Time to rebuild
 

I found anti-freeze in my oil Tuesday. :( While there's a slim chance it's a shot water pump it's doubtful. Even if it is the water pump, I think I'm going to inframe it anyway. This couldn't come at a worse time. I wanted to build the motor on my terms, the way I wanted it but I can't afford to at this time so we'll see what I can do with it. My last three weeks or so have been horrible freight wise and this week things were really moving and I can't take advantage of it. :( Probably down most of next week as well. Truck goes in Monday morning.

Funny thing is I just did an oil sample and it came back perfect, so my confidence was high that a rebuild would be much later down the road.

Looks like I'll be to tell DejanH how much it is to inframe a 3406, to the penny. ;)

It's probably just my mental state right now but I've contemplated selling it and getting out. I'm getting tired of being kicked in the balls. I don't want to go back to construction though. I know what you guys thinking so I'll just say it to myself, "quit crying..... pu$$y!"

I do have one other interest that I was going to wait until I retired to accomplish but I could try to make a run at it now. Check it out............ Yep, it's a hot dog cart. :lol:

Don't panic, could be a head gasket or oil cooler.

That's what I was thinking. Head gasket. Rosty might can get lucky if it's just the gasket, depending how much, and how long that anti-freeze has been in the crank case.

I had anti freeze in my oil and oil in my anti freeze. I had a hole in my oil cooler.

They explained to me the fluids will go wherever the pressure is the highest. When the engine is running the oil pressure is higher so it will go into the cooling system. When the engine is shut off there is no oil pressure but still has water pressue so it will go into the oil.

Pull your water filter off and see if there is any oil in it.

Has been 50,000 miles since I had the oil cooler replaced and there doesn't seem to be any damage to the engine.

I had water in my fuel= a new "cam" $4500. was a bummer!!!

Check out Mark's Hot Dogs. 27 years and going strong in an ALL CA$H business. A big day is 250 @ $2.00/per dog, plus chips and drinks. He and his father built the stand for a lot less than what you were looking at. Otherwise, check Craig's List or even Ebay. You don't need to spend that much money. He has a terrific location; Search Bing Maps for Tommy's Park, Portland, ME. Location is key.

Here's a little color from my hometown . .

WCSH6.com | Portland, ME | Mark's Hot Dogs

About a week and a half ago I noticed something strange looking about the oil when I checked it, but the truck had sat for 3 days and it was bitter cold so I thought maybe a little moisture developed. Last weekend when I checked the oil I thought something might be wrong and I should keep an eye on it, so Tuesday I checked it at a place I was picking up at and pretty much freaked out, nothing but slime on the dipstick. :eek2: I turned my papers back in and headed to the mechanic, hoping it would make it.

To be fair and honest, this is one of those times when the learning curve of trucking can bite you. I should have done something the moment I thought it looked strange, but I didn't know what anti freeze in the oil looked like until it was obvious. Lesson learned......... the hard way.............as usual.

ouch that is a bummer. We probably have the same luck.......... none. Got a feeling I'll be writing a large check as well.

Nice avatar by the way. :thumbsup:

Thanks, I think I'm going to keep the hot dog cart on a shelf for a while though. I do want to try it though, but I have it planned for a retirement gig. I'm only 39 :cry: gotta ways to go to realize my hot dog dream. Never know though and thanks for the info!

Rosty,

Its always something-or- SOMEONE!!! Just paid my truck off and yesterday broke my axle in my trailer box $1800.00. So hope that lotto ticket is a winner hahahaha!!

Not my pic for avatar' Its the LIME GREEN PETE off the internet. I think its RAM Trucking but dont quote me, then I put it black n white. Its my screensaver too. I dont go OTR but I would in that truck;)

Pray for a small leak on that motor, we all do!!
j

Dont bother, i know already.....

Overhaul for 8K is not the overhaul with genuine parts, i've been to Detroit just yesterday and parts alone for level two run that much. http://detroitdieselstepup.com/step2.asp
All other makes are the same.


Good luck tough..

Best of luck! I know this is not a fun time to drop money into repairs like this.My turbo went out before Christmas along with injector and towing came out to like $6k.By the time i had some money saved i had to drop them on this.As of right now,im happy i parked the truck since December!

I'll take 2 with mustard

I sincerely hope you took that the way it was intended Dejanh. It was supposed to be a lighthearted joke aimed at myself. I also hope that you weren't at the Detroit place because you need a rebuild as well. :eek1:

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...os/hotdogs.jpg






Hey, that's good practice. Chips and a soda Fredog? I'm running a special.
Damn that looks good.

Don't it figure. Whenever you pay something off something breaks.

I've been hit with stuff breaking for about a month and a half now and am about ready to get into the fetal position until this run of bad luck is over. House plumbing problems (a little over my skill level so I had to call a plumber), personal vehicles breaking down, looks like our washer getting ready to take a dump now. :roll3: I must have really pissed some one off. :mad:

and it all started right after I paid my pick up truck off....................:D

Its life rosty, you are not alone my friend.


