| Author | Message | ||
| Mark & Michele Blake
Rating: N/A |
Need Help My current location is near the Super Wal-mart across from the Park & Ride Parking Lot off route 71 1/4 mile south of SR 19S. Need to change fuel filters--losing power. Phone to reach is 860-348-9938. Going to get tools now; and I'm no mechanic. Trying to get to Exit 24 off of I84 to get filters changed and don't think I'll make it in time. | ||
| mark&michele blake
Rating: N/A |
update-picked up filters,however need diesel fuel to re-prime for two filters. Unable to locate gas station with diesal fuel. I will compensate for your time. | ||
| kevin schooler (Sylverstone_pd4501864)
Rating: N/A |
go back into wall mart and get a prime pump (looks like a hose with a bulb to squeeze in the middle) or a length of fuel line, siphon the diesel out of your main tank into the filters, then put the filters back on. grab a can of starting fluid while you're in there. i'd help ya but you're nowhere near me. -dd | ||
| Sammy (Sammy)
Rating: N/A |
Call Dattco Bus Inc. They're in New Britain. 800-229-4879. Open 24/7 Good luck. | ||
| Brian Brown (Blue_velvet)
Rating: N/A |
Suck some fuel out of the tank with some vinyl hose for filter prime. BTDT. Or your fresh water hose if you're really desperate. This will be obvious to you by now, but always carry two or three spare primaries (especially) and secondaries, and a full yellow 5gal. can of fuel. And a 3/4" wrench if you have the canister style filters. Good luck! bb | ||
| Mark & Michele Blake
Rating: N/A |
Thank you all for your suggestions. When I last spoke with Mark (around 12:30 pm) he was resting at a rest stop in Virginia. He called his best friend who guided him to a solution to get him moving again. He needed to be creative considering the nearest gas station that had diesel was more than 3 miles away. Since the bus is a shell with no amenities, Mark purchased a sleeping bag and pillow to rest and regenerate. He even managed to stop in Hersey, PA to visit the Museum of Bus Transportation. What a true BUS-NUT!!!! | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
Re: "When I last spoke with Mark (around 12:30 pm) he was resting at a rest stop in Virginia. "............ ............"He even managed to stop in Hersey, PA to visit the Museum of Bus Transportation. What a true BUS-NUT!!!!" FWIW, I believe that's grounds for divorce in 38 states..... | ||
| Rick w Rating: N/A |
You can use ATF for priming filters it"s also a very good injector cleaner and lube Rick 74 MC-8 | ||
| Mark & Michele (Busnut_pd4106)
Rating: N/A |
Hi, I made it back to Georgia from Michaud Bus Sales in Brentwood NH with our 1964 PD4106-2745 safely and in one piece. She is now officially called "The Belle". The Belle ran like a charm with a bad clutch I did not have to down shift not once pulling any of those hills along I-81 or I-77. I hate to sound like I am bragging but she out ran every single Peterbilt that challenged her, even out ran two Van hools outside the Queen City. Please dont get the wrong impression of me. I am not a wreckless driver but at times I just could not resist that challenge, I just had to put her to the test. She proved to be the true "Sport car of buses" that she is. As far as the filters, I should have known better and changed the fuel filters before I began the journey. I eventually ended up removing the filter's core from the canisters. I tried locating new filters but after the 5th truck stop I gave up took the risked knowing I could be damaging the injectors and fuel pump but I felt I did what I had to to get her home. The trip was about 1100 miles and she used the expect 1 gallon of oil. The GEN light on the dash kept flashing until it eventually stayed on. The oil pressure gauge was reading 60 at first but stayed mostly at 120. I kept checking the oil, could be a faulty gauge. Almost lost the driver side window when the rubber blew away in NY on I-84. I was able to hang on to the glass until I was able to safely stop and secure it. The trip was an awesome adventure, well documented and a great learning experience. Just want to say thank you to everyone that offered their encouragements and advice. For now I just want to get a good massage, lick my wounds and relax for a day or two. For now I share these pictures at the links below. http://www.geocities.com/crazy4buses/THEBELLE1.JPG http://www.geocities.com/crazy4buses/THEBELLE2.JPG Mark | ||
| Brian Brown (Blue_velvet)
Rating: N/A |
Hi Mark: Glad to hear you made it back w/o too much trouble. It'll end up being one of those adventures you remember fondly. She looks like a beautiful Belle! Hey, there's been many days behind the wheel of my '06 when I wish my driver's side window was gone like shown in your pic  . Some of them came with a vented glass, but mine was not one of them. You can get your fuel filters from Napa. Numbers are #3512 and #3552. If you still have the canister oil filter, you can get that there, too. I upgraded my oil filter to a spin-on, trading filter price for ease-of-installation. Yeah, these '06's are runners, ain't they?! I got mine down to sea level last month on a 3000 mile, seven-state jaunt, and the thing shocked me and started accelerating like a car. What fun. Here at a mile-high, it's a bit doggier and just blows black smoke if I try to push it. Your pressure gauge is surely over-reading. There's a mech. one in back (should be, anyways), that you can cross-check with. Idle should be 5-20, fast idle 20-40, highway running 40-80. The higher the temp, the lower the reading, also. Tired engines read lower, too, but yours sounds like a runner. You probably know this already, but use only straight-40wt. CF-2 oil in her. Find a distributor nearby and buy it by the case. Sounds like you got a great bus. And this is a great forum for all your questions, concerns, big bus plans & dreams. Brian Brown PD4106-1175 Longmont, CO USA Our Bus Site | ||
| Craig (Ceieio)
Rating: N/A |
Mark - Nice looking bus. I bet that window gave you a thrill. One hand on the wheel, one hand on the glass, and one hand on the downshift makes for some strange math in my book! :-) Glad you made it home safely! Craig - MC7 Oregon | ||
| FAST FRED Rating: N/A |
"The trip was about 1100 miles and she used the expect 1 gallon of oil. The GEN light on the dash kept flashing until it eventually stayed on." The gen setup was designed to operate 2 , 80A blowers all the time. If there not on the imbecile V regulator will charge , and charge till the batts are hot & overfull full, and the no charge light comes on. Sometimes just turning on the headlamps will reduce the charge enough so the no charge light goes out. This high voltage also may be giving the high oil pressure reading . Try to measure the V at the battset and if its high you can adjust the V reg down to 13.4 , not what Da Book sez , but just right for those 12 hour slogs. Works for me, Welcome to the world of The Sportscar of Coaches , the coach for folks that Enjoy driving. FAST FRED | ||
| TWODOGS (Twodogs)
Rating: N/A |
if your fuel filters plug up & the engine dies...ALWAYS have a gallon jug of POWER SERVICE with you...remove filters,dump diesel out,fill them with power service...I have gotten an extra 2000 miles out of them ...of course it's always best to have spare fuel filters...power service is at wal-mart...white gallon jug...not my invention...says it on the side of the jug | ||
| Mark & Michele (Busnut_pd4106)
Rating: N/A |
Thanks for the tip on keeping the POWER SERVICE onboard TD. Also, thank you Fred for your efforts in trying to make me understand the GEN, but I still have no clue what its doing. However I now understand what the blowers do. Craig, when I saw the rubber leave the window all I thought about was the cost to replace that piece of glass. Even though I intend to replace window with the Peninsula RV Type. I am sure the glass would be of value to someone. It was very tricky trying to steer with one knee, mashing the clutch, down shifting and braking while holding onto the glass. Brain, thanks for the oil pressure information. I realize this information is very important. I believe the oil I am using is Shell Rotella "T" 40. I am considering upgrading to the spin-off fuel filters. I was able to find parking near home after all. A safe and secure public storage in Loganville GA, about 5 miles the house. I am ready to begin converting, however we may not start until spring 06. We promised to return to Arcadia for Bussin 06 with our Belle to show her off. The question now is where do I begin. A few more pics of The Belle: (sorry about the size) http://www.geocities.com/crazy4buses/THEBELLE001.JPG http://www.geocities.com/crazy4buses/THEBELLE002.JPG http://www.geocities.com/crazy4buses/THEBELLE007.JPG http://www.geocities.com/crazy4buses/THEBELLE1.JPG http://www.geocities.com/crazy4buses/THEBELLE5.JPG | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong)
Rating: N/A |
Mark - FYI, PD4106-2745 was delivered new in May of 1964 as fleet number 46 to The Short Line of Connecticut, based in E. Hartford, CT. Just a little trivia for you. . . RJ PD4106-2784 Fresno CA | ||
| TWODOGS (Twodogs)
Rating: N/A |
Mark... now would be a REAL good time to have the ceiling spray foamed for insulation...offer to bring it to their shop or on a jobsite where they are working...I believe they can shave it all down smooth with the ribs..try to have it done before it gets cold | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong)
Rating: N/A |
Two Dogs makes an excellent point. Additional suggestion: put up furring strips for attaching the walls and ceiling, and to act as a barrier between the metal of the coach and the wood interior, before having it spray foamed. After foaming, shave it down to the top of the furring strips. Cover EVERYTHING you don't want foamed with painter's masking tape & paper, too. Makes for much easier clean-up. Check around in your area for 18-wheeler reefer trailer repair facilities - they often have the spray foam guys there to respray repaired units. HTH. . . | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong)
