jefftb

Hmmm, not sure if it has a cable or not. I'll need to investigate further. My Mack lives 70 miles away from me and I don't see it everyday or sometimes a week or month. Sounds odd, but my construction crews use it to move equipment around and its not always on site when I'm there. I'll ask but I think its the non-automatic, automatic version. Thanks.

I have a broken air tank bleed valve on my 1987 MS200P truck. Does anyone have information on the part or where I might get a replacement fitting? Thanks.

Update on the progress with the truck (in case any of you were hanging on the edge of your recliners...). Several questions at the end...... The oil was changed as was the air filter without issue. We had a local truck mechanic come look at the brakes, first he said they still had pad life left and needed adjustment. Then he said they were not adjustable and needed replacement and that he would not perform the work since he was unsure about the hydraulic brakes. Brought truck back. He did say that the truck overall was in really good shape for its age and the miles looked accurate as well. We found it interesting that the truck brake pedal felt spongy, would stop the truck, but not hold it in place on a hill. The air parking brake when engaged held it tight. The brake pedal when depressed did not move the pads as far as the air parking brake engagement did. My field operations manager then contacted a relative that has driven nothing but Macks his entire working life. He came and looked and said pads had quite a bit of life and that they looked barely used. He gave it the once over and found that tanks in the brake system had water in them and that the back reservoir was nearly empty-in fact, the tank had lots of air in it. The air tanks in the system were drained of water and we added fluids to the rear hydraulic tank. Truck now brakes much, much better and the brake pedal will hold the truck on any hill. However, he said the steer tires needed to be replaced. He said that on the fuel filters that every truck mechanic he knows fills the filters with ATF prior to installing. Seems like that's an old school thing since ATF of old is much different than today's. Seems like diesel kleen would perform the functions that ATF would. I wanted to ask on the older trucks if most of the owner/operators here were adding lubricity to the diesel now that ULSD is about the only thing available, aka Diesel Kleen type. Anyone running B5 or B20 biodiesel?

One service department promptly indicated that it took about 38 quarts....I said that's an awful lot for little more than a 5.5L engine! Started to ask him if the oil ever got warm in the first 200 miles at that volume but then he realized that I said Midliner.... They all said start with 12-13 quarts and measure from there including the filter volume. I've got nearly 20Q so we should have some to top off as time goes by. Its also good apparently for the power steering box. Seems like I need to call White Post restorations in Virginia tomorrow on brake options.

Yeah, I'm not sure what the brakes will require just yet. They just feel spongy at times. From your description sounds like it might be more involved than I was hoping for. Oh well, just part of life for a utility contractor. FORD had a universally disliked Lucas-Girling hydraulic brake system, everyone said it was expensive and horribly difficult to maintain. I think any hydraulic system probably would be. I wish this was all air though. The steel flatbed on this truck (with beavertail and good ramps) is worth at least $2,500 in steel and fabrication costs. The truck was about that in comparison for the chassis. We're looking at 10-20K miles/year moving equipment and materials around. If I get 2-3 years out of the truck w/o terribly high repair bills its all good. This truck has 5 speed transmission and 2 speed rear. I've got a very good extensive list of local contacts that maintain trucks, including Mack trucks (at very, reasonable shade tree mechanic rates), as well as a talented and mechanically capable right hand man. I'm not bad with a wrench and mechanicals either. Whatever comes, if the group here can help us, we'll make it happen. Anyone with input on the oil volumes?

Purchased a used 1988 Mack Midliner CS200 with 93,000 miles on it today. Truck has been very lightly used for the last 3.5 years and before that mainly a short hauler around the region for a metal/machining/fabricator shop. Yes, we do believe the miles are accurate from our evaluation of the components under the hood and body. I did some research here prior to purchase (very limited info, mostly good though) as well with several Mack dealer parts/service departments. Surprisingly, some Mack dealers were far more helpful and encouraging than others about the truck and parts availability. All were universal in their statements for expensive parts, and that's saying something for a Mack dealer apparently. Were replacing the air, fuel, and oil filters along with new oil tomorrow/saturday. The most helpful Mack dealer indicated that Rotella 15w40 is good for oil and power steering with 14-16 quarts necessary for it. The brakes seem to need some work. Can anyone here help me with the oil replacement? Specifically I'm looking to know if the volume of oil is correct as well as type that the dealer indicated. Also, on the brakes, is Mack the only option or are there others? Thanks for any help you all may provide. P.S. I've been told several times that its not a real Mack truck..... I'm good with that and understand the reasoning. Its the closest thing to a Mack I've got right now though.