C6500 with Cat 3126 Idle/Cold Start Issue

Hello all,

New to forum and first post. I joined to see if I could possibly find some information or opinions on a problem I am currently dealing with.

My '98 C6500 Bobtail has a Cat 3126 motor in it. It only has roughly 80k miles.
About 5 weeks ago, upon cold start, it would turn over, and then idle fairly rough, making a loud sputter, but still running. After warm, the truck would run perfectly normal, with no loss of power.

After finding a Napa Truck Location that said they could run a diagnostic and (at the bare minimum) perform a routine maintenance, they informed me that it was most likely an injector issue.

The mechanics working on the truck were at first, sending each injector out for testing, and after receiving them back, our plan was to replace two that were failing, and do an O-Ring change on the others.
When reinstalling, it seems like everything went wrong. The truck (as I am told) ran even worse than when we had originally taken it in. After that news, I was told that we should replace all 6 injectors, so we agreed to have that done.

Since then, it has now been 2 weeks. The truck has been there for a total of 4 weeks. Am I crazy in thinking that there is something else going on here? I don't really know what a normal timeline is for this kind of work, so that is why I am asking for any type of advice that can help me understand why my truck hasn't been given back to me yet. Also, work was originally quoted for $6000, and now he dropped the price to $4000.

 

Thats a small block cat right? Unless somethings more complicated than the bigger cats, i could install 6 new injectors, run overhead, and install jakes and covers back on by the next day . Im not even a certified mechanic.

 

Yeah, every time I call for an update, he informs me that he will have it done the following day, and at this point, I know that he isn't making any progress.

Thanks for the reply!

 

thats messed up bro

 

Are all 3126 injectors not electronic unlike the 3116 mechanical injectors? Those are a piece of cake to R & R. Somethings wrong no doubt.

 

What else is he doing? Thats insane for 6 injectors and an overhead ran. Did he at least give you a run down of the parts/labor

 

Yes, and we plan to have an actual face to face discussion tomorrow rather than over the phone. After the videos I have watched of people changing them, this seems incredibly long for injectors and service. Especially without any sort of update as well

 

That’s what we keep asking ourselves. I am thinking the worst now and fear he completely killed our truck. I just can’t seem to understand how anything could take this long. And so far the only parts and labor are the 6 new injectors, the r&r, and testing

 

Take a ride to the shop and go look for yourself. That's a f'ed up situation

 

I do not exactly recall on the 3126 but I saw a guy trying to short cut on a 3176. Have to pull the rocker shafts on those. That damaged the o - rings. Do not thank that is an issue on the 3126. That should be a day job easy.