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| Firing Up The 'Barbie'
by Brent Hellbusch It was the middle of December on a ski weekend in the high Sierras. The trip was spur of the moment, but we had listened to the weather reports for the area and found it was to be a clear weekend with temps in the high 20’s. My bus (GMC 4106) had anti-freeze in the cooling system, and was protected down to 20 degrees. I felt I was safe, so off we went. When we arrived on Friday night, it was clear and cool, not a cloud in the sky. The first skiing of the winter awaited us next morning. I parked next to the main building, where there were no hook-ups, but we had the chance of being first in the ticket line and on the slope. Next day, after some great skiing, we went back to the bus for lunch. I noticed some of the other campers outside their rigs trying to start one of the coaches. The problem was that it had dropped to 13 degrees that night, which froze the engine. When I heard this, I hurried back to my bus to check it out. It turned over slowly but started, and I ran it for a while to make sure that the water was circulating properly. My guess was that I was okay, because I had got in late the night before, and the engine was still somewhat warm after the seven hour drive. The engine didn’t have time to cool down to freezing temperature. I got lucky. When I checked the updated weather report, it was all bad news. Temperatures would drop to zero. Not wanting to leave a day early, and not having a block heater or electricity and not being able to run the engine all night (prohibited by the resort), I was hard pressed for a solution. So I went off to town for some more antifreeze. First stop, auto parts store. Sold out of antifreeze. Next stop was the only grocery store in town, sold out there, too. Over in front of the store, below the windows was a large stack of charcoal briquettes. Having nothing to lose, I bought five 10-pound bags, and some starter fluid. That night I pulled by bus ten feet forward, and placed the charcoal in a large circular patter behind the bus. I built the pattern so the coals would continue to burn in an inward fashion. By doing this, I was assured of the coal fire burning throughout the night. I started the fire, and let the coals get going and then backed my bus over them. To bed I went. In the cold of morning I found the coals were still putting off heat, my water was not frozen, and in fact, I put my hand on the engine block, and it was warm! When I hit the starter, it fired right off. No problem. So, to make a long story short, if you ever think your bus is going to freeze, and you can’t get to warm ground, make the ground warm under you. by Dick March There I was (single, you know) happy as a prune, cruisin' along in my 4106, northern New Mexico, beautiful scene, lovely day, only minutes from my destination, and you guessed it - trouble! I had just bottomed out of a small swale and began a little throttle pressure, and ZILCH! Right to the floor, and nothing! Now that was strange, the pressures are up. RPM at idle. I was sure I could feel the engine running, but no acceleration! Enter, one of them sinking feelings. There was not much choice: ease over on this narrow twolane, turn on the four-ways, and "get out and get under." Mind you now, this was only my third trip out in one of these monsters. I started up front in that compartment under the driver. Everything looked right there. It was then back to the engine compartment and up with the door. I knew where the throttle linkage ended at the engine. I had messed with that before. So, I pulled the pin (clevis to bell-crank) and manually turned the bell-crank—that one atop the governor thing. Sure enough, power and RPM, just as nice as could be. I re-connected the throttle linkage to the bell-crank and went back up front to try again. ZILCH! What the heck? I had a fleeting thought about wiring the bell-crank open to some moderate RPM and hope I could do the rest with the clutch—there had to be a way—I'll hold that idea as a last resort. It was about this time I wished I had a co-pilot. Nah, I'll struggle through single, bedeviled as I may be. So, it was back to the engine with renewed determination. It didn't take long to discover that tube thing wasn't fastened to that cable that moves back and forth as you work the accelerator pedal. I noticed this via that oval cut/opening in the tube. I reasoned that there must have been a way to clamp the two together. That's when I went to the manual. Sure enough, right there it was (Section 12, fig 2), called "cable lock clamp." You can't imagine how tickled I was with myself, what with findin' the trouble and finding my way to the right spot in that big ugly manual. My "Road Fix" amounted to a coarse threaded metal screw laid slantways along the oval cut, and held in place with a small gear clamp. That worked just fine, and for many months as well. I tried several ways to find a replacement clamp. No luck, so I just let 'er go as it was. Later, I found a thing electricians use in ground entrance work—it's sorta' U shaped and made of copper with a set screw in one end. It comes in many sizes and needless to say it looked real good to me. What with a little forced spreading, I got one of the smaller versions to replace my "Road Fix." That ground entrance clamp, by the way, makes an extra strong way to fasten heavier gauge electrical wires together, as in butt connections, say #10 and heavier. I hate crimp-on butt connectors unless they are soldered and finished with tape and heat-shrink. Well so much for my "Road Fix." Excusing the pun, I hope you readers got a little "kick" outta it. |