Shake it off...you will be fine.

Keep your chin up.

Since I went into this "buisness"in 1977 I have had lots of "those" weeks, been kicked to the curb lots, got dirty and then got back up.

As far as the house, water line coming in from street broke, under the front lawn, Big job, $$$

I bought this truck new in 1999, sat at the computer and speced out a one of a kind piece, picked it up from the Renton Wa. KW factory, I am the only one who has ever driven it, I don't baby it, and try not to abuse it, but I do load it heavy.

Since then

2 front rears, u-joints are original however, (must be the synthetic grease)
2 trans rebuilds, both times it ate 6th gear
1 clutch @ 840,000 miles
1 radiator, 2 water pumps
5 alternators, 1 fan clutch
Each wheel seal at least 3 times, a few wheel bearings for good measure.
4 windshields, I actually changed one in the parking lot at KW in Scranton Pa, after a pheasent tried to get inside with ME !
Broke each brake can bracket on both drive axles, one at a time, and of course the lines broke, and the brake can vaporized.
No overhaul yet though, a little over 1 million on it now.
Numerous small stuff, drivers door handle wore out, I couldn't get in one morning.

Luckily, I have been able to do most of the work myself other than the 2 trans rebuilds, did it all "in house"

I have my own stool at the KW parts counter, like "Norm" on "Cheers".............LOL

Other than that its been a good money maker.

There's a guy in town with a private sanitation buisness, on the side of the packer it says:

"Shoulda had a hot dog stand"...........I will try for a picture of it for you.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../KWpics003.jpg

If your truck has more than a million miles, thats nothing.

I'd say you are lucky.

I had :
1 water pump
1 radiator
1 AC compressor..and 1 head gasket with new head which warranty paid for, but still makes you wonder..?

My truck has 422K on it so far.

Did you ever find out why it was eating them 6'th gears?

Nope, since 6th is the "pull" gear I use mostly , I think it was just a case of power vs a weak link.

The one dedicated customer I used to do was at the bottom of a real steep hill, I mean STEEP, it took all I had to get up the hill with the load, you HAD to stop at the bottom so the liquid would go back and stay back, since I'm off that account, I haven't had many drive train issues (fingers crossed).

Sorry to hear about the engine problems, RostyC. I don't think it is as serious as a rebuild. Like someone else mentioned, it could be something as simple as a head gasket or oil cooler. The oil cooler would be the least expensive to repair. I would find a good mechanic that you trusted and have them check it over. It should not take too long to find the problem.

With all the snow around here it took a while to get my truck in the shop. I stopped by and talked to the mechanic Friday and it is a cracked cylinder liner. I'll know more today.

If that is all it is the price should be much less than a rebuild, unless you just want to go ahead and do an inframe. It still won't be too cheap, but I think a cylinder pack is only about $300-400 each. Of course, that doesn't include labor.

Well, I'll put this way. The maintenance records showed a rebuild at 500,000 and a million miles. The previous owner did rods and mains just prior to me buying the truck, he showed me the receipt. I found a scrap of paper in the maintenance records that said it had been rebuilt at 1.3 million (by the second owner, not the guy I bought the truck from) but I didn't put too much stock in that because it wasn't an actual receipt. The truck now sits at 1.5 million miles so I think I'm just going to rebuild it. We'll see though I have to go back to the shop today and he'll let me know my options.

???? water in your fuel could be the result of a bad cam ?

Well, it's all apart. It was a cylinder sleeve seal. After looking everything over combined with the fact that it's all apart, I'm going to rebuild it. The wear on the cylinder sleeves and the bearings is enough to justify an inframe.

Bad news is I also have to replace the radiator. I also won't be able to build it to 6 or 700 hp either. I would need thicker rods and a new crank and that's just too much money right now. I will be able to turn it up to about 500 hp without putting any extra stress on the rods or crank so that's what I'll do. Should be getting it back about middle of next week.

I can't wait to get back to work, my wife is trying to kill me with house hold chores.

Rosty's virus post.
 

Rosty you got a contagious post here.. not long after reading your post I had was going over my truck. found coolant in the oil. will find out monday what the cause is.

Sorry to hear that, heavyhauler. Hope it's relatively minor.

Ah man, sorry to hear that heavy. I've had people tell me before that my bad luck rubbed off on them.

