13 replies to this topic

[joes mack]

i need help bad the pump shift wont engage on the mack we have tried it with the electric and the manual override but it still wont engage either way. this all started after one of our know it all firefighters got in the truck and tried to engage the pump without puting it in N and i plainly told him not to do it. well just so hapens we were at a fire and were moping up the scene and he goes and gets in the truck with it still in pump gear and flips the switch to disengage the pump. after i fignaly got to the truck and put it in N and got it to stop grinding he looks at me and says thats the way we did it at the last dept i was at. i lost it and told him this is not the last dept he was at and that he was not suposed to be fooling with the truck any way since he didnt listen the last time he did it that i better not catch him even touching the truck. but the dammage has allredy been done. the truck has a waterious pump model YBX does anyone know if the gears are brass or steel. and if they are hard to change and roughly how much they cost. i know that its a vol fire dept and i shouldnt have talked to him the way that i did but this is the nicest truck we have ever had and one of the best pumping trucks in the county. i guess i take pride in the CF and want to keep it around for a while and some people could care less because it dont belong to them. i guess ron white is right you cant fix stupid .

[1958 F.W.D.]

1. You can call Waterous and give them the pump serial number (on the plate on the pump panel) and they will send you a serial number specific manual with a parts breakdown for FREE.

2. Sounds like "wonder boy's" last department had a PTO pump maybe, Volunteer or not, if he were in my department, he would have gotten a 30-day suspension for disobeying a direct order, I recommend the same, especially given there may be damage to equipment involved here. Cant let that slide, he needs the message that he cannot just do whatever he wants to without consequences.

3. I will cut and paste your message and email my father, who knows Waterous pumps and Mack setups very well. Will get back to you.

[1958 F.W.D.]

Pop says: "The YBX is the model of the transfer case. The pump is either a CM, CMU, CS or CSU, not that it matters. Most Macks had CMU. FDNY trucks usually had CMs. The Y series transfer cases were chain driven. So the first question has to be, does the truck move all right when it's in "Road" mode? If so, is there any noise when it's moving. I never heard of a chain breaking, but there's a first time for everything. Later on when I go up to the firehouse I'll look in my Waterous stuff and also look under E11-1 to see if I can see anything obvious."

[1958 F.W.D.]

Pop came back a few hours later and had this to say: "Lots of possibilities, none good, none cheap. Bent shift fork is one. Whoever the brainiac is that did it shouldn't be driviing a car, let alone a fire truck. Recommend to your contact there to call Waterous at 651 450 5200. Follow prompts for service questions. Anyone in that group should be able to help. Make sure he has the pump serial number and the chain case serial number."

[fxfymn]

There are tons of CF's for sale. Make sure you compare the repair cost with just buying a spare and swapping out the transfer case from the donor to your truck. I would start looking for a parts truck asap on the classified section here and on the SPAAMFAA web site.

A rough CF should cost you around 2K. A pretty nice one can be had for less than 5K. Combine some cash with a donation letter from the VFD to a seller so he/she can take the tax write off and you should be able to do even better.

[1958 F.W.D.]

A rough CF should cost you around 2K. A pretty nice one can be had for less than 5K. Combine some cash with a donation letter from the VFD to a seller so he/she can take the tax write off and you should be able to do even better.

Carl, I am pretty sure I saw on here (not too long ago) that these guys had to beg, steal and borrow just to get this one........

[joes mack]

thanks for all replies. the truck drives fine and dont make any noise except when tryin to engage the pump it acts like it is halfway going into gear but not fully engaging it kicks out of drive gear but wont engage the pump. the electric motor looks like it has been changed recently as it has new bolts holding it to the transfer case. but im thinking the person that said it might be a shift fork might be right when we put in manual shift you can turn the shifter about 1/2 inch but no more i even tried to help turn it with my hands with another guy pulling the leaver. i hope it is not really expensive to fix as we dont have alot of money to fix anything but like was said earlier it might be worth finding another truck for parts. its a shame that this has happend to this truck we just got it in january and now this bozo done what he done if i get my way he will be looking for anothe dept to join as he will no longer be on this one

[joes mack]

got under truck and watched the linkage again and noticed a brass sleve with a spring in it and spring was gummed up with dirt and sprayed it with pb blaster and it started to loosen up and now it works back and forth all the way but the pump still dont turn fast enough. also noticed a push button switch that the button is stuck on and dont work and the indicator lights on the pump switch dont work now. does this switch lock the trans in high gear for the pump to turn at a faster speed

[fxfymn]

Carl, I am pretty sure I saw on here (not too long ago) that these guys had to beg, steal and borrow just to get this one........

You are correct, but if the repair is 2k and entire truck can be had for 2k it would be worth it since I'm sure they will do the repair themselves. An acquitance just bought a CF for 3200 straight out of the firehouse that the VFD had put 60k into 5 or 6 years ago. It looks like new. They are out there.

[joes mack]

the truck is back in operation now. man that scared me when i called waterious about the prob and the price to repair if it was a shift fork bent.but thankfully it was just junk in the spring sleve binding it up and a new 3 prong push button switch to lock the trans in high gear. i guess the junk in the sleve has been building up for a while and finaly caused a prob. but the idiot not shifting the pump right didnt help either though. thanks for all of the information that you shared. joe

[bulldogboy]

Joe:

That's good news; those old Macks are pretty tough and keep on truckin'. Hate to think how this would have played out with one of the newer
electronic rigs. By the way, how did you make out with the brakes on the '67 Ford?

bulldogboy

[fxfymn]

I'm guessing you already changed the transfer case oil to ensure there are no unwanted shavings floating around from the shift grind?

[joes mack]

bulldog the 67 is back in service new shoes, wheel cyls, and lines. drums were good with no lip or groves. it will scoot the wheels now fully loaded with equip and 750 gals of water if you want too.
fxfymn. the transfer case barely had any metal at all in it no chunks or anything just fine stuff in the oil. those must some very hard gears in there.

[Art Lawrence]

Hmm. If you are mechanically adept, you might want to do a better inspection. We had the same set up in my vollie days and I can tell you from observation and experience (I think that the father of the moron in your company belong to out company) that after a couple episodes of transfer case grinding, the forks take a beating. It seems as though this truck is still in front line service, so you do not want this mechanism to fail on a response. If bucks are available, I would recommend having a Waterous certified mechanic go over EVERYTHING and assure that it is PM'd and up to snuff. It isn't a big deal if the mechanicals fail while taking it out of pump, but it is a real big deal if the mechanicals don't work to put it INTO pump. That tends to give the guys on the end of a line a thrill they won't forget. I can recall being told that the reason to mount axes on the CF's engine house/cowling is for ease of access to remove and show the incompetent engineer how pleased you are when you tried to make entry, or worse did make entry, and there ain't no water.