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dougthebonifiedbusnut (136.217.0.198)

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Posted on Saturday, August 09, 2003 - 12:46 pm:   

Does anyone have an engine coolant heater in the back of their crown. If so do you have a schematic of the system? And also can anyone recomend a good continuous duty water pump to use to pump the heating water around.I want to use the system while underway.So I need to know if I need to put any check valves in or any other things particular to that type of system.thanks
Henry R. Bergman, Jr. (Henryofcj) (63.224.197.10)

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Posted on Saturday, August 09, 2003 - 3:30 pm:   

I will have to crawl under my '74 10-wheeler and check. Know there is an auxillary air chuck hookup, but not sure about any extra heater. Will advise. CROWNS FOREVER!!
R.C.Bishop (128.123.221.215)

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Posted on Saturday, August 09, 2003 - 7:38 pm:   

Doug...I have two 40M BTU heaters in the tunnel...one amidships and t'other in the rear. Have also two in the front. I have no idea of the schematic, but in the next few days will attempt to check it out in DA BOOK.

Too hot to get under the coach just now (104 today) and I haven't really chased the system, but maybe I can get some information for you.

Mine are Bergstrom (Illinois) heaters. As I recall they have a web site, but I haven't made much progress on the phone with them regarding a couple of questions I have. The guy that has all the answers for vintage coaches may have retired... :(
RCB
Mark R. Obtinario (Cowlitzcoach) (206.163.13.86)

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Posted on Saturday, August 09, 2003 - 10:58 pm:   

Hi Crown nuts,

I added an extra underseat heater in my '69 10-wheeler. It was already plumbed in. All I had to do was drill a couple of holes through the floor for the hoses, hook the hoses into the bus plumbing, string a couple of wires for the fan motors, and attach the heater to the floor under a seat.

Crowns have two thermostats, one for the engine and one for the heaters. If you put in the correct 'stat, you shouldn't need a continuous duty pump. With 140/160 degree heater/engine stats, I practically froze to death when it got cold outside. Changing them to 160/180 degree heater/engine 'stats I never get cold.

The Crown cooling system is large enough that I don't have to change them when it gets hot outside. I have to back off on the throttle to keep the head temp down before I ever have a problem with water temps.

As to continuous duty pumps, they are necessary when you have a front or rear engine bus and have to pump the hot water from one end of the bus to the other. With the mid-mount engine it really isn't necessary if you keep the RPM's above 1000 RPM--and if you are idling you should be running the fast anyway, particularly if you have a 2-cycle DD.

If you decide you really need a pump, your local Thomas, Blue Bird, or IHC dealer should have what you need. Heater auxillary pumps are required on all new full size Type 'C' and Type 'D' school buses in WA state and have been for some years now.

Every installation I have seen had the pump plumbed in the line without any check valves. You just need to make sure you have it pumping in the correct direction so as to not fight the flow from the engine. It can be installed just about anywhere in the line where it is convenient to do so.

Good luck and happy trails.

Mark O.
William R. Graf (Billfrombrazil) (206.158.10.42)

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Posted on Saturday, August 09, 2003 - 11:37 pm:   

Say Mark, where are those thermostats located on the Crown with the pancake Cummins? We have a 1972 10 wheeler that came out of Ray, Arizona and when it gets cold out the heater never seems to put out near enough. We have a home-built hot water heat system with a diesel fired heater in the rear. The piping was put in by the previous owner and I found an old, used truck engine heater but it needs some attention to the fuel nozzle. I have been so busy with other things that I still haven't gotten that taken care of. We will be on the road again soon I hope and it won't be long before temperatures start dropping in the midwest. The locusts have been singing for awhile and they say that first frost is six weeks from the first locust tune so it probably won't be all that far off!
Mark R. Obtinario (Cowlitzcoach) (206.163.13.86)

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Posted on Saturday, August 09, 2003 - 11:56 pm:   

If you open the driver side engine compartment door, you can see the thermostat housing on the top of the engine towards the front of the bus. It will have both a heater hose and radiator hose going to it.
dougthebonifiedbusnut (136.217.0.198)

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Posted on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 10:30 am:   

Thanks all,
I guess the biggest question I have is why doesnt the cvoolent above the radiator overflow the radiator when the engine is not running.
Mark I put a 1986 855 in my 65 so there is only one thermostat in mine IM hoping that is not going to pose any other problem. IM thinking that the principle is the same as if you lift a jar of water out of the sink the jar stays full is why it does not overflow the radiator. but thank you all for the great info.
Mark R. Obtinario (Cowlitzcoach) (204.245.250.176)

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Posted on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 11:33 am:   

Except for the coolant in the heaters and heater lines, the top of the radiator in my Crowns is the highest point in the cooling circuit. The coolant in the heater and heater lines isn't going to move once the engine stops and the thermostats close. The thermostats will act like check valves.

Are you sure you only have one 'stat? The housing on my NHH in my Crown is the same as the thermostat housing on my NH in my KW. Although I haven't opened the housing on my KW I assume it has two 'stats inside of the housing.

Mark O.
William R. Graf (Billfrombrazil) (206.158.10.42)

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Posted on Monday, August 18, 2003 - 12:05 am:   

Thanks Mark. I will be trying to get at the heater problems after we get to our kids' places in Wisconsin. Most of our travel is done in the relative cold and it sure would be nice to get more heat going inside. In the process of body work and repainting I have insulated in around the front, which should help a lot. There was just about 3/32 of an inch of aluminum between us and the outside up there and that doesn't keep much cold out! Having been a school bus from California, used in Arizona, I don't think that heating was much of a priority in the past.

Got the rest of the bus painted last week in spite of a very hot night. Paint was drying way too fast but still looks presentable. Have most of the acouterments put back on but still don't have the windshields back in. Hope to get that tomorrow.

Bill
Henry R. Bergman, Jr. (Henryofcj) (63.224.197.10)

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Posted on Monday, September 15, 2003 - 7:08 pm:   

Same thing with my '74 10-wheeler. The Crown was used in the Oceanside area of Orange Country CA along the coast, soosss, all it got from the factory was the one dash heater/defroster.

No rear heater/s at all. One of the things I will have to do is add at least one engine heated rear heater for cold weather use. Have seen Crowns...

...with cold weather factory packages and they have up to 4 heaters inside, plus powered roof vents, along with aux block heaters, plus sanders...., tinted windows...ski racks...

..Plus all sorts of extra defrosters, radiator shutters (mine has those for some reason) for use in freezing weather. Not in LA CA tho. CROWNS FOREVER!!

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