Groovatic1
Registered User
Hello all! Starting a new thread as I think this would be a good subject for idi owners.. First of all, Looking forward to meeting some of you at the IDI rally in NH on July 4th..... more in that thread....
So.... Story starts... back in June I flew down to North Carolina to pickup a 94 shuttle bus I now name Beluga with hopes to transform my touring experience from famly-less to now traveling with family. (Im a fiddle player by trade-- check out Edward Howe ... electric fiddler on youtube)
So .... first thing wrong was a sticky brake and a fuel tank with no way to put fuel in. Stuck one way valve in filler neck.. gadd that was a pain in the !#$ Drove it from NC to Rochester NY in one swoop stopping to put fuel in it at the rate of a gallon every 4 minutes.. each fuel stop was like 2 hours..
on the way, I lost the connector to one of the batteries and then the glow plug relay burnt out. On top of that I ran out of fuel on the Garden state Parkway which made me miss my gig .. Two of my dear friends came out to help me and thats when I found AAA will not help people on the GSP.. esp people with 12000lb busses..!! 11pm and a small can of gas, she was back up an running bless the tow truck driver who stayed with me keeping my one battery alive. Off he went, off my fans went and I started out with ...... now a broken alternator. yes now midnight, made a b-line for a 24hour Walmart where I bought and exchanged batteries until she would start. I soon found a wire pulled out of the back of the alternator. problem fixed I got to bed around 6am.
-- next day I bagged anything else I was going to do, and set for home. On the way just before NH, I put my foot on the brakes and.... right to the floor!!!!
I busted through the toll at around 45 mph.......... yes no brakes and ******* myself silly...
I rolled into a mineke who declined to work on it until i refused to leave.
Home, I parked my new pile of poop for about a month while I tore into it. Belts, new alternator, manual glow plug circuit, and redid the body - more on that later....
ok .. here is where it gets interesting... First trip out from maine to nc and back.. Started with no lockup tc. found my choice of LED tail lights were the culprate. Lost the brakes AGAIN just before the GW bridge in NYC. AGAIN no tow .. limp to shop - more brake line... back on road to VA -- lost power brakes!!! Booster?? nope that didn't fix it.. finally to NC where a diesel specialist helped me figure my vac pump failed.. yes over 700 miles with no power brakes,, 2 days 12000lbs and my family on board......
trip #2
this time got to CT before my transmission puked.. New rebuilt e4od in 2 days and 4500$ later, back on the road.. All was pretty good with the trip through ga and back to NJ where.... wait for it... water pump bearing failed.
trip #3 F-it I brought beluga to my local truck good ol boy shop- Awesome guys btw at Marshalls auto in Chelsea me.. New ball joints and ALLLL NEWWW brake line from front to back with totally rebuilt rear brakes (dana 70hd with 4.51 gears btw)
This time we made it to Florida and back with no upsets but an oil change..
Trip #4 Belts, tires,,, alternator #2 (my fault), universal joints, .... 18 cans of fluid film. Loaded up the family. Yes my wife still loves riding in beluga..
All the way to Richmond VA - strong peppy and happy! yay untilllll.......... loosing power, where? yup back in NY city again!!!!
I now have aaa gold and was able to get to a shop where my fuel pump failed.. $700 for< yes it is not a typo $700 for a FUEL PUMP later we drive happy Beluga home and PARKED it..
Im still in and love the idi engine. The bus is great ! but Im broke and scared to drive any where else.
ok here is where I have a question for yall..
#1 Keep going?
#2 if yes than should I keep driving with my family?
#3 ok keep going? what should I stock up on for parts short of rebuilding the engine or transmission on the road?
we still want to make a cross country trip with beluga, our growing pains have really stressed us out.
Thanks to all who have gotten through this story! As you probably can guess, this is a very short version. Any help would be great!
best...
So.... Story starts... back in June I flew down to North Carolina to pickup a 94 shuttle bus I now name Beluga with hopes to transform my touring experience from famly-less to now traveling with family. (Im a fiddle player by trade-- check out Edward Howe ... electric fiddler on youtube)
So .... first thing wrong was a sticky brake and a fuel tank with no way to put fuel in. Stuck one way valve in filler neck.. gadd that was a pain in the !#$ Drove it from NC to Rochester NY in one swoop stopping to put fuel in it at the rate of a gallon every 4 minutes.. each fuel stop was like 2 hours..
on the way, I lost the connector to one of the batteries and then the glow plug relay burnt out. On top of that I ran out of fuel on the Garden state Parkway which made me miss my gig .. Two of my dear friends came out to help me and thats when I found AAA will not help people on the GSP.. esp people with 12000lb busses..!! 11pm and a small can of gas, she was back up an running bless the tow truck driver who stayed with me keeping my one battery alive. Off he went, off my fans went and I started out with ...... now a broken alternator. yes now midnight, made a b-line for a 24hour Walmart where I bought and exchanged batteries until she would start. I soon found a wire pulled out of the back of the alternator. problem fixed I got to bed around 6am.
-- next day I bagged anything else I was going to do, and set for home. On the way just before NH, I put my foot on the brakes and.... right to the floor!!!!
I busted through the toll at around 45 mph.......... yes no brakes and ******* myself silly...
I rolled into a mineke who declined to work on it until i refused to leave.
Home, I parked my new pile of poop for about a month while I tore into it. Belts, new alternator, manual glow plug circuit, and redid the body - more on that later....
ok .. here is where it gets interesting... First trip out from maine to nc and back.. Started with no lockup tc. found my choice of LED tail lights were the culprate. Lost the brakes AGAIN just before the GW bridge in NYC. AGAIN no tow .. limp to shop - more brake line... back on road to VA -- lost power brakes!!! Booster?? nope that didn't fix it.. finally to NC where a diesel specialist helped me figure my vac pump failed.. yes over 700 miles with no power brakes,, 2 days 12000lbs and my family on board......
trip #2
this time got to CT before my transmission puked.. New rebuilt e4od in 2 days and 4500$ later, back on the road.. All was pretty good with the trip through ga and back to NJ where.... wait for it... water pump bearing failed.
trip #3 F-it I brought beluga to my local truck good ol boy shop- Awesome guys btw at Marshalls auto in Chelsea me.. New ball joints and ALLLL NEWWW brake line from front to back with totally rebuilt rear brakes (dana 70hd with 4.51 gears btw)
This time we made it to Florida and back with no upsets but an oil change..
Trip #4 Belts, tires,,, alternator #2 (my fault), universal joints, .... 18 cans of fluid film. Loaded up the family. Yes my wife still loves riding in beluga..
All the way to Richmond VA - strong peppy and happy! yay untilllll.......... loosing power, where? yup back in NY city again!!!!
I now have aaa gold and was able to get to a shop where my fuel pump failed.. $700 for< yes it is not a typo $700 for a FUEL PUMP later we drive happy Beluga home and PARKED it..
Im still in and love the idi engine. The bus is great ! but Im broke and scared to drive any where else.
ok here is where I have a question for yall..
#1 Keep going?
#2 if yes than should I keep driving with my family?
#3 ok keep going? what should I stock up on for parts short of rebuilding the engine or transmission on the road?
we still want to make a cross country trip with beluga, our growing pains have really stressed us out.
Thanks to all who have gotten through this story! As you probably can guess, this is a very short version. Any help would be great!
best...