The Heart of a Tank

We'd been at W.W.Williams for 2 days. We'd been in Tucson for 5 days. We were getting antsy and feeling frustrated and it was starting to show. When we learned we'd have to stay another night there the hair on the backs our necks stood up and we expressed our frustrations to Aaron, the W.W.Williams customer service rep. It wasn't his fault and there really wasn't anything he could do about it, but he was courteous and said he'd do everything he could to help us.

An hour later Jerry Martinez, the branch Manager came in. He had been on Christmas vacation, but when he heard he had what appeared to be a disgruntled customer he came in to take care of it. I gave Jerry the short version of our story and explained that we weren't disappointed with his shop or the work they were doing, we just wanted to be done and back on the road. Jerry is an old bus fan himself and even has one of his own. She's a 1960 GMC PD4104 and she's in excellent condition.

Jerry's also a Detroit Diesel expert and fully versed in the workings our old 2 stroke engine. We looked at Lucille together and he explained a bit of how her fuel system worked. While we were looking her over he noticed that all of her fuel lines from the tanks to the primary filter were patched together and would probably lead to more issues down the road. We decided to call in an on-site hydraulic hose company to manufacture new lines throughout.

Pirtek sent a mobile unit out on Thursday morning, while Matt, another expert in old Detroit Diesel engines, pulled and replaced all of the old lines. It was an all day job. Both Matt and Jerry noticed that the tube connecting her breather to her engine was torn. It's a 5 1/2 inch tube and they only stock 5 and 6 inch. We decided to patch it and I'd replace it once I got her back to Houston.

While he worked on Lucille, I took some time to pick Matt's brain a bit about her engine and operations. He told me had never seen an engine like this used in a bus and was really surprised by it.

I asked what the typical application for such an engine was and he said usually in heavy equipment and military vehicles, such as bulldozers and Sheridan Tanks.

That's right, Lucille has the heart of a tank - I love her more each day.

Heart of a Tank - Our Detroit Diesel Engine

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