A couple of questions..

[Metalhead85]

I've got a couple of questions for my first official post on here lol.

1. Does using anti-gel do damage to the DPF/DEF filters over time?

2. Are there any fuel additives that are good to use as a supplement or alternative to Premium Diesel? I've seen what seems like a fairly new brand of diesel additive called Hot Shot's Secrets and no one doesn't really seem to know anything about them. Is it just another form of "snake oil"?

3. Any opinion on Vavoline Premium Blue usage? I know it's recommended by Cummins but is it actually good to use? I currently use 10W30 Delvac.

4. Does idling the engine at 7k RPM when very cold out help with the regen process? I don't have an APU.

Thanks for letting me join the group. I'm looking forward to learning a lot from you all.

[Bengy88]

In my personal opinion.... and this is just an opinion.
I really dont see how anti gel would cause damage to the doc/dpf. Im not going to say it doesn't but im definately not gonna say it does.
In my personal opinion good oil is good oil. Rawze and I just had this conversation. As long as you are using a good oil and servicing your truck regularly.... Based off of fuel mileage then you will be just fine running delvac, unless you are in extreme cold temps dont waste money on synthetic oil, and lucas is over rated bullshit.
I wouldnt recommend idling at 7k rpm as most diesel engines do good to ever see 2.5k rpms at wide open throttle lol. Assuming you mean 700rpm if i was in extreme cold temps i would idle my truck up a little over night.... Only because in my experiences on trucks that idle alot ive noticed ALOT more egr soot build up resulting in overloading the dpf and doc and believe it or not dirtier oil. A diesel engine was made to work and alot of people dont realize how bad it can be on them to make them "not work". But like i said these are my personal opinions take them and do what you want with them lol. I have been known to have a fu**** up way of looking at and understanding things.

[Waterloo]

Cannot add much to Bengy88 there... Maybe get a bunk heater? Oh, welcome aboard!

[Metalhead85]

(01-02-2023 )Bengy88 Wrote:  In my personal opinion.... and this is just an opinion.
I really dont see how anti gel would cause damage to the doc/dpf. Im not going to say it doesn't but im definately not gonna say it does.
In my personal opinion good oil is good oil. Rawze and I just had this conversation. As long as you are using a good oil and servicing your truck regularly.... Based off of fuel mileage then you will be just fine running delvac, unless you are in extreme cold temps dont waste money on synthetic oil, and lucas is over rated bullshit.
I wouldnt recommend idling at 7k rpm as most diesel engines do good to ever see 2.5k rpms at wide open throttle lol. Assuming you mean 700rpm if i was in extreme cold temps i would idle my truck up a little over night.... Only because in my experiences on trucks that idle alot ive noticed ALOT more egr soot build up resulting in overloading the dpf and doc and believe it or not dirtier oil. A diesel engine was made to work and alot of people dont realize how bad it can be on them to make them "not work". But like i said these are my personal opinions take them and do what you want with them lol. I have been known to have a fu**** up way of looking at and understanding things.

Yes, I meant 700rpm, my fault lol. I do get my PM's done every 15-20k, and I will admit that my last oil change I did add Lucas in, but that was all before I came across Rawze and his information about gear oil. So I will be going that route next time.

The whole anti gel thing came from a driver friend of mine who was in Wyoming getting repairs done to their truck and the mechanic mentioned about anti gel not being good for the filters, so I was just wondering if there was any validity to that. The crap that we hear...lol.

Right now I'm trying to stay out of the northwest and Wyoming area so operating in extreme cold environments won't be a daily thing for me. So that makes sense what you said. I appreciate the help and info!

[Metalhead85]

(01-02-2023 )Waterloo Wrote:  Cannot add much to Bengy88 there... Maybe get a bunk heater? Oh, welcome aboard!

Thank you, sir! Glad to be aboard!

[Waterloo]

Get a laptop and an Inline 6 reader, eBay is where most of us purchase the kits. They run around $250, I have had mine since 2014, still works.

[tree98]

I noticed you have a 2.64 rear end ratio. You really need to think about regearing to something like a 3.70 or 3.90. That 2.64 is gonna knock the liners out of that engine very prematurely.

You want to keep your RPM's at or above 1500 when your working the engine hard (using 50% or more throttle) and that's basically impossible with a 2.64 ratio. Lugging an isx down below 1500 all the time is one of the things that kills them quickly.

[Rawze]

yeah... what those guys above said... all of it.

