CM871 things to check after purchase?

[reconxlr]

Hi all,
I just bought a 2009 prostar CM871 with 664k .
What do I do to the truck before getting it on the road?
Whats the most important things to check?

I want to have it @m*m^2, egr mandate, maybe synthetic oil.

Thanks.

[hhow55]

The best thing to do is read rawze's book, and you should have read the book, before buying the truck!!!!!!

[Waterloo]

(03-27-2016 )reconxlr Wrote:  Hi all,
I just bought a 2009 prostar CM871 with 664k .
What do I do to the truck before getting it on the road?
Whats the most important things to check?

I want to have it @m*m^2, egr mandate, maybe synthetic oil.

Thanks.

Dude! What have you done! LOL! First thing I would do is buy this kit http://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/p/BK_7001006 and test the head! If it passes, you are good for awhile... ;-)

Remember, SOOT is your greatest enemy on this truck!

Do the OVERHEAD! Take it in, or watch the video here and do it yourself if you are comfortable with that! Very important!

Get under the truck and inspect all of your cabling coming from the battery box, especially your grounds. The factory cable on my 2008 ProStar was missing allot of jacket on the cable, all of that copper was shot! I had to replace all of mine, around 80 feet of the stuff. It was all bad. When under there, look for leaks, inspect the oil pan, mine was bad around the drain and was seeping oil through the wall of the pan.

Check your pin bushings on the rear suspension, and the bushings in your two top torque rods. Mine were bad and had to be replaced at 700,000 miles.

The crank shaft Damper, that huge solid metal disc on the front of the motor under the fan. They go bad and Cummins recommends replacing at 500,000 miles or so many years. I replaced mine at 700,000 and it made a huge impact on the motor. I was popping belts and losing components. There is no way to test it, but it needs to be replaced. The damper was $635 direct from Cummins, and they charged me four hours for labor. $1135 out the door. And paint it before putting it on. All is well now.

Also, check your idler and tensioner pulleys on the front of the motor. Remove the belts and spin away, also look for side play in them and listen closely for a gravely sound. The top single idler pulley is the one I have replaced twice on mine, the little lone pulley next to the AC compressor. It has one bolt holding it on, $40 bucks from the parts store if it is failing on you.

Inspect all of your hoses and hose clamps, tighten as needed and replace any hoses/clamps that look tired or old.

Pull the big intake hose off of the turbo, run your finger inside the turbo inlet tube, you are looking for oil. If there is no oil and it looks pretty clean you are good.

Open up your Crankcase Breather box on the front drivers side of the truck and inspect. They have a 70,000 to 100,000 mile lifespan on them. Pull it out and inspect. you are looking for signs of coolant and or if it has ever been replaced... ;-) I would throw a new one in, but that is just me... $80 at the truck stops, $55 at my local International dealer.

I would also have an oil analysis done, if there is a Speedco nearby run it up there, it will at least give you a base line. If not, you can get the test kits at most truck stops with shops and drop your own and send it out.

Do the EGR Tune UP and the Doser. The parts will run you around $700 along with a case of carb cleaner, a long handled brush and lots of rags. You can do that in your driveway.

That is just off of the top of my head... Good luck! I hope you got a good one!

[Kid Rock]

Waterloo did a darn good summary. Might want to replace the coolant filter for good measure, it seems like a lot of people leave those things on for ages. Make sure you grab you a Windows 7 computer and buy INSITE with the hook ups to stay on top things.

Hey @waterloo how do you use that combustion test?

[Waterloo]

The cumbustion test is simple, fill the tube, stick the tube in the coolant bottle opening with the motor running and see if the test fluid changes from blue to green... Took all of ten seconds to confirm I had exhaust gas in my cooling system.

[Kid Rock]

(03-27-2016 )Waterloo Wrote:  The cumbustion test is simple, fill the tube, stick the tube in the coolant bottle opening with the motor running and see if the test fluid changes from blue to green... Took all of ten seconds to confirm I had exhaust gas in my cooling system.

Oh wow, okay.. Thanks and good luck finishing your rebuild

[Crafter]

you can get the cumbustion test from autozone's loan a tool program.
Basically you pay 25$ for the pump and 10$ for the liquid. than take back the pump.

I have to say.. my truck with a bad head gasket passed this test. I'm certain I had the cracked gasket when I did the test. That's when all my problems with coolant started. This test is the reason why I really thought it was my compressor.

3 months later with only 500k I'm having the gasket changed.

Worst experience ever. I wish I had the tools to do it myself.

One more thing. When checking the hoses, clamps, and zip ties.. pay close attention. Some add a few zip ties some leave out.

There is a reason why something is loose and something is snug. Example. My back pressure exhaust sensor was so snug.. with all the vibrations the top of the sensor came loose. I didn't know. Now I know.

Also careful to use the correct clamps on water hoses and air lines. You can really run into a lot of problems with scuffing and over tightening.

[Waterloo]

I would not rent this test, because I would be hesitant on using the test fluid if others have been in it. The NAPA kit I posted above worked, and I got to unseal the bottle. No telling what has gone on with rental stuff.

[Hedley]

2009 Prostars come out with a 14 volt 325 amp alternator from factory, Leece Neville replaces it with a 12 volt 325 amp alternator, if your prostar is plagued with electrical malfunctions including a/c issues then chances are that it was replaced with the less expensive 180 amp model....big mistake.