Vmac3

The mother ship has been pushing their narrative since they came into the picture for obvious and not so obvious reasons. I came into the picture when Vmac2 was ending and the Etech was in full swing. These trucks were quite simple and very affordable to repair compared to what we have going on today. Those old school drivers where more in tune to their vehicles and they were able to do repairs on their vehicles which helped to decrease the cost of ownership. Then some would argue, well just get extended warranty then you should be all set, well who will pay for done time?? I have never seen so many failures with transmissions, electrical and electronic crap before. I know that these new automated transmissions are really nice to operate, it replaces the drivers input, possibly is safer, but man oh man they are falling apart left right and center. Beware, if you are out of warranty this is going to cost you big time.

The spring is connected to the plunger and the cam follower/tappet. You guys are correct, there has to be spring pressure there. V

Running too rich will increase exhaust temps. Also if your exhaust system has too much back pressure then you will experience very high exhaust temps. I had several truck over the years where customers were experiencing exhaust temps being too high and found that the baffle inside the muffler would restrict the exhaust flow out. But with your situation it seems normal. V

The Mack trans as everyone knows is a triple countershaft design. This design splits the torque in 3 ways versus a twin countershaft in two. The Mack trans is more versatile for PTO configurations and generally a more tougher design. But if that auxiliary section has to come off for repair, it does get real pricey compared to the eaton. So whatever floats your boat is what it comes down. V

Excellent point. Here is the service bulletin. sb219009.pdf

I have never done one, but I highly doubt it because there is not enough room between the frame rails. The exhaust manifolds were very close to the frame rails on those RW chassis. V

Thanks for the video clip. Yup. That's the sound of a bad camshaft. Coolant leaking out of the sleeve as well. Looks like its going to need some lovin. As usual, how much will cost? Is it worth it? Is the truck in good shape? All these answers you would know, but if you need help, this is the right place for it. Lots of excellent minds here. V

Oh geez, Are the threads in the timing cover that accommodated the heli-coil in good shape? If it is find out what the thread pitch is and see if a new bolt will fit in the bolt hole without any slack. If it is in good shape, I was wondering if you could drill out the belt tensioner so the new bolt will fit in the tensioner without any issues. You would probably need to use a bolt that has a allan head. One option is to fill the bolt hole with a plug weld and re-drill and tap a new hole. Another option would be replacing the timing cover. I would be more inclined to try a larger bolt and drill out the tensioner if possible. Maybe someone else can chime in on this. F or Joey would have some good suggestions. V

so true

Aren't they cheaper to buy Joey?

Your engine does have an EGR system. The egr system is integral. It works by using the valve timing and exhaust pressures to feed the cylinders with exhaust gas. The engine camshaft has an extra bump on the exhaust lobe to allow the exhaust gases to enter the cylinder during the intake stroke. If you take a look at the exhaust manifold you will find that the diameter is narrow. The engineers did this purposely to increase the back pressure in the exhaust manifold so to push the exhaust gases into the cylinder. V

Is the vehicle experiencing frequent regens as mentioned? One option for you to do is to remove the exhaust flex pipe under the cab and check the color of the exhaust. Snap the throttle and see if there is any indications of blue smoke. You may want to get to the bottom of this, as this will contaminate the exhaust aftertreatment system if its burning it. V

2003 was a great year. Most bugs were worked out of them. The biggest deal with these engines was their valve train. Lack of maintenance will shorten the life of the engine. They required valve adjustments a on yearly basis. They had these valve yoke adjustment screws for engines with Jacobs engine brake that we replaced regardless if they were in spec. When these wore out the valve bridge would apply excessive pressure to one side of the bridge pin and cause the pin to snap off. From there the engine would grenade. Don't expect this little 12L engine to out pull a big block Cummins or a CAT. But for what it is its a great engine. V

That hose is a quick fix. If its blue in color then more than likely it is original. V

You mentioned that it is leaking oil out of that hose. That would suggest that the air compressor has failed. Drain the air tanks and see if there is oil coming out of them. Also check the purge valve on the air drier for excessive amounts of oil. Thanks for the pic. V

Can you upload a pic and we can help you out some more. V

You would be correct with the things you have mentioned. Coolant will degrade over the years and will require to be serviced (flushed and refilled with new coolant). Sometimes its a case of out of sight out of mind. If the coolant does not have the right protection against cavitation and corrosion, then damage will occur. I have seen vocational trucks with mud in the cooling system. This causes a disaster in the heater core and radiator. You can get test strips to check the antifreeze condition at your parts store. V

Hey F do you just replace one NOX sensor or both? We replaced both. The problem is that there is no way to test these, other than the obvious (power ground and data lines). V

Met too. This is a good problem to work on. It would be interesting to know what the root cause is. V

There is a fuel gallery plug behind the timing cover, I believe it's a 1/4". I was thinking it may be this. The cam gear may whip the fuel and oil out the breather. It's worth a check. Once you remove the timing cover, apply the fuel primer and see if it leaks out. The plug is probably lòose. Remove the plug and reseal it with teflon tape. I think all ideas have been exhausted. Let us know what you decide to do. V

Some oil consumption is normal between oil changes. How much oil is disappearing? From what it sounds like you have a part failure somewhere. If no visible leaks are found you could check the air compressor. If you see oil in the air tanks then that would be a good place to start. Could also be piston rings, valve guides/seals or the turbo. If you see oil in the coolant then that can indicate a bad engine oil cooler. Usually the exhaust aftertreatment will clean things up for a while but that would lead to damaging the particulate filter. Hope this helps. V

I have been pondering about this as well. If the turbo and compressor is new, no loss of engine power is noticed then one would think that it is not the engine at fault. Has the engine oil dip stick been replaced? The oil level should be 32L or 8.5 gallons. What kind of vocation is this vehicle? There was a service bulletin that corrected this issue. If this vehicle is a cement mixer or a vehicle that is managing steep grades then it is possible that the engine oil can spill out the crankcase breather. Mack has a service bulletin that relocated the breather for these applications. Take a read and see if this fits your vehicle. V sb214024.pdf

15-20 psi at idle and 40-50 psi at 2100. These measurements are taken with the engine oil at normal operating temperatures. Anything lower than 40 psi then the engine brakes will not work effectively. V

Hey F you forgot about the clutch actuated air compressor . I have no idea as to why they made these changes. But a clutch actuated water pump and air compressor I get, they figure they will reduce emissions by .001% per truck and with the thousands of trucks out there it may make a change in reducing emissions. But the catch is how much will it cost to replace? How many owner operators have gone bankrupt because the excessive cost of repairs because of emissions related failures? Ive known a few and thats a few too many. V

2004 was the first year of the ASET series of engines. They ALL had issues. I've seen this issue before. First off the software and data files should be updated to the latest and greatest. Make sure the engine is not running cold. These engines sit around 200degf. The next thing I would check is the air compressor. If you have coolant in the tanks then you may have coolant leaking into the crankcase. If you are to replace this engine with an older emissions type, say a 2003 Etech, you would need to match the vecu as well, have someone who can program it with a vin from a 2003, the chassis harness would need to be reworked but this would work but it's illegal in Canada and some states if you catch my drift...... V