Update on Ebay 1994 Series 50. Adding oil & coolant didn't stop 'check engine'

[Kevin Warnock]

Hello everyone,
I asked the seller of the current EBay RTS 1994 Series 50 to fill the oil and coolant to see if that would make the 'check engine' and 'stop engine' lights stop blinking and beeping. He said it didn't help. Thought I should ask here how much this could cost to fix in the worst case. ($35K for a new engine, right??? lol)
I see there has been a lot of talk on the Yahoo RTS group about how much such a bus is worth. On the high end, Transit Sales International is offering a pseudo "1996" remanufactured RTS with a Series 50 for $59,000. On the low end, there have been two Series 50 RTSs on EBay for months now, at $9,500 starting bids each, with nobody bidding ever. Any thoughts on how much this current EBay RTS is worth? I saw the comment suggesting around $10K. Anyone else have an opinion? The auction ends tonight, Feb 6th.
Thanks. Kevin

[Sammy]

Tell the seller to "flash" out the codes for you - check and stop engine lights.
I'll tell you what the codes mean.
Sammy 

[Ace]

Kevin, it might be as little as a $25.00 part. Mine was! It was a coolant sensor! Once it was replaced, never another problem with either the check or stop engine lights!

Then again, it could be worse but I would definitely check the sensors first! As Sammy has suggested, ask him to get the codes. He can do that very simply by counting the flashing lights on the dash once it is in "test mode". It would be something like 4 blinks pause 7 blinks meaning it's a 4-7 code and then you can look it up to see exactly what it refers to!

Most of the time if everything else is good to go, it's a low coolant sensor even if it has a full reservoir of coolant!

Ace

[Busted Knuckle]

Ace is absolutly correct about coolant sensors causing problems on a reguar basis! Heck I went to look at my Setra, and they'd tried everything all the way down to a "new rebuilt ECM" and still couldn't find the problem. Well we took one and swapped it and took it for a drive, all good! So we pulled over and swapped it back out. Went back to the sellers place made a deal on the problem child, then spent 30 seconds fixing it before driving it away! Wow everyone was happy the seller was smiling thinking those poor sucker will be forever tring to fix that thing! And we were thinking it'll take them forever to figure out how we fixed it that quick, and have it on the road in charter service before the end of the week! LOL! So I guess both side were saying SUCKER! LOL!
BK 

[wvanative]

BK,

Man that is a funny story, and it just goes to show that if you know just a little more than the seller you can save a lot of $$$$$.

Deffinately find out whats wrong before you lay down your hard earned cash.

Dean
WvaNative

[NJT 5573]

Kevin,You may have to clear the codes to get the lite to go out. Then you may or may not still have a real problem. If its running you can check some basics. Water in the oil is bad! If the oil is milky white, thats bad! Look at the inside of the top of the dipstick for milky white also. Its hard to tell fuel in the oil but you can smell it and look for viscosity loss. The other big No-No would be compression in the radiator. Take the cap off, fill the rad to the top and look for air bubbles comming out. It may push some water out but if it blows it out, its serious.

[Kevin Warnock]

Hello all,

Thanks everyone for their ideas on how to solve this problem. I have great news! The problem was that someone had turned on the diagnostic switch, which apparently causes the 'check engine' and 'stop engine' lights to flash out a code that means 'everything's OK'!!! Once the toggle switch was turned off, the lights went out and everything appears normal. The seller took the bus to two mechanics to have this figured out, at his own expense, and without my asking him to do so. The seller then let me drive the bus to my mechanic for an overnight inspection. He let me drive off with his bus without paying him anything. I was amazed. He's a really nice man, and his son is also really nice. I did leave my nice car at his house, so he knows I will be back. But still, I was astonished. I was all set to drive the owner back home from my city, a two hour drive from the seller, in a rental car, but he said that wasn't necessary. I did win the auction, by the way, and the price was fair I think, even though I'm sure it was well above what the seller paid for the bus just recently at the actual city auction. What I want to know is why I never heard about the city auction. I read this board and the Yahoo RTS board everyday. Is there some way we could use this system to let each other know about transit district auctions? Of course, at a city auction, you can't take the bus to a mechanic for an inspection, or even drive them, I'm told. So I am getting something of value with this EBay bus seller, because I've driven the bus for three hours now, and my mechanic I've known for five years is doing the full inspection before I actually commit to buying the bus. I got the seller to agree to release me from the contract provided I pay the EBay relisting fee, if my mechanic advises against purchase. But so far, the bus looks and feels very good. I climbed a 1,000 foot grade at 58 miles per hour, just four miles per hour under the max speed of the bus. It was amazing!

Does anyone know what rear end gear ratio I need to go faster on flat land? I hear that 4.11 is the ratio to go 75-80mpg with a 6V92 in an RTS. But to go that fast in a Series 50, it would seem I would need something in the 3.xx range, due to the lower comfortable RPM of that engine. Do they make that ratio?

Oh, my mechanic said he will hook up his diagnostic meter by the dash board and let me drive the bus with it hooked up. That way I will be able to report the RPM at cruising speed to you, so you can help me pick a rear end gear set.

My mechanic said the front tires were regrooved tires that are illegal to drive on. I told the seller, and he offered to credit me $700 to buy new tires. I am thrilled.

Thanks again everyone!

Kevin

[RTS/Daytona]

Kevin

I look for RTS buses going to auction anywhere in the country - I think I have a pretty good list of all the sites that advertise there sales - I did not see any RTS in the last few months - I always post them on the Yahoo RTS-BUS-NUTS-BOARD

The lowest rear made for the RTS is a 4.10 (41 ring/10 pinion)

a 25 flashing in the lites means -->NO ERROR CODES

remember when you go to calculate the rear end ratio - don't forget that the final drive ratio in the Allison VR731RH or LH is .88 to 1

The  most common options were 5.38 5.13 4.56 4.10 - 4.56's and 4.10's  were mostly for Highway use RTS's

Good luck on you purchase

here's what my 35' RTS looks like after 4 years of working on it
--> http://community.webshots.com/user/hawk_ii

Pete RTS/Daytona

let me know when you need
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