I was hauling a load of hay up I-17 near mile marker 320 when I heard this grinding noise and lost all power. Pulled over fast and saw oil spraying from the passenger side turbo. Had to limp it 15 miles to a shop in Flagstaff where I found the unison ring was seized and the vanes were all cracked. Took me 8 hours to swap both turbos because the bolts were rusted to hell from all the road salt. Has anyone else dealt with those unison rings sticking on the later 6.7s?
I was just tallying up my work logs from the past 8 years and realized I crossed the 500 mark on complete diesel engine rebuilds. That number caught me off guard because I never really kept count, just did the work. Half of those were on old 5.9 Cummins blocks for farm trucks and the other half split between Detroit Series 60s and Cat C15s. The milestone made me think about how much scrap metal and busted knuckles went into that number. Anyone else ever hit a random count like that and have it make you stop and think about how long you've been turning wrenches?
Went with the manual because it was cheaper to source a 5-speed from a salvage yard in Ohio than find a good Allison auto. Took me 3 weekends to get it in but honestly the way the old diesel pulls through the gears is so much better than I expected. Anyone else run into trans swap choices that seemed obvious but weren't?
I was grabbing coffee at a Pilot in Amarillo, and this beat-up 2011 Peterbilt rolls in. The owner popped the hood to check oil, and I spotted an original ISX with that old fuel pump setup still running. No DEF delete or modern ECU swap, just running steady at 800k miles. Made me wonder how many of those old engines are still out there earning a living, anyone else see a survivor like that lately?
I was working at a fleet shop in Phoenix last summer and a retired guy who used to drive long haul kept yelling at me to idle my truck before killing it. I figured he was just set in his ways so I ignored him, but after my turbo seals blew at 180k miles the shop foreman said I cooked it by shutting down hot. Has anyone else had a mechanic give you advice that sounded like old wives' tale but turned out to save your engine?
I was flipping through my old notebooks last week and added up all the rebuilds I've done since starting at Hightower Diesel in Austin back in 2012. Turns out I just passed 500 engines, mostly 6.7 Powerstrokes and some old 5.9 Cummins from the farm trucks. Never thought I'd hit that number because I just show up and turn wrenches every day. How many rebuilds have you guys logged without keeping track?
Honestly, I kept having this issue with a 6.7 Powerstroke where the injectors would start chattering after about 6 months. I thought it was just cheap fuel or bad luck. Then last month at a shop in Reno, an old timer watched me change a filter and pointed out I was letting air into the system because I wasn't priming it right. He showed me the correct way to fill the filter housing before installing it. Has anyone else here been doing it wrong for years without realizing?
I was going over maintenance records for a 2023 Freightliner Cascadia we service at the shop, and I swear I had to double check my math. It was using almost 800 gallons of DEF over 120,000 miles. That's like $2,000 a year just in fluid for one truck. Crazy when you think about how much extra that adds to operating costs. Anyone else tracking these numbers close on newer trucks?
I see everyone online swearing by those high output alternators for older diesel trucks, so I dropped $600 on a 270 amp unit for my 2001 Ford 7.3. Figured it would handle my plow lights, winch, and whatever else I threw at it. But honestly, my stock 95 amp alternator never once let me down in ten years of heavy use. The new one actually caused voltage spikes that messed with my glow plug controller last winter. I had to put the old one back on after two months of chasing electrical gremlins. Has anyone else had a similar experience where a so called upgrade made things worse instead of better?
I was rolling through Flagstaff this morning hauling a load of lumber when the odometer ticked over to 350k. That number hit me HARD because I bought this truck at 180k thinking I'd only get a year or two out of it. Six years later and it's still pulling strong with just basic maintenance and a single injector swap. Anyone else have a rig that shocked them with how long it lasted?
I was talking to this mechanic named Frank at a shop outside of Denver last weekend. He's been working on diesels since the 70s and he told me I was overthinking my oil intervals. He said he's never changed oil more than every 10,000 miles on his 12-valve and it's still running strong at 400k. That hit different because I've been stressing about 5,000 mile changes like clockwork. He also mentioned that modern oil is way better than what they had back then, so the old rules don't always apply. Now I'm wondering if I'm babying my engine too much or if he's just lucky. Anyone else ever get advice from a veteran that made you question everything?
