JoeH

Secondary shift selector would be for an LE688 with secondary controls in the passenger side. (Steering wheel, brake & accelerator pedal, secondary shifter pad...)

I think it takes like 42 quarts, probably including torque converter. Oil level should be high on the dipstick, normally you check trans levels when they're warmed up and running.

4 minutes ago, Ricky Beals said:

How would someone even get a truck like that to Arkansas?  It’s 11 hour drive from here so no way I’m driving it back.

Usually states have a "drive home" permit that goes with the sale.  Gives you a grace period to drive it back to your base of operations. Assuming it's drivable...

On 1/28/2022 at 3:02 AM, Joey Mack said:

Have you looked at the left front where the large wire harness comes from the cab and bends around the the pivot point. I have made many repairs to wires there due to chaffing. MR's/LE's have a pretty fat wire harness in front. I can't remember it in detail like I used too. I havent worked on an MR in a few years. I always thought of these trucks as a wiring nightmare. I remember opening the the center console and krindging.  Best of luck, Jojo

I know that feeling.  But I've grown to like our mr688 because when you lift that center dash panel it's ALL there! Wide open, no skinny access panels in the dash like R models have.  If you can't lift the center dash panel out due to the trash truck controls well... Yeah that would be awful. Especially because the factory wiring is buried below crappy wiring for the trash body.

Gotta love jerks!

Granites are nice but they force you into the ASET AI series engines, which are better than the AC engines, but require a few modifications to liven them up. ETECH camshaft and exhaust manifold, turbo (I think) and exhaust pipe that doesnt size down right off the turbo.  The AI engine eats some of its own exhaust through back pressure created by the above restriction points.  The camshaft has a bump on the exhaust lobe to tap the exhaust valves open a little during intake stroke. Will run ok with all the garbage on there but supposedly they wake up when you update those parts.

I test drove a granite once. Nicest Mack I ever drove, hopped in and it felt like I'd been driving that truck for 10 years. Everything was where it was supposed to be and forward visibility was good.  Cab is huge, but I'm used to R models.  

The granite you listed there is a state truck with plow setup. Looks like it had the passenger side wing plow as well. If that were a northern truck it'd be junk from salt with a bloated 40k price tag. Look it over, but I wouldn't waste much time on it.

Check out baskin truck sales in Covington, Tennessee. They seem to have a decent amount of stuff listed on Truck Paper. Might be worth poking your head around there.

The truck we bought was part of a lot of 60 trucks, all Macks.

8 hours ago, Ricky Beals said:

I don’t mind paying for a good truck, problem is these trucks are older and the good ones get bought by friends or folks in their circle. All three trucks I have looked at have been for sale by resellers. I need to try and find trucks for sale by individuals.  Thanks for all the help. I’m a little more educated today than I was yesterday.

 

 

Kenworth dealer near me deals in used trucks too. They'll take a whole lot of older trade ins from large construction companies/fleets in the area. Tons of the trucks are in horrible shape but there are a few gems.  We bought one about 3-4 years ago. Plow truck, had the hydraulics and everything still.  Brand new double frame, probably 5 years old or newer.  Engine fires up like it came off the assembly line yesterday.  It's a 1988.  Even the hood looks new.  Probably a million or more miles on the truck, but there's no way to know.  There are good trucks out there, you just need to go look at a dealer with a whole lot of trucks. Keep an open mind!

On 1/26/2022 at 8:06 PM, Joey Mack said:

I forgot to mention how tight of a space it is to get a large ratchet/breaker bar, inside the top reduction housing to tighten the sh!t out of those 2 inner bolt's.  I have a 7/8' , 1/2" drive socket that I trimmed down to fit under the bevel pinion, so I can get a good pull on the bolt in that position, the other one can be hammered in place with a strong 1/2" drive impact, then pulled with a breaker bar.. the hard part is that there is a frame rail in the way......  Just get creative, and work on youre cuss word's, you'll need em'   Jojo

Reading through this has been helpful, our MR688 has this same leak, wondering if it's a cracked housing or loose bolts.  Driving the intermediate axle up on blocks should make access a lot easier? Should lift the frame up away from the rear drive axle. Won't be able to look into this til I drive the truck back from Iowa in 6 weeks though.

Nothing like a little hands on experience! You should be proud of yourself!

Pyro gauges stick sometimes. With the engine up to temp driving around, tap the face of the gauge.  One of my trucks does that.