Don't over-srtress about the oil and fuel.. they are the things that make little to no difference unless you are actually abusing things. It is never the lubricated components that wear out in these ISX's when they do need an overhaul unless someone runs it without oil or something else stupid.

What does kill them prematurely is ...

* Liners fretting in the block (head gasket failure) from running and pushing the engine up hills, below 1500RPM its whole life. so Yeah,.. those ridiculously tall, engine killing rear ends that were not meant for hauling flowers, nonetheless 80,000 lbs are completely horrible!. That should be one of your actual investments after the purchase of a laptop and the cummins adapter you want to keep the truck long term.

Switching to a proper set of 3.90's from the garbage rear ends that you have now will also make it feel like it can actually pull good up the hills without killing the engine over time as well.

* Not doing an overhead adjustment every 250k miles will shorten the life of the cam(s). it is important to maintain that engine.. not just wait for the lights to come on before doing anything.

* ensuring that you grab a wrench or 2 and doing a thorough EGR tune-up about once a year + replacing the IMAP and other sensors as they get dirty and clogged up.. and the engine + DPF system will thank you for it. This is exactly the neglect of why 80% of so many people have after-treatment system issues, and there is no stealers$it or OEM repair shop about to do any of it for you. They are too stupid and are not trained properly for actually giving a damn about your engine and its actual long term health.

* A gallon of decent gear lube does wonders vs. that garbage pukas so it seems you already picked up on that fact.

* the biggest killer of the overhead cam and the turbo is the crank case filter. MAKE SURE that you use the maintenence-free one or gut the one you have until only the frame is left. Too many people forget about that filter and wonder why their turbo starts leaking oil or seizes up.. or why their overhead cam is chewed up. ref: http://rawze.com/forums/showthread.php?t...376#pid376

* Crank shaft damper at 500k miles unless you want to replace an expensive ECM at some point due to excess hi-frequency vibrations, etc.

* Keep it away, and do not be duped by those 'custom tuners' / 'delete' shops, etc.

90%+ of all delete/custom programs out there are absolutely harmful to these ISX's. Don't get caught up in their false promises and games. If you really need it de-mandated at some point (assuming you live in a country where that is ok to do).. then ask on here and get some proper recommendations for people that I have vettet out and reviewed their work first. That way your not replacing the head or head-gasket, or wasting way too much moneys, etc. only to have to do it all over again when you find out that the work was half-arssed.

==================
The list is longer than this. The emphasis here is that owning a red engine (cummins) is unlike other engines. you MUST keep after it like a red headed step child, wrench and screw driver in hand at all times ... or it will stab you in the back and cry real fast. They Like to be maintained.. and will lay down on you fast if you do not. This means that the only advantage to owning one is the fact that you can work on it yourself.

Fortunately, all the info the OEM has + engineering software, programming it, working on it, diagrams,,.. everything literally.. is out there and will benefit the person who uses those resources. This is also why there are die-hard fans of the engine out here on my forum. No other brand of engine is this open and available for the owner to learn to maintain and rebuild, etc. for themselves so easily.

Signup to quickserv.com and get access for free to all the diagrams, and other info on how to maintain and repair everything on that engine. Get a knock-off inline-6 adapter and a cheap laptop.. get set up to talk to your engine and troubleshoot it, and perform tests when needed .. BEFORE you are on the side of the road somewhere. Don't be the typical victim, endlessly chasing problems.. but become the owner of that ship, and eventually the master of what you have. these are the skills needed that make moneys out here that you can keep long term in today's modern era of trucking.

[Metalhead85]

(01-02-2023 )Rawze Wrote:  yeah... what those guys above said... all of it.

Don't over-srtress about the oil and fuel.. they are the things that make little to no difference unless you are actually abusing things. It is never the lubricated components that wear out in these ISX's when they do need an overhaul unless someone runs it without oil or something else stupid.

What does kill them prematurely is ...

* Liners fretting in the block (head gasket failure) from running and pushing the engine up hills, below 1500RPM its whole life. so Yeah,.. those ridiculously tall, engine killing rear ends that were not meant for hauling flowers, nonetheless 80,000 lbs are completely horrible!. That should be one of your actual investments after the purchase of a laptop and the cummins adapter you want to keep the truck long term.

Switching to a proper set of 3.90's from the garbage rear ends that you have now will also make it feel like it can actually pull good up the hills without killing the engine over time as well.

