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Old 01-06-2023, 02:43 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jul 2021
Location: Tulsa, OK
Posts: 34
Year: 2004
Engine: CAT 3126E
Literally have no clue what to do here

So reaching the end of the dream of Skoolie life. Since purchase had a second child, job change, limited access to bus to work on. Basically this just is not a practical option in life any more for me. So was going to work on selling. Long story short, tried to move bus from place it was currently parked, to land owned by family, and stay there till sold.

Made the mistake of trying to drive it in the cold after a while of not driving it. Kept stopping, oil pressure down to 0. Get out and oil is everywhere.

Towed it to a fleet service, high pressure line burst and so need all that changed. Got the estimate and we're talking over 2k for this job (mainly labor 120/hr for assuming 13 hours.).

So yeah, I have no clue. This project has turned into a whirlwind of problems that I just don't have the time, know how or resources accomplish.


Is that a reasonable price for this kind of job? Has anyone seen success in selling a bus that won't operate without repairs. Cause quite frankly this sucks.

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Old 01-07-2023, 10:01 AM   #2
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Location: Toledo OH
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Chassis: MVP-EF
Engine: Cat C7 + Allison 3000PTS
Sell it cheap as parts, or pay for the repair I guess.
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Old 01-07-2023, 10:29 AM   #3
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if its a cat as mentioned in your profile you can change the high preasure hose yourself and save a lot. question i have is how long/far did you drive it without any oil pressure and what other damage did it cause. that being a electronic engine it should have shut down before any ajor damage and might have been why it kept dying
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Old 01-09-2023, 08:49 AM   #4
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jul 2021
Location: Tulsa, OK
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Year: 2004
Engine: CAT 3126E
It would shut down. I drove it 4 miles when it lost everything. Managed to start it up and inch it into a church parking lot. So hopefully no major damage. The mechanic that looked at it didn't mention any other damage, I would assume they would have noticed something else. But maybe they just focused on the oil pressure. I'll clarify with them.

The bus has had a lot of work done on it interior wise. Roof raised, framing, floor cleaned and derusted. So selling it for parts is not really an option. With the weekend gone by I've been able to figure something out for the cost. Going through with it. Again, not auto savvy enough to take on the task myself (which yes probably not the best to have dove into this world) but hey lessons learned and we move forward.
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Old 01-09-2023, 10:44 AM   #5
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Join Date: May 2014
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Chassis: International 1753
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You've really only got 2 options, sell it as is or bite the bullet and get it fixed.

That oil line failing is common on a 3126e, they made a kit for those that converted it from a rubber hydraulic hose to a hard line that can be had for a few hundred bucks. I have no idea how they'd charge 2000 to install it, but maybe I have the wrong idea on what has failed.

IMO if you want out of it, list it for sale as is, cut your losses, and get what you can get. If you can get scrap price for it then that's better then nothing. Just be honest with yourself and realize a non-running half converted bus isn't worth 10k, and that you'll probably be lucky to get scrap value out of it.
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Old 01-09-2023, 10:55 AM   #6
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DISCLAIMER: While I've worked as a "mechanic" and I've owned several diesels, I'm far from being a pro... really just a nerd who's spent too much time researching and dreaming while trying to keep my own junk running over the years.

Being a 3126 i think that uses a heui fuel system similar to the t444e (7.3l) and dt466e.

Unless cat does something different, that high pressure side going to 0psi shouldn't do anything besides shut the engine down. That's because the actual enging oiling is accomplished by the low-pressure side, and the high-pressure side only drives the injectors. Since they claimed it was a high pressure line that blew, i doubt you lost primary (low-side) oil pressure and damaged anything.

I'd see if they can show you exactly what's blown (if you paid for a diagnosis, which is totally ok for a shop to charge for as it often takes longer than the actual repairs do, I'd expect them to show me what they found and are talking about replacing). If it's a line/hose then it shouldn't really be that hard to replace. Being a cat, parts obviously get expensive, so if you've got hose to replace I'd get the specs (fitting types for both ends, length from end to end including the fittings, and hose type, which will likely be a standard class of 2-wire hose) and call your local hydraulic shops, tractor and equipment shops, mining supply houses, and maybe even locally-owned auto parts stores to get quotes on them making your replacement. I can almost guarantee it'd be cheaper than the cat-branded assembly and likely oem or better in quality (plus if they use parker hose/fittings it might actually end up being identical to original...). For any hard-lines, I hate to say it since i know the typical costs, but I'd go with oem cat parts.

