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Waterloo

This is for the new guys here... Most of us just do this out of habit, we have too... Don't be a VICTIM like so many of us have been here.

Winter is when everything fails guys, trust me on that, and it will. You are the only one that can do this, there are no shops that will take the time to do what only you can do. This is your business, do not trust it to some flunky at a dealership or truck stop.

Do it, open the hood and start inspecting, stand there and just stare, look for ugly things, or things that may go ugly on you. Fix the leaks, pull and inspect the sensors, go around and look for wiring and lines that are rubbing or need to be secured, pop the top and inspect the cam(s), lobes and rollers and run an overhead.

Get under the truck, Inspect the u-joints, brake lines, brake chambers, air bags and slack adjusters. See what takes grease and what does not. Could be a bad zerk fitting, or the part is toast. Take care of it now before it bites you in the rear. By all signs, this is going to be a long winter...

Anyhow, gorgeous weather this week up here in Detroit, contractors at house, long story, so I tore apart my motor, getting ready... WINTER

Oil leak in the front gear housing cover, no clue why, I put UV dye in the motor oil and discovered the leak was on the driver side, at the second bolt on the down side. I pulled the cover and replaced that silly gasket. The gears looked good, nice and clean in there. The old gasket looked fine, no pinch marks... Used a fine bead of RTV and a new gasket and sealed her up. Worse part was cleaning the oil up, it went all the way down to the pan... Buckets of hot water, gasoline and Dawn dishwashing soap, Rawze's solution, if you have been to the compound, you know it well. laying on the ground and she is clean. That was not fun, and a real mess.

Seeing as I had everything tore apart for the front cover, I did the overhead, looked good in there.

On the intake side, pulled the intake, inspected the CAC, no oil or signs of trouble. Inspected the Venturi for leaks (MM tune), and found my Differential Pressure sensor was not closing properly, allowing air into the EGR valve side. I plugged it with RTV gasket sealer and cleaned things up. iMap (Intake Manifold Pressure Sensor) was toasty, part #2897334 $57... Then down towards the EGR valve, found the heat shield was rotted, part #3683536 $55. Secured a few loose ends with zip ties, and will be closing her up when the parts arrive.

Exhaust side, found the Exhaust Back Pressure sensor was toast, part #4928594, $127. A lose bolt in the thermostat housing, re-torqued to 33 ftlbs. Pulled the metal lines, they were clear. Inspected the turbo, this YTS Turbo is still holding strong YEAH! No slobbering of oil like the past two Cummins remans this one replaced, nice and dry in there. Kudos to YTS!

New AC compressor installed, pulled a vacuum and she held. Need to get the rest of the motor together and will charge... TA wanted $750! The AC compressor fan clutch spun a bearing when I pulled into their parking lot... $400 to charge the system, $350 for the compressor... FleetPride, I bought a compressor and refrigerant, $160. Kind of a NO BRAINER there. Put new serpentine belts on. Damn they are pricey at around $100 for the pair, Gates belts, made in Mexico... Fingers crossed.

She is still in pieces in the driveway, a few things left to do, but she will be together tomorrow. Well, maybe Friday... LOL!

Bottom line, I saved a boatload of cash, did the work myself, found things that would have never been found in a shop and I know the job was done properly. I am the warranty station. Seriously, if I would have taken the truck in and let some parts changer have his way with me, I would be out what, $4000+ give or take? And I would have had to come home and fix all of the things they missed. Been there and done that. I know what it is like to be a victim, don't you be one.

Oh, need to install the heated wiper blades... http://www.everblades.com Get a set, it may just save your life.

Daytripper

What do you use to see the uv dye when it leaks? Used to use a special uv light when I worked at a GM dealership years ago.

Waterloo

I picked up a black light kit at O'Rieley's... Little pen light and the yellow glasses. I did need to round up quite a few bottles of the UV Dye, I cleaned everyone in town out, took around 10 or 12 small bottles of the stuff. Drove the truck about 20 miles and got it into a garage where it was nice and dark. The dye showed up as a blue streak, started right at the bolt hole in the front cover plate, not where I expected it, and hopefully fixed.

Here is the glasses and light, cheap low rent, but worked, not something you would want to use on a daily basis in a shop. https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/b/int...+kit&pos=0

The dye, https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/b/dye...+dye&pos=5

NAPA carried this stuff in a 6 pack, I would go there if you need some, two boxes is about what I used. No clue if that was overkill or not, just followed the bottle instruction of required bottles per so many gallons.

DDlighttruck

Don’t forget batteries and cables. Take them apart, clean them, load test, back together and spray with a sealant

Also, wiper blades. I saw your heated wipers thread but it stands repeating new wiper blades are a must before winter. Keep the old ones as spares

Waterloo

Oh, air lines! Really inspect those, the ones off the back of the cab to the trailer! I just installed a new set, Freightliner has a really nice set, the rubber hoses and pig tail for $155. They come with the gland hands installed, just plug and play.

If yours are the plastic coiled ones, best to get rid of those things especially with winter coming. If it gets really cold, those things snap and will leave you stranded. Get the RUBBER hoses. 15 foot is what I use on my ProStar pulling a dry van. If you are pulling a flat and run the trailer back a bit, the 20 foot lines may be better, will depend upon your set up.

And speaking of air lines, you have around a half dozen or so under the truck, the brake airlines, those need to be inspected and if you are getting up there in mileage, they will need to be replaced. If you replace one, replace them all. Same with your brake chambers and slack adjusters, been there and done that, still suffering physically from that brake chamber event down at Rawze's.

Lonestar10

Definitely put on rubber truck to trailer lines any time I've had plastic pig tails they've broke in dead of winter on sharp turns as they get to brittle below zero

SquareOne

Waterloo....do you have a part number by any chance on that 3in1 air/electric combo from Freightliner? TIA

eggtrucks

(10-10-2019 )Waterloo Wrote: Same with your brake chambers and slack adjusters, been there and done that, still suffering physically from that brake chamber event down at Rawze's.

What was the brake chamber event???

Waterloo

(10-10-2019 )SquareOne Wrote: Waterloo....do you have a part number by any chance on that 3in1 air/electric combo from Freightliner? TIA

Tramec/Sloan 3-in-1 Wrap - 15ft Red & Blue Hose with Powder-Coated MAXXGrips & Sonogrip ABS

Part number 451204

https://tramecsloan.com/products/air-pro...ogrip-abs/

Pretty popular on the internet, prices are are all over, average seems to be around that $150 ea.

They are supposed to be made in the USA. I like mine, real solid, other than the pig tail curved end that goes to the trailer. Takes some getting used too, not much to grab on to there. For the money though, about the best price I could find. Everyone else was $200+ for the lines, and I still had to buy the glad hands. This was plug and play for $155, could not pass that up... The lines are a quality hose as far as I can tell and the glad hands are solid, really impressed for what I paid. I would purchase again.