* Not doing an overhead adjustment every 250k miles will shorten the life of the cam(s). it is important to maintain that engine.. not just wait for the lights to come on before doing anything.

* ensuring that you grab a wrench or 2 and doing a thorough EGR tune-up about once a year + replacing the IMAP and other sensors as they get dirty and clogged up.. and the engine + DPF system will thank you for it. This is exactly the neglect of why 80% of so many people have after-treatment system issues, and there is no stealers$it or OEM repair shop about to do any of it for you. They are too stupid and are not trained properly for actually giving a damn about your engine and its actual long term health.

* A gallon of decent gear lube does wonders vs. that garbage pukas so it seems you already picked up on that fact.

* the biggest killer of the overhead cam and the turbo is the crank case filter. MAKE SURE that you use the maintenence-free one or gut the one you have until only the frame is left. Too many people forget about that filter and wonder why their turbo starts leaking oil or seizes up.. or why their overhead cam is chewed up. ref: http://rawze.com/forums/showthread.php?t...376#pid376

* Crank shaft damper at 500k miles unless you want to replace an expensive ECM at some point due to excess hi-frequency vibrations, etc.

* Keep it away, and do not be duped by those 'custom tuners' / 'delete' shops, etc.

90%+ of all delete/custom programs out there are absolutely harmful to these ISX's. Don't get caught up in their false promises and games. If you really need it de-mandated at some point (assuming you live in a country where that is ok to do).. then ask on here and get some proper recommendations for people that I have vettet out and reviewed their work first. That way your not replacing the head or head-gasket, or wasting way too much moneys, etc. only to have to do it all over again when you find out that the work was half-arssed.

==================
The list is longer than this. The emphasis here is that owning a red engine (cummins) is unlike other engines. you MUST keep after it like a red headed step child, wrench and screw driver in hand at all times ... or it will stab you in the back and cry real fast. They Like to be maintained.. and will lay down on you fast if you do not. This means that the only advantage to owning one is the fact that you can work on it yourself.

Fortunately, all the info the OEM has + engineering software, programming it, working on it, diagrams,,.. everything literally.. is out there and will benefit the person who uses those resources. This is also why there are die-hard fans of the engine out here on my forum. No other brand of engine is this open and available for the owner to learn to maintain and rebuild, etc. for themselves so easily.

Signup to quickserv.com and get access for free to all the diagrams, and other info on how to maintain and repair everything on that engine. Get a knock-off inline-6 adapter and a cheap laptop.. get set up to talk to your engine and troubleshoot it, and perform tests when needed .. BEFORE you are on the side of the road somewhere. Don't be the typical victim, endlessly chasing problems.. but become the owner of that ship, and eventually the master of what you have. these are the skills needed that make moneys out here that you can keep long term in today's modern era of trucking.

Sorry it took me so long to reply back, typical Monday lol.

I definitely have no interest in doing any deleting of any kind on the engine/aftertreatment system, so no worries there. At least not for a very long time.

I inherited this truck summer of '21 from another driver with around 391k miles on it. I did get an overhead done on it May of last year at a dealership but honestly I'm not sure if they actually did it right. I've had two mechanics, one of them certified by Cummins, say that my engine sounds like shi#t. So I'm seriously wanting to get it looked at again and I would LOVE to learn to do it myself. Right now my mileage is at 574,456, 24111.6 hrs on the engine.

I will admit I don't know much at all about gear ratio but I will definitely take heed on what you and tree have said. I currently run 22.5 tires, so if I did switch to 3.90 gears, would that require me to use different size tires? I need a bit educating on that lol.

I am looking into getting the sensors needed to do the EGR tune up, but I am confused with the EGR Differential Pressure Sensor and the DPF Differential Pressure sensor having the same part# of 2871960? I signed up for the free account that QuickServe offers and did my best to look up part numbers, and both sensors were showing the same numbers. I love all the information QuickServe provides. I will look into getting a laptop and the adapter as soon as I'm able to.

Where would the best place be to buy a vibration damper from? I also want to get my fuel pump looked at soon. Right now I have no issues with it but I'm wanting to get ahead of the game before any serious damage is done.
⁹
The Crank case; apparently my Crank case is a non-serviceable filter and it's maintenance free. That's what one dealership told me. They can also be very full of shi#t. My crankcase is small.

I'm trying to do my best to stay on top of my maintainence and I love my engine. I want to do all that I can to make it run good and last a long time. So thanks again to you Rawze and the others for the education and input.