I was reading through some SAE papers last weekend and found out that over 40% of common rail injector failures come from just ONE thing - water in the fuel. Not contamination from the tank, but condensation building up inside the filter housing itself. I checked my own setup and sure enough, the drain valve on my Racor was sitting half open from a bump. Has anyone else pulled a filter apart and found water sitting right where it shouldn't be?
I was talking to an older mechanic named Jim at the shop down the street last Friday. He said most guys our age are good at swapping parts but can't read a wiring diagram to save their lives. He told me I should spend less time on engine teardowns and more time learning how injector pulse width works. It hit different because I've been doing this 6 years and I still guess half the time when a truck has a no-start condition. Is it better to focus on being a parts changer who can hustle jobs fast or really learn the electronics side even if it slows you down? Has anyone else had a senior guy tell them something that made them rethink their whole approach?
Last Monday I was at the Cummins dealer in Dallas picking up a filter kit. Some younger mechanic was telling his buddy he never sends oil samples off. Said it's just a scam to sell more additives down the line. I bit my tongue but wanted to jump in. Three years ago I ignored a sample report on a 3406E that showed high copper. Engine spun a bearing two months later. Cost the fleet manager $8,500 for a rebuild. That report would have caught it early if I'd listened. Has anyone else had a bad experience ignoring your oil analysis results?
I used to just send oil samples to the local parts store for basic testing, but after a major engine failure in a fleet truck from a 2015 Cummins ISX, I started using a proper lab that does particle counting and spectrochemical analysis. The detailed report caught high silicon levels early on a 2018 Volvo D13, saving me a rebuild. Anyone else made the switch and seen a difference in catching issues before they blow up?
Guy brought in a 2007 F-250 with 280k miles, said it had been running rough for months and he was about to scrap it. I talked him into a full engine flush and fresh HDEO oil, and after the change it purred like it just left the lot. Has anyone else seen that dramatic a turnaround from just a simple cleaning?
Bought the Solus Edge Pro back in March thinking I was future proofing my setup. Now I see the new ones have all the DPF regen controls built in and mine needs a separate module. Anybody else feel like these scan tools turn obsolete too fast for the price?
I used to test injectors by pulling them one at a time and running the engine. Spent a whole Saturday on a 6.7 Powerstroke in Austin last month. Now I use a simple breakout box from OTC, takes about 30 minutes total. Anyone else find a test method that cut their diagnostic time in half?
I figured I'd save $40 by cleaning and reusing the injector cups on a buddy's 2006 F-350 last month. Truck ran rough for three days before one started leaking fuel into the coolant. Has anyone else had better luck just buying new cups every time?
Last month in Nashville I spent 6 days overhauling a DT466 only to find the crank was scored, but a buddy down the street did a junkyard swap in 3 days and his truck is running fine so which option actually saves you time and money in the real world?
Put a set of cheap injectors in a Freightliner last Wednesday to save the customer some cash. By Friday afternoon #6 piston had a hole in it and oil was pissing out the dipstick tube. Anyone else swear off anything that isn't OEM or Bosch reman after a blowup like this?
Dropped $80 on a bottle of some snake oil additive that promised to clean my injectors and save me on fuel costs but all it did was clog my fuel filter and leave me stranded on I-35 for two hours waiting for a tow, has anyone else had this happen with those miracle additives?
I was looking up some stuff on the Bosch website last night and found out that a 2% injector flow loss can drop your fuel economy by over 5%. That seems tiny but adds up fast. I always thought a little clog here or there was no big deal. Has anyone else seen numbers like this from their own testing?
Had a retired mechanic named Frank at the shop in Pittsburgh tell me to slather gear oil on cylinder head bolts for better torque. I figured he'd been doing it 40 years so he must know his stuff. Put a 6.0 Powerstroke together that way and two weeks later the head gasket blew out on a delivery truck. Turns out gear oil can hydro-lock the threads and mess with your torque readings. Frank meant well but I lost 12 hours of work and 200 bucks in gaskets. Any of you guys had bad advice from someone you trusted?