Need help resetting a govenor on a ford diesel bus

Our youth group recieved a school bus as a gift but the govenor is set for 55mph and city use.Since we travel mostly long distances the governeor really slows up down.Its a ford diesel with automatic transmission,what other info you need I'd need to go look for.Please respond to the email at top please. Jeff Danchik, Director Mon Valley Express drum and Bugle Corps

Reply to
jeff danchik
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How old is this bus? If it's fairly new it's probably an electronic limiter, otherwise I'm not sure how that would work.

Also, I know some urban/city-type buses have tires that aren't designed to be operated at highway speeds (the max speed rating is 55 mph). If the bus has those kind of tires on it, just upping the limiter could be dangerous.

Reply to
Robert Hancock

HI, If its a B700 it probably has a New Holland in line 6 cylinder diesel, Regardless the diesel bus is governed by engine speed and not road speed. The cure is rear axle ratio. This has a popular rear axle so there is probably many salvage yard axles with the proper ratio availale. Ron

Reply to
RON

Hi, I responded to the wrong op. If what you have is a B700 it probably has a New Holland diesel. The diesel is governed by engine speed and not by road speed. Road speed is governed by rear axle ratio. A salvage yard probably has the correct axle for the bus. Good luck Ron

Reply to
RON

The speed governor on school busses and trucks is designed to keep you within safety limits of the entire vehicle, and prevent over revving of the diesel engine. They also keep you within the handling capabilities of the vehicle and keep everyone in it alive for as long as possible. School busses in general are designed to carry lots of weight at slow speeds for short distances. Trying to make them work for other uses is an excercise in futility - trust me, I know. I've been a professional musician for almost 30 years and every band I've been in using a converted or modified school bus for travel on highways ends up costing the band so much in repairs that it's not worth getting for free - even a brand new one. I personally know of at least two bands who have suffered fatalities because of the crappy handling of school busses at highway speeds. Sell the bus & buy a coach (like a 'Greyhound' type bus), they're designed for freeway speeds and long trips. They also have huge cargo capabilities, unlike the school busses.

There's a reason you see so many old school busses on farms being used for storage. They're not junky vehicles, but using them for anything other than their designed use (slow short trips) results in a real big expensive chicken coop. There are exceptions, but they're just that - not the rule. If you insist on using the bus for freeway use, don't mess with the engine governor - it's the only hope you have of keeping it on the road. It's not really a speed governor, it's a rev limiter - big difference. Maybe you can get a 2-speed rear end or an overdrive for it. That would allow you to get up to fairly dangerous speeds if you like and make it far more useable for the highway (despite the risk of life & limb caused by driving a school bus at 70mph).

I'd still sell the school bus & buy an older coach. At least if you put a new engine in a coach, it'll last a really long time, and be far safer on the road.

Good luck, - Jeff Gross / Gearhead

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Reply to
Jeff Gross

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