c/diesel-mechanics

Tired of people saying you gotta run a diesel hard to keep it clean

I hear this all the time at the shop from the older guys. 'Drive it like you stole it' or 'let it eat' to blow out the carbon. Honestly I think that's just a myth that causes more wear. I rebuilt a 6.7 Cummins last year from a guy who always drove it hard on the highway. Valves were toast and the rings were cooked. A steady drive at 1800 RPM with a good load does the same cleaning without hammering the internals. Anybody else see more damage from this old school thinking?

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the_kai•15d ago

Debate: Should we flush cooling systems on a strict schedule or only when there's a problem?

I had a Cat C15 last month that ran fine for years with no flush until the water pump seized at mile 350,000. Another shop swears by their 500-hour flush plan and never sees failures. What's your rule on this - stick to the book or wait for symptoms?

c/diesel-mechanics

Tired of people saying you gotta run a diesel hard to keep it clean

Debate: Should we flush cooling systems on a strict schedule or only when there's a problem?

Blew $200 on a cheap turbo rebuild kit from eBay that lasted 3 months before the seals went

Unpopular opinion: I think the whole "air filter is fine until it looks dirty" thing is way overblown

That moment a fuel line let go on I-10 outside Phoenix at 3am

Rant: The time I tried a performance chip on my old Dodge 12 valve instead of just tuning the pump

Injector cup cracked on an older Cummins ISX this morning

I was overtorquing injector hold-down clamps for years without knowing it

Had a weird epiphany about injector cups at a truck stop diner outside Amarillo

I finally had a diesel job go perfectly smooth for once

The glow plugs on my 7.3 went out mid-winter in Michigan last month

I swapped to a cheaper oil filter brand and my 6.7 Cummins actually runs quieter now

Am I the only one who got burned by a cheap injection pump rebuild kit?

Just realized a lot of guys are torquing head bolts wrong on 6.7 Cummins

Heard a guy at the parts counter say fuel additives are just snake oil

Why does nobody talk about running torque specs on dry threads instead of oiled?

Spent 3 years torquing head bolts in the wrong sequence before a retired guy at the shop in Denver pointed it out

TIL my injector cups were leaking for 6 months before I caught it

Just realized my injector return lines were leaking for 6 months before I caught it

Cleaned the fuel system on a 7.3 Powerstroke and the difference was night and day

Watched a coworker try to jump a big block Cummins with a Ford Focus battery last Tuesday

Overheard a shop foreman say a bad ECM flash ruined 3 trucks last month

Showerthought: I read a report from the EPA that said a single idling semi burns about a gallon of diesel per hour.

Working on a 6.7 Powerstroke in a farm shop yesterday

A vet at the truck stop in Bakersfield told me to just listen to the injectors