It's On

2007 diesel engines are hear, and even operators of small buses need to know a thing or two

Julie Metea | Contributing Editor

The school bus industry is finally putting the real pedal to the metal under EPA standard mandates for cleaner diesel engines. The time is up for manufacturers to plan, test and pre-produce the model year 2007 engines.

School buses purchased with model year 2007 engines will meet the new heavy duty diesel engine standards. Effective Jan. 1, all diesel engines are required to reduce oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter emissions by 90 percent over prior standards.

The products are now falling into the care of contractors and school districts. Now a new era begins for understanding, operating and maintaining the new clean burning diesel engines.

Know Your 2007 School Bus and Engine
But hold on a minute. Some customers of 2007 school buses may not need to fret too much. The standards won’t change for “cut away” school buses on certain Ford chassis and engines, mainly the E-Series Wagon.

Those engines will carry over from 2006 with no modifications for the new 2007 model year. According to Ford, the company earned enough clean air credits from the EPA, based on past clean burning engines. For this reason, Ford didn’t need to re-engineer 2007 diesel engines, which end up in small school buses, ambulances and other commercial vehicles.

However, other diesel engine manufacturers went through the motions of building an entire new product for the 2007 model year. And they’re hitting the market in February.

International, which brands its own diesel engine line as MaxxForce, has integrated clean air technologies for its entire IC Corp school bus line. Even its smallest vehicle — the Type B stand-alone BE 200 — requires the customer to manage new features and maintenance procedures.

Detroit Diesel recently launched its medium-duty 2007 MBE 900, which powers Thomas Built Buses and the company’s Type A Minotaur. Detroit Diesel is ready with a customer service center to field any new product calls.

General Motors’ 2007 emissions compliant engines are coming online. GM medium-duty diesel engines and chassis platforms end up in smaller school buses, such as Blue Bird’s Type A Micro Bird.

“Everything is in place. It’s package efficient. It will take some new maintenance procedures from the standpoint of the customer and dealership. It’s pretty much a whole new ball game,” said Rob Minton, communications director for GM Commercial Fleet Operations.

Changes in the Field
School bus manufacturers — especially the big three of International, Thomas Built and Blue Bird — are alerting customers that new 2007 diesel engines prompted several changes, from vehicle features to maintenance procedures.

“The 2007 requirements have an impact on the rest of the vehicle, including the chassis and exhaust system packaging. They had to be re-configured,” said Randy Ray, IC’s new product marketing manager.

rs will notice changes to lights and switches on the driver interface due to regeneration. The new engines reduce particulate matter by using a diesel particulate filter (DPF) that captures soot and larger sulfate particles. To prevent the DPF from clogging, the filter system must undergo a periodic regeneration using temperatu res of nearly 1000 degrees Fahrenheit.

New sensing and control software alerts the driver to activate a dashboard switch to initiate the regeneration process. Operators also must know the differences for using low sulfur fuel, including new identification labels on the fueling systems.

“You need to pay attention to long term maintenance and the alert lights. And always use OEM components for replacement parts. This will help avoid problems,” said Ricky Stanley, technical manager for Thomas Built Buses.

The buses equipped with 2007 engines also have system modifications for cooling, electrical and exhaust. All of which have added weight and cost, in some cases up to $12,000 per vehicle.

“We pushed thousands of engineering hours to make sure we still have performance. This is assurance that customers get well-tested products,” said Rusty Mitchell, Blue Bird’s product development manager.

The three highlighted the available technologies to the state directors in November during the annual NASDPTS convention.

Help for Engine Road Blocks
With all the changes, manufacturers have been anticipating customer questions and requests. International has been on the road training customers. Some companies have call centers for 2007 diesel engines issues, such as Detroit Diesel. But many are relying on the dealers.

“They (dealers) are now on the front line, especially if there’s a warranty issue,” said Ray.

Some dealers are ready for the deluge, such as Leonard Bus Sales, Inc., in Deposit, N.Y. The company is launching a program to train customers for 2007 engine issues. Knowledgeable trainers are ramping up in the first and second quarters, but they anticipate a peak training cycle by the third quarter.
“This has been a natural evolution for us. We’ve anticipated this for a long time and prepared for it,” said Edward Joyce, operations vice president for Leonard Bus Sales.

nties in New York, including New York City and Long Island. It sells and services products from Girardin, U.S. Bus and IC Corp. And it supports cut-away products from Ford and GM.

“We’re excited about this opportunity. We’ve become environmentally friendly. It’s important these engines are clean. We’re proud to be a part of it,” said Joyce.