ThaddeusW

Good to hear your problem is solved and glad to help.

I am going to say that I am sure it up to the engineers of the truck manufacturer on how to plumb the systems. But Ingersolrand and even other makes (Such as Gali) have reference plumbing diagrams to go by. But in a nutshell, the reference diagrams isolate the starter tank from the air system with a check valve, as you mentioned, a totally separate system. The starter tank supplies the air for the starter motor and the in-cab start knob/valve. This way all the leaking brake and auxiliary plumbing does not leave you stranded. If it was done another way id hazard a guess that someone make a few quick and dirty repairs or modified the system. I am sure the engineers at the truck maker would follow the reference diagram, unless they thought their way was better for whatever reason. The manual re-fill sounds like it surly left a driver or two stranded when they forgot to re-fill after cranking. The road tractors with the single system were probably ordered that way to shave as much weight/cost as possible, The same trucks I am sure had minimal interior comforts, no passenger seat and optional power steering. Probably had to be convinced that a cab was legally required otherwise the driver would be sittin atop the engine on a saddle holding onto the steering wheel for dear life.

They outlast an electric by a factor of at least 3 and can be cranked non stop until you run out of air, they don't burn out. You do save some weight but the starter tank is more bulky than a battery box. Plus air tanks don't need maintenance or wear down like batteries. And drum roll please..................... You can jump yourself. Swishy has probably done this himself in the deep interior of Australia. Essentially you have a hose that screws onto the schrader valve of a tire and then use tire air pressure to fill the air starter tank. Figure a road train or semi has at least 18 tires full of 80+ PSI air. Road trains can have well over 40 tires so you have plenty of air to spare. Some guys had hoses that hooked to two or more tires. Once you got yourself jumped you hooked the hose to the trailer supply glad hand and filled your tires back up. In Australia air starters were standard equipment, maybe they still are. If your hundreds of miles into a desert like no mans land you better have the ability to get yourself rolling again. Help isn't coming for days, if they even knew you needed help. Few guys even use those little 12V air compressors like they have on 4x4's and one guy was asking about a scuba tank to keep as a "jump pack" (yes it will work if you have a standard scuba tank and a 60 gallon starter tank).

Karl, I re-read your post and I missed something from before. It sounds as if you aren't getting air to the main starter valve at all. First see which of the two styles of motor you have. If its the pre-engage type, what Olive said about hearing the clunk and then the starter motor spinning a second later is a good indicator. If you have a pre-engauge and don't hear the clunk then air isn't getting to the pre-engage cylinder or the pre-engage cylinder is stuck. It could even be traced to the electric solenoid which can flake out and make either of the two starter types not spin at all. Seen electric valves go bad before in pneumatic systems, sometimes they work sometimes they dont. Since its 1 in 20 start attempts then it sounds like an intermittent problem that isn't worth chasing down unless it becomes a much bigger problem. I would check to see the type of starter you have (pre or inertia engaged), post it here and we can go from there.

Stop looking at naughty things and she wont have a reason to ask......

Those shaft radios were always fun to pull out. Little nut that has to turn 1000 times and always gets hung up on something behind the dash. because it has to go in from behind the dash and not the front like a DIN. Consider yourself lucky that you can pull the dash panel and remove the radio like that. My B model has a shaft radio with an 8 track player AND CB. Pretty neat how you can have music and CB at the same time but I bet you would loose your mind will all the noise after a while. Thankfully it too was mounted on an angle bracket someone made and bolted to the dash. It was covered in oil and grime from the leaky wiper valve. Is it a radio shack brand realistic? they were popular at one point. My mothers Blazer (83' K5) had one.

Yep, thems wires. Looks like there was a radio in there at some point, old shaft style. I think one or two companies still make them and I believe there are some companies that make custom retro styles for car restoration. Better off cutting the hole to fit a DIN style radio as they can be had for cheap and can play MP3's n the like.

Glad you got something out of the post. I always liked the sound of an air starter, think it started with Mad Max and the New York MTA GMC buses with the Detroit 2 strokes. I almost miss the days when the city buses rolled coal LOL.

