Fitzgerald 60 series Detroit 12.7

Reman could be better than new if it's done right

 

Fitz is pumping out around 60 units a week, or at least they were when we bought ours. I guarantee they're being done only as good as it takes to get them out the door.

 

Had work done at their shop in southern Alabama. They do good work snd have a lot of locations. Plus they are an actual Cat shop.

 

Bet that their rebuilt/reman 3406/c15 run better, lasts longer than clarke built detroit.

 

They (Thompson) rebuilt my C15 a little over 4 years ago. It never consumed any oil before the inframe but ever since it burns 1.5 to 2 gallons between 12,500 mile intervals. Other than burning some oil it does OK has normal boost and good power.

I don't think they are a gold standard anymore than any other CAT franchise. Comes down to the mechanic who does the work really. I guess the set of jugs they put in my motor didn't have the ring gaps spaced correctly.

Lucky me. It's a common issue with CAT's from what I hear just due to an overall lack of quality control. There is no such thing as quality control anywhere I guess.

 

That same Thompson Cat , that's the one rebuilt my 3406e 2years ago. (Aug 16). It has been flawless and runs great. They rebuilt one for another O/O that is leased on to my brother also, it has had to have injectors replaced, head work done and has spun a bearing on the crank. In Fact it's there right now, they had to pull the motor and send to Bham. Assembling the motor now. They have had it 3 weeks this time so far. He got lucky because his warranty runs out on Dec 31st. I have him driving my Fitz Glider, the 389 for now until my new driver starts on Jan 2d. He is asking lots of questions about the glider and leaning towards getting one. Think he wants the standup though cause he is over 6 feet and has jammed his neck a few times in the flat top.
They also rebuilt one for my brother, an accert. It has so much blow by that they put a canister on it to return the oil to the motor. It still smokes like a freight train out of the blow by tube when your on the accelerator n a pull. They don't have an answer for it.
Sometimes you get good parts sometimes you get defective. Sometimes you get a good mechanic and sometimes you get the trainee or worse yet the one that don't give a ####.
When you buy a glider unless you want to pay really big money your probably getting a rebuild, Clarke, Fitz, Thompson or wherever. Most ( I didn't say all) are rebuilt at a shop. Some with OEM parts some with aftermarket. I think Harrison gets factory Remans but not sure on that.
Do a search on here and just a couple of years back you will see where Cat was having a horrible time with their cylinder packs and rings. None of them are immune to Quality Control issues. And I'm not knocking Cat. I love them and if money wasn't an issue it would be the Cat motor in my gliders. But that's a lot of extra coin for what I do with mine.
We also have an O/O that has 5 2014 or later Pete 389's . They all have the Cummins in them and we're all about 30k more than my glider. Only one has over 300,000 miles on it and they have all been to the shop for fuel pumps and DEF issues. A few of them multiple times.
I guess it's just luck of the draw.

 

My glider with the Fitzgerald Detroit was tore down Monday (104kmiles). The cam bearings and main bearings need replaced for sure. There is minor scuffing on the jugs as well.

It's been sitting since Monday night. Fitz say they are waiting on pictures and my mechanic says he is waiting on Fitzgerald. What a frustrating situation.

 

I feel your pain. My Fitzgerald glider 388 peterbilt in-house reman went down one me at 244,000 miles....1 month past the 3 year warranty. Fitzgerald wouldn't help me out at all. The bearings were shot...cylinders were soared...and the cam was bad. I posted pictures of it on fb. A couple days later I got am call from Tommy Fitzgerald Sr....he had every excuse in the world why it wasn't there fault. And the aftermarket parts they use are far superior to the detroit OEM stuff. He also said to stop posting pictures because that's hurts there family business....yeeeeeeh.

 

Oh boohoo for Tommy. What a POS.

 

Hurts family business? Then figure something out to have those engines last longer than having far superior aftermarket parts. How about trying to have every single oem part new instead have half of it reman.