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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4547 Posts |
 Posted - 05/27/2014 : 04:29:40 AM
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Having spent some time driving route in my C7 equipped buses these past few weeks, I am strongly considering investing in the Donaldson Spiracle crankcase filter systems.
http://www.donaldson.com/en/exhaust/support/datalibrary/061798.pdf
The fumes coming into the buses (Bird FE's) is sickening and buying 7 reman engines is out of the question.
Anybody using these? Any thoughts/opinions? |
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aaronwilmoth80911
Top Member
538 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2014 : 06:02:02 AM
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We have 7 or 8 buses equipped with them, and I'm not exactly sure if they are worth it or not and here's why.
1. We have 7 or 8 of about 20 C7s equipped with these. Some that are equipped have sister buses that are not equipped because somehow one was in spec and the other was out of spec.
2. Ours came from the Regional Air Quality Control board via grant money, and the company that installed them did a terrible job. We just had 2 members of RAQC out here a couple weeks ago to look at them. They tend to get oil all over everything. We were told that the company that did the install installed them wrong.
3. Filters are expensive. The filters run us about $80 from the only place around us that we can find that supplies them. My thought on this is that we were forced to have these systems, so the school district should not have to incur the costs of said systems. Your case is different because you are wanting to do it voluntarily.
If you're going to do them, make sure to do them right. I think that most of our problems stem from bad installations, so that is why we have a bad taste in our mouth about them. I'm really not sure though of how much of a difference it really makes. The ones with the installed systems compared to ones without the systems seem to stink just as bad.
Good luck whichever way you decide to go. |
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Carp_26
Administrator
United States
170 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2014 : 06:45:16 AM
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| we also have 6 or 7 buses with CCV's installed. They were done through a grant (Ohio EPA) Office of Environmental Education. I don't know that we've had any issues with them. Ours are all installed on T444E's and the work was done in 2009 along with some DPF's trough our local International dealer. |
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Fastback
Top Member
1500 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2014 : 09:19:59 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Carp_26
we also have 6 or 7 buses with CCV's installed. They were done through a grant (Ohio EPA) Office of Environmental Education. I don't know that we've had any issues with them. Ours are all installed on T444E's and the work was done in 2009 along with some DPF's trough our local International dealer.
Are you sure about the DPFs? Retrofitting DOCs was quite common, DPFs almost unheard of. |
Why yes, the ORIGinal CHARGER is a Fastback |
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Mechan1c
Top Member
USA
853 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2014 : 11:16:14 AM
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| They're actually DMF's. Our experience with the Spiracle and the 3126's was not a success. The retro mufflers has been ok except the lamp warning system malfunctions quite a bit. |
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aaronwilmoth80911
Top Member
538 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2014 : 11:19:26 AM
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| Forgive the ignorance, but what's a DMF? Is it similar to a DOC? We here in Colorado had DOCs retrofitted and put on by the state. |
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mastertech
Advanced Member
274 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2014 : 12:15:14 PM
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| Is this system in leu of running a hose from the road draft tube to the rear bumper? The factory did this with RE's back in the day. |
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Carp_26
Administrator
United States
170 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2014 : 2:57:18 PM
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| Yes, they were DPF's, part of a grant for clean school buses. |
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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4547 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2014 : 06:29:09 AM
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Thanks for the input guys. If we get any, I would be doing the installs myself so if I mess that up it's my own fault! I may order one and see if the driver thinks it's any better.
As for running a hose to the rear bumper, the inspectors won't allow that. |
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aaronwilmoth80911
Top Member
538 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2014 : 07:25:54 AM
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The problem we had is that the company installing them left out a one way check valve somewhere, and it has created an oily mess. Also, they plumbed it back in to the air filter as opposed to the intake tube, which makes the air filters an oily mess as well. If you avoid those 2 simple mistakes, it should work fine.
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Mechan1c
Top Member
USA
853 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2014 : 11:55:21 AM
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"Forgive the ignorance, but what's a DMF? Is it similar to a DOC?"
I would say yes, it's similar. The Donaldson DMF is a "Diesel Multi-stage Filter." One of the stages is a precious metal catalyst. Here's a link:
http://www.emea.donaldson.com/fr/exhaust/support/datalibrary/062959.pdf
These were retrofitted in Washington State on 1991 to 2002 3116's & 3126's, DT's, and 5.9's.
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Edited by - Mechan1c on 05/28/2014 11:56:02 AM |
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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4547 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2014 : 03:27:08 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by aaronwilmoth80911
The problem we had is that the company installing them left out a one way check valve somewhere, and it has created an oily mess. Also, they plumbed it back in to the air filter as opposed to the intake tube, which makes the air filters an oily mess as well. If you avoid those 2 simple mistakes, it should work fine.
Wow...I'd have refused payment on that mess!! |
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aaronwilmoth80911
Top Member
538 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2014 : 05:51:06 AM
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| State funded deal, so refusing payment wasn't an option as they were being paid by the state, not us. The company did go under shortly after. When you talk to the guys from the state, they are always very apologetic when it comes to this company. Apparently, we weren't the only ones that got screwed by some of their work. |
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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4547 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2014 : 08:07:11 AM
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| And that angers me even more...government just sends the check with no regards to the quality of the job. |
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aaronwilmoth80911
Top Member
538 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2014 : 08:17:16 AM
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| Pretty much. We had a situation with a bad job on a DOC install as well, where the company that did it wanted us to pay them an outrageous amount of money for a new DOC. We argued with them for about a month before they finally realized it was their piss poor hack job that damaged the DOC and they finally ended up replacing it. Very frustrating situtations!! |
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Crankcase Vent Systems
