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Old 10th June 2018, 14:12
coachman coachman is offline  
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Worthing
Posts: 146
Dennis Dart

I have never saw a workshop manual for a Dart but that doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. I worked on Dart’s with various bodies mainly Plaxton Pointer, Wright and Carlisle - Mk1, Mk2 and SLFs. The early ones had a B6 Cummins with an Alison box.
The engine were fairly indistructsble, just as long as they had regular oil and filter changes. They did suffer from cam shaft and cam follower wear and it was always advisable to keep the tappets adjusted. Rear main seals were prone to leaking as was the engine side plate.
The fuel lift pumps also leaked fuel into the sump on occasions and the front injector pump seal could do the same.
The fan belts and the belt tensioner also needed checking at regular intervals. More often if they had a retarder fitted.
The torque from the engine would put a lot of strain on the radiator and it’s frame. So radiators need constant checking for leaks and damage. There was a cassette rad modification and a hydraulic fan conversion available.
All the spring cushion rubbers needed changing every year when they ran in service. Also the rear axle casing cracked where the spring centre bolt located in it. It was possible to weld the these but more often than not they needed a new axle tube.
On the ones that did not have retarders fitted brake life was very short. Also in London the brake compressors and air dryers coked up very quickly.
I don’t expect your vehicle will have all these troubles as my experience was with buses that were on the road up to 20 hours a day 7 days a week. They also ran in London’s stop start traffic and had heavy loadings for most of the day.
I hope I have not painted too bad a picture of these vehicles and it’s worth remembering that the buses I worked on had a hard life.
In private ownership they should last for years without any problems once they were brought up to scratch.
P.S I forgot to add that diff life was very short, some people put this down to the reverse loading put on the diff by the retarder - others said it was due to the fact that in London the buses never traveled far in a straight line. Also make sure the the rear U.J on the prop is kept well greased as the tend to seize up and throw the prop.

Last edited by coachman; 10th June 2018 at 18:39. Reason: Just remembered something.
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