bbigrig

After replacing a defective clutch master cylinder, I once made a "pressure bleeder" out of a spare clutch fluid resevoir cap. I drilled a small hole in the cap so I could put a (pressure regulated) air blow gun tip in the hole. It became a 2 man job but I would pressurize the resevoir ( very little pressure needed) as the other guy pumped the clutch pedal. After pumping the pedal several times, The guy pumping would hold the pedal down and i would bleed the cylinder at the trans. Yes, it sounds like a lot of work but it worked and I hope i never have to do it again. This was on a 97 mack CS300 but all of those clutch setups are pretty much the same.

Up here in the Great White North (Canada) the steel tank straps last about 5-6 years due to corrosion issues. The difference in price if I`m not mistaken at our dealers was less then $50 bucks. The stainless straps have lasted over 10 years in comparison. But that may just be a road salt issue use up here in the winter. You can clean them and paint them all you want, they still don`t last as long. For me its worth the up charge.

Agreed. Great trucks but good luck getting parts and support. We had 10 of them at one point. all CS 200, 250 and 300`s. Even a CS300t with full cab fairings and the RVI G409 9 speed trans. They lost us at the Freedom series. Too many issues.

Mack TRTXL1070b (12 speed crash box) Lo-direct (lowest gear) 14.44 to 1 5th high (10th, top gear) 0.78 to 1 Low Rev (5 Rev gears) 28.52 to 1 We had one in a MH with an E9-500 (You could crawl on the ground faster) High Rev 3.32 to 1 Specs as of 1989 Hope that helps.

The E3 engines were Renault and of a 6.2L displacment. There were many different versions of the Renault engines from the late 70's to the early 2000's. They did start to go electronic in about 1995 and were known as "ACE" E3 engines with electronic pump timing but mechanical control. I know dimension wise the older the Renault engine the bigger they were.(6 cylinder heads model) The E3 series engines which were into the 90's were smaller then the Midliner engines from the early half of the 80's Older models with 6 cylinder heads went by the model MIDS 06.20.30. (early 80's) Then switched to 1 cylinder head with model numbers like MIDS 06.02.12 (late 80's) I believe the E3's were MIDS 06.02.26 model ranges (early 90's to mid 90's before ACE semi electronic engines) The E3's were shorter and narrower then the 8.3L Cummins engines.

Don't go too late into the 90's when looking for Midliner power. If I remember correctly our 1996 Frog-dogs were into some electronic controls for pump timing etc. (still mechanical accelerator though, but had an ECM in the dash) When matched to an Allison auto they were bolted up to Allison MD3060p's which were electronic (series just before BR/World models) Our 1994's were fully mechanical and were mated to AT series Allison trannies.(Mechanical) Normally you would see the MD series trans in the CS/MS 250-300 and AT's in CS/MS 200. I would have loved the chance to slip an L10 Cummins in a Midliner. Or why not slide an 8.3L cummins in like what was available in the CM433? (Yes I know it was an R-dog frame) Good luck, sounds like fun.

We have a 2006 CHN Rawhide with a 460xt with the same noise during build up. The compressor stops making the knocking or slapping noise at cut out pressure (130 psi) When we first started noticing the noise it sounded like cam or roller lifters starting to fail. But it's definetly in the compressor of our truck. This unit has just over 680,000 miles. it has only gotten noisy in the last year or so and dissapears when the compressor cuts out. Mind you our truck has the single lung meritor compressor. are you sure your compressor is a bendix? I have heard the same noise on another truck with the same 1 lung meritor compressor but not a bendix. the only fix for the knock or slap on the meritor is replacment of the unit.

I have come across Macks with the wrong actuator(at pump) as well as wrong puff limiter at the intake manifold. Depending on your engine and truck Ser# you could have one of the wrong valves intalled. The actuator at the front of the pump also has a specific amount of travel when applied. Each engine/inj. pump combo has a spec that it is to be set to that can require specific shims being added between the pump and actuator which holds the internal rack back. If some one just threw a "washer" in it could cause to much smoke. If the actuator is not shimmed enough you will notice a lack of power. There is a stamping on the outside of the pump (frame side when mounted) which is a mesurment of thou. of an inch. it is the spec for the proper rod travel setting of the actuator. To test, You would apply air to the actuator mesure the rod stroke and if the rod stroke is longer then the stamed spec (if it's still there) you add shims to correct it (shims come in 10 thou incriments) or you could just pull it out, and add or subtract as needed after a couple of road tests. Make sure you check the air filters and all the easy stuff aswell. Good luck.

Had the same problem with my 2006 CHN Rawhide. Its the circut board in the dash cluster. We started wiggling wires etc. Dash cluster fixed it. The circut board shorts out. It is replaced as an assembly you only have to pull the old gauges out and plug them into the new board. The speedo and tach come with the new board. Be sure about which cluster you order 1 will be for kilometers the other is in miles. Easy fix and will cost around $600. Good luck.