That all being said, I'd guess the real problem is that you have some original hoses that just couldn't handle the higher pressure they were seeing due to cold oil anymore, and any hard lines are likely fine unless they were already rust-pitted. I'd definitely try to fix it myself if at all possible. We all know how unlikely it is you ever get your "investment" back out of these things, and a massive oil leak isn't gonna do you any favors if you can't see a good reason to keep it.

Those are basically your options:

-Pay big for someone else to fix it. Less trouble, more selling price, more cost.

-Pay "less-big" (highly dependent on the actual parts needing to be replaced and how cheaply you can source GOOD replacements, not cheap aftermarket ones) and fix it yourself. Definitely a potential source of headaches and possible time-sink, but less financial implications than the other 2 options.

-Sell as-is and take what's likely the largest financial loss, but also the least work/money involved.

Whichever route you decide to take, keep us posted and we'll try to help you any way we can.
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Old 01-09-2023, 11:39 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mmoore6856 View Post
if its a cat as mentioned in your profile you can change the high preasure hose yourself and save a lot. question i have is how long/far did you drive it without any oil pressure and what other damage did it cause. that being a electronic engine it should have shut down before any ajor damage and might have been why it kept dying
If I'm correct about the injection system, it is electronically controlled, yes, but the shutdown isn't due to a sensor signal or anything.

These systems use engine oil and a secondary, high pressure, oil pump to drive the injectors. If the oil level drops low enough the hpop (high pressure oil pump) is starved of oil and can't drive the injectors, causing it to shut down. The same thing happens if the hpop fails, or there's a pressure loss in the system downstream from the pump. I know with the navistar heui engines they tend to shut down well before the primary oil pump, and therefore all of the bearing surfaces, run dry. I would imagine cat's are the same, but have no direct experience like i do with a 7.3l powerstroke that had turbo-pedestal leaks and shutdown on me a couple cold mornings when i tried to be lazy...

Having one shutdown on you while driving sucks, but i tend to think of this as a conveniently built-in "mechanical" safety on heui engines that can help avoid small issues turning catastrophic.

I am a little curious about the primary oil pressure on his guage dropping to zero, as OP seemed to state. If it did that while running (rather than dropping to 0 after shutting off) I'd think that would be more likely causing the hpop to starve for supply by some deeper issue than a blown high-pressure hose/line (assuming shutdown was actually caused by lack of high-pressure oil supply rather than an electronic failsafe). Then again, like I've said multiple times, I've got no direct experience with cats, just the navistar heui engines and I'm also not a mechanic, just a nerd with bigger dreams than bankrolls...

Now back to teaching myself how to use GIS software for site planning, calculating excavation volumes, and simulating new slopes for stability calculations. Trying to make a spot where i can put in a large enough building to do my thing and maybe even build a bus or 2 after all these years away from them, but working with sloped ground is tricky and engineers get expensive quick (trying to determine if I need their expertise in the first place, then if their services are needed give them a good head start on that work, NOT trying to avoid them entirely)... those are the sort of costs that can seriously cut into one's budget for building cool stuff! [emoji846][emoji854][emoji846][emoji854]

lol
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Old 01-13-2023, 09:16 PM   #8
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It would be worth asking if there any less expensive replacement parts they could use. Bbkid has some very good points on ways to cut prices. Check with another diesel mechanic in town as well. The tow bill plus the diagnostic fee might be worth paying if another mechanic could do it for less.
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Old 01-14-2023, 06:57 AM   #9
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I guess it depends on which line is bad and what all has to come apart.. I know on my Navistar, replacing the HPOP lines was not "hard" biut compared to the common ford version.. I had to remove quite a bit of stuff to get to them.. in my case I was tearing everything down anyway so no biggie..



maybe something else is leaking and not just that line.. because looking at some of the pics online of the HPOP hose it doesnt look like a 13 hr job..



sometimes the shop hours books assume ALL variants of an engine / accessories / etc and they do vary so the shop book may list taking lots more apart than necessarily needs to be simply for comsistency across all configurations.. .. alot of times engines vary slightly from RE to FE to conventional style installations..



oil pressure dropping to zero will starve the HPOP just like in a Navistar HEUI and the engine will stop...
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Old 01-14-2023, 09:06 AM   #10
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Exactly what does the estimate say needs to be done?
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Old 02-02-2023, 01:40 PM   #11
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Engine: t444e/7.3liter diesel.
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Way too much money !
I have replaced many high pressure lines on heavy equipment and busses . You should be able to remove the line and take it to a local company and have a replacement line made and then reinstall it. Recharge the oil system and your back on the road.
That quote is obscene.
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