Smoking. Cracked ring...??? What to do

Lonnie time to go · March 18, 2011, 10:43:51 AM

Quote from: thejumpsuitman on March 16, 2011, 09:58:10 AM
Well I spoke with the shop foreman at Williams. He says if all goes as planned, Friday should be our day!

I do hope today is the day you get your bus back. The final cost has my interest. good luck

Lonnie

thejumpsuitman · March 23, 2011, 03:08:34 PM

Just an update for everyone... The repair was finally completed on Monday, March 21. I am planning to go get it on Friday and spend the weekend in it. Final invoice is a little less than I was quoted, so that is nice.

Marc

RnMAdventures · March 23, 2011, 03:53:44 PM

Congrat's Marc, glad to hear of the positive outcome.

thejumpsuitman · March 23, 2011, 05:31:11 PM

I am just now reading the invoice they faxed me. Turns out I had another injector that was leaking! I knew nothing about that. Said fuