TMC T80206 bus conversion with Detroit Diesel Series 50 four cylinder engine
TMC T80206 engine bay showing Detroit Diesel Series 50 engine
This is a picture of the engine compartment of my TMC T80206 bus conversion.
This vehicle is commonly called an RTS, in honor of General Motors, who designed the vehicle before getting out of the commercial bus business. RTS is short for Rapid Transit Series.
Transportation Manufacturing Corporation bought the RTS line in 1987 and dropped the RTS moniker. But almost all bus nuts refer to my bus conversion as an RTS.
My RTS has a Detroit Diesel Series 50 four cylinder diesel engine. The drive shaft is parallel to the bumper, and the automatic transmission is barely visible in the lower right of the picture.
The 260 amp 24 volt alternator is the large gray component in the upper left of the picture. One day that alternator will power my Trace SW4024 inverter and charge the ‘house’ batteries.
My engine has about 368,000 miles on it, but these engines are known as million mile engines, so with proper care, I’ll never wear it out from driving.
The engine displaces 8.5 liters and produces 275 horsepower at 2100 RPM. This is enough to cruise all day at 75 miles per hour, and to go 50 miles an hour up the Marin side approach to the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge. That might not seem fast, but less capable engines might only push a vehicle this size up that incline at 30 miles per hour. I was smiling when I first learned I could go 50 miles an hour up a long hill.
275 horsepower might not seem like much, but the torque this engine produces dwarfs that from an engine in a pickup truck, which is why this engine can propel a vehicle that weighs nearly 14 tons with relative ease.
I get 10.75 miles to the US gallon of diesel on the freeway with my bus conversion, which, on a per pound basis, is much better than a Toyota Prius gas-electric hybrid automobile, popular in the United States.