They detoured down to Kentucky and Missouri so they could skip Illinois completely.  I'll be driving the truck back in 6 weeks when the mixer is done and mounted on. I'll have to try and find out what condition 74 is in.  I would take US 34 from Iowa to Galesburg Illinois, then pick up 74 to Indianapolis. Or I'll detour south to Missouri and Kentucky.

Single drive with a lift axle saves tire wear.  Setup is just fine for highway/parking lot work where a truck doesn't have to go mudding.  Pulling the tag axle up saves a lot of twisting on the tires, tandem, etc. If I had a truck like that it wouldn't be leaving the blacktop.

4 minutes ago, Ryanp said:

Well kind of made some progress today. Ran through the valves and they were all pretty close. A few were maybe 3-4 thou off. Ran It again, basically the same. Ive got probably 3 cylinders firing. This afternoon we fired it up and I shorted some of the EUPs as it was stuttering and trying to run. We thought it would show us what injectors were firing and what ones were not. Shorted cylinder 1 and it shut off immediately. #2 no change, #3 shut it off again immediately. Cant remember what the rest did but I plan to take the 5 that I haven't had off yet to verify the little parts inside move. Probably let them soak and get freed up? Not sure how sensitive the EUPs are but I've been keeping things clean inside. Got #2 off and sure enough that little square inside is froze up.

Currently running on 3 ish and fills the shop in thick black smoke in about 2 minutes. I read that these things can get stuck open is that right? Or am I more likely looking at a set of injectors?

Thank you all for the help, Its been great to have things to try. Learned a lot more about Mack engines and controls than I probably care to Lol.

Part of identifying good/bad EUPs involves swapping eup locations around. Take a known "good" eup (one that causes motor to stumple/die when you interrupt it) put it where a bad one is and see if the eup makes the "bad" cylinder fire. Process of elimination you can find whether EUPs are bad or injectors are bad. Good plan to tear down all the EUPs first, if they're stuck and need to be freed up you may get slot more of them firing.

My apologies to the parts guy, but I'm glad your compatibility options opened up!

Though I'm not sure if it's possible to over rev an automatic? Unless the engine came from a different truck...

DOT # is at the bottom of the door; changed our # to "interstate" this morning. Since the truck has a PA only plate we have to buy permits for every state we want to drive through. Some states won't let you buy the permits if your DOT # isn't marked interstate. Some states don't care. Ohio cares, Illinois cares and since we have heard horrible things about Illinois roads the truck is going from Ohio to Kentucky to Missouri to Iowa.

58 minutes ago, BOBWhite said:

1. We sold it for $1000 so buying it back might not be the issue (unless my uncles have gotten real attached to it). The money is really going to go into parts.

2. I never remember the speedometer working so I'd guess maybe a half a million? I never looked down at it 

3&4. It's a farm truck but I might do some 100+ mile grain trips with it.

I don't think the jerkiness is from sticky linkages because It doesn't happen under load, Air rated fuel maybe?? and I can get the brake petal off no problem but it's the actuator that you can push down put it won't pop back up. Ive worked on It for days with no luck before. 

What one man might define as "jerky" another might describe as a lull in the idle. Low speed governor springs could be worn out. But I've never messed with a fuel pump other than adjusting timing or idle speed.  If your heel isn't planted on the floor while you're driving around it'll be a jerky ride...

If you have work for a 99k gcvwr then buy a rig rated for a 99k gcvwr.

My parents are driving our MR688 from PA to Indianola Iowa. Everything they have heard is that Illinois roads are awful. Can anyone give us feedback? A couple route options:

Rte 80

Rte 74 splitting to either 72 to Missouri or staying with 74 to Iowa.

Anyone know what shape these roads are in? Remember truck is a cabover bobtailing on 20k steer axle. It rides like shit, and my dad is nearing 70! 

That you have it chugging along somewhat means the EECU must be working to some degree.  Pull the valve covers, time to check mechanical bits.  Check slop on rocker arms. Bent pushrods? This engine could have been over revved.

Oil pan gets you a view on bottom of the engine: camshaft, debris in bottom of pan, etc. Valve covers tell you what's going on above.

Measure how tall the frame is. I think 9" is a tractor trailer frame, 10" or 11" is required for dump truck work.

The screwdriver trick I learned for motorcycles. Minor size/noise difference.