Advice, please?

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by brsims, Jul 2, 2019.

  1. Elroythekid

    Elroythekid Road Train Member

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    Not sure why you would remove an engine you don't know the state of its life, dyno blow by and oil pressure. Oil sample. If those check out run it. Sample EVERY change and see where you stand.
    If you have no history you could he throwing a 2-3 year motor away.
     
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  3. brsims

    brsims Road Train Member

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    I could be. And a good sample will tell me a lot. On the other hand, this is an 890,000+ mileage engine, too. Even figuring an average of under 64,000 miles per year pulling local or regional dryvan (truck is set up for dryvan/reefer work, and has a load bar rack), that is still a lot of wear and tear on the engine. Especially if this was an east coast runner rather than a flatlander.

    I do greatly appreciate everyone's advice. And there are changes being made to my plans because of the advice offered. I'm carefully weighing all the options presented, and getting estimates on work.

    I'm starting with the recommended tests (oil sample, blobby, ECM dump). Then I will go from there. At worst, a $30k engine replacement on a $26k truck leaves me with a solid, dependable truck at well under half the cost of a comparable brand new KW T800 with matching specs. Plus the added bonus of having an EGR engine rather than one of the new emissions engines with their 500,000 mile (max) boat anchor motors.
     
  4. Humblepie

    Humblepie Pontificator

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    Is it an egr motor? If so and it’s still functioning according to the government, I would pass. The newer motors are more dependable than an early egr setup. I can promise you if it is still hooked up it has had a rebuild.
     
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  5. brsims

    brsims Road Train Member

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    '06 truck, so yes to early EGR. Not doing the Cali run, considering just deleting the EGR completely. I believe that can be done (may not be necessarily legal, but hardly anybody checks to see if the blasted set up is actually there).

    And I've had way better reliability out of early EGR engines than the '12-'15 DPF/SCR motors overall. That is a personal choice, however. Falls in line with the I prefer GM over Ford or Dodge because my personally owned GMs cost me less than my personally owned Fords and Dodges.

    I know the early EGRs were somewhat problematical, but on the other hand they are easier to diagnose, repair, and maintain than say Freightliner's One Box setup.
     
  6. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

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    I would prefer you to think that it is good to have the hope and prayer over a prospective vehicle to be solid and dependable. However I have learned that sometimes a vehicle is disposed of because of the problems.

    I collected a vehicle like that some years ago, turned out the oxygen sensors were bad, both of them turning into a 500 dollar problem easily remedied. Another 180 sunk into a third engine block coolant sensor. It was 40 in the shop bay and it's insisting the liquid was -5 so its incorrect. Once the computer knew the right values she hummed nicely. Way better than the sick half in the grave rattle in wide open loop.

    Took a little money to get it together. And for me that was the advantage. A few parts, some shade tree work and tools by hand with a touch for computer where necessary.

    It's a small scale but there will be some more work yet this year working on the drive train fluids and so on.

    But I am not ready to call the vehicle solid. She needs some TLC yet and will get it.

    The very best? Take her out and run the hell out of it. Don't let her soot over inside that engine and gum everything up.
     
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  7. 062

    062 Road Train Member

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    You are way over thinking this. What does the local shop say about the motor as it sits now?
     
  8. Humblepie

    Humblepie Pontificator

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    I have an 06 isx egr. So there isn’t much you can tell me I don’t already know about them.
     
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  9. brsims

    brsims Road Train Member

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    @062 (sorry, though I quoted you)

    Sitting at a used truck dealer.

    Story I got was local owner sold it because his driver up and retired on him.

    The interior is in immaculate condition. No rips, tears, or cracks. Couple of holes in the dash that would be consistent with an ELD device is it. No rattles or drafts going down the road. No evidence of leaks anywhere. Obviously somebody took really good care of the interior of the truck.

    Test drive results are a strong, hard pulling engine that feels ready to rock and roll. No valve chatter, no burned oil smell, exhaust is clean, oil pressure is nice and steady. Truck tracks arrow straight, a bit squirrelly but that is to be expected running bobtail. Jake's are good and strong, will toss your happy butt out the windshield on stage three. The only light that popped up was the tractor ABS.

