My experience with buses has been Routemasters.

I've found the RT to be a very different beast indeed, albeit with more charm and character. I'm on a bit of a learning curve with the RT, which to start with I have found has a chassis lubricating system. I would think that a rather fluid type grease goes in to the now almost empty reservoir? Can this be purchased, what is it's spec (name) and where can it be obtained. Could it be made by mixing oil and grease together - though I'm worried about blocking some of the many pipes in the system if I don't get it right (too thick).

The brakes are air over hydraulic. But I cannot locate the hydraulic fluid reservoir to check or top up the fluid. Can some one indicate where it is hidden?

What depth of gear (hypoid?) oil should I have on the dip stick regarding the gear box? It shows at about 1.5 inches at present.

Thanks

Why the secrecy about who you are? This isn't a dating site! I'm certainly less likely to help someone who wants to be anonymous!!
Which RT have you got? Who are you! Where are you?

FYI Unless you have a modified RT, the brakes are air! You need to contact someone who knows about RTs, Messrs Gould, Lane or Morris for example.

Extract from an early FOLBOT newsletter says
...Some owners report satisfactory results from using SAE 30 engine oil. Any lubricant designed for use in more recent epicyclic gearboxes will be suitable, for example, products made to Leyland Specification E; Gulf Transmission Oil SA; Castrol PSG/E if you can still find it, or an oil of the thin, red variety as used in automatic transmissions (Dexron). However, whatever you do, DO NOT mix different types of oil and in particular, if using engine oil.

You need to check the RP lubricator still works, ours are not that efficient and we manually grease up.

My bus number (if any): RTL 960, RM 1585, RMC 1458 and several RTs

The spec for lubricator oil is to use engine oil, SAE30 or similar. Do NOT use grease, it'll block anything that isn't already blocked with rust.

In the diff, DO NOT use hypoid oil, i.e. Hypoid EP 90/ EP 80 etc. Use ONLY a gear oil designed for use with phospher bronze crown wheels. The "normal" EP oils have an additive that eats away the phospher bronze. I can't remember the quantity of oil, but if you fill it too much it will leak out of the gland by the output shaft.

In the gearbox and flywheel these days I use an ATF or ATX oil, it is a much better spec than the original transmission oils.

My bus number (if any): RML2532

I have absolutely no problem with those who wish to sign-on under a username, the practice is very widespread on other vehicle related fora, this forum is probably slightly unusual in that most contributors write under their own names rather than a nom de plume.

As for the RT queries: start by checking to see if there is still any oil left in the tank, then have a good look around to see if oil is getting to any of the lube points. You will probably find many of the autolube pipes have rusted through, check where they are broken to see if there is still any oil around the break. If there is a significant percentage of the system working it may be worth the effort of trying to get it operational again, but it will involve MANY hours work and fairly significant expense. To get the system working and have all the pipes replaced professionally will cost more than a complete set of leading brand tyres. If the overall condition of the vehicle warrants it then maybe proceed, but it is common just to fit grease nipples to those points which are not working. The system originally used on engine oil. You would be better off putting one of the suggested oils in to begin with, give it about two days worth of stop/start driving around and then having a look underneath. Come back with any findings.

The brakes are solely air operated. There is a pressure gauge under the flap in the drivers floor. The system is what is known as single line, ie. if there is an air leak then the entire braking system pressure will deplete until you have no brakes. You will not stop the bus using the handbrake. The compressor is belt driven from the front of the gearbox, which means that it does not build up air when the bus is in gear and stationary. The same applies to the generator and the fuel lift pump.


For RM kingpin thrusts and steering relay boxes which are worn and hence let oil leak out almost immediately, I use Morris Lubricants K40EP autolube grease.

Regarding user names on forums I've never had an objection before. I use forums for the other classic vehicles I am interested in and own, and as said above by Roy, user names are the norm. I have the same username on all forums. If I had signed in this one as Peter Jones, no one would have raised an eyebrow – though that isn’t my name! If as a newby you wish to remain anonymous, it is better to sign in under an obvious user name rather than mislead. In my experience other regular users eventually guess who you are once you become a regular.

