The coolant leak on the oil cooler was noticed during a service with the bus on the hoist. That’s what it’s all about when it comes to preventive maintenance. Finding problems before they get worse is our daily goal in the shop. Every 5,000 kilometres our buses go up on the hoist and gets a thorough inspection. We are transporting children there are no shortcuts.
The Cummins ISB is the electronic version of the older mechanical B series engine and they both perform very well. We sold an older Cummins B in a 1 ton Dodge a while ago and it went fast selling for over 8,000 dollars. That’s by far the most we’ve ever received for a used fleet vehicle.
The ISB in this bus featured has been running like a clock since 2003 with very little trouble. The only thing I can remember us doing was head gasket and recall on the electric fuel pump. Minor trouble in my opinion and the Freightliner FS65 school bus it was installed in was a great runner as well.
This engine is 230 horsepower with more than enough power to transport school children. Right now it’s a spare bus for one of our northern locations. It used to run up a logging road with automatic chains for many years. The Freightliner Corp did well with these bus models…much better than it’s C2 replacement.
Cummins is by far the best diesel engine on the road today. Whatever model they make the quality goes beyond expectations. The ISB is an excellent medium duty diesel engine and perfect for a fleet like ours. The 6 buses we bought in 2009 came with the ISB and the Allison 2500 series transmission. This is the best combination we have experienced to date with very few problems.
I’ve always liked the Cummins engine for it’s diversity and adaptation with changing times and they have changed drastically with less fuel delivery and emission restrictions. The bellowing plumes of exhaust smoke coming out of a highway diesel engine is no more.
Times are changing and I really respect the Cummins organization for going to the wall and keeping up with industry demands for a zero emission diesel engine. Please comment if you have anything on your mind. I would like to see your feedback.
