Today I finally got the bus running again. This is what had been happening: I turn the ignition key, and then nothing. I assumed the battery was dead or not holding a charge, so spent the evening trying to jump start/ charge the battery. I tried a few of the Muir tricks like pushing the bus backwards in 3rd gear, and tapping on the solenoid/ starter. Every time I turned the ignition the two indicator lights would flash and then nothing. I checked the fuses, checked all of the wire connections I could find, checked the battery water levels, tapped on the carburetor, the coil, the ignition, kicked the tires a couple times. In my scramble to get this thing started again, I was doing everything I could think of; banging on the dashboard, shaking the bus, and then finally I randomly tried leaving the cabin light on while turning the ignition. I heard a small clunk! This was encouraging, so I pulled out the stopper switch that runs the taillights and headlights. They came on but were very dim, but after about a minute, something clicked and the lights burned bright. I tried the ignition and sure enough it started!
In my excitement, I ran to the back to see how she looked. To my dismay, dirty brown liquid was spraying out of the right exhaust pipe. I rushed to turn off the engine before I made too big of a mess. I also noticed that the left indicator light remained on while the engine was running (I know one is supposed to be green one red, but mine are both white…). I’m thinking this is the generator light, indicating that I have electrical problems somewhere. (this is also made obvious by the fact that I needed to have all the lights on, and it took me all night to get the thing started). One success followed by new challenges! I’m hoping the liquid is just some water that accumulated in the muffler while the bus was on the trailer (we hit a few pretty bad rainstorms). I’ll have to wait until the weekend to find out though, because I don’t want the apartment mgmt. to think I’m destroying their garage. More to come later!
