Changing the oil in the 1974 GMC Ward school bus (part 2)

[matthewm941]

Need to put Mobil 1 instead of cheap stuff!

[bamaslamma1003]

How old is the coolant?

[bamaslamma1003]

Do you have to double-clutch it?

[retrochad]

No, you shouldn't have to but for some reason the gear shift has gotten more difficult to get it to go into the gears over the years...it may need new oil in the gearbox.

[suburbanator91]

If you do put new oil in there, use Royal Purple. I put it in my car and the gears shifted smoother. Nice bus by the way

[houdanouhaili]

no ign just butom how come? i love old buses i like to get one and conv to camper please keep us up date and good lock.

[bamaslamma1003]

Does this bus have an HEI or points & condenser ignition? That 366 is definitely a runner. Good oil pressure.

[retrochad]

It is an HEI ignition...the coil is in the top of the distributor cap.

[shalabang]

Never in my wildest dreams did I believe I'd watch an oil change! And to see it three times in a row! Compelling, and facinating. When you're done bring her down to my place and we'll paint her up, get a bunch of people, and head out to Woodstock. Lotsafun!

[dburrigh]

You might also was to check and change the oil in that gearbox as well.

[dburrigh]

I do the trick of filling the oil filter up too. I just changed the van over to Mobil 1 Synthetic (it's a beastly performance engine though).

The oil pressure looks good, shows the engine is in good internal shape.

[Trance88]

Great sounding old bus. If you fixed the brakes it seems like it should be road worthy!

[retrochad]

Thanks! I need to do the brakes and I think it really needs new tires to be safe on the roads as these ones show some cracks in the sides.

[spunker88]

Was this before buses were required to sound a beeping alarm when in reverse?

Or, was the alarm removed?

[retrochad]

This one actually has an aftermarket back-up alarm but I don't have the entire electrical system working yet so it didn't sound.

[gajda1984]

You should do an exhaust video!

[kjm1983]

Somebody has lost the correct aircleaner off it. It is supposed to have a large all-metal aircleaner that accepts a 5" element if I remember right. They can still be found pretty often, even on some light-duty trucks.

[retrochad]

I guess I actually like the way this one looks, it has kind of a hot rod look in a nerdy sort of way! It would seem that this setup would work OK. I have seen pictures though of the correct air cleaner housing.

[coolbluelights]

man that's got a HUGE oil capacity! sounds awesome when you rev it too! I never thought of filling the oil filter before putting it on.. but that's not possible on all vehicles if it's on an angle :P

[retrochad]

Hey thanks! As I remember the International 345 gas engines took 9 quarts so I was prepared with 10 qts...I think it actually took about 7 or 8 quarts including what is in the filter....it would seem that this would help with engine cooling just like the extra-large radiator. I know what you mean..on the 6cylinder Ford the oil filter sticks out straight horizontal but I was able to get a little in there and quickly screw it on.

[CindyBradyTooh]

*AMAZIN*! :D Thanks for the tutorial on how to change the oil. It doesn't look so hard! :D THAT'S all there is to it?  I wonder why it costs me $30 or so for a small car? :O

The bus sure sounds alot better with the new oil in it -- sounds much better lubricated! :D

~Cindy! :D

..

[retrochad]

Thank you! I guess it was probably about $25.00 worth of oil and filter to do this bus. I always change my own oil in all my vehicles to make sure they get the kind of oil I want and that the filter and drain plugs are put back properly.

On a small car though you often have to jack it up which can make it a little more difficult to do at home...all the vehicles I have though, there is enough room for me to get under them without jack stands.

[Greg9942]

You're better off changing your own oil. You know your vehicle best, and are more careful. I used to work at Jiffy Lube. I've seen people only remove one drain plug in a double-sump pan, like came in 5.0 Mustangs, then overfill the engine. I've also seen transmission fluid put in engines, motor oil in transmissions, reusing or forgetting to change the filter, and other stuff too.

Too many people just don't take the time to do a good job. They just don't care about good service.

[gajda1984]

is that a clark tranny? sure sounds like one!

[retrochad]

Not sure what the make of it is, it is a 4-speed.

[JoeSchlubb]

Chad that answered my question from the driving the bus video, I didn't watch them in order. I wonder how old that oil was.

[retrochad]

The oil was at least 6 years old and had a varnishy smell to it. I really should have changed it when I first bought it 6 yrs ago but I never really got around to getting the bus fully functional till now. I did of course always check the dipstick for the correct amount before trying to start it and it was always full. Now of course the first thing I do if I get a new vehicle is change the oil and filter immediately.

[Righty736]

Looks like you might need to double clutch into 2nd.

Clutch into neutral -> let off clutch -> then clutch into 2nd.

[retrochad]

Yes you may be right....it seems like last time I was able to drive it more like a synchronized transmission, just push in the clutch, shift into the gear and let out clutch but I will try double clutching it. I know on one of the international buses I had to do that.

[ForgetfulCollector]

After that Oil change, it seems to run very well.

I noticed that this old bus makes that odd sort of groaning or whining noise that a lot of the big engine GMC and Chevy trucks make.

[Righty736]

Straight cut gears in the transmission. Stronger that way.

[mauser8mm192422]

good job on the oil change sounds like its running better.

[retrochad]

Thanks! The old oil which came out seemed really thin, it was probably really losing viscosity with heat...it was not driven very much with the old oil in it though, probably about a total of an hour and a half over the past 6 years...now that I have good oil in it I will definitely drive it more.