School Bus Follies

[Greenleaf]

A bus here in my fleet has a cracked 5. 9 The school told me it isn't worth fixing and to scrap the bus. So here I go. Ripping and tearing apart a five nine twelve valve.



Some of the parts will be saved for repair of other engines in said fleet. The other items may come up missing

 

[RitterD]

Lifetime Warranty ?

I may be repeating an old wives tale.

But I’ve been told in the past, as long as the vehicle the engine was installed in had not been in an accident, the block has a lifetime warranty thru Cummins.



Anybody know anything about this?



Don

 

[Greenleaf]

Doubt it. The 53 blocks are not replaced free.





Makes me sick. I had to pull the cam to replace the front cracked timing cover just two years ago. I installed tons of new parts then.

 

[Tippin Spotted Cow]

I'm sure it would make for an excellent end table though.

 

[RitterD]

OK,

If you would be so kind as to help continue my education.



What is a “53 block”?

 

[PToombs]

Blocks in the 24v trucks. Have a "53" cast on the side. Notorious for cracking on the right side near #5 cylinder. Made in S. America, they cheated and the casting is 5mm thick instead of the 9mm it's supposed to be. (All measurements approximated! :-laf)



Otay, Spanky?

 

[DieselBuzz]

I hear the pistons make good ash trays?!?

 

[cerberusiam]

A bus here in my fleet has a cracked 5. 9 The school told me it isn't worth fixing and to scrap the bus. So here I go. Ripping and tearing apart a five nine twelve valve.



Some of the parts will be saved for repair of other engines in said fleet. The other items may come up missing

Not so fast on the rip and tear there buddy! A good welding shop can fix a 53 block, if thats what the problem is, for a lot less than sourcing another one. If it runs good I would definitely look at have it welded up and make plans to use elsehwere.



If it truly is a 53 block in a 12V, thats a pretty rare bird. Might be a museum piece.

 

[Greenleaf]

No. It's my P-Pump conversion kit. 1997 model.

 

[JLEONARD]

Caused by excess heat due to fueling increases????:-laf:-laf

Oh no never in Ashland:-laf:-laf

 

[Tippin Spotted Cow]

Cerberusiam is right, I've seen places that weld those. The even have a preventative procedure you can do to a 53 block that strengthens the weak point. Just do a search for "Cummins 53 block" and I'm sure youll turn up at least a few hits.

 

[Greenleaf]

Hey! Just keep that under your hat.



There is nothing wrong w/the block. It's the cyl head that broke apart. Come to think of it, that is what happened to the last bus... ... ... ... ...

 

[Tippin Spotted Cow]

Oh, trust me, the block is bad, and I'll take it off your hands for you.



Eh, thought I'd try my hand at the Jedi mind tricks...

 

[cerberusiam]

Hey! Just keep that under your hat.



There is nothing wrong w/the block. It's the cyl head that broke apart. Come to think of it, that is what happened to the last bus... ... ... ... ...

Hmmmm... . sounds like a Chinese head made its way onto THAT bus.

 

[Jgolden]

I know there is at least one(maybe more than one) pretty fast Dodge Diesel around Ashland, passed my motorhome on the interstate last fall, silver colored blurr... ... sweet sounding exhaust.

 

[PToombs]

Was he coming from Indiana? :-laf

 

[Jgolden]

Heading North. I didn't see any school bus traffic. I'm usually going so slow up hill it's as if I'm in a parrallel universe. Maybe I should paint my motorhome yellow and pull into that bus garage for a 'tuneup".

 

[PToombs]

You're complaining about mileage and EGT's now, and you wanna let him tune it up?



:-laf:-laf

 

[Jgolden]

OK, maybe I'll pull into the Case dealer in Syracuse.

The old RV might just become a lawn ornament until I can convert it to burn gasified wood.

 

[SRath]

I'm killing two birds with one stone and parking my '83 Class C chevy next to the house and telling my wife it is the new kitchen and bedroom addition we can't afford...



(Sorry, I had to come see what the old timers were up to now and, as usual, couldn't resist jumping in on your fun... You need to teach the 2nd and 3rd gen guys how to lighten up and have more fun here... Someday I'm going to buy an old Dodge with no motor and post a photo of it claiming to be a 1st gen dodge diesel just so I can hang out here more. )