Back on topic, I was informed by a guy that owns a 1950s AEC lorry, which he says has the same Regent Three chassis(?), that, his brakes were hydraulic operated air brakes. What appeared to be hydraulic brake lines, looking again, I now see to be part of the chassis lubricating system. Regarding the reservoir for this system, what oil is left in it smells, looks and feels the same as the gear oil. I assume that the previous owner has used the wrong oil. I don't know though, that if so, this would have caused harm to the system.

Thank you all for your input, very welcome.

Using gear oil may have caused some blockages in the autolube tank as it's a lot thicker than engine oil or transmission oil. However it shouldn't be lasting damage. IF the pipes are all ok, the new thinner oil should work its way through the system. the autolube lubricates one point with every brake application, so it will take hundreds of brake applications to lubricate every point properly.

LT used to use a thing called a foo-foo valve, an air operated valve which somehow connected to the autolube air input and delivered these hundreds of applications while the fitter went for tea. It used to go foo-foo-foo-foo as the air operated, hence the name foo-foo valve!

My bus number (if any): RML2532

As I said earlier, the RP lube system was reliable when chassis were overhauled every 4 years, if wrong oil used it would have just splashed oil all over the place and added to the gunk.
The Regent 111 is essentially a bus chassis, but even the AEC manuals on this chassis can be misleading as LT made a lot of changes to the AEC spec the RLH is also a Regent 111 and that differs from the RT chassis in many ways.

My bus number (if any): RTL 960, RM 1585, RMC 1458 and several RTs

A Regent III lorry chassis with air over hydraulic brakes is an intriguing vehicle. The 1950's AEC four wheel lorry chassis would have been a Mercury, which has a Routemaster shape radiator grille and either air brakes or vacuum hydraulic brakes. The earlier Monarch would have the long 'Provincial Regent III' radiator and vacuum or vacuum hydraulic brakes.

There were Regent III chassis with lorry bodies which were popular with Limmer and Trinidad and used as tar sprayers. At least one still exists, but whether this is truly a lorry chassis or a conversion on a redundant bus chassis is not clear. It appears that RT143 was one of the conversions.

At the time AEC would build virtually whatever the customer wanted, but air over hydraulic braking was not a standard option.

I have put the engine oil into the reservior, and with luck it will eventually find its's way through to all the lubricating points, being thinner than what appears to have been used before. However as Brian says, the lubricating system was probably efficient with the 4 yearly chassis overhaul at LT. This one appears to have little done in the last 40 years, though some of the steel pipes at the delivery end appear recently renewed.

With a bus that is a privately owned preserved vehicle, it spends most of its time standing. To acquire the amount of applications needed to thoroughly lubricate the points, will take some time. Sounds like the foo-foo valve device could be handy!

As I mentioned elsewhere on the forum, my experience has only been with the Routemaster as far as buses are concerned. I am certainly not an expert on them, but I've owned a few, (all AEC examples though) and so I am well-versed on their layout and what sort of noises they should and should not make. Over the years I have been through a few Routemaster 'tantrums', but I continue to be amazed how reliable RMs are.

So with the RT, and please be kind if I am asking the blindly obvious! Pre select of course, I select first to move off, which the bus does well. However, sometimes when I hit the select pedal, there is a 'metal clashing' clunk noise, depending how I ease the bus into motion. If I accelerate very gently there is no 'clunk' noise. Is there someting loose here, or is this an RT normality, or maybe bad driving of the bus! I don't remember this being part of the sympthany of noises given by passing RTs when I was a school boy.

I have often kept an RM out in the open, even in winter, though not ideal of course, but they survive well with continual TCL (ie, keep wiping the inside condensation away before it starts dripping onto the floor and seats). The RT is in the outside predicament with winter approaching, though parking is secure. This as well known is a coach built steel on wood frame bodied vehicle, so rust and wood rot go well together for problems. Any tips whatsoever? A thick coat of Waxoyl on the roof to seal the panel joins for example. But I worry about condensation under the metal sheets soaking the wood, especially in frost. The one thing the RT seems better at than the RM, is how dry it feels inside. No damp or mould smell, even the 40-odd year old paper adverts inside have no mould or stains.