Which make is your Air starter, Ingersolrand? There are two types of air starters, one is called pre-engaged and the other is inertia engaged. Pre-engaged air starters have two smaller air lines running from the front of the starter (closest to the flywheel housing), one from the starter knob in the cab(or electric over air solenoid as in your case) and the other to the main air starter valve that runs the motor. The way it works is when you push the start button, the air first flows to a cylinder that forces the starter pinion into mesh with the fly wheel. Once in mesh there is a valve in the starter cylinder which sends air pressure to the second line which in turn opens the main air valve that runs the air motor. If you have the above setup then make sure the pre-engage piston is actuating the starter pinion. It may be a good idea to un-hook the line from the starter knob/solenoid and get some oil into the pinion cylinder. I don't think that part of the starter circuit is lubricated, only the air motor. If the pre-engage cylinder is shot it might be time for a re-build. The inertia system works like a car starter. The pinion is on a bendix drive that works by having a thread like groove cut into the pinion shaft. The pinion is spring loaded and when the starter is spun up the pinion is forced into mesh against the springs with the flywheel by "unscrewing" (for lack of a better term). Once the engine starts it spins faster than the starter and the pinion if forced back and held by the springs. That setup has no extra hoses running to the starter motor as the spinning force makes the gears mesh. If that is the case then the bendix drive assembly might be getting hung up, maybe old dry grease is making it stick. Even if the springs were shot it should at least mesh or grind, the springs makes sure it un-meshes when the engine spins up or starter shut off. You will have to drop the starter to check and fix that problem.

I just learned that your eyes can in fact bleed. I think I need to see a doctor now.

I think they are over bored C-16's if my memory is still intact. They can turn out 800HP and up to 1000HP if used in marine applications.

Damn strait. Lets face it in the USA things are pretty materialistic. We all want a nice car, electronics, nice cloths, homes, etc. but you cant afford those things on minimum or near minimum wage pay. New York has some of the highest living expenses and tax rates. The federal minimum wage is $7.25, that's it! How can you live a decent life on less than $300 a week? You certainly are not going to be able to afford a car, insurance is at least $1000 a year and gas $4 a gallon. Rent is also another issue, most decent apartments are at least a $1000 a month and that may not include gas/electric/etc. So people avoid those jobs like the plague or actually scoff at them thinking the work is beneath them. The illegals come from a poor background so they are used to it. With the price of everything going up and wages not increasing you will see people go on unemployment before they take what they view as crummy jobs.

Your over complicating it. Just bring a bottle of Vodka.

Illegal aliens are not entitled to welfare, their anchor baby's are. Friend works for customs and says any time they see a very pregnant looking woman who is not a US citizen try to enter the country, they are put on a return flight home. Trick is to have the child on US soil and not leave, then their american citizen child is entitled to the benefits of the welfare system. If they do leave and try to re-enter with their under 18 american citizen child they will be denied entry unless they have the proper visa. Why do you think you see so many pregnant illegals from Mexico, central and south america? ANCHOR BABYS AWAY! Here is whats worse, there are plenty of American citizens on welfare too. The problem lies on how the welfare system works in that for every dollar you make, they (welfare) takes a dollar away (not 100% sure that is fact but was told that by an economics professor years back). Why bust your ass 40 hours a week mowing lawns when you can wander the streets looking for trouble while your rent, food and other living needs are paid for by uncle sam? I cant tell you how many ghetto "couples" (un-married) I have seen where the woman just jumps on one guy after another and has 3-6 kids by the time she is in her mid-late 20's. Then the next jerk who gets with her stays because she is living the good life raking in free dough for all the little monsters she bought into this world. He may work full/part time or just slings dope for pocket money and lives the good life because her welfare is a free meal ticket. They never marry so welfare thinks she is still a poor struggling single mother. Plus they get medicaid. Sorry if that last paragraph is harsh but its reality. At least the illegals WANT to work because they came from a shit hole where they were lucky if they had running water, never mind toilets and electricity. Many of them at least appreciate the opportunities offered to them here. Here is an idea, deport the Americans who are on perpetual welfare and give their citizenship's to hard working illegals. I bet you that would solve more than half of the welfare and illegal immigrant problem. Welfare was never a way to stay unemployed LONG term. It was there to help people get on their feet and help during hard times. President Franklin Roosevelt bought it into existence to help the victims of the great depression. I am sure there are some who really need it and are trying to get on their feet and get going again. There are plenty of people who lost jobs, were in difficult living situations and used welfare as a buffer. They get a job because they don't want to be a leech, they really do want to remain independent and earn a living. Unfortunately too many view it as a free meal ticket. Rant off!

