Aftermath of the breakdown

Well, it seems that had the first people had the time to service my bus like they were supposed to then I would not have been in the predicament I was because the leak in the transmission would likely have been spotted. It is what it is, however. When I got there I had a smoking back wheel. That was diagnosed as a sticking brake caliper which they fixed with PB Blaster 16 for which they charged $260 in total. I did buy a can of PB Blaster after for $3 in Walmart.

I broke down on the way back. To be more precise I’d found the bus was getting ever less revs out of the engine than before. That started just before I reached Orangeburg and then the revs reduced until I finally ground to a halt in St Mathews. That was 30 miles from home. I felt the tow truck took me on a slightly longer route to maximize mileage but perhaps that was the better route.

As can be seen, the route looks longer on the map but could well have been the better route. The tow truck driver on the phone wanted to know what size vehicle I had and I was afraid he was going to send a dinky little tow truck for a car. I impressed on him several times 32.5 feet long, 27,500lbs and that it was a bus. He turned up with the right tow truck though.

I had broken down just outside a church - 7615 Columbia Road to be precise. I’d been lucky in that it was possible to roll into a turn lane dedicated to the church. The steering without engine power was dreadfully heavy. I was lucky not to have air brakes as I could just keep rolling until I hit the brakes.

Anyway, I got towed to W W Williams in West Columbia. That’s not the closest repair shop but they did a good job. I could have had them fix the problem but I had them run over the whole bus diagnosing everything. It transpired I still had some fluid in the transmission - just not enough to get it to work properly. The problem was the front of the transmission had not been properly secured so the fluid had leaked out when it was under pressure. That made sense. So now I’ve had all the fluids changed and new filters in place. They didn’t do the air filter which says a lot for them. They looked and said it didn’t need doing. That’s a complete contrast to the sharks at car repair places where they tell you things need doing that do not. I didn’t know but I actually had a cabin air filter. They changed that too.

The bill came to $1,143 and change. I knew I was going to have to spend at least $700 on getting the bus serviced prior to this. It seems that the oil pan gasket probably doesn’t need changing. This is, of course, why I like to use a paid mechanic rather than a trade deal or a favor mechanic. I get a way better job done. I can honestly say I feel way happier now.

So, I spent $280 on getting the brake fixed, $525 on a tow truck, $1,143 on getting the problem solved and an overall checkover. I also spent $40 in total on Uber to get to and from my bus. Actually it wasn’t strictly Uber. It was a friend that drives for Uber and I called her and gave her money for her trouble and we didn’t put it through Uber. So, this weekend I’ve spent around $1,988 on bus related things. Now I know I’m good to go wherever. The next oil change will be September of 2019.

Having been through this I realise that these busses are built like tanks. They will take anything. The transmission was not damaged. Mind, as soon as the engine stalled and I coasted to a halt, I parked. Then I leapt out and checked under the hood. As the engine wasn’t overheating there was clearly plenty water. I checked the engine oil and that was fine. Transmission fluid - that was below the level on the dipstick. In fact I couldn’t see any so that was clearly the culprit.

I was happier to be stuck outside a church than I would have been in some areas. It was also pretty quiet and nothing much was passing on the road. If I’d been anywhere suspect, I’d have been sitting in the cab waiting for my tow with my 9mm ready to hand.

On another topic, I had an interesting query on my previous blog entry...

Enid VerdantSeptember 11, 2018 at 11:00 AMWell. I've been following you for years and never quite thought I'd see the day when you'd finally be able to take it camping. With what you know now, do you think your next project might be one your school district retires, with a known history and configuration you want (e.g. air brakes) and none of the hillbilly mess to undo

To answer that one, I don’t think I’ll be attempting another bus conversion in the foreseeable future. I learned an awful lot from doing this one and would definitely do the next one very differently. Air brakes (now that I understand them - which I didn’t before I learned to drive school busses) would definitely be something that interests me. Having said that I might instead go for a smaller bus or even a van for quick camping trips but tow it behind a bus. I’ve seen schoolbusses being delivered with a car being towed behind them. As for the school district I work for at the moment, they scrap all their retired busses. By the time they get to the end of their lives they’re mostly 30 years old and falling apart. Not all school bus drivers are as gentle on the busses as I am.