The
Long And Winding Road by Charles Griffith
Here we were at last on our maiden voyage, after a year of working really hard on the conversion of our 4106 which we had done it all by ourselves. It was not yet completely finished, but all systerms were working and it was livable. We were off to Mexico to spend the winter. We had left our home in the Denver area several days before and made overnight stops along the way to see friends and, of course, to show off our coach. We had now stopped in Deming, New Mexico to see old friends, an Episcopal priest and his wife, who had moved there recently. We called and had dinner with them that evening intending to drive on toward Arizona after dinner. We arrived back at the coach about 9 p.m. and made preparations to depart. I turned on the master switch and pressed the starter button. The starter turned the engine over, but the engine did not start and subsequently tried it several times with no results. I thought to myself that if this were a gasoline engine, I'd have to ask, if the problem were (1) fuel or (2) ignition, but with a diesel there was no igniiion. So what could the problem be? No fuel in the tank? No that was not it, the fuel gauge shows plenty of fuel. Fuel pump? Injectors? Oh, heck, what do I know about a diesel engine? I know, I'll call my friend, George, in Denver who has had buses—both 4106s. By now, it's 9:30 p.m., but Denver is in the same time zone as Deming, New Mexico, and good ole' George ought to be awake still. "Hello, George, I've got a little problem." It turns out that George said he had the same problem. Some little air piston valve on the engine that turns the fuel on or off and which is activated by a solenoid switch, which in turn is empowered by current coming from the bus master switch. The system could fail at any point from the master switch to the fuel valve. George said his piston valve just seized and would not allow the spring-loaded fuel valve to open. After talking with George, it was still only 9:45 p.m. so I called a friendly diesel mechanic that I know up in Wyoming for a second opinion— better now than later, after he had gone to bed. My friend, Doc, the mechanic gave me the same story that George did only with more elaboration. Probably the rubber in the piston valve (officially called the "engine stop cylinder") had dried out and had stuck in the "fuel off" position. He suggested that I take off the piston valve by removing the allen screws which hold it on. That done, the spring-loaded fuel valve (officially called the "stop lever") which was moved to the off position by the piston, would return to the "fuel on" position. He further told me that I could drive the bus with the piston valve removed and tied out of the way until I could stop long enough to take it apart and lubricate it with a spray lubricant friendly to rubber, he warned me not to use WD 40. In the meantime, the bus could be started at any time because the fuel valve was spring-loaded in the "fuel on" position. When I wanted to stop the engine after a day's travel, I would simply have to get out of the bus, raise the tailgate and move the fuel valve by hand to the "fuel off" position until the engine stops. When I release the fuelvalve, itreturns to the "fuelopen" position,ready tostartwhen the starter button is engaged again. Well, that's exactly the way it was; the piston valve (engine stop cylinder) on my bus was stuck in the "fuel off" position. It only took a few minutes to disconnect the piston valve. I started the bus and was on my way again. When I arrived in Tucson, I located in an auto parts store, a spray lubricant made to be friendly to rubber, in this case, CRC brand Heavy Duty Silicon, No. 05074. Although, I'm sure that there are many others that will do the same thing. I disassembled the piston valve, lubricated it and reassembled it. It has worked fine ever since, but I assume that it will dry out again some day, and I will have to lubricate it again, hence I carry a can of lubricant with me at all times now. Oh,
My Aching Leg! by Pat O’Conner After a few months of driving my 4106, 4-speed converted bus, holding the clutch in at stops proved to be pretty painful on my left leg. To cure this problem I installed a 1-1/2 inch air cylinder in the compartment below the driver’s feet. It has a six inch stroke, and takes a minimum of 90 P.S.I. to disengage the clutch. Then I welded a piece of 3/8 flat stock onto the clutch lever which is connected to a clevise on the cylinder rod end. The bottom has a four bolt foot that the cylinder can swivel on. This is a two way cylinder that is actually used as a one way cylinder. The shaft port is used as the intake port. The bottom port is just left open for the air to exhaust. The clutch return springs pulls the cylinder back open. I engaged the cylinder with a 12 volt solenoid. I used the one from my fast idle which I no longer was using, or you can purchase a new one. Air supply is taken from the air tank in the same compartment as the cylinder. Since the clutch is directly related to shifting, I mounted a two-speed axle switch on the shifter. Although this will completely disengage the clutch I would not recommend leaving the transmission in gear and leaving the driver’s seat with the engine running. The Cylinder and Solenoid can be purchased at Grainger for less than $90. You can use any switch you like. Here’s to your left leg! |
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If you have any unique and enlightening stories that you have encountered while on the road and |