Flat Work

Okay, it's blinking 4-5. Which my research pulls up a problem with the VGT. 

When I bought the truck a year and a half ago, the VGT was stuck. I worked it loose with a small pry bar and penetrating oil, and it stopped throwing a fault.

Will this cause me to fail my inspection?

5 hours ago, Mackpro said:

With fault code active , turn cruise control switch off. Push and hold the  Acel/Decel switch (either top or bottom) for about 3-5 seconds then release, the yellow lightning bolt will flash out a 2 digit code 

And I can do this with the engine running?

This spring, when I got the truck out, I had no alternator charge, and the CEL lightening bolt was on. I replaced the alternator, and batteries, and fixed the problem. The truck charges at almost 15 volts now.

But I still have a check engine light issue. But only while the truck is at idle to about 1000 rpm. As soon as the engine speed comes up above that, it goes out, and stays out. Until I come to a stop sign, red light, or just idle the truck. It's running fine. Starts fine, accelerates fine, and has its usual power. 

My DOT inspection is due next week. Is there any way for me to pull this code and determine the problem before hand?

Truck is an '04 CX-613. AC-427 engine. 344,000 miles.

Well, it's go one, and there is play in it.

Do I have to remove the tower, and pound this thing apart?

20 minutes ago, Rob said:

If you lift the shift boot on the floor you will be able to tell if there is an isolator there. If the shifter handle goes straight into the top cover adapter, there is not one. The isolator looks like an addition to the shifter handle.

Cool. Thank you.

I'll check it out.

14 hours ago, Rob said:

Not if you have one already. It's just a replacement and can be done in the cab. If not and you wish to install one, cut the shifter handle, weld the isolator to the part nearest the transmission, then remove enough of the upper part of the shifter handle to drop the total length back to where you want it, and bolt the top section into the bottom section. There may be totally bolt in styles now but a few years ago there were not.

The shifting handles wear at he point where they intermesh with the shift forks, and the forks themselves wear. Your post is too vague to present any real repair type guidance and be correct. Its the "play" down low, or up top? Grab the shift lever right at the floor level and move it around. If loose there, the slop or play is inside the transmission. If solid by the floor, it very well could be the isolator bushing, (if installed) is worn.

I haven't gotten that far into it. It doesn't feel like a gear box issue. The shifter has kind of a "rubber" feeling to it.

I drove a friend's truck the other day, and it's crisp, and close between the gears. Mine seems to have a "flex" to it.

I've got a lot of play in my shifter. I've been told it's more than likely the isolator bushing.

Is this a difficult repair?

It was combination of both. The alternator is dead, and the batteries are weak.  I picked up 2 new batteries yesterday. And I'm seriously considering adding 2 more. One thing I've learned from living in Michigan for 49 years- you can never have too much cold-weather cranking power.

I got the alternator off yesterday. Damn- that was a job! It's a standard Delco 22SI. 150 amp. I'm going to my local starter/alternator shop this morning. I'm going to talk to him about a quality replacement in the 200 plus amp range. I don't have a refrigerator in there yet, but I might add one later.

My main concern is in getting a quality alternator that hopefully will outlast my ownership of the truck. That thing was a pain in the ass to remove. And I don't want to have to do it again!!!

On 4/7/2018 at 8:17 AM, Flat Work said:

 

I don't know right now. The truck is parked over at a friend's farm. I left it sitting there after I got done helping him get his grain up last December. I've had my kids all week for spring break. I'm heading over there next week to get the truck around for spring.

I'll let you know what I find.

There are 2 unused terminals.  Both have a rubber cap on them.

I have the batteries out charging right now. I'll let them slow charge until tomorrow morning, and go get them tested. The drive belt is tight. The connections all look good and clean.

The alternator is a Delco 22si. If I determine it's bad, is there anything special about it? Is it on a standard frame? All the replacement ones I've seen seem to be between 150-220 amps. But I don't know for sure how big the one that's on it is.

On 4/4/2018 at 10:14 PM, Mack Technician said:

There is one lead going to alternator, but how many unused terminals are on the back of your alternator? 

I don't know right now. The truck is parked over at a friend's farm. I left it sitting there after I got done helping him get his grain up last December. I've had my kids all week for spring break. I'm heading over there next week to get the truck around for spring.

I'll let you know what I find.

2004 CX-613. AC-427 engine.

Trying to find out the oil capacity, with filters. Everything I'm finding online says 11-12 gallons.

Does that sound about right?

6 hours ago, Mack Technician said:

I’d send a defibrillator shock into the alternators field terminal and see if it lights off. Had it work before, not much to lose. Use a battery charger to do it. 

What's the process for doing that?

Well, I lit the Mack up a couple of days ago. It had been sitting for a couple of months.

I have either a very low alternator output, or none at all. It shows about 11 volts at an idle. It steps up to 12-12.5 volts if you give it some rpm's. The little lightening bolt on the dash stays on at and idle, but will go out after increasing rpm's as well.

