I bought a Chinese injector puller off Amazon for 80 bucks last month to save money on a job. First use on a 6.7 Powerstroke, the damn thing snapped and I had to tow the truck to a machine shop to get the broken piece out. Has anyone else had a cheap tool bite them like that or am I just unlucky?
I swear, half the guys on this board run their filters until the truck starts stumbling down I-75 near Atlanta. I just pulled a filter off a 2019 Freightliner last week that was packed with algae and crap because the owner thought "it still runs fine." If you aren't swapping your primary and secondary at least every 15,000 miles in summer, you are asking for injector trouble. How often do you guys actually change yours out?
I was at a parts counter last Tuesday picking up injectors for a 6.7 Powerstroke and this older shop owner in line ahead of me was on the phone telling someone to just throw a reman engine in a truck without even pressure testing the original. He said it like it was nothing, like the whole diagnosis process was a waste of time. It got me thinking about how many engines probably get swapped out when the real problem is something dumb like a cracked oil cooler or a bad sensor. I've seen it happen at my own shop where a guy spent $8k on a used motor only to find out the original just needed a new HPFP. Has anyone else noticed shops jumping straight to replacements instead of actually digging into the root cause?
Last Tuesday I was fighting a bad injector on a 2015 Freightliner Cascadia. Mike came over and said try hitting the return line with some compressed air before pulling the whole rail. I thought he was crazy but figured why not. It cleared the chunk right out and had that truck running smooth in 20 minutes. Has anyone else had luck with that cleanup trick on common rail systems?
I was doing a rebuild on a 6.7 Cummins and just slapped the bolts in dry like always. Jake the senior mechanic walked over and asked if I liked buying new gaskets every 6 months. He showed me his bottle of ARP Ultra Torque and said to put a thin coat on the threads and under the washer face. Ran a few bolts with and without and the torque difference was almost 15 ft-lbs on the same bolt. Anybody else ever get humbled by a simple lube change that late in the game?
I had a long talk with a guy named Pete at the parts counter last Tuesday. He told me about a Cummins ISX he worked on where the mechanic skipped the pre-lube on the rocker arms and wiped out the camshaft in under 50 miles. That story stuck with me because I always thought oil from the filter housing would be enough. Has anyone else seen damage from not pre-lubing during a rebuild?
Buddy of mine in Phoenix ignored a small coolant leak for way too long and it cooked his injector cups. After replacing them and a set of injectors he's getting worse fuel economy than before the swap. Anyone else run into this where a fix makes things worse instead of better?
I was finishing up a road call near Springfield when the truck just started missing and died. Found the HPOP line had cracked right at the fitting, dumping oil everywhere. Had to have a buddy bring me a spare line and 4 quarts of oil to get it going again. Anyone else keep a spare HPOP line in their service truck or am I just paranoid now?
So this retired mechanic in his 70s at the parts counter told me I was wasting time cleaning my 5.9 Cummins injectors. He said just buy new ones and be done with it. I figured what does he know, these things cost like $300 a pop for good ones. Spent 4 hours doing the ultrasonic clean and reinstall on my truck cab in the driveway last Saturday. Two of them are still chattering and one is dripping on cylinder 4. Now I gotta pull them all out again and order new ones. Parts store guy was right, I should have listened. Has anyone else had clean injectors just fail again after a couple hundred miles?
Bought an old F-250 from a guy outside Austin last month, and it had this light tick at idle that drove me nuts. Changed out the oil rail crossover seals last Saturday and it purrs like a kitten now. Anyone else had luck silencing these old 7.3s with just seals, not full injectors?
I had a 2018 Peterbilt with a random stumble under load, and it ended up being a tiny piece of rubber from a cheap fuel line that was floating around in the return side. Took me swapping the filters three times and finally pulling the banjo bolts to find it hiding in the check valve. Has anyone else dealt with contamination that acted like a electrical gremlin?
I was working on a 6.7 Powerstroke last spring in my buddy's garage near Austin. I had my impact gun out ready to zip the injector hold down bolts back in. He grabbed my wrist and said 'hand torque those or you'll be pulling the head in 10,000 miles.' I thought he was being dramatic but I did it by hand anyway. Anyone else get a tip that sounded like total BS at first but ended up saving their butt?
