I have recently acquired a 1960 GMC bus. It is a model 4104. The engine is a Detroit Diesel 6-71. This is a two stroke diesel. Before I got this bus I basically knew nothing about diesel engines. Didn't even really know that they came in a two stroke version. So I joined a BBS and read up on what I have. I got a maintenance manual, a parts manual and a operations guide.
The first time I moved the bus I had a guy who was a diesel mechanic come over and help me start it and we went over some of the systems. Then I drove it about 5 miles and parked it in a warehouse. Now I want to move it outside. I started the bus up and the air system would not work. This bus has air brakes and other systems that require air pressure to run. After a few minutes of running I decided to shut the engine down and hunt for the problem. The only problem was the off switch did not work. I switched it off and it kept running. I had read somewhere about an emergency shut off switch and there was this switch that said as much underneath it. So I went to the manual and read about it and after confirming that this was in fact that switch, I flipped it. Still the engine kept running. So now I am beginning to worry. I went back to the manual and read about how to manually flip of a lever that cut off the air flow to the engine. Sounds reasonable. So I go look for something that looks like what is shown in the manual and can't find it anywhere. Finally, I swallowed my pride and call an old neighbor of mine that used to work on diesels and ask him what to do. I must admit that I did feel kind of stupid when he said to cover the air intake with a board and that will shut off the engine. I should have thought of that.
So now I am going to do a complete inventory of what the parts are in the engine compartment. I have checked with the photos in the manual and they are so bad that I can not tell what the various parts are anyway. Maybe I should publish a better manual?
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