful. Put some flares up. Illinois police have usually been dead helpful to me. Coach net said they would dispatch a tow. Had my fist visitor- a local guy. Seemed mellow. Asked what happened. Told him. He seemed drunk. At the end he asked if I smoked weed lmao. I said not recently. Weird night

lvmci · July 03, 2017, 09:55:00 PM

Hi Dreadnaught, on my 5A 8V71 I still had the original canister oil filters, one with the original sock style. I had just changed all the filters. When filled up with 20% biodiesel in Barstow, CA. Engine ran rough and got progressively worse. When I drove to Cliffords place he discovered I had only 6psi fuel pressure, on the new, now clogged filters. lvmci...

Dreadnought · July 03, 2017, 10:01:32 PM

Lvmci that's useful. I'm thinking that's a likely culprit. The casing looks old with what looks like a wing nut-esque fastener. It's probably the same as yours-an old sock style. I left a load of my tools in my escalade. May have to buy some!

Dreadnought · July 03, 2017, 10:10:37 PM

Ok I'm getting more and more of a feeling it's the fuel filter. After being sat here a while- it just started up and idled. As if the crap in the filter had settled or something

eddieboy · July 04, 2017, 05:37:51 AM

Are you still out of commission? I'm in Zion if I can help.
Ed

buswarrior · July 04, 2017, 05:48:23 AM

Inspect fuel tank for debris?

A simple computer camera on a USB leash and a light will let you peer all around inside, if you don't have a dedicated device.

Your descriptions don't suggest a lurking overheat and engine seizure...?

Temp gauge/Hot engine circuit functioning?

happy coaching!
buswarrior

chessie4905 · July 04, 2017, 05:55:46 AM

Most likely fuel filters. You can have them plug up quickly with old or little driving for a while, or unclean tank. I would recommend you change your filters out to spin ons when you can. Then when you have it happen the next time, you can unscrew filter and see if it is not full, indicating air or restriction. Always carry about 1 or 2 gallons of fresh fuel to refill before starting. Also, a priming pump is nice to eliminate pre-filling and spilling.

luvrbus · July 04, 2017, 06:09:57 AM

Carry spare filters the 20% bio fuel sold today causes lot of filter plugging on the old 2 filter systems ? did you last fill at Love's.Now days the Fuel/Pro is the way to go with the crappy fuel sold JMO

richard5933 · July 04, 2017, 06:14:07 AM

I once had a diesel tractor brought to its knees by a colony of tiny spiders. They had set up home in the upper portion of the fuel tank above the level of the fuel. As they died off, they formed a floating mat of dead spiders, sort of like a giant sponge. When the fuel level dropped, every time I went up or down a hill they got suctioned to the fuel intake screen and stayed there as long as the engine was able to run. First it would sputter, eventually it would die. Once the engine died, it took about 15 minutes for the mass to release from the screen and float away. I was then able to restart and carry on.

This mess took two years and countless dollars trying to find. It wasn't until the shop disassembled the tractor to replace the fuel intake inside the tank that they discovered this. I'm told that the mechanics took a few minutes to actually figure out what this floating glob was, as they'd never seen it before.

So, long story short, sometimes these things can have surprising causes. I'm not suggesting you've got spiders in the tank, but the fact that it started again might indicate it's time to also check out what's floating around inside your tank. Would be hard to conceive of a piece of debris getting in there over the years.

DoubleEagle · July 04, 2017, 06:23:06 AM

Once you get out of this situation, change your filter setup to a Detroit Diesel single fuel processor. Then you will have a visual fuel bowl where you can see the status of your filter, and you can easily drain and refill it after changing the filter. All it takes is one bad load of fuel from a low-volume fuel point to jam things up, and bio-diesel content does not help.

Dreadnought · July 04, 2017, 06:50:07 AM

Quote from: eddieboy on July 04, 2017, 05:37:51 AM
Are you still out of commission? I'm in Zion if I can help.
Ed

I expired in Zion last night. After a little time. The bus ran. By the time the tow truck got here the bus ran fine. I made it to the truck stop- filled up with more diesel and added some cleaner. I've been sleeping in the cabin but will check again today. I was going to see if JX peterbilt could help.