A few questions on engine rebuilds and warranty.

In 2004 I bought a 2000 Century with 640K miles on it. The C15 motor sucked a valve at 920K miles and I had a Cat premium rebuild done, as well as having the engine re rated to 500hp. They wouldn't go higher because of the transmission rating. The warranty was a 3 year 300K and I never needed it. I'm now at 1.47K miles.

So from my point of view, you are 4 or more years away from needing that overhaul. If it were me, I would start making the investments to make the truck run better now and reap those benefits now.

 

I like the swing engine idea. Just get a factory remanned engine like you have, yank the other out for the core, and install the rebuilt engine. Massive down time savings, and you get factory warranty. Not sure about Cat, but Detroit has a no charge 3 yr / 300,000 miles warranty included with the rebuild. And they will back it. Most factory rebuilds are going to exceed the quality of many independent shops. Then you can add the other stuff you want to improve the engine, since most of them are external anyway, when the rebuilt is installed.

 

Well I am in the middle of that now. I have a 06 C 15 ACERT broke a compression ring on #6 and had a blown headgasket. Its getting a complete inframe done as I write this. Its due to be done tuesday afternoon. Cat is giving a 4 year unlimited mileage warranty. They know about the PDI tune.... and they dont care. From what I have been told Cat is not nearly as strickt as they used to be in reguard to warranty claims. As far as any of the epa regulated garbage they are not allowed to modify it BUT they dont have to report it either.
I was going to build a glider this fall but I think that will have to be put off awhile till I heal up from this. Its not cheap.

 

No offense to anyone here, but basically anything said here is unofficial and may be incorrect and meaningless. This could potentially be a sticky situation if you ever did need to get warranty done afterwards because your warranty may be voided. I would strongly recommend you call Cat and be 100% honest with them and tell them your full intentions. If Cat gives you their blessing, GET IT IN WRITING!!! If PDI says the warranty will be fine, GET IT IN WRITING!!! Personally, I would be shocked if Cat still honored the warranty with custom tune. We don't do Cat warranty, but we do Cummins. Anytime any thing major is done for warranty we have to upload an ECM image. The second they see it isn't their programming, good bye warranty!

 

You are correct. But your not going to get anyone to put that in writing and I dont expect them to. Cat can not see the tune unless they put it on a dyno. The dealer I go to does not have one.
When I told him about the tune he just smiled and said "yeah we guessed that" as he nodded toward my PDI manifold. The service writer has a pictures in his desk of a Pete with a stage 3 tune laying down black marks and blowing black smoke. A motor they work on. I was told they can not modify the truck BUT they do not have to report it if they find it.

 

Fuel expands when it gets hot, so the ecm injects more volume to maintain same power. The harness tells the ecm the fuel is hot all the time so it adds more fuel. Run a fuel cooler(not in winter) with the harness as added power depends on actual fuel temp. Put 1/2 gallon of fuel in jug on blacktop on 90 deg day mark jug then put in freezer. Different volume same energy.

 

This is spot on advice and I need a fuel cooler on my truck. You can always tell with the fuel temp wire in the summer time. Crank the truck up and let it get to temp, then take off. It always has a touch more power and pep in the step for the first 20 minutes until the fuel temp heats up... Also pulls much better at night time..