Never knew Tractors from a former Soviet Bloc country were sold here. Belarus is also a country in Europe next to Russia of course.

Most modern cameras made within the last 4 or 5 years charge from the USB port, you might be able to power it up while its plugged in. Another route is to buy a cheap memory card reader, you can pick one up from wally world for about 8 bucks (its a Targus brand). Just pop the SD card into the reader and plug it into the computer. Any Windows 2000, XP Vista and 7 computer will read it. If its windows 98 or earlier its a crap shoot and might not work. And like Ben said, Youtube is the best route to get videos on line.

That right there is a nice piece of machinery. I wish there were more antique equipment shows near me, the only one I know of in the show out in LI during July. Even have a barn full of old engines and electric motors/generators. Long Island Antique Power Association hosts it. I love the old school steam stuff. In Brooklyn there is a treasure for steam fanatics, the Pratt engine room. Located on the campus grounds of Pratt Institute it is the home of the original power station erected there at the turn of the century. All three Ames Iron Works reciprocating piston DC generators are still cared for and are operational. The marble switch panel (think knife switches, big blade fuses and carbon arc circuit breakers.) is untouched and still distributes power around the building when part of it was converted to handle AC. I went there a few times and sort of know Conrad Milster the chief engineer who is a real steam guru. He is the guy who people call when repairing or restoring steam engines. Once while talking to him he knew I really appreciated the equipment and said I had a rare knowledge and interest. Said he needed help but in order to work there you needed a boiler operators license to work on steam equipment that run on 100+ PSI steam. I looked into getting one but its one of those chicken and egg problems, you need experience with steam equipment to qualify but you cant work on them unless you have the license. Most guys who get those licenses worked in submarines/aircraft carrier engine rooms (nuclear boilers running steam turbines) or were firemen tending heating boilers in large buildings part time. Anyone else here a steam head?

The ones that didn't sell locally were either crushed or cut up for parts and the rest crushed. I bet many were exported as well.

Holy smokes! A B model cheese bus. That has got to be one of the rare few left. That must be saved. I wouldn't mind having that puppy, either keep it original and fix the "gangsta" leaning seats or make it into an RV.

How hard are they to make? I have always thought along the lines of "where there is a will there is a way". No physical man made object is unique and unable to be reproduced. I would guess if your going for 100% authentic then I can see the expense for casting the parts. Other then that I bet its not that hard.

Hey John, I wouldn't take anything on the internet seriously. Its just a place where we get to shoot our mouths off with little or no repercussion in the real world. Like what you like and ignore what you don't. To me the comments are not negative, most are criticizing the over use of one paint color and lack of attention to details. Everyone agrees is a damn fine looking truck. It would be a shame if you quit participating on this site. Your great wealth of heavy haul knowledge and Mack trucks is not only appreciated but valued here. And like Rob, I would hate to see you go.

WOW! You know what, I wonder if that truck was the one I used to see on 101 Ave in Ozone Park near me. I know it parked under the abandoned LIRR elevated tracks on 100th street. They were right down the block from Taff who owned the LFSW in my avatar. Taff had a few oldies including a B61SX and a C model in their shop.I really would like to know what happened to them.

You know I am suspicious of too much paint. Its like they are trying to hide something. From factory the brake and electric lines are painted but that how Mack and other manufactures do things on an assembly line. On a restoration it tells me they didn't have the time/money/care to tear the frame down and who knows what kind of rust or worn out wiring/plumbing is covered in paint. Not that its not a beautiful or clean truck, I just like a little contrast in colors and less paint all over everything.

Im sure over time some people upgraded theirs to an alternator. A generator has piss poor voltage regulation and most only charged at a certain engine RPM range. An alternator can charge at just about any engine speed thanks to its electronic voltage regulator.

Its the Indians that run all the Dunkin Doughnuts, 7-11's and hotel managers. The delicatessens will however suffer a shortage of clerks and about half of the taxi cabs will also stop running too. But I am not too worried seeing as how there will be plenty of hispanics to fill those jobs.