Gas Milage

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Gas Milage

Home > Discussion Forum > Bus Conversions - School

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All Messages in Thread	Author	Date
Gas Milage	Bob Gustin	3-28-00
Took the bus out for a short trip of aprox 550 miles. She ran bueatifully but the gas milage is the pits. I averaged 4.5 MPG. This is an 1985 Thomas 66 pas. on a Ford chasses with a ford 370 and an allison automatic tranny. Any help would be appreciated.
Re: Gas Milage	FAST FRED	3-31-00
Dont know about your coach , but the usual problem is the engine RPM.Most skoolies are geared for rapid acceleration and are driven at low speeds , floored. To lower your RPM you will need a different gear ratio in the rear axle.NOT usually a do it your self job. Also I would install a vacum gage and try NOT to cruse below 8 in of vacum,, thats where carb fuel enrichment begind , and it hurts the milage. When you get up to 7 MPG , thats about it . FAST FRED Took the bus out for a short trip of aprox 550 miles. She ran bueatifully but the gas milage is the pits. I averaged 4.5 MPG. This is an 1985 Thomas 66 pas. on a Ford chasses with a ford 370 and an allison automatic tranny. Any help would be appreciated.
Re: Gas Milage	John	3-31-00
Fred and Wrench are right. Add in very poor streamlining and a cheap, rugged (read heavy) basic design for school busses too. Intrinsically poor fuel mileage is something anyone considering buying one should consider first.
Re: Gas Milage	Tom	10-29-00
We have a few busses that only get used 2 or 3 times a year, and somtimes 1 a year. we only put fuel conditioner in those. and we fire them up every 4 months and let them run for about a half hour to keep the batteries up.after it warms up run it up to 800 rpm, it will be fine. Took the bus out for a short trip of aprox 550 miles. She ran bueatifully but the gas milage is the pits. I averaged 4.5 MPG. This is an 1985 Thomas 66 pas. on a Ford chasses with a ford 370 and an allison automatic tranny. Any help would be appreciated.
Re:comfirmation!! Gas Milage	Wrench	3-31-00
Fred is on the money!!! I got a wanderlodge with the 391CID (the older version of 370) and that's what I get 5 mpg if I ease on the pedal I get 6.5 - 7. good luck wrench Dont know about your coach , but the usual problem is the engine RPM.Most skoolies are geared for rapid acceleration and are driven at low speeds , floored. To lower your RPM you will need a different gear ratio in the rear axle.NOT usually a do it your self job. Also I would install a vacum gage and try NOT to cruse below 8 in of vacum,, thats where carb fuel enrichment begind , and it hurts the milage. When you get up to 7 MPG , thats about it . FAST FRED Took the bus out for a short trip of aprox 550 miles. She ran bueatifully but the gas milage is the pits. I averaged 4.5 MPG. This is an 1985 Thomas 66 pas. on a Ford chasses with a ford 370 and an allison automatic tranny. Any help would be appreciated.
Re:comfirmation!! Gas Milage	Team Courage	5-22-00
Or get my in state school bus which is a van that carpenter buses toruned into a bus and I use it for bike race it get 14 miles to the galon not as much room but I owuld more enjoy gas miliage then space Fred is on the money!!! I got a wanderlodge with the 391CID (the older version of 370) and that's what I get 5 mpg if I ease on the pedal I get 6.5 - 7. good luck wrench Dont know about your coach , but the usual problem is the engine RPM.Most skoolies are geared for rapid acceleration and are driven at low speeds , floored. To lower your RPM you will need a different gear ratio in the rear axle.NOT usually a do it your self job. Also I would install a vacum gage and try NOT to cruse below 8 in of vacum,, thats where carb fuel enrichment begind , and it hurts the milage. When you get up to 7 MPG , thats about it . FAST FRED Took the bus out for a short trip of aprox 550 miles. She ran bueatifully but the gas milage is the pits. I averaged 4.5 MPG. This is an 1985 Thomas 66 pas. on a Ford chasses with a ford 370 and an allison automatic tranny. Any help would be appreciated.
Re:comfirmation!! Gas Milage	JanDen	3-31-00
Does anyone know if this poor mileage also applies to diesel powered buses too? And is the performance of school buses that different from transits or coaches? Fred is on the money!!! I got a wanderlodge with the 391CID (the older version of 370) and that's what I get 5 mpg if I ease on the pedal I get 6.5 - 7. good luck wrench Dont know about your coach , but the usual problem is the engine RPM.Most skoolies are geared for rapid acceleration and are driven at low speeds , floored. To lower your RPM you will need a different gear ratio in the rear axle.NOT usually a do it your self job. Also I would install a vacum gage and try NOT to cruse below 8 in of vacum,, thats where carb fuel enrichment begind , and it hurts the milage. When you get up to 7 MPG , thats about it . FAST FRED Took the bus out for a short trip of aprox 550 miles. She ran bueatifully but the gas milage is the pits. I averaged 4.5 MPG. This is an 1985 Thomas 66 pas. on a Ford chasses with a ford 370 and an allison automatic tranny. Any help would be appreciated.