Rating: N/A |
One other point: Now would be a good time to rewire the clearance and marker lights, before foaming. Change them to LED units if you want, since that's the latest technology. If you put a cap on it, you can use just about any of the LED 12V units. If you want to keep the classic lines of the '06, the center markers are unavailable, but you can get the corner clearance lamp lenses from IPB in Apopka, FL. They're aftermarket, but exactly the same as OEM. (Wish they'd do the '06's front turn signal lenses. . .) Give Rich a call at 1-800-468-5287. Have fun with your sports car! | ||
| Mark & Michele (Busnut_pd4106)
Rating: N/A |
For those interested, I am showing off additional pictures of our 06 The Belle as she sits in storage. I was interested in seeing what the condition of the underside looked like. In addition, we measure the interior space primarily to get a accurate quote to foam the whole bus as TD suggested. As the pictures show there is plenty of rust under the bus. I notice some type of oil leak on the differential, I am not sure if this is serious. Should I be concern? Is there a lock design for the bay doors on these buses? Because of my height (6'2") I am reluctant to add furring strips to the ceiling. I am not sure what we will use to cover the ceiling but it must be very thin. CLICK THE LINKS BELOW TO VIEW THE PICTURES http://www.geocities.com/crazy4buses/TheBelle009.jpg http://www.geocities.com/crazy4buses/TheBelle011.jpg http://www.geocities.com/crazy4buses/TheBelle013.jpg http://www.geocities.com/buswrap411/TheBelle015.jpg http://www.geocities.com/buswrap411/TheBelle018.jpg http://www.geocities.com/buswrap411/TheBelle019.jpg http://www.geocities.com/crazy4buses/TheBelle020.jpg http://www.geocities.com/buswrap411/TheBelle021.jpg http://www.geocities.com/buswrap411/TheBelle022.jpg http://www.geocities.com/buswrap411/TheBelle023.jpg http://www.geocities.com/buswrap411/TheBelle024.jpg http://www.geocities.com/buswrap411/TheBelle025.jpg If you are unable to access the pictures I apologize. Just wait and try again later. | ||
| Brian Brown (Blue_velvet)
Rating: N/A |
Hi Mark: Wow, your ’06 sure looks to be in good shape. It’s amazing how good the old anodized panels can look after 40+ years, ain’t it? Looks like a fine shell you bought. I wouldn’t worry much about the undercarriage rust. My ’06-1175 came from Adirondack Trailways running between NYC and upstate NY (road salt city!), and looks very similar underneath. Probably even worse. Keep in mind, most of the steel components under there are just massive and the rust on them is confined to the surface and the fasteners, so nothing will fall apart on you. Speaking from experience, though, if you need to remove a part or deal with any bolt, you’ll be fighting the rust for sure. Looks like you have new airbag(s)! Somebody’s been taking care of her. Maybe whomever stripped it. Replacing the bags on an ’06 isn’t hard (don’t even have to remove the tires), but is a nasty job with all of the rust and road dirt falling all over you. I’ve replaced three on mine and counting. Your blower looks like it's been changed out or rebuilt, and some of the rubber in the engine compt. looks fresh. Back brakes look like they’ve still got some thickness to ‘em. Don’t worry about the diff. oozing. BUT, go ahead and replace the gear oil inside. You never know how long it’s been in there. It takes about two and a half gallons of SAE140 to fill the diff, IIRC. I found it easier to do in quart bottles with a short funnel. I tried a plunger device, but the oil is soooo thick it wouldn’t work well. Go ahead and lube everything while you're under there. It's another nasty job, but you won't have to do it agian for a looong time. Da Book (which you've got to get if you don't have one) has a nice fold-out map of all the lube points and lube type. Locks on the bays are doable, but you’ll have to be a bit creative since they weren’t designed for them. I haven’t done mine yet, so I can’t be much help. Check the archives here on BNO for some ideas… try “bay lock” as a search term. Oh, and if you want a great PC graphics program that’ll easily knock down the size of your photos, and even make Web galleries out of them, along with helping you organize your stash of digicam pics, Google’s Picasa 2 is FREE and it’s great: http://picasa.google.com/index.html While you're at it, download their even more amazing and FREE Google Earth if you really want a useful, fascinating, where-does-the-time-go?? application on your PC. Just to show you, here’s a Gallery I made of your images from today… took less than a minute. Totally automatic. And the whole folder, images and thumbnails is just a bit more than 1MB. http://www.brownland.org/bus/belle/index.html Also, if you need a place to host your images/Web galleries I’ll be happy to put them up on one of my domains for free (I’ve got lots of room). Least I could do for a fellow Busnut. -bb PD4106-1175 Longmont, CO http://www.brownland.org/bus/ | ||
