Stuck in PA
 

Well this takes the cake. Just had the motor rebuilt in February and yesterday one of my valve seats shattered and tore up the cylinder and went through the turbo. Cat says 7500 bucks.

My mechanic used my old head but had it remanned at a local shop so it's not covered under a Cat warranty. I wonder if anyones gonna jump to take responsibility for this bill. :roll: Gonna have to get me a bag of cheeseburgers before this is all over.

So here we sit in Milesburg, PA at the Cat house until Tuesday or Wednesday. I have another truck coming Monday morning to deliver my load in Berwick, PA (about 80 miles away).

How's that go again.............. :bigthink:

oh yeah

That's truckin!

I feel for you rosty. That really sucks big time. But remeber when you were kicking around that idea of a new truck a while back lol. ANyway iwish the best of luck to you. But i wouldnt bet on anyone helping foot the bill.

Sorry for your luck, but being who i am can't not to put any solt on your wounds. You got what you paid for. Does your mechanic gave you any warranty? Or that local shop?

Good people at Milesburg, I have ALL my Cat stuff done over there. I think they will take good care of you. While the head is off, look closely at ALL the other cylinders, for another $3500, they can be replaced and you can get a nice warranty from Cat.

Rick on the evening shift is the one you want to set it up.............the guy is GOOD !

Maybe Mackman will come by and take you out to dinner.

When my mechanic rebuilt it in Feb he used all CAT parts except of coarse the head. So I do have a warranty on the parts and one year on the labor.

Now, I'm not very familiar with truck engines and my options when dealing with rebuilds, so I just didn't think of using a CAT head or asking about the difference in price between new and rebuilt head. I also put trust in my mechanic and let him do what he thought best. He was a CAT mech for 25 years before opening his own shop. Looking back I'm wondering why he didn't just use a new CAT head for 1800.00.

Here's where it gets a little interesting........... about three months after the inframe the number three cylinder valve loosened up. My mech adjusted it back to spec and said if it came loose again we'd have to do something about it. It was the number three cylinder valve seat that failed.

Yesterday when CAT said it was definitely internal I called my mech and he then reminded me of the loose valve a while back and told me to tell them to check it. He thought it might have loosened up.

He should have addressed the valve when it loosened up and not let me leave the shop that day, and that for me is frustrating. He's a really good mechanic but I think he's taking on too much work and can't keep up. This is going to be a battle because nobody is going to want to pay for this damage, either my mech or the shop that did the head work, I can just feel it. I hope I'm wrong.

I got into trucking about three years ago from construction so unfortunately I have to learn things the hard way. From now on only CAT does my engine work.

Oh and it is indeed Rick who is doing the work :thumbsup:

Thanks for the feedback Maniac.

He's too cheap. and I don't put out on the first date, he ain't gonna like that.

Yes, I know it may save you a $1,000 or more to use a local shop, but I ALWAYS use the manufactures dealer. On my Detroit I always go to Detriot Diesel (Inland Power Group) for engine stuff. I actually just got a 6-pack installed by them for $300 LESS than any local shop, and $700 less than the Freightliner dealership. Got a 2yr warranty on it too. That way, if it do bad, then i can just roll into whatever is nearest and get it fixed weither it be a FTL dealer or KW. Just my .02

You're right I got what I paid for, lesson learned. Although I didn't do it to save money, I put my trust in my mechanic. Yes my mechanic gave me a year, not sure about the local shop on the head but my shop should take care of this and then they can go after the shop that did the head.

You're right I got what I paid for, lesson learned. Although I didn't do it to save money, I put my trust in my mechanic. Yes my mechanic gave me a year, not sure about the local shop on the head but my shop should take care of this and then they can go after the shop that did the head.

That's too bad.Hopefully your mechanic takes some responsibility for this.

That really sucks, Rosty. I can sympathize with you. I dropped a couple of lifters right after my rebuild got out of warranty. It cost me almost $7,000. :pissedoff:

I would but he is about 3 1/2 hrs away from me.

Yeah, that head should have been tossed away after the valve loosened up, sucks but like you said, "thats truckin"

At least you have everything right there, motel, restaurant, and Kim the cute waitress...............LOL

Tell Rick you want it to run like the "lime green KW"............he'll know who you mean.........

Alright I'll mention the lime green kw :thumbsup:

It's good to hear Rick knows what he's doing. I'm always worried over different people working on my truck so your confidence in Rick puts me at ease. I also worry about mechanics that aren't used to the old mechanicals and might be a bit "lost" when it comes to them.

When he called me down to look at the damage last night he seemed knowledgeable. He was very polite and took the time to show me and my wife everything he found. He also agreed to take some pictures of the head for me to have for my mech since they need the old one for a core. They're also going to take pics of everything else that's damaged.

The restaurant in this hotel is pretty good, they have a kick ***** salad bar. I might have overdone it a bit tonight on the picked eggs. Say a prayer for my wife. :lol:

He's the only one I let work on the big green fella, most of my buddies swear by him too, you are in good hands with Rick

:lol2::lol2::lol2::lol2: That's hilarious!!! Hope she has one of these. :surrender:

Thanks for your responses Maniac. You really helped to lower my stress level with this whole mess. Now I have to see how my mech shop will handle themselves.

You and I started about the same time. I won't even tell you how much I've spent in repairs this year. However as I'm up to 14 trucks I can spread it out. I'll say tnis though, this is one brutal business. Good luck to you anyway.

Thanks merrick, You're right this is one brutal business. And just think, I got out of construction because I was tired of the headaches. :lol:

Update: hopefully we're out of here today. My shop called me yesterday and got the number to the CAT shop and spoke with them directly, they also told me they won't leave me hanging in the wind. My shop is also in contact with the machine shop that did the work on the head.

Sorry to hear about the engine Rosty.

I don't know what year of CAT you have but we just had a 2005 C15 break a Variable Valve Actuator housing a few months ago. It broke the head, bent a valve and a bunch of other stuff. Final bill was $13,000. Worst of it is, this VVA casting is a known weak point on some model years of Acerts (known to everyone but of us of course). Moral of the story....if you have an Acert, check the VIN to see if its' been upgraded or you may be back in there again.

Damn rank sorry to hear of misfortune as well but no, I have an old girl........ 3406b in a 359 Pete. But thanks for the heads up. My final bill was $7894.00.
The machine shop that did the head work tucked and ran, my mechanic shop said they'd pay the bill and go after the machine shop.

I don't like any of this, I had a good relationship with my mechanic and now we just have to see how it is going forward for a while. It's a little awkward at the moment.

Well, don't mix business with pleasure. He warrantied his work, and that's included all his decisions and suppliers.
Luckily for you, he is the honest man and honors his promises!

Good luck Rosty......folks today don't ever want to take responsibility for anything (including their actions). Hopefully, the prior shop and machine shop will at least help cover some of the bill......but I wouldn't hold my breathe for it.

Sounds like he's a keeper.

if he makes good on your repairs. I would keep him as my meachanic.