Re:comfirmation!! Gas Milage	John the busboy	4-2-00
Does anyone know if this poor mileage also applies to diesel powered buses too? We have an 8.2T with an AT545. It is a conventional with a 6.14 differential. We get about 8 mpg around town, 11 on the highway. Lets hear what other people get. John the busboy
Re:comfirmation!! Gas Milage	Joe PIazzo	4-4-00
Yup, 72pass. Thomas International, 345 gas, 5speed. about 6-7 MPG and "keep your foot out of it" I try not to go above 60 or so, it drops off after that. Does anyone know if this poor mileage also applies to diesel powered buses too? We have an 8.2T with an AT545. It is a conventional with a 6.14 differential. We get about 8 mpg around town, 11 on the highway. Lets hear what other people get. John the busboy
Re:comfirmation!! Gas Milage	Mark O.	4-9-00
Yup, 72pass. Thomas International, 345 gas, 5speed. about 6-7 MPG and "keep your foot out of it" I try not to go above 60 or so, it drops off after that. Does anyone know if this poor mileage also applies to diesel powered buses too? We have an 8.2T with an AT545. It is a conventional with a 6.14 differential. We get about 8 mpg around town, 11 on the highway. Lets hear what other people get. John the busboy After almost 25 years in the student transportation industry I can tell you if you are getting 5 MPG with a gasser with an automatic, you are getting exceptional mileage. A gasser with a stick would be getting exceptional MPG at 7-8 MPG. Our gassers average around 3 MPG. The 534 Ford is lucky to get 2 MPG. The diesels do a lot better. DT466 conventionals have been getting 7-8 MPG on route, the 3208's about the same, the B-series Cummins 10-11 MPG. All do a little better on the highway. Remember most school buses were designed and built to spend the majority of their service life stopping to pick-up and drop-off students as effeciently as possible. All of which mitigates against making them into good road buses. If you don't mind the slow lane and having to put in very expensive gasoline in great quantities, get a diesel bus. The difference between 3-4 MPG with gasoline and 8-11 MPG with diesel can pay for the extra initial investment in a diesel bus. Good luck and happy trails. Mark O.
Re:BUT !	FAST FRED	5-7-00
If you don't mind the slow lane and having to put in very expensive gasoline in great quantities, get a diesel bus. The difference between 3-4 MPG with gasoline and 8-11 MPG with diesel can pay for the extra initial investment in a diesel bus. YES BUT it takes a load of miles to make the difference in inital purchase. Also gas shines in one RV area that diesels suck at,, JEST SITTIN. Diesels die a very early death unless used fairly frequently or "pickeled" with preserving oil and a rather long procedure.Monthly starting and ideling to warm is SURE DEATH for a diesel. GAS is happy to have some "Store&Start" squirted in the intake , the carb drained , and will with some luck sit for months or years, and happy to start and run. IF your gona be part of the 1% of RV ers that does lots more than 10,000 miles a year , go look at diesels,, BUT for lots of folks the quietness, storability and ease of parts at any NAPA,, and very low rebuild cost {compared to diesel} suggests a GAS RV will do just fine. FAST FRED Mark O.
Re: Re:BUT !	billy gilmaner	5-20-04
Busses make great orgy-porgy gathering places. screw the gas mileage.
Re:BUT !	Team Courage	5-22-00
No in wyoming that is the schhols only choice is to drive the yelow scchool buses as the big caoch team buses are illigal to drive for school now If you don't mind the slow lane and having to put in very expensive gasoline in great quantities, get a diesel bus. The difference between 3-4 MPG with gasoline and 8-11 MPG with diesel can pay for the extra initial investment in a diesel bus. YES BUT it takes a load of miles to make the difference in inital purchase. Also gas shines in one RV area that diesels suck at,, JEST SITTIN. Diesels die a very early death unless used fairly frequently or "pickeled" with preserving oil and a rather long procedure.Monthly starting and ideling to warm is SURE DEATH for a diesel. GAS is happy to have some "Store&Start" squirted in the intake , the carb drained , and will with some luck sit for months or years, and happy to start and run. IF your gona be part of the 1% of RV ers that does lots more than 10,000 miles a year , go look at diesels,, BUT for lots of folks the quietness, storability and ease of parts at any NAPA,, and very low rebuild cost {compared to diesel} suggests a GAS RV will do just fine. FAST FRED Mark O.