I will say right now that schoolbusses while very solid and well built have a higher operating cost:

1. My insurance is $245 every 6 months but I’m registered and insured as a private bus
2. Regular maintainance is going to be $800-$1000 a year.
3. Tyres are going to be $200 each approximately and you’ll need 6. The steer tyres you need brand new - no questions - every 7 years. The drive tyres you can get part worn but don’t get remolds. 
4. Keep sufficient in the bank in case of a breakdown. 
5. Remember diesel is cheaper than gasoline and gets you more to the gallon. Don’t faint though when you find the bus does 8-10mpg and has a 50, 75 or 100 gallon fuel tank. $20 of diesel at $3 a gallon will only get you 56 miles! 

While I was at Givhans Ferry I did have my Olympus camera with me. I didn’t stick to taking pictures with a cheap phone. I’ll now include those images.

The first adventure

I’d booked to go for 3 nights to an RV park on Edisto Island. I’d booked it months ago but on Wednesday the organizer decided to cancel and refund all monies. Thus far no refund has hit my bank account. But three of those going plus me decided to head to Givhans State Park which is about 85 miles from me.

The first port of call was a local service center to get my bus serviced only to find they had no time to do it at the time I’d booked. By then I’d noticed one of my back wheels was smoking and somewhat hot. That turned out to be a hanging brake. So, $280 later I was good to drive. Their fix, by the way, was to spray the calipers with PB Blaster 16 (which costs $3 a can from Walmart - I bought my own can later). I got home to book the camp site for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights only to find I could not book Friday. Thus I booked for Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday I drove down through the heat, sweating profusely. On the way I was continually passed by drivers that showed scant regard for their safety nor for the safety of other road users. On one occasion, somebody blasted past me when there was a driver coming in the opposite direction. Indeed, instead of braking and getting safely behind me, he actually forced the other driver to take avoiding action and get off the road onto the grass on the side of the road. I wish I’d had a front camera as I’d have sent a copy of that video straight to the Highway Patrol. That was beyond incompetent or arrogant driving and more into attempted vehicular homicide.

My hydraulic brakes I found are just not as good as my air brakes at work and the height of the brake pedal is a safety hazard. I’m going to have to find somebody that can do something about that for me. Thus far I’m just having the usual (for the want of a better phrase) bunch of wankers that can only order stuff off easy websites or who can’t be bothered to see the problem.

Anyway I got to the National Park and found my parking bay. Then I had a message that due to an impending hurricane one of the members of the group was unable to come. Apparently she was on Red Cross hurricane relief. The other two ladies made it safely and one brought her bus along. We had a great time examining each other’s busses.

We all sat on the picnic bench next to my bus and one of the ladies pulled out a box of wine which we all began to consume while we chatted. A couple of hours went by and we felt hungry so having a some quick foods available, I whipped up a quick meal for everybody. It wasn’t luxurious - a small pot of instant mashed potatoes and a can of sardines each. I have to say it was delicious though.

One lady had to go home to feed her husband and children so that left two of us and we chatted and chatted until about 2am by the light of a candle-powered lantern that I’d bought to compare with my LED lanterns. I have to say the LED lanterns put out far more light but the single candle put out a much more pleasant light.

The next morning the lady came round for coffee and brought some military MRE packs. I’d already eaten but it was a nice gesture. So after that we moseyed on down to the river, during which time I had to nip back to use the loo - alcohol upsets my tummy a little. On the way I noticed a sign that stated that drinking alcohol in state parks and displaying alcohol in state parks was against the law. Oops. Still, none of us got drunk and I believe the spirit of the law is that nobody does anything that impedes anybody else which is what happened often when people get drunk.

Eventually, after following the working path for about half an hour, I got down to the river and found the other lady. We spent quite a while chatting and she looked very comfortable in the water. I am though a confirmed non-swimmer. I did try to learn one time as an adult but inhaled most of the swimming pool after which I really didn’t see much point in continuing. The fear of drowning had gone and with it my need to learn to swim. I wasn’t afraid any more.

The other lady left later that day and I stayed a further night. It was a really quiet, pleasant park with trees overhanging the bus which kept temperatures down. That put me in mind of future changes that I need to effect. One of those would be to add a 5A 15v charger that I can run off the 120v plugin in order to charge the batteries so I can keep the 12v stuff running for prolonged periods.

