Off Topic, Int. DT 466 ???
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 869
Likes: 5
From: Near Shenandoah Valley
Off Topic, Int. DT 466 ???
Folks, Sorry to take up your time but I'm involved some local issues with our school buses. The majority of our buses are Int. and the local dealer says oil changes are recommended at 6,000. miles. Our bus shop personal say 15,000 but they try to change at 7,500. we asked for records which they produced showing consistently changing at 8K but some at 12K, 14K, and one out at 28K and 3years recorded oil change, no history prior to that on this one bus and 8K afterwords.
Where would someone go besides a dealer to find this info ( recommended maintenance)?
Where would someone go besides a dealer to find this info ( recommended maintenance)?
Hotshot
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 17,799
Likes: 103
From: Ashland City, TN
Folks, Sorry to take up your time but I'm involved some local issues with our school buses. The majority of our buses are Int. and the local dealer says oil changes are recommended at 6,000. miles. Our bus shop personal say 15,000 but they try to change at 7,500. we asked for records which they produced showing consistently changing at 8K but some at 12K, 14K, and one out at 28K and 3years recorded oil change, no history prior to that on this one bus and 8K afterwords.
Where would someone go besides a dealer to find this info ( recommended maintenance)?
Where would someone go besides a dealer to find this info ( recommended maintenance)?
OCI's would be dependant on if they are running a bypass system and total amount of oil.
Recommended OCI's for the 7.3 are 5k.
I usually change at 3k cause the oil is already breaking down at that point.
That also brings up the point of, are they running synthetic or dino?
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 869
Likes: 5
From: Near Shenandoah Valley
Thanks Talyn,
Yes, I was looking for another source to pull the info from besides this local Int. Service Center ( good rep's). If they ( our county bus shop) started using syn. they would never change the oil. I don't know of a bypass system, it probably is only standard issue spec's, I can find out. The flake in charge of the shop had a driver hauling jugs of water along her route and they toasted that 466 with aprox. 70,000 miles, it was over 5 years old so there was no warranty (water pump was the cause, I believe). This small county I live in has a bus fleet of 22 buses and had 2 blocks crack last year "due to internal defect, cracked block, not oil related." Now they want to raise taxes to buy 5 new buses. With oil change histories like he (the flake) furnished, I don't think we will ever have warrantied engines. I can't abide someone purposely ruining a good engine. We had a rather tense discussion with his boss present. The bus shop supervisor has them snowed at the school board office, doubt if they even know how to check their own automobile oil.
I agree with you on the 7.3 numbers. I tend to go 3K if I've been hauling the horses/tractors, 5K if just driving.
Yes, I was looking for another source to pull the info from besides this local Int. Service Center ( good rep's). If they ( our county bus shop) started using syn. they would never change the oil. I don't know of a bypass system, it probably is only standard issue spec's, I can find out. The flake in charge of the shop had a driver hauling jugs of water along her route and they toasted that 466 with aprox. 70,000 miles, it was over 5 years old so there was no warranty (water pump was the cause, I believe). This small county I live in has a bus fleet of 22 buses and had 2 blocks crack last year "due to internal defect, cracked block, not oil related." Now they want to raise taxes to buy 5 new buses. With oil change histories like he (the flake) furnished, I don't think we will ever have warrantied engines. I can't abide someone purposely ruining a good engine. We had a rather tense discussion with his boss present. The bus shop supervisor has them snowed at the school board office, doubt if they even know how to check their own automobile oil.
I agree with you on the 7.3 numbers. I tend to go 3K if I've been hauling the horses/tractors, 5K if just driving.
Post Fiend
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 10,121
Likes: 3
From: Orrville, Ohio
Funny that these guys keep getting these "internal defects" in their blocks. Especially considering the wide use and relative respect for the durability of the DT466. That's a VERY stout motor and if they're cooking them like that this guy deserves to be looking for new employment. Nothing irks me worse than some incompetent idiot being kept on the payroll at the taxpayers expense. And now they're asking for new buses? 
And just curious, how many guys does this bus garage say are needed to maintain a fleet of 22 school buses?
And just curious, how many guys does this bus garage say are needed to maintain a fleet of 22 school buses?
Lead Driver
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 5,104
Likes: 1,521
From: western SD
I agree with Nate. I have an International Harvester farm tractor with the DT466. It has close to 9000 hrs. on the tach, and the engine has never been opened up. The oil was changed every 150-200 hrs. This engine was the old mechanical 466, not the electrical one.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 869
Likes: 5
From: Near Shenandoah Valley
More to the point, they run 17 buses daily with 5 spares. Only one/two of the spares run as of this writing and one has a severe front end alignment issue with 1/4" of tread difference across the face of the right tire and bald recaps on the rear. The centers of the rear are below the wear bars showing me over inflation I think?
He has one " mechanic" and sends buses to a shop 1-1/2 hours away instead of the shop I've mentioned, that alone raises questions to me. This same county shop used to service the Sheriff's cars but they send them to 3 other shops now, one is a friends shop behind his house. He ( the county garage) is only sent oil changes. This guys salary is better than 50K plus a bunch of bennies. He was hired, I'm sure, through nepotism.
An area sales rep I spoke to on the phone, when I asked about the 2 buses with cracks out of such a small pool stated " that is most uncommon with these engines."
I guess I'm just trying to bounce stuff off other people to see if I'm out of line or not.
He has one " mechanic" and sends buses to a shop 1-1/2 hours away instead of the shop I've mentioned, that alone raises questions to me. This same county shop used to service the Sheriff's cars but they send them to 3 other shops now, one is a friends shop behind his house. He ( the county garage) is only sent oil changes. This guys salary is better than 50K plus a bunch of bennies. He was hired, I'm sure, through nepotism.
An area sales rep I spoke to on the phone, when I asked about the 2 buses with cracks out of such a small pool stated " that is most uncommon with these engines."
I guess I'm just trying to bounce stuff off other people to see if I'm out of line or not.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 869
Likes: 5
From: Near Shenandoah Valley
And a real big thanks to you guys. This small sampling takes in a large bit of real estate, and engines. I hope it will have a positive outcome for the taxpayers and the engines. Running them in the ground so they can have new is beyond reasonable and my contention is why buy new when they have shown they won't maintain them? The school board says they inherited some of these problems and they will take care of the new ones. What assurance do we the taxpayers have of that?
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Post Fiend
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 10,121
Likes: 3
From: Orrville, Ohio
Can't you cite the gross mismanagement of the easily controlled things (Oil Changes, alignments, tires, etc) as a counter point to their argument? Does it seem safe to anyone to be putting retreads on a single axle vehicle filled with school age children? This whole thing stinks to me.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 869
Likes: 5
From: Near Shenandoah Valley
I have complained about the use of re cap tires more than once. Their mind set is like it is still 1965 and you run recaps on the rear and turn the buses over in ten years with maybe 70,000 miles. They have this week offered to allow me to come by the shop and with "fresh eyes" make suggestions, ref maintenance, record keeping etc. Of course my first thought is to recommend they hire a mechanic and supervisor.
The school board and employees need to establish proper maintenance procedures before we buy more buses. They want to buy the Thomas bus with Cummings engines on Freightliner chassis claiming the Int.. are more expensive and require more maintenance.
The school board and employees need to establish proper maintenance procedures before we buy more buses. They want to buy the Thomas bus with Cummings engines on Freightliner chassis claiming the Int.. are more expensive and require more maintenance.
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