I had a 2005 Ram 3500 with a stutter at idle last month. Had to choose between a $180 rebuilt injector from a shop in Denver or a brand new one for $350. I went with the rebuilt and it's been running smooth for 600 miles now, no complaints... anyone else trust rebuilt injectors or do you swear by new only?
I just spent 3 days chasing a rough idle on a 2016 Ram 3500 when it should have been a 4 hour job. Turned out the new injectors I put in were fine, but one of the ground straps under the valve cover was corroded and barely making contact. I about pulled my hair out swapping sensors and chasing wiring diagrams. Has anyone else run into a stupid little ground issue that ate up way more time than the actual repair?
I was working out of a shop in Billings, Montana back in 2010 and we had to rebuild a HEUI injector for a 7.3 Powerstroke. No laptops, no diagnostic apps. Just a dial indicator, a manual, and a prayer. Now I sit in my truck for 20 minutes plugging into the ECM before I even crack a wrench. The whole thing feels like cheating sometimes. Does anyone else miss having to actually know the engine by heart instead of watching a screen tell you what's wrong?
I run a shop outside of Nashville and I see this ALL the time. Older guys swear by the old mechanical diesels because you can fix them with a wrench and a screwdriver. I get that. But the wet stacking issue is REAL on them when they just idle around town. Meanwhile some of these newer common rail trucks with the right tuning barely smoke at all even sitting in traffic. I just had a customer argue with me for 20 minutes that his 12 valve does everything better even though he's getting oil dilution from idling. Am I missing something or is there a real debate here? What's your take on mechanical vs electronic for daily driving?
Customer didn't want to spend the money on OEM ones. I told him the cheap ones might not last but he said go for it. 3 days later one of them failed and took out a cylinder. Now he's paying for a used motor. Has anyone else had cheap parts bite them this bad?
Had a 2015 Freightliner throw a code last week that had three different scanners pointing at three different culprits, so I pulled out my pressure gauge and found the real problem in ten minutes. Anyone else find themselves trusting their ears and a feeler gauge more than a computer anymore?
Was at a parts counter in Nashville yesterday. Some kid probably 20 years old telling the clerk glow plugs are optional on 7.3s. Clerk just nodded along. I wanted to say something but kept my mouth shut. You ever deal with people that think they know your truck better than you do? How do you handle it without starting a fight?
Used to zip those cups in with a 1/2" impact and wondered why I was chasing leaks in 6 months. Switched to a torque wrench and a little thread sealant after a Cummins ISX blew a cup at 80k miles on I-75... anyone else go back to basics like that?
I thought I was being smart saving cash on a rebuild for a 5.9 Cummins in a 2001 Dodge. Bought the kit online for 400 bucks versus the 900 the local shop wanted for a full reman. Spent two weekends tearing it down and putting it back together with those cheap Chinese parts. Truck ran like crap for three days then started puking fuel out of the overflow line. Ended up having to buy the shop reman anyway because the plunger seized up and trashed the housing. So now I'm out the 400 plus labor for them to clean out my mess and install their unit. Anyone else get burned by trying to save a few bucks on injection pump parts?
I was working on a 2003 Freightliner in our shop lot last Tuesday and it took swapping the whole fuel system before I spotted that hairline crack with a borescope, anyone else had a sneaky one like that on these old engines?
I was always a diehard for mechanical injectors on my old 7.3, but the shop I work at in Phoenix pushed me into learning common rail systems. I finally swapped my own truck over to a common rail setup after about 3 months of saving parts. The fuel economy is better for sure, but I miss how simple the old ones were to work on when they acted up. Anyone else stick with mechanical stuff even though the new tech is "better" in the specs?
Friday night, I'm grabbing brake cleaner at Napa in Portland. Guy at the counter asks the kid behind the register if he stocks blinker fluid because his 6.7 Cummins was "flashing slow" and the shop told him it was low. Kid kept a straight face and said they were out. I laughed for 10 minutes in the parking lot. It's wild how far some guys will take a joke. Has anyone actually seen a shop recommend this as a real thing?
I was hauling a load of lumber back from Phoenix and the turbo let go just past the exit for Flagstaff. Had black smoke pouring out the exhaust and lost all power going up the grade. I had to call a tow to the nearest shop in Williams and it cost me $2,800 for a new turbo and labor. Has anyone else had a turbo fail on a Cummins ISX and found a way to spot it coming?