I have done zero checking on the system anywhere as of yet. Any suggestions exactly where, and how to start? I did have to boost it to start it.

Thanks.

5 minutes ago, carlotpilot said:

thats why i said brace your self . i did`nt price a15,5 dbl disc.i`m sure they are much higher than the med .duty i used . don`t think rblt. exchanges are available any more either

Rebuilt price is about $400.00 less. I would rather go with new.

6 minutes ago, carlotpilot said:

 based on what i paid for a new dbl disc for a 4900 inter. last month   735.00  and depending on labor rate where you are i`d say brace yourself

 

 

 

 

I just got my first over the phone quote back.  $2500.00

If that's the going rate, I'll drive to Virginia and use your mechanic.

He told me 14 hours on labor.

My clutch and brake are adjusted as far as they will go. Time for a new one soon.

Truck's an '04 CX-613, AC-427, with a run-of-mill Eaton-Fuller 10spd. Just curious what you guys are paying for a straight up clutch job.

On 12/6/2017 at 9:13 AM, Mack Technician said:

IMO,

Always OEM unless they are 200% over aftermarket price. Volvo filters are $1 cheaper than I can buy from NAPA.

Scenario #1- You fail a Mack filter and appeal to Mack for engine warranty due to contingent engine damage.

Scenario #2- You fail a NAPA filter and appeal to NAPA for engine warranty due to contingent engine damage.

Scenario #3- You fail an off brand filter you bought online and appeal to China based seller for engine warranty due to contingent engine damage.

These are Bad(#1), worst (#2) and fatal(#3) scenarios in order.

 

My real issue rather than being cheap is the distance to the dealer. And they won't ship to my door. I suppose, just get the numbers, call ahead and make sure they've got 'em, and go waste 1/2 a day on the road.

On 12/3/2017 at 4:16 PM, Mack Technician said:

I'm not bias, but we had a wear show-down in early 2000's and mobil oil beat Rotella. We had to roll bearings to a tighter clearance p2 bearing (recall) on many trucks. Mobil users had less orange-peel displacement in bearings. Again, that was almost 20 years ago.......so...? 

That's very interesting. Thank you for the info.

I certainly don't have any problems using Mobil. In fact, they make a great gasoline engine oil.

9 minutes ago, 1965 said:

Just call & ask your dealer what they have been using

I do plan on doing that.

I guess the direction I was going is if Mack has a certain brand it requires its dealers to use. I bought the truck in Texas, and it had been serviced by the same dealer in Ft. Worth its entire life. Then I brought it to Michigan last year, and had service done at the dealer in Grand Rapids. If I found that Mack only used 1 brand across the board, I was certainly going to stick with that.

I'm getting ready to do an oil change. The truck currently has factory oil filters on it. I've always been a WIX person. And with retail sources like Amazon, etc, you can save some serious money buying them online.

Anyone got any good reasons why I shouldn't use anything other than factory-branded ones?

12 hours ago, fjh said:

nope

Cool. Thank you.

If found this from Mack:

https://www.macktrucks.com/~/media/files/pv776-89149448.ashx

50 minutes ago, Mack Technician said:

At our Mack dealership we used Mobil Delvac 1300 15W-40. It was branded "Bulldog". Also kept Rotella on tap for folks who wanted an alternative,,,,, nineteen out of twenty left with Mobil though. 

That surprises me some. I've been using Rotella for my diesels as long as I care to remember. I'm not advocating for the quality of one oil over the other. And I know how stupid this probably sounds- but I'm a believer in keeping with the same brand IF an engine has only had 1 brand used in it all of its life. Which is probably very unlikely.

As I stated above- the engine hasn't burned any oil in 6000 miles. The truck's not abused. But hauling heavy loads of gravel, asphalt millings, grain-etc, up and down back roads, in town, and in and out of gravel mines does cause a lot of starting and stopping type driving.

I guess I'm just being superstitious. But I'm also pretty anal about doing things like kicking my AC on to get the cooling fan engaged to help keep my coolant, oil, and exhaust temps down. And that does work. I also ALWAYS warm up my engine before working it, and cool it down before shutting it off. No matter what the outside temps are. Also, because of the dusty environments I'm working in, I've gone thru 3 air filters this season.

This truck and trailer was a huge investment for me. I saved my money for a long time to be able to buy it. I'm hoping if I pay attention to the little things, I'll get a lot of good service out of it!

My engine is an '04 AC-427.

I'm just curious- do these engines use a hydraulic-unit type injector?

Thanks.

It's time to do an oil change in my truck. This is the first one I'll be doing on it myself. The truck has always been serviced at a Mack dealer, and I would like to continue using what the engine is used to getting.  The truck's an '04 CX-613. AC-427 engine.

Not looking to start a heated oil brand/type debate.  Just curious as to what oil the dealers use.

I've got to say that even though I'm not super impressed with the engine's overall power and performance, I have been very impressed that the engine is not an oil consumer. While I've only put about 6,000 miles on it in the 12 months I've owned it, they've been hard-worked miles. And the engine has not burned 1 drop of oil.