School Bus with Detroit engine

[Ikc1990]

Do any of you drive school bus on here? Or have freinds that do? Or have kids that may ride on one?

I drive for my employer a 2021 freightliner c2 by Thomas school bus with a dd7 Detroit 4cyl. And this was the worst combination ever. Those dd7s dont put any heat out. This am was -32 when I started my bus it ran on high idle an hr or so with heaters on. Drove my 2 hr route picking up students age 3 to 14 and my bus inside temp topped at +15. That's too cold the water temp of bus was 115 ish. Never went over the 125 mark. It is hilly terrain and is alot of start stop so I left in 3rd gear to help rev engine to produce more heat and still froze. Why wouldn't they put a labasko heater on at factory... so last week we had a day 30 deg above in am bus ran same way about an hr on high idle, same run same wind, same time,same 3rd gear water temp went to 125 max. And inside heated bus was 40 deg max. What a poor set up. This also has the winter front on with cardboard under vinal front to cover whole grill I cant imagine what it would be without it.

 

[hagrid]

I dunno... thermostat stuck open?

 

[ranger danger]

Does it have a winter front on it?
For those who don't know, a winter front is a piece of plastic coated canvas that snaps on accross the front of the grill and blocks airflow through the radiator. I had them for all my big rigs when running in cold weather.

 

[Ikc1990]

No they just dont produce heat. But yet for the dpf they plumb diesel fuel in to it to burn off with the def causd it has to reach 1000 to 1300 deg F to properly clean filter... wasted heat

 

[Ikc1990]

Does it have a winter front on it?
For those who don't know, a winter front is a piece of plastic coated canvas that snaps on accross the front of the grill and blocks airflow through the radiator. I had them for all my big rigs when running in cold weather.

Yes winter canvas with cardboard completely blocking airflow in

 

[85Hokie]

Do any of you drive school bus on here? Or have freinds that do? Or have kids that may ride on one?

I drive for my employer a 2021 freightliner c2 by Thomas school bus with a dd7 Detroit 4cyl. And this was the worst combination ever. Those dd7s dont put any heat out. This am was -32 when I started my bus it ran on high idle an hr or so with heaters on. Drove my 2 hr route picking up students age 3 to 14 and my bus inside temp topped at +15. That's too cold the water temp of bus was 115 ish. Never went over the 125 mark. It is hilly terrain and is alot of start stop so I left in 3rd gear to help rev engine to produce more heat and still froze. Why wouldn't they put a labasko heater on at factory... so last week we had a day 30 deg above in am bus ran same way about an hr on high idle, same run same wind, same time,same 3rd gear water temp went to 125 max. And inside heated bus was 40 deg max. What a poor set up. This also has the winter front on with cardboard under vinal front to cover whole grill I cant imagine what it would be without it.

After your run - get a infrared thermometer and take some temps on engine and radiator, this will tell you the story.

Your heater core might be clogged up or not working as it should - the valve that opens and closes that hose could be stuck too.

 

[D2Cat]

Let the boss's mechanic figure it out. That new, with proper warm up , winter front...... let them solve it!!

 

[Fordtech86]

No experience with them, but they might have the coolant hoses routed wrong during the conversion.

Im with D2, let the shop fix it, the modern diesels usually don’t have a problem making heat.

 

[DaveFromMi]

Unless the diesel engine has some kind of warm up feature, that would be about as good as it gets for a 4 cylinder in that ambient. Typical warmup features include restricting airflow and/or spinning up the turbo to get hotter intake air.
If not, might want to check out a fuel fired heater.

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[GreensvilleJay]

get rid of the fan ?
had a '67 stang, str6-3sp, NEVER got hot, blew belt in hot,hot summer,drove home anyway,still didn't get hot, replaced belt but not fan blades..actually got 'mild' in the dead of winter.
I'd want to make SURE engine was running at proper temperature then worry about the cabin heat.
You need a BIG heater for that volume of air in the cabin !

 

[Daren Todd]

The busses I rode on to school had a supplemental heater mounted under a seat about halfway to the back of the bus.

Once I got into high-school it really sucked getting stuck behind that seat with the supplemental heater. No leg room.

 

[BAP]

What’s heat on a school bus? I can remember in the winter time on cold days the bus driver steering and shifting (manual shift and no power steering) with one hand, and a ice scraper in the other trying to keep the windshield clear enough to see.

 

[lugbolt]

I'll ask my brother about it....he works for the school bus repair store (local school district). I bet he's familiar.