T444E won't start consistently

[Johnny Mullet]

Originally Posted by Akardcd

I saw a video of a man changing a 7.3 power stroke and he had to pull oil from the high pressure oil pump, but I don't see one on my bus. Is there one? If so, does oil have to be drained from it?

There are videos of people draining the oil from the pump reservoir on the 7.3L engine. Usually this involves sucking the oil from the reservoir. I know for a fact this is a waste of time. When water starts getting into the oil from a bad oil cooler, head gasket, or other issue, the engine will start smoking from coolant in the oil. After fixing the issue, the smoke clears out within 5 minutes of running which means the reservoir oil refreshes quickly and is not stagnent like other people proclaim.

As long as you change your oil with regular 15W40 regularly (12 months/12,000 miles) these engines need no extra oil removal from the pump or reservoir.

[Johnny Mullet]

BTW, thanks for the shout-out about me being the "7.3" guy, but I work on all diesel engines from the 2 stroke Detroit Diesel to the new Paccar, Ford, Mercedes, Volvo, and Cummins engines.

Today at the shop I still work on a lot of medium duty diesel trucks with the Cummins 5.9l and 6.7l engines. The older smart guys still run the Ford 7.3L, but we get lots of 6.0L work. We rarely see the Ford 6.4L because of unpopularity, but the new Ford 6.7L is very popular and they are not too bad for a full blown EPA emissions equipped diesel engine. Duramax is going through some major cetane issues with the new models right now but the older ones are OK.

The heavy truck world has changed the most. Today there are four major OTR engine makers and that is Paccar, Cummins, Mercedes, and Volvo with Mack being close to non-existent. There has been a peak of older trucks coming back on the road because of the ELD (Electronic Logging Devices) rules which older trucks are exempt from which is nice to see for now.

My job has become very hard in these modern times. I need to be a mechanic, electrician, engineer, computer geek, welder, fabricator, and think outside the box anymore.

[WIbluebird]

Originally Posted by Johnny Mullet

My job has become very hard in these modern times. I need to be a mechanic, electrician, engineer, computer geek, welder, fabricator, and think outside the box anymore.

And on top of that mechanic salaries are stagnant or dropping.

My opinion, best place to work these days are private fleet shops, that way you get steady hours and (usually) the same type of vehicles to wrench on every day so you get some familiarity.

I owned a 7.3 Super Duty, nice motor but the rest of the truck was a pita to maintain, especially as a daily driver. Had a lot of fun with it for 2 years but then sold it went to a Tacoma and never looked back. I'd get one again someday but strictly as a project/fun truck.

I used 5w40 in mine but that was mainly for the easier starting in the Wisconsin winters. 15w40 is fine as well. I don't get draining the HPOP, that is strictly for troubleshooting or something outside normal PM.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by Johnny Mullet

BTW, thanks for the shout-out about me being the "7.3" guy, but I work on all diesel engines from the 2 stroke Detroit Diesel to the new Paccar, Ford, Mercedes, Volvo, and Cummins engines.

Today at the shop I still work on a lot of medium duty diesel trucks with the Cummins 5.9l and 6.7l engines. The older smart guys still run the Ford 7.3L, but we get lots of 6.0L work. We rarely see the Ford 6.4L because of unpopularity, but the new Ford 6.7L is very popular and they are not too bad for a full blown EPA emissions equipped diesel engine. Duramax is going through some major cetane issues with the new models right now but the older ones are OK.

The heavy truck world has changed the most. Today there are four major OTR engine makers and that is Paccar, Cummins, Mercedes, and Volvo with Mack being close to non-existent. There has been a peak of older trucks coming back on the road because of the ELD (Electronic Logging Devices) rules which older trucks are exempt from which is nice to see for now.

My job has become very hard in these modern times. I need to be a mechanic, electrician, engineer, computer geek, welder, fabricator, and think outside the box anymore.

I see a number of posts on a couple of forums telling folks to stay away from 2 stroke dd's because "nobody knows how to work on them anymore".

I miss my 2 strokes.The pre DDEC motors are so simple and reliable.

[cadillackid]

theres still quite a few people working on DD 2 strokes.. bus enthusiast groups have lists of shops around the country to fix the DD's.. many many of the classic busses in these groups are DD powered. fishbowls, flxibles, Crowns, gilligs, older MCI's, etc are largely DD 2 stroke powered.. .. these guys drive those busses all over the country..



+1 on no need to drain the HPOP.. I run rotella T4 and change my filter every 3000 miles and do oil and filter every 6000 miles.. I havent blew the thing up yet..


-Christopher