How much did your last in-frame cost?

Cat just quoted me $17,800 for a 3406E. That's for the top of the line Platinum overhaul. Also includes dyno and ressetting of injector pressure, then channged to 550 hp thru ecm plus $600. included for upgrade from 3 yr., 300,000 to 4 yr., 400,000 100% parts and labor.

 

did I see someone say they go 100,000 miles between oil changes?

 

For that price you should be getting all 550 parts not just a ecm upgrade.

 

Ouch, you could buy another truck for that price and you get wheels and axles with it.

 

Yep, but you could also get another inframe bill on top of that!

 

Krooser, you are correct. One year, parts & labor, if repaired in a Cat shop. I should have explained myself. The coverage that Cat is giving away is OPT extended coverage which includes the inspected parts like the crank, cam and IVA's.

 

Yep. What we are seeing at work is on the trucks running Royal Purple syn 15W40 with filter changes at 25,000 and oil analysis with that change, is some signs of of acidity and high glycol. No reason for the glycol being high, no leaks being found is what I mean. Can't point at any brand of engine either because we've seen it on detroit, mercedes, cummins and volvo. No cats in that fleet.

What we think is happening, I say think because we can't point a conclusive finger, idle times on EGR engines play a part in condensation through the exhaust.

On the ISX it may be related to idle times and how cold the turbo is during this time. That turbo is watercooled and MAY see some weeping happening in the center cartridge.

Acidity will eat bearings and so will glycol. What I did with my own trucks and recommend is running a premium oil, pick your favorite brand, and change that oil according to your and the engines needs. The better your fuel mileage the longer the change interval can be. I found with oil analysis that over 6mpg I could comfortably squeeze 30,000 miles per change on a Mack E-7 with a spinner. But an N-14 without a spinner and only 5.7~5.8 wanted the oil changed at 20,000.

Do I think synthetic oil is bad? No just horribly overpriced, and badly mis-represented about what it MIGHT be able to do. And totally unrealistic about its limits. In short like many things it has a place, that place just wasn't in my truck.