| FAST FRED Rating: N/A |
"Because of my height (6'2") I am reluctant to add furring strips to the ceiling" Sounds like you will be on the list of 06 owners with basement air , rather than carbunkles. Either brand fits where the old air cond condenser was . Works for me, FAST FRED | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Rating: N/A |
Brian, I could not get any pictures on your site, and can never get on the site where Mark's pictures are. Richard | ||
| TWODOGS (Twodogs)
Rating: N/A |
the main thing you need to worry about on the rear end leak,is DON'T run out of 140 gear oil in it...you don't say where it's leaking,....where the third member bolts to banjo...or, the pinion seal... | ||
| Brian Brown (Blue_velvet)
Rating: N/A |
Richard, if you can see a picture here: http://www.brownland.org/bus/belle/target2.html it's probably an issue with frames and your browser. Here's a frame-free Web gallery of the same images: http://www.brownland.org/bus/belle2/index.html See if you can see the pics on it. -bb | ||
| Brian Brown (Blue_velvet)
Rating: N/A |
TD, it appears to be oozing around the drain plug. So a little pipe thread sealant on it when you replace the plug after changing the gear oil should do it. I'm pretty sure that these are standard pipe threads if you need to replace the plug or clean up the threads. But, like 2D says, do NOT let it run low on fluid. The plug on the front end about halfway up is how you check the fluid level. Stick your finger in there and check it... add fluid until it starts oozing out that hole. And make checking the level part one of your pre-trip maint. items until you're certain it's not leaking anymore -bb | ||
| TWODOGS (Twodogs)
Rating: N/A |
might not be leaking at all...might have been a sloppy guy put 140 in there...check the leval...wash off the spill & take it for a cruise | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Rating: N/A |
Got them from both links now. Still nothing from the first link. "The Belle -- (14 images)" That is all I get. Thanks, Richard | ||
| Tom Caffrey (Pvcces)
Rating: N/A |
Mark, you might budget for testing of samples of your critical fluids before assuming that they need changing. $100 ought to go a long ways towards telling you what you've got. I think the oil is coming from the pinion seal. Ours is a bit worse than yours, but hasn't taken any lube in four years. I do use the brake occasionally to keep any oil burned off of the lining. We have spring brakes, so we don't really need the Johnson bar, but I was reluctant to remove it. I've been surprised by how many uses I have for it. If we need to take ours over a pit and anyone is in the pit, they really don't like the air blast when we pop the dynamites. I thought the brake pots looked abnormally rusty. They might be worth some attention, soon. For what it's worth. Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576 Suncatcher | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong)
Rating: N/A |
Brian - Just FYI, I got the same results on the Google site as Richard did, but your links came up fine. | ||
| Mark & Michele (Busnut_pd4106)
Rating: N/A |
A few months ago I posted a 4106 I found parked in Lithonia GA . I promised myself I would return and introduce myself to the owner. I eventually met Gene, he is very warm & friendly guy. He has rebuilt his 8v71 and did the conversion himself. He owns several pieces of heavy construction equipments, a machine shop, plus he is a machinist. I know I have found a true friend in this gentleman since he has offered to assist us with our 06. He later introduce me to the Durden brothers from Lithonia GA. The brother own two buses a Flxible and a 4107 both beautiful buses. The Flexible won an award in Arcadia a few years ago. There is a story behind that Flxible where it caught on fire and was almost destroyed, but is now fully restored. The 4106 is still a seated coach and is in mint condition. These guys are true bus nuts. I sat with them for hours talking about buses. I shared pictures of our 06 with the brothers. They were so focused on the pictures, examining each picture in detail. They don’t own a computer , I promise to donate an old PC, this way they can tap into the great resources on BNO. After they examined each picture the brothers were able to determine that the leak we see on the differential of our 06 (The Belle) is actually coming from the air brake cylinder (just as TD suggested) which they recommend we fix ASAP. I have to give praise to this board . You guys are a great resource and I can not stop thanking each and everyone of you who have taken the time to respond to our post. |