ciw65

There is nothin' in this world that feels or sounds like a V8 Mack comin' down the road.

And as long as I can remember V8 Macks in Australia have been 454 or 500 HP.

Schmicko lookin' B fella. A real credit to your determination.

Oh, yeah fairlane is pretty cool too. World's fastest "grocery getter" as we call station wagons here.

That is one serious tow truck!

Ok, basic rule of engine power, the colder the intake air, the better the performance. By putting the air cleaner under the hood, you would be heating it. The air coming in from outside might be cold, but when it gets to the air cleaner unit, there will be hot spots, and the air flow slows a bit in the unit, allowing the air to warm. I am an Aussie so therefore I guess biased to external "stack" type intakes and filter units. I have driven a C120 Frightliner with a C16 Cat @ 600HP under the bonnet. So was the air cleaner, intake ducting from the rear of the bonnet and all the rest of the hot stuff. Any day when it was over 30'C (mid 80's F), it just failed. Engine temp was way up and power way down. Leave 'em outside in the breeze.

I gather you have both banks heads off. Check for water stain of the liners. You may have uncovered a problem that might cost the owner dearly down the road. If it has let water in through an inlet gasket, guaranteed it won't be the only cylinder water affected. Whatever happens, the owner is one lucky fella, that bent rod could have been a real disaster.

Hi Patrick, and welcome from Australia. We have something in common. You're French, and I have to work on a Mack Quantum, which is a Renault in reality. Hate the bloody thing. But don't take it personally, that's a corporate error of judgement. Lots of good info on here, and if you want info on Australian spec trucks, I'd be happy to help.

Update: Saturday, 5th April, 2008. Last weekend (saturday), replaced air dryer unit with generic Wabco unit. Sunday called in as truck not building up air. Temp fix til monday. Monday fitted D2 governor valve to compressor ( yep down there in the chassis). Builds up air like a new one now. Driver happy chappy.

Friday 4th April 2008: Driver rings up saying R/H front cab air bag leaking. Do the ring around and find (as usual) genuine only, AUD175.00 PLUS 10% GST. Gotta get one.

Today, 5th April 2008. In to work when truck gets back to fit cab air bag. Straightforward job as only located on the bottom with 2 "pins" and push in fitting for air line. 15 mins and I'll be outta here. WRONG! While jacking cab up, hydraulic line breaks at rear cab mount locks. Great cab is up 6 inches with weight still on front air bags. Get porta power and stuff around grovelling under this bucket trying to find a spot to jack the cab. Remember it's R/H drive so all the steering gear and associated plumbing is on R/H side. 45 min later job is done. Try to jack cab down - nup no go. Blown line just vents fluid. Much cursing of French design idiots. Suicide decision made. Crack hydraulic line on Cab Ram. CRASH Cab is down. Bugga - didn't break. Oh well. There is still the burning option.

And you wonder why I hate this thing???!!!!

Nice job on the 4000 White. I had a 1967 White 4000 220 cummins, RT 910,single axle and a 1972 White 9000 250 Cummins RTO 910 tandem. They were a good work truck,no frills.I had a78 and 79 Autocar Tri-Axle Dumps with the same corporate cab. Like others said the unaerodynamic design was the best looking. Joe D.

We took out the old leaf spring at the rear of the cab and made up a top bracket to take 2 cab air bags. With an air bag suspended seat and long tail springs on the hendrickson rear, was a very comfy ride. Beat the hell outta a kenworth with 6 rod or knitting needle rear end.

And thanks everybody for your kind comments. My ex wife called it waste of money, but I never saw it that way. Still got a soft spot for the old girl (truck, not the ex wife).

Most of the white 9000's in the states (pre Autocar cab) had cummins 160/195/220 HP. Most of the 9000's (Autocar cab pre road boss) had cummins 250 HP. Road bosses were mostly Cummins 290 hp, with quite a few v detroits (roadway). 4000's gave you leg room with pretty much the same engine options as the 9000's. It would be nice if somebody bought the White rights from volvo and brought back the White nameplate.

In Australia basically rule of thumb was 4000 series had Cummins and 9000 series had Detroits, but there were a few exceptions. This old girl was originally powered by a 335 Cummins. My old boss in Brisbane had a Road Boss that was standard with a 350 Cummins originally, but he repowered it with a K-19 @ 575hp!!! Talk about wall to wall sump.

i am not familiar with the Whites, but that sure is a beautiful truck. i really like that a lot, you did a fine job on the resto! I like any truck that defies aerodynamics (superliner, w900, 359/379 etc.)

Aerodynamics????? Back when fuel was 50c a gallon who cared. LOL.

What year model is it mate? The early ones were built on Renault cahssis rails and they were a nightmare. Weve got 2, one with an ISX Cummins in it and the other with a 410 Mack motor, and they are both on CH rails, and arent too bad to work on. Ours are 2004 and 2006 models respectively

This one is a 1999 model. Renault everything except the driveline. The air dryer let go during the week and, true to form, only available ex Mack for AU$925 plus tax. So I got a generic Wabco unit that looks almost identical to the original Knorr-Bremse unit and had to fit a D2 governor valve to the compressor as the Wabco dryer has it's signal port different. Job all done for under AU$600. And now when it dies again, (and it will) cheap generic parts to fix it.

