Helping JimT out with an inframe ...

[JimT]

So, just a "quick" follow up to ongoing events.

Been busy playing catch-up, business-wise.

After about 2500 miles the Davco level finally began to stay about 1-2" above the bottom of the clear housing. Haven't followed up on anything else fuel system related, yet, but that's on my short list of things to do.

After the tire blowout and the one odd-ball tire I decided to start replacing the rest. After some research I went with the consensus here and put 4 new Bridgestone M710 on the front axle and left an assortment on the rear axle for now. I'll probably do the other 4 in early December. Carrier's National Account pricing put them at $387/tire with payments spread out on my settlements.

Engine is running ok. Might have an injector acting up, but it's subtle right now. Otherwise I have good power and minimal oil consumption. About 7k on this oil and the change is barely noticeable on the dipstick. Fuel mileage is down from a long term 7.47 mpg average pre-inframe to about a 7.36 post-inframe. Although I've been spending a lot of miles remembering how to drive right. Still, tank to tank it seems a bit lower than it should be. Will probably drop this oil a little early, around 10-12k and do my first oil sample post-inframe. Will be interesting to see the results as things start to wear in.

I currently have 2 coolant leaks. One from the new drain fitting and one from a rubber hose at the rear of the engine. Otherwise, no other visible external leaks.

Alternator is still running fine, despite the noise. It's more pronounced at the start of a day and seems to quiet down a bit toward the end. Same goes for the whine of the oil pump.

On an unrelated note my Xantrax freedom xc 2000 power inverter started acting up. The fan started running even with no load and one monday morning it shutdown due to "overheating", though the entire case was cool to the touch and there was little to no load. It has adequate air flow so I'm thinking some internal issue. Maybe a temp sensor. I'm torn, it's not "user serviceable" but that rarely stops me from tinkering around with things.

On a positive not the tractor passed a periodic DOT inspection, so I'm good for another 120-days.