At the park I was very surprised to find I was close to a toilet that also had showers. They were pretty clean and on the last day I met a young lad who was cleaning the toilets and showers. He was driving a 6-wheel drive vehicle called a Polaris and that intrigued me greatly. That looked a very interesting vehicle to drive.

I did come up with a list of things I’d like to work on

1.  The beaded seat cover does stop my back getting sweaty but my bum gets awful sore after 3 hours driving.
2.  I need to install traffic cameras. I had 3 jerks overtaking me across solid yellow lines including one that forced another driver off the road. If I’d had a camera recording that, I’d have handed that footage straight over to the highway patrol!
3.  Sand is a problem so my broom is very useful.
4.  Bedroom shoes would be great. I don’t mean flip flops because I never can get them to go on my feet correctly when I’m sleepy.
5.  Trash... on this trip because I’d bought a couple of things after finding out I was going to have electricity I have a bit more trash than usual. So, trash bags are needed.
6.  My two shower pump units work. The one with the broken battery compartment worked until the battery died but the duct tape had slipped so I had to keep my foot on it. The 12v pump works brilliantly though it spouts water out of one of the connections.
7.  Both my grey water tanks drip a little. As I’d forgotten to get an orange juice bottle with a wide mouth, the pee had to go in one grey tank. The result is for the next few hours the campsite will smell of pee.
8.  The campsite has toilets. Yay. It meant I didn’t have to use mine. Again, I need a bucket with a lid to put full toilet bags in. I can set that outside until I can take it to empty it. If some mo good runs off with it then that’s his problem.
9.  My digital door lock likes to beep randomly. I even tried powering it off to no avail.
10. As my site was under trees I got very little solar power. I had plenty in the battery for lighting but just not enough for ventilation etc. That’s where my window screen cane in handy.
11. I had bug spray to ward off mosquitoes. That stuff burns when applied to the skin. It probably burns the sensitivity off the skin enough that you don’t notice mosquito bites rather than repelling them!
12. Food covers are a good idea for outside as I had to dump one cup of coffee after an acorn landed in it.
13. The campsite has showers though I did not use them and they had a young lad who mopped out the bathrooms.
14. Everybody loves the look of my bus from the outside.
15. The few that have seen the inside love it too.
16. Despite being 4 years old, the oil and transmission fluid got me here. Looking at it, it’ll get me back too but after that it absolutely must be changed.

Sleeping in the bus was very comfortable. The shower was excellent. The toilet I know is excellent. The gas cooker I never used. The microwave was excellent. Washing dishes was a challenge. I can see disposables being a better choice. My bus never got too hot. It got a bit muggy at times but nothing that was too awful and I had a nice picnic bench outside.

The journey back started fine. I drove through back roads as I had on the way to Givhans Ferry. I kept to 45mph and got most of the way beck when the engine started slowing and surging. Then the revs began to drop before finally the engine cut out. I slipped the transmission into neutral and coasted to a church turn lane.

Popping the hood to find the problem I found the engine oil was fine. The water I had checked earlier in the day and that was not the problem as the engine was not overheating. Every gauge had been fine - oil pressure, fuel, battery though the battery gauge had been fluctuating. The rev counter was doing its usual thing of occasionally dropping out but had been showing me slowly reducing revs for a few minutes. I’d checked the engine oil and transmission fluid last night so they should have been fine. I checked them again anyway and found there was no transmission fluid on the dip stick.

Just then a thunderstorm started with lightning and very loud thunder. I was stopped between two churches on a road not far from home. I downloaded the Truck Down app and fairly soon a big tow truck arrived. The driver took me a circuitous route to a truck repair place that was further than I’d really have gone myself. I suspect he was maximizing his mileage. Anyway, I was dropped at a truck repair place where I asked for the full diagnostic, told them everything the bus was doing and everything that was wrong before this. Just the diagnostic is going to be $825. The towing fee was $525. I’ve already paid $260ish to get a hanging brake fixed. By the time the bus is fully operational, the costs will have exceeded $1,610.