PS, where are the light switches for the upper and lower saloons - not in the same place as the RM it appears. I've looked all over including the cab, the platform only has heating switches, though I thought RTs did not have such a luxury.

Another reason for a user name - you can ask silly questions and no one knows who you are to then tease at rallies!

Assuming you mean you select first gear, you should actually drive off in 2nd! First is only for hill starts in empty buses. Unless you are driving the RT like a car, ie using gear pedal as a clutch, you need a good grease up on the gearbox connections.
It shouldn't make any grating or clashing noises, take the top off the gearbox nd have look, but don't have the engine running!


Saloon lights are same place as RM, under the stairs, just above brown starting bell, one switch for each side, not deck.
There is no solution to keepig an RT rot proof or rust proof, we use silicone arond the glass rubbers and apply copious amounts of rut proofer/remover whenever we do any repairs that entail taking panels off.

Unless your RT has been thoroughly rebuilt in the last 20 years the chances are your window pans are rusted through, the centre pillar and L/S waist rail connections rusted away, cant plates non existent, (look in cab above the door, there is one there, there is one in every bay) and the L/S and U/S coving panels, that go from the floor to the plywood side panels are rusted away, if patched then they certainly will be! Only place for an RT is under cover!

My bus number (if any): RTL 960, RM 1585, RMC 1458 and several RTs

The short answer to RT storage is don't keep it outside! Water will run down the outside, sit on top of the mouldings and work its way under them and rot the structure. It will do the same thing at the windows, get behind or under the rubber and rot the window pans. You won't know it's happening until the moulding screws start falling out. The underside will suffer as well, particularly if the bus is not on concrete or tarmac. The real enemy is the change in temperature from very cold to a bit warmer when condensation forms. You can see it on the outside panels, but it is everywhere, underneath and on the steel framework behind the panels. The problem is you won't prevent this indoors either.

The berr-donk, which follows the RT sneeze when you operate the change speed pedal, accompanied by a slight jerk, is probably the bus bar and linkage in the gearbox operating and 'selecting' gear. This stops the front propshaft from turning and at the same time turns the rear propshaft a couple of degrees. The worm and wheel final drive gears are bound to be a bit worn so there will be plenty of backlash all contributing to a bit of noise on engagement.

However if this doesn't fit in with what you feel is happening and the noise is as you move away then there is a reasonable chance that there is a worn universal joint. These are of an AEC design, IIRC the Matador uses the same joint, and totally different from the more familiar Hardy Spicer coupling. The noise is much more noticeable in the RF in which the driver sits effectively in the saloon as well. Does the bus still have glass in the window behind the driver? These AEC joints do tend to wear rather badly.

Great, thanks again for good advice. Yes I have the interior light switches. These are lower down than on the RM, I was putting my hand up above the bell push and just feeling what appears to be a junction box. The flap of this was up, obscuring the switches, so I couldn't feel them. Well, that's my excuse!

It would seem that the only RTs well protected from moisture are those in a climate controlled museum. It is easy to see how the RM has such a popular following.

Regarding moving off, I'll keep to second, except for steep inclines, and see how things go. The rear cab window glass is out, so maybe I am hearing noises not normally audible to the driver, though I'll be checking.

If you have the space, can you park a classic double-deck on your drive or garden? Obviously, parking in a way not to obscure neighbour's view or vision. That is a vehicle that is being used in a fully private manner as a car, without any commercial use whatsoever, and even driven on a car license. In other words, it is your private car, and it still has all the seats as well. I have seen no rules that specify how big you private car can be, with my council any way. I have challenged them on this to much mumbling and head scratching in response.

The carden shaft UJ design is certainly different on many RTs and it is virtually impossible to get replacement bronze "spaceman's heads" for them, unless someone has a hoard of them stashed away, However, many of the cardens on RTs in later life were replaced by Hardy-Spicer RM style cardens.
We have a right mix amongst our RTs but you can replace the AEC design shafts with RM ones, I can't remember which ones can be swapped straight off an RM, but I believe one of the RML shafts fits. With the others you may have to do some cutting and welding.

My bus number (if any): RTL 960, RM 1585, RMC 1458 and several RTs