Coming to orientation Aug 13th...

Discussion in 'Watkins & Shepard' started by SpiritWolf, Jul 23, 2012.

  1. SpiritWolf

    SpiritWolf Light Load Member

    192
    118
    Jul 10, 2012
    North Highlands CA
    0
    eh, the last company truck I had (2392) had a bunk heater, I was just too dense to find it until the second week I had the truck.
    No APU did suck though. I know my idle times were through the roof since I was too accustomed to my comfort. but then again, that could have been because I went 29 days strait never getting into temps higher than negative 10.
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. SpiritWolf

    SpiritWolf Light Load Member

    192
    118
    Jul 10, 2012
    North Highlands CA
    0
    Well. I did it. Pulled the trigger Thursday, and dropped most of my savings into a truck.
    Shes a Black 2009 Volvo 780, D13, Ishift, with 598k miles. Waited around yesterday for most of the day for paperwork to be dealt with, and now Im rolling bobtail towards Missoula to get markings and the rest installed. Im told she will be truck #3892 once wearing markings.

    So far so good, put 200 miles on her Friday evening since I got such a late start in the day. She drives REALLY nice. smoother than any of the company trucks I have run. Currently indicating 14.6mpg running 65mph bobtail.

    The dealer guarantees everything will be working when you buy a truck from them. OTHER than the APU and inverter... Well, my APU is running sweetly, but the built in inverter is dead.
    Also had my battery protection trigger last night within minutes of shutting the truck off. So Im going to have W/S take a peak at my batteries when I get to Missoula. Other than that, everything works, and the truck is running well.

    to soon to really have much of an opinion about the living arrangements in a 780, but so far Im loving the table set up. Although sleeping in the top bunk is going to take a bit of getting used to.
     
    jomar68 Thanks this.
  4. Florida Playboy

    Florida Playboy Road Train Member

    4,102
    6,620
    Dec 19, 2012
    Florida
    0
    Congrats, post some pix of the beauty.
     
  5. Shiftin

    Shiftin Light Load Member

    280
    108
    Sep 2, 2010
    Central-New Jersey
    0
    I had 2 trucks with the batt protection going off. The truck I have does the same thing. Shop put 4 new batts in and I cleaned and put protective grease to prevent going green. I searching the internet tonight trying to find how to disengage the protective shut down. The shop should know how. I have been told you can bypass.
     
  6. SpiritWolf

    SpiritWolf Light Load Member

    192
    118
    Jul 10, 2012
    North Highlands CA
    0
    hope to get some pics up tomorrow. Its not letting me post them now for some reason.

    Well, good news, got the inverter running. turns out there are 2 switches that have to be turned on to get it operational. its running my laptop now.

    Battery wise, they look a couple of years old, so im not really surprised to find that after 2 months of sitting, one may have gone bad. Plus side is my APU (when enabled) turns on and prevents further battery drain.

    Of depressing news... rolling along at 65, and she started suffering momentary power losses. I limped into Miles city MT tonight. She will roll fine for a while, then suddenly loose power, drop to 1000rpm, and leave me coasting down to about 20 or 30mph. so far, she has recovered full power almost immediately all 15 or 20 times it has happened. Not entirely sure if I should park it, or try and limp at least to billings MT in the morning.
    Spent 30 minutes on the phone with the dealer I got the truck from, and the only thing we can think of that makes any degree of sense is that her fuel may have gotten contaminated when she sat for 2 months before I bought her, and that now the gunk is being sucked up and clogging the filter. Down side, is ALL of my tools are at home, so i can't even pull the bowl. Oh, its also an Arctic pack truck, so the filter is a heater, and the filter bowl is metal, not glass, so I cant see in without pulling the cover. Its Saturday night, so there isnt going be a dang thing open tomorrow to get this checked out, unless I eat the bill for road side service :biggrin_25511:
    I have a repair fund already, so I am not completely S.O.L.....but it is seriously depressing to break down before you even START working..
     
