So, you have a Warranty?

On mine it came with 2/250mi. They wanted $13,000 to extend to 5/500. 13000 buys a lot of parts and labor. Not to mention the down time fighting to get it covered and then waiting for the shop to actually get to it. I declined. Short of major engine failure it didn't look worth it to me.

I expect to replace the turbo and rebuild the fuel pump every 400,000 miles. I am hoping to make it to at least 800 before it needs rebuilt.

All that being said this actually is a decent truck, but does not compare to the engines of yesteryear. I have my eyes on a custom glider from 12 ga customs (they build them and are near my home 20) after this one is paid. They are spendy up front, but with the far less maintenance cost and no def expense it will cost less over the long run to operate. Knock on wood the one I'm in now is working the way it was designed to. I expect in July this summer I am going to do the rawze egr clean out and change lots of sensors and the dpf nozzle and def filters and injector. Easier to do it yearly from then on out.

 

I had a 2013 Western Star DD15. It was under warranty.
The starter quit on a Thursday, dealer said they couldn’t get it in until Tuesday.. got a pull start on Friday, then I was home on the weekend.
Saturday morning I took out the old starter and got a new one at the same dealer. Put it in by supper time. Back to work for Monday morning, no downtime lost
Dealer covered the cost of the starter, but not my time. Still better than losing two days work time.

 

Good for you. I did the same thing installing thermostats in mine the other day ago having never done that before. It was easy. While I was doing it I noticed a wire that connected to a sensor on the themostat housing has a small naked spot. Dunno how that happened. It was kind of grimy and most likely would have gone unnoticed by any paid shop mechanic installing t-stats. Or if they did notice it they wouldn't have bothered to fix it. That was actually just one of several minor things I found that needed and got attention. Not only do shops charge too much and can never seem to get to anything when you need them to but most all of them are also half assed and won't fix obvious minor issues that crop up before they become bigger ones.

 

Yup. Usually when guys buy a new truck they buy all kinds extra warrenty costing them 10s of thousands more.

Then when they need it they can't get the truck in for at least a week or more and ends up costing them more in down time.

Then when they get it back the problem it went in for isn't fixed or is half assed and needs to go back in again. Or worse they screw something else up in the process. Lol

Yeah warrenty is just great! Just hope you never need it.

I feel sorry for some guys who buy a new truck and have no mechanical savvy and have to depend on the dealer ship to fix there pile of crap. Not trying to be negative just a realist.
I've always said if you really want to succeed in this industry you need to be self sufficient and do everything yourself. As soon as you have to depend upon other people your profits go out the door.

 

I'm not targetting you in any way with this post, you seem like you keep up on your stuff. Do you realize how many trucks a mechanic could make a career out of? There is so much junk on the roads its not funny. I don't think many customers would appreciate bringing a truck in for an oil change and then getting a bill for wiring harness repairs, new rad hoses, etc etc.

 

True, but most only look at exactly what they look at. Ie Have wiring dangling across the alternator after a rebuild n don't even tie it up.


I pay a guy at the local diesel shop to look real hard at all my equipment least 1 time a month, just to look for problems, bc he's top notch n knows I have a problem with thinking things are wrong, whether they are or not.

 

I’m with RC and Ruthless on this one - I tell my shop to actively look for problems, and replace other parts “while they’re in there”.

The one repair I had on the road taught me that real quick - much cheaper to spend the money at home.

They always call first to inform me of issues before doing anything extra.

 

I put a new motor (Cummins ReCon) motor in my truck, painted the frame and all kinds of other work. Took Truck to Cummins dealer to get programmed for the right HP. They cut off the zip ties of the connection to plug their laptop in and 6 hours later and 3 times leaving the shop still no zip ties holding the connection back against the bracket.

Company truck needed an alternator in Omaha 2 weeks ago..... TA couldn’t even look at it for 2 days they said. All the dealers said at least a week out.
For an alternator?????

 

When guys look after their stuff its no big deal to throw a couple zip ties on a harness you noticed is loose, fix a chaffed wire or tighten a couple hose clamps. Chances are that's all you'll find wrong. Some trucks its like a can of worms. Go to put new fan belts on. Something really simple. Then you notice the tensioner is shot, then its an alternator because the pulley's worn out. Now you're doing harness repairs because the alternator wiring is thrashed. See what I mean about being able to make a career out of some trucks?