The CH chassis would make life a whole lot easier. An ISX, what a dream......

If you can point me at an online wiring diagram I might be able to sus out a potential problem.

I love these tricky ones. NOT. Problem is never where you think it will be. Is the truck fitted with a circuit protection box for the trailer wiring. They can be a source of many problems. Is the marker light fuse shared with any other circuit, as this can create problems on a completely different circuit. If it was just the cab roof lights I would say check your cab earth first, but trailer not working as well tends to point at the one power circuit. You have a seperate switch for marker lights, or do they come on with headlight switch in "Park" position. If they come on with headlight switch, I have found sometimes the contacts in the headlight switch can be a problem. I guess best thing is to break out the test light and see if you have power to the switches and relays. Also ensure you have a good earth for the relays and that they are working. Wouldn't be the first time a "new" switch or relay didn't work.

WOW! Mechanics really earn their pay fixing that rolling phone booth.

Yeah, as I said in one of my earlier posts, Mack book time is 5 hours to REMOVE the sump.

I can't imagine shifting with my left hand, gas pedal with my left foot, clutch with the right foot. Every once in a while I'll give the clutch a shove with my right foot and it feels completely un-natural.

Nah, only the gear shift is different, accelerator, brake and clutch pedals are all still operated with the same feet. I did some work a while back for Hunt Energy (yep owned by Nelson Bunker Hunt) when they first started up over here, and they imported all their stuff from the oil field salvage yards in Odessa, Texas, so all the trucks were L/H drive, but pedals still the same. You're right though, takes some getting used to shifting with your opposite arm.

I have to admit, when it was younger the ride was quite good, 4 airbag cab suspension with a shock absorber for each bag. Unfortunately the big let down is the front cab mount set up. A cantilever/scissor link type of arrangement with too many bushes to flog out, so ride quality starts to deteriorate badly, and the cab actually shifted to the left at one stage! ( because of our road camber with R/H drive). Would be ok on nice smooth European roads, but unfortunately like so many other euro imports, they underestimate or completely ignore our road conditions here. And to replace the mount link bushes is one major job. Cab has to be suspended in the down position from an overhead gantry.

As for SISU's, yes there are a couple in Australia I have seen used in mining/exploration work, 6 wheel drive variants from memory. Tough as you can get. I think one had a mini drill rig set up on it for core sampling, so was heavy and still running off road all its life. Think they might have been pre renault though as the cabs were like square boxes.

Just WOW! What were they thinking?

Apparently they weren't thinking. Not clearly anyway.

I have posted a few times on here about our woes with our "Quantum". Luckily they never made it to the US ( probably tipped overboard on the way across the Atlantic). For those that are curious here are some pics. I know ThaddeusW wanted to see the engine bay.

As you can see not a very user friendly hybrid, especially the position of the compressor and clearance between front crossmember and sump.

And the 3rd last pic is enough to make any red blooded Mack man cry.

There have been some comments of late about the Australian "Stack" type air intakes. Some like them, some don't. Personal preference I guess. I have taken some pics with my phone (yeah forgot the camera ok) of one way these are fitted and used on an '07 Superdog belonging to one of my customers. Might help anyone who is thinking of trying to fit some to a US model. I will post some pics of his other Superdog stack setup a bit later.

Please don't laugh at the colours ( we call 'em bacon and egg sandwiches ) but is a requirement as a contractor to Kalari.

I wonder if the Australian Superliner grille will fit? If so, I might be ordering some from down under!

Got some pics of a 2007 Superliner grille hear Barry, not sure how much difference there is with the '08 models. This was a new Superdog in November. Spoke with the owner today as I do his servicing and he seems to agree with me that the Superdog and Titan share the same bonnet, or are very close. And as usual after a long weekend, was chaos today so when I finally escaped, I forgot the piece of paper I wrote the measurements on. And surprisingly, there were no '08 Superdogs or Titans at the dealer today either. All on order I was told.

I know in Australia that unless you specced another colour, red was standard chassis paint colour back in the 70's and 80's.

I love the user name and avatar by the way. Very Australian icon.

I just noticed today on my way home that diesel is now AU$1.55 per litre here. 5 days ago it was AU$1.50. That works out at about US$5.39 a gallon. When is it gonna stop???!!

Was the engine running recently, if not double check that the dizzy is in correctly, not 180 cam degrees out. This will cause misfiring and carry on when trying to start, but will show up on a timing light as correct timing

Pretty much they are a Cummins rip off. Ok, the filters and bolt on bits are different, but block and head are pretty much identical. If you see a D16 next to a Signature with its shrouds and tin work off, there isn't much difference. And they have kept the design and scaled it down for the D12/D13. That's how come all of a sudden Volvo's had engine brakes. As for the relationship between Volvo and Cummins, as far as I am aware, it originally was to supply the Signature as a powerplant while Volvo developed and built their new D16. Somehow I think a Signature may have found its way into Volvo's R&D office. Paint it green, cut the fuel to a minimum, bolt volvo filters and accessories on it and call it ours.

Have to agree with old mate about them being gutless too, our 550 Volvo just isn't a shadow on our 550 Cat powered Sterling. They might be same cubic capacity, but they just can't make the torque.