Helping JimT out with an inframe ...

[JimT]

Finished up all the odds and ends and left Rawze's place yesterday. Currently half way back home to pickup my trailer and get back to making money. Not too much noteworthy about the reassembly process. Spent a lot of time cleaning, prepping and painting parts, looking up torque specs and applying a lot of anti-seize to everything. I'll write up a larger update once I have some free time.

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Rawze: A few odd things I've noticed, compared to operation before the rebuild:

* The Oil pressure with the new pump now sits at about 24 psi at idle (720rpm) and about 38-40 psi at 1600-1800 rpm. Also the pump has that annoying low pitch whine to it.

* Coolant temps have been rock solid at 180F. Prior to rebuild they were rock solid at 190F. Not sure if this is due to the new thermostat or just a result of the rebuilt engine or what. My money is on the thermostat due to the steady nature of the temperature.

* So far (bobtail) I haven't been able to get the boost gauge to read above about 25psi. Turbo sounded a little off (probably just in my head), but doesn't seem to be working any harder than the resulting boost readings. I did find one loose band clamp and leak yesterday before I left, so I'll look things over again. Might need to pressure test the system.

* Had to add another 1/2 gal of coolant today. Didn't see any leaks, but I noticed the underside of the radiator was damp around the outlet. Could also have been some air in the cab/sleeper heating systems that worked it's way out. Will keep an eye on it.

* A little rough on startup again, but smoother then before. Also, like before, it smooths out as it warms up. Running down the road it's much smoother then before the rebuild.

Been keeping it up between 1700-1800 rpm most of the time with some variation as low as 1600, no cruise control. Did run out of gear a little starting in SC, but not a lot of momentum to work with when bobtail.