School Bus Pusher Radiator Removal Shortcut

Changing the radiator or removing it for repair at the local radiator repair shop is a big operation on the pusher school bus. The charge air cooler, oil cooler and radiator are sandwiched on top of each other making it hard to get the radiator out of the chassis.

The objective in this video is to show you a short cut that all mechanics love to do saving time and some frustration. The way we do it is to support the upper components and loosen off the radiator mounts. The frame supports have to be loosened as well to allow space so the the rad core can be removed freely.

The cooling fan which is a Parker system is braced to the main frame around the radiator so it needs to be chained up out of the way. In most cases if the radiator is original and has a leak the chances of repairing it is remote I'm sorry to report.

This rad core is over 12 years old and has gone through a lot of weather and road debris kicking up into and around the core area on a daily basis. There are cores out there but we had to get one from Thomas buses. I hope this video helps you bus mechanics out there.

I would appreciate it if you shared or commented on this post. It's great to get some feedback from others who have had similar problems and found a faster way to get them done. Time is a precious commodity in a fleet garage and with that said I'll continue to share videos on repairs that will help out fellow mechanics.

Watch the video below on what our shop did to remove the radiator on a pusher school bus:


Radiator Repair Thomas Pusher School Bus from John Whelan on Vimeo.

DT 466 International Diesel Engine In-Frame - Removing Radiator Assembly.

The International DT 466E  Diesel Engine that's running in a school bus is more accessible by first removing the hood as in the previous post. The Mechanic does not need to be standing on his head to dis-assemble everything.

The radiator assembly comes out as a unit. You can see from the photo these models have a split radiator and charge air cooler. You might think half of a normal radiator might cause a problem but we have not experienced anything major besides deterioration over time of the radiator core. Usually they cannot be repaired and a complete unit needs to be installed in case of any failure. This radiator had been replaced not too long ago so all a Mechanic has to do is remove the radiator and send it out to be flushed and checked at a radiator shop.

Thinking ahead is a good practice for any Mechanic performing a major overhaul like this one. The radiator, turbo, oil cooler, water pump, charge air cooler and cylinder head all needs to be inspected carefully right away and either sent out or repaired which ever is the most practical. Stand by for more Mechanic Information on our in-house DT 466 International Diesel Engine Rebuild.