New year... new problem :/

[edvanland]

Remember Geoff when mine was pulled into your shop, when you could still get into it, the driver had pulled the axles and I don't remember he even asking you if you wanted them reinstalled. Thanks for taking us in that day and rebuilding the motor.
ED

[Geom]

OK Guys, thought I'd provide a quick update.

We ended up getting towed from the RV park -serving as that afternoon's entertainment.
It took him like 6 hours to finally get that tow done. I kinda felt bad for the guy. I still think a landoll would've been A LOT easier than all the futzing and jacking and banging/clanging/measuring/adjusting/positioning/etc it actually took to finally get that up on the wheel-lift and rolling.
I tried to tell them 

Anyway, the next morning Kevin and I began trying to recreate and isolate the sound. And, of course, now it would not make the sound at all!!
No combination of neutral/reverse/forward/back/under-load/no-load/whatever would get the sound to happen.
So I took it for a spin around the block and back. No sound.
I continued messing with it myself, for a while longer... no sound! 

I also figured out that the generator not working was my duh.
The last time I started it, I wanted to be back there when the engine started so I can hear everything as it fired up. I used the rear start switch. And if left in the middle position, several electrical things are taken out of circuit -including the alternator relay. Once returned to run, the generator was charging and rpm showing fine.

After talking with Kevin, we decided to go ahead and drive to Q. It's only around 100 miles away and makes for a pretty good test.

We made it here yesterday. I stopped a couple of times to verify if there was any weird sound and still nothing.

So, while I'm quite glad that it wasn't a serious thing... I'm still baffled by what it was -and I don't like these kinds of mysteries. 
I didn't imagine the sound. And it was definitely disconcerting. But try as we could, we couldn't recreate it.

The plan now is to stay close to the area for a while and try to not go too far off the beaten path from a towable location; and hope for the best.
I decided to just leave things as they were. We could've removed the generator and all that, but by all accounts everything looked fine there.

----

On a more pleasant topic, hopefully I'll get to see some folks and their buses from this forum. Not sure where everyone landed (need to reread Gary's post), but we're currently north of town off of Plomosa road.


Thanks to everyone for their advice and help.
And Clifford thanks a lot for Kevin's contact info.
Kevin is definitely good people and it was a pleasure to meet him. If we can squeeze into his busy schedule, we plan on making a second trip out here in a few weeks to take care of some other stuff.

~George

[luvrbus]

Yep Kevin is a good guy and sharp glad you got to meet him.if you are around next Sat I am going to look you up at Quartzsite we will be over with the Gm and Eagle people.LOL if I get through with the GM bus in the shop in time,when people stuff a 6v92Ta in a 4104 it is nightmare took me 1 whole day just to remove the friggn turbo   

[uncle ned]

Clifford  My turbo sets right on top of the 730.  First thing you see when you lift up the gate.

Impress the car people to see a turbo on a old gm bus.

uncle ned

[Geom]

OK, I think I've come closer to identifying the clanging sound.

The cap on the transmission dipstick has always been attached using this goofy setup with an upside screw attached with a nut  on the outside of the cap. It's worked itself loose (but not fully off) several times before. Each time I tried a different way to keep it from working loose, tightened it, and kept an eye on it. Yet every time it would eventually work loose again. Usually  I've caught it in time to retighten it.

Except this last time. I noticed that it was completely off, when I was doing some other work back there.  That, coincidentally, was right before we started hearing the sound  

I managed to find the screw and pull it back up using a magnet. And I thought that was it. And didn't think much more about it. I latched that sucker down and used pipe-thread compound to lock it into place. And it holding fine now.  

But, I'm now wondering if there wasn't a washer or something there that went down the dipstick tube and into the transmission pan  

The sound came back again, the last time we ran the bus.
Once again it was when we shifted into gear (drive specifically).
Once again it stopped after a short while. It clanged around a bit -for a few minutes. Then stopped.
I checked sound with the screwdriver handle against my ear and it really sounds to be coming from the transmission bell-housing.

Is it possible that a washer or something is causing the clanging?
If something falls in the pan, wouldn't a screen or similar catch it and stop it from getting sucked in?

Anyway, I'm feeling kinda stupid at the moment  

Your thoughts are appreciated as always.