I am having problems with 2 buses. Both buses the doors seem to stick shut. One is a 2003 All American FE and I have a video of this buses door sticking shut if you want to see it. You can hear it "straining" to open. The other is a 2005 Thomas Saf-T-Liner EF. It only opens a little bit and stops. My friend who rides the bus told me she had to kick it to get it to open the rest of the way. What could be causing this? Too much air pressure? I know the Thomases door is EXTREMELY fast. Could it just be that the door needs to be lubericated? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Jacknife door or outward opening? If it's a jacknife check the 3 bolt/nuts at the top of the forward door. They get loose or just break off, pulling the door seal along with it. Or your linkage went over center on a outward door.
“The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.” Neil deGrasse Tyson
The blue bird jack knife door has two issues to discuss which are fairly easy to resolve but to one unfamiliar with them they may seem extreme. First, the doors will jam on the upper horizontal seal strip which has a metal angle underneath the rubber seal strip. The center folding area of the door can drop under the seal and get stuck on the outside of the bus making the door next to impossible to open. Remedies for this are 1) after the door is forced open (by pushing inward on the center of the door from the outside or prying) the upper strip may need to be replaced since it most likely will become damaged when it jams. Not replacing it may increase the chance that the door will jam again. 2) prevent it from jaming again by raising it slightly so it rides higher on the upper seal by loosening the lower hinge bolts which are located under the forward rubber vertical seal at the front of the step well. With the bolts loosened, place a jack under the lower hinge area and raise the door as far as the slots in the hinge bracket will allow, then tighten the bolts. A block of hardwood or metal should be placed between the jack and the hinge area of the stepwell. All you need is to raise the door 1/4 inch. Also if the door seems to slam hard when closing adjust the air pressure that is required to close the door by opening the access panel above the door. There are adjustments at each end of the air cylinder, one for opening and one for closing. Make sure you count the turns you make on the screw so if it does not work you can return it to its original position, then try the other screw. Turning in slows the door down and out speeds it up. Use a good spray lubricant or spray grease at the upper hinge pivot & air cylinder pivots while inside the access panel and make sure all bolts and nuts are good and tight. If you are not mechanically inclined please let a mechanic perform this work. Damage to the door mechanicsm or personal injury could result if you don't know what you are doing. What Wolf0r said above needs to be looked at too. Pay attention to the door pivot mounting screws since they do have a tendency to break off over time. The second issue is high cross winds blowing the door open while traveling. This is of major concern only if you have brake interlock on your bus in which case if the door blows open far enough while the bus is traveling the brakes will lock up. We had this feature on two buses and disabled it from the entrance door for this reason. Adjusting the air pressure to the door does not correct the problem.
Adjusting the air pressure should be a last resort in most cases. BUT we all know the mindset of "More is better". Remember that phrase when the now over-powered air system tears the stuck door off it's hinge!
Here is the link to the video http://www.starry-night.info/MOV01019.MPG It opened about 2 seconds after the button was pressed. Ive seen it stick shut for up to 15 seconds.
Thomas & BlueBird Air door problems
Posted - 01/11/2006 : 1:45:36 PM