    My honest opinion of this truck is "diamond in the rough" kind of find. I'm not truly anticipating any major immediate issues with the oil sample or blowby.

    In truth, I'm not doing a dyno. Dyno won't give me real world performance. I am a very firm believer in getting it out on the road and doing a rigorous test drive.

    I learned "seat of the pants" level diagnostics from old drivers who knew more about their trucks than the engineers who designed them, and I have proven to myself and various breakdown departments to be a better diagnostician than half the so-called "technicians" currently available today. I learn my trucks quickly, and I generally know something is off before the technician will admit there might be a problem.

    I'm looking into the future. Where can I invest money NOW to save money and downtime in the future. What can I do now to avoid the most common pitfalls of rookie O/O's. I don't want to be one of those "buy a truck and run it and pray" type operations. I'm not on a fraying shoestring budget. My overall financing is in line, and my monthly payment on the financing is well within my earnings as a company driver without affecting my overall lifestyle.

    Frankly speaking (and apologies to @Frank Speak), I in the best financial position to make this jump, and try to do it correctly. I picked the general specs I was looking for regardless of truck make, carefully chose what year range I was most interested in based on my own experiences (been a driver since 1998, driven a lot of different motors), and very carefully compared different options as far as carrier to work with.

    Yes, I am leasing on instead of pulling my own authority. Yes, I will lose a percentage of the truck's profit doing so. On the other hand, I'm getting a great deal on my insurances plus a lot of back office services that I am not yet comfortable doing on my own, plus access to a solid freight base that I am already very familiar with.

    This is why I'm considering doing an in-frame at minimum. The rest of the driveline has passed every test I can throw at it and feel comfortable with the performance. The transmission is solid (showing its age a bit, but less than expected), the driveshaft and bearings are all solid and ready to roll, the differentials are in fantastic shape. Which is why I'm down to the engine.

    As I said (and I realize my posts here are wildly long and somewhat meandering), I am starting with the OA and blowby. If she's good, off to work we go. If there's a question, now is the time to get it fixed.
     
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  10. JPenn

    JPenn Road Train Member

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    I'm a bit shaky on how a current SCR/DEF motor is more durable than an early EGR-only one. Mind you my personal experience is apples to lingonberries (Detroit Series 60 '04 EGR to Volvo D13-current) but I see more issues with the newer motors than the old. My S60 had 1.2 mil on with an inframe 400K ago when I had it, and the only hiccups were wiring faults to the VPOD easily corrected by some splices and a protective loom. At my current company gig, our fleet of Volvo D13's seem to be in the shop pretty frequently with aftertreatment and sensor faults that render the trucks undriveable, at a fraction of the mileage...say 200-400K from brand new.

    Also, I know first rule of fight club and all, but one demon is much more easily exorcised than the other if one feels that option is on the table.
     
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  11. brsims

    brsims Road Train Member

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    Is why I avoided the more modern DEF/SCR engine while shopping. I can't find a lot of long term reliability with them. They feel like throw away motors to me, designed around the large fleet 3 or 4 year turn around plan versus the single truck Owner Operator who's looking for the long haul on his equipment.

    At least, I'm looking long term. I keep my cars until even some junkyards don't want them even for scrap value anymore.

    The core of my overall plan here is to start without truck payments hitting every week come hell or high water. My financing is set up on an easily achievable monthly payment that I can hit running as a company driver. I've got great credit, and six+ years of running on percentage pay (plus a bunch more running on mileage pay). I have proven to myself that even in a down market, I CAN make money with a truck and freedom. I have also done a bit of dispatching and brokering, thanks to an opportunity that fell in my lap. Plus I have been fortunate enough to have found this forum, and have spent YEARS (literally) following the ups and downs of some of the Owner Operators and fleet owners around here.

    I'm as prepared as I'm gonna get, I think....

    At least I'm now ready to jump in!
     
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