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2014
  7. Mr. Jay

    Mr. Jay Light Load Member

    89
    38
    Jun 17, 2013
    Colorado Springs, CO
    0
    If its coughing at higher throttle positions and not lower ones, your hypothesis is likely correct: You have a plugged up fuel filter. If it does it at all throttle positions, it is most likely water in the fuel.

    The issue with water in your fuel for long periods of time is that an algae grows at the interface between the water and the diesel. Luckily, the filtration system will do it's job and keep it from reaching your engine. The bad news is it'll completely clog up a filter set in very little time.
     
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2014
  8. SpiritWolf

    SpiritWolf Light Load Member

    192
    118
    Jul 10, 2012
    North Highlands CA
    0
    Further diagnostics.... So yesterday I had new fuel filters put on, and it didnt help.
    If anything the problem is getting worse. But at least I have a bit more detail on what is happening. Cold, she runs fine. about 30 or 40 minutes after hitting the highway, it becomes harder and harder to maintain speed. if I try to maintain 65, she will get to that speed, then suddenly rpm's drop to exactly 1000, and I am stuck coasting down to 30 or 40 mph. nothing I do to the accelerator pedal makes any differance. if I try to maintain 60, she will drop rpms to 1000, but usually gives me power back before I have coasted to 50mph.... if I try and maintain 55, she will do the same drop to 1000, but will 90% of the time recover power before I have lost more than 3 or 4 mph.... trying to hold speed with throttle or cruise control, the same thing happens.
    #1. It is Always a drop to 1000rpm.
    #2. the faster I was going when the power loss hits, the worse the loss of speed before I regain power.
    #3. Sometimes pumping the throttle will recover power, sometimes not.
    #4. Still no codes being thrown at all..

    ::sigh:: time to hit the road to limp the last bit into Missoula from Butte. Going to head strait to the volvo dealer, and see what they can figure out.
     
  9. Shiftin

    Shiftin Light Load Member

    280
    108
    Sep 2, 2010
    Central-New Jersey
    0
    Did you try and look at this site under the mechanics section. There is a lot of great info posted from drivers that had problems and posted their findings. There are also volvo master mechanics that post and are willing to answer your questions. Good luck.
     
  10. SpiritWolf

    SpiritWolf Light Load Member

    192
    118
    Jul 10, 2012
    North Highlands CA
    0
    Been a few days, so here is the update.
    She finally tossed a few codes at me, and the dealer in Missoula was able to nail it down to something not even close to where i had been looking. It turns out the data cable to the Ishift was cracked, and sending incorrect data to the computers. The sudden loss of power was the computer shutting the engine down to prevent damage to the rest of the truck when it couldn't figure out what the transmission was doing. ::sigh:: High tech... its here to stay...and will drive every "old school"mechanic nuts.

    So, finaly made it to headquarters. Now have the paperwork done, signs on the side of my truck, peoplenet installed, and got my tires switched for super singles. Also sat in on an orientation class today, since they were going over the elogs system... so far... I dont like it... but, its required, and I will have to deal with it.
    Now just waiting for my drug test to come back clean, and I can roll.

    Side note.... to anyone who wants to go from W/S company driver to O/O, MAKE SURE that you "quit" or "resign" your company position BEFORE starting the application for O/O. I seam to have screwed up the system by missing that step. As such, instead of following steps in a linear fashion (1,2,3,4,ect) Im getting tossed all over..5,2,4,1, ect.... and it has actually caused several hiccups. nothing insurmountable, just annoying, and time consuming to get sorted out.
     
  11. SpiritWolf

    SpiritWolf Light Load Member

    192
    118
    Jul 10, 2012
    North Highlands CA
    0
    oh, and for those who asked for pics ? :biggrin_25525:
    One of her last Thursday when i picked her up, and one from today after she got her super singles, and company markings . I need to polish the new rims, hence why I havent put the chrome hub and lug covers back on.
    View attachment 64870 View attachment 64871
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.