Meanwhile there is a hurricane bearing down on us. That’s due to arrive on Thursday. I’m hoping that tomorrow the repair shop will have time to examine and repair my bus. Then, if need be, I can relocate further inland. While I was sitting at the repair shop, work rang stating that the governor had ordered all schools to be closed and all government office to be close. He had also ordered the mandatory evacuation of coastal counties.

Thinking about it, I worked out how I was going to get back home. I could not get the usual suspect to transport me as I had to transport my guns safely and the usual suspect is not permitted to be near guns. Thus I called a friend who drives Uber and gave her what she’d get from Uber but didn’t put it through Uber. We were all happy. I got home.

Now I am watching people theorizing about what’s wrong. My theory about the lack of transmission fluid is that the hillbilly that owned the bus before me had plugged a leak with chewing gum and it had just broken through. Having said that there was no fluid ever seen to be leaking. That is a mystery. Somebody was casting aspersions on my diesel because it has been in the tank for a couple of years yet it gave no issue on the way down. Had there been plenty transmission fluid I’d have had a go at restarting the engine instead of calling a tow truck.

When I called the number on the Truck Down app, I actually called for a mobile mechanic rather than a tow truck but they sent a tow truck instead. I suspect a mobile mechanic would have got me on the road faster.

And now a miscellaneous selection of images from my trip....

 That’s my bus broken down outside a church on Charleston Highway.

 That’s my breakfast on the final day - coffee and home-made muesli with almond milk.

 This is my DIY protection against falling acorns that spoilt one cup of coffee yesterday.

 That’s my on-tap water. Press the button and I get free flowing water.

 This is my 12v powered shower head. This was pretty good but would be much improved if it didn’t leak as evidenced by the photo.

 This is my battery powered shower pump. This would be better if the catch hadn’t broken. I quite like this pump as it’s 100% independent of solar power.

 This was taken on the last night. This is my candle lantern. It produces more light than it appears to from this image.

That’s the same image but with flash to show everything more clearly. Yes, that’s a bottle of real lemonade.

 That’s my tea one afternoon. Quite a nice spiced breakfast tea.

 The camp showers were very clean but I used my own shower.

 That’s some of the mown grass at the national park.

I didn’t think of photographing my lunch before I ate it. That was baked beans with weinies and a lemonade. Very nice it was too.

Down by the river. In this picture I believe you can see one of my companions for the expedition.

 I loved the scenery. The Edisto river is quite beautiful.

 Beside the river there was plenty to amuse me while my friend swam.

 When I got lost on my way to the river I took the opportunity to photograph some flowers. No idea what this yellow flower is but it’s quite nice.

 This purple flower is also quite pleasant.

 At the end of the trail which is when I knew I was barking up the wrong tree, I found the cabins for hire. They look quite luxurious and not the rustic things I was expecting.

 That’s a quick video in which the other lady’s bus appears.

 This is, of course, my bus, parked at the camp site. Getting in there I almost mowed down the power and water poles in my attempt to avoid mowing down the wooden picnic bench.

This is the sign I saw after we’d had our wine. It seems we’d been naughty but no harm done. We’ll just have to remember for next time. I had a bottle of wine in one of my drawers but ever pulled it out.

 Near my campsite were these interesting berries. Heaven knows what they are but they’re a lovely color.

 This is, of course, the bus one of the ladies brought along. She hasn’t yet decided on a paint scheme but I will say her paint looks better applied than mine.

 That’s the shower and toilet block. It was really close - possibly 200 feet from my camp site. I used that toilet rather than mine though I did pee on the bus. Speaking of which I simply poured the pee into one of my waste tanks. I did try emptying that tank when I was broken down but it made the ground nasty and smelly so I closed the outlet valve. It drips anyway but I figure what I’ll do is put some other urine collector in. I’ll keep the grey tank as a grey tank rather than turning it into a liquid black tank.

 That is the toilet in the camp.

 A view of the trees and sky above the bus. There really isn’t much space and hardly any sunlight.

Here you can see the picnic bench right beside my bus. Many people have awnings. I didn’t really see the point of an awning - so much trouble to put up and so liable to wind damage.

Thats my coffee that I had for breakfast the first day.

 Again I had muesli for breakfast. I love that stuff. I was lucky to find an 8 pack of small containers of almond milk.

 The furst thing I did was to have a pot of tea after I arrived. It was a mark of success!

The final photo - my bus parked nicely in the campsite.