SCHOOL BUS LOADING GATE - MOTOR REPLACEMENT

It's now regulation that all school buses be equipped with a loading gate, it swings out from the front bumper at all stops with the loading lights on and prevents students from running across the front of the school bus and into traffic.
We've been having some problems with the motors on these units from wiring corrosion to motor mechanical failure. The motor can be purchased from the Thomas school bus dealer and comes with the control module which houses the micro - switches.


The electric motor can be easily removed by unscrewing the four machine screws holding the front cover which will also allow removal of the stop arm itself. There is a three wire harness that runs to the control unit, there is one ground and two positive feeds. One positive is hot at all times, it parks the arm against the bumper while the other positive feed extends the arm out when the loading lights are operated.
There is a connector behind the front bumper that should be checked for corrosion if you live in an area with a wet climate. We've already had this problem and had to by-pass the connector.

This motor had a gear failure so replacement was the only option. The motor is fairly small with a built in gear reduction which is put under a good load even though the stop gate is all plastic. School bus regulations are changing all the time and a lot of the changes are safety related so once it is written the new add-on component must be working at all times.