Of course I am just joking about the contagious post. you can read my other post just 2- 3 weeks ago, I mentioned I was going to have an inframe done & getting some opinions here on oem parts or aftermarket kit's. so, this is really not a dissapointment at all. approaching 1.4 mil miles. I guess it's time. I would have had it done sooner. was deciding on rebuild or buy newer truck. no matter if the problem is just a gasket, oil cooler, e.t.c. at that many miles, I am going to inframe it. I can have it done for approx $6500-7000 I think.

thought a long time, over the last few months, buy newer or rebuild? I have talked to several drivers over the years. one in particular a o/o for delta had a 91 or so freightliner. he thought about having his rebuilt, but he said after all the money he would still only have a $5,000 truck. this made sense to me at the time. he bought a 99' freightliner with a Cummins in it. I saw him at the shop I go to 1 month after he bought his truck. he had to have it rebuilt. it was using 1 gal of oil every 200 miles. this was 5 years ago. I know my truck well, & an inframe would be all I need. had a lot of work done lately. 8 drives with aprox 2 years left on them, 20,000 on new steers, with 3 axle align & centramatics, new fan clutch, rear reworked, new clutch 2 years ago, plus many dash switches, a couple sensors, all new belts, hoses, fuel lines,4 new batteries 6 months ago,new starter 3 months ago, e.t.c. with a newer truck, I would just be going down the road, wondering what may go out. I think I will have more peace of mind knowing what I have in mine. it may not be woth what I will put in it, but I am not looking for resale value. I will drive the value out of it. if I can go 5-6 months, without any major problems, I will have made all my money back from inframe. I dont want to part with $20,000 or have a truck payment. so this is the way for me. hope I am making the correct decision.

If you have a truck that you like I think that you could be better off by rebuilding it rather than trading for a truck that you don't know. If your truck is paid off and is in good shape it makes sense to rebuild it rather than going out and having payments. A rebuild could give you another million or more miles from that truck. :thumbsup:

I'm picking the truck up today. It's been a long wait but it's done. There were a lot of little things that were addressed as well in the rebuild. Back to work tomorrow.

This out of work thing wouldn't be a bad gig if it wasn't for lack of income. Got a lot done done around the house.

I went & looked at my truck. it is all apart. although I am having an inframe done reguardless, I think the news I received was good news, considering age & mileage. the problem, coolant getting into the oil. the cause. the valve guides were so worn , causing the valves to hit the piston sleeve seal & piston sleeve, making slight gouges in the sleeve seals. this happened on 2 piston sleeves. the mechanic said the worn valve guides were caused by high mileage, but in larger part to the ulsd fuel wich had the lubrication taken out. he aslo said that whatever I have been doing to the truck keep doing it, cause at aproaching 1.4 mil miles he rarely see's internal part's with so little wear as mine. piston liners, no pitting at all, cam in great shape. all gear train componants look great, as the bull gear(normally) in high mileage detroits, break or wear significantly with the mileage I have. though not in my case. he mentioned that if it were not for the valve guides causing the problem I have, he thought I would get 500,000 to a mil more with the exception of oil usage due to ring wear. going to try & post pic. also having oil cooler replaced $150.00

cant figure out how to post pic's

Sorry to hear about your luck rosty. But maybe you should have went and did it. :p

http://www.classadrivers.com/forum/o...-didnt-do.html

Your a gdamn troublemaker!
:lol:

I try :smokin::rofl:

inframe in progress
 

I have a 95' ser 60 det 11.1 365 h.p. Let's back up 20 months ago... I had an injector to start leaking. bad. I took in to local freightliner dealer. they put in all 6 injectors & overhead, e.t.c. at that time the truck had 1.1 mil miles on engine with no previous major work done. after getting truck from dealer, it had more power & better m.p.g than ever before. it never had that much power in the last 11 years I have been driving the truck & I bought truck with 400,000 miles on it. the one thing I also noticed was a noticeable increase in black smoke out the stack too, though I could go to places where previously I had to drop 1-2 gears on certain hill's to not dropping any. now..been great until.. fast foward approx 2 week's ago. I found coolant in my oil. dropped truck off at local shop who specialize's in detroit's. I figured what ever the cause, now with over 1.3 mil miles, I decided inframe reguardless. I went to look at truck couple day's ago. engine all apart. man say's the valve guides were so worn that it caused the valve's to hit the piston sleeve, & I think the sleeve seal. the cause of valve defecting was high mileage but moslty due to the ulsd, is what mechanic said. I saw the scratches & gouges on 2 of the liners. he told me that if it were not for the valve's causing the coolant leak, he thought I would likely have went another 500,000 without a problem , with the exception of more ring wear. he told me to keep doing what ever I have been doing with truck, cause he has not seen a engine with over 1.3 mil , have so many good internal part's. inspected gear train, siad looked great, cam looked great( I saw cam it looked like new) the liners or piston sleeves he said looked great on the out side. no pitting at all. except for the damage done by valve's , he said never seen sleeve's look that good. one thing he mentioned was the injectors that were installed 20 months prior by freightliner, was for a 12.7 detroit. I said well that probably explains the increase in power. he suggested we use the same cam, same injectors. all other part's will be replaced with new, main's inserts', cam bearing's, sleeves, e.t.c . what ever is called for in a inframe. does any one have any insight, recommendations,commet's on cause of problem with the sleeves getting battered other than the diagnosis here, or with the rebuild? thank you.

I don't think I can help with your question HH, but I'll ask a question, if ulsd is causing wear in the engine what can be done to balance it back out? Fuel additive maybe?

Next time I stop in to the shop I'll ask my mechanic about that.

I understand that there are some chemicals you can add to the ULSD. I don't recall the name. I would think that you could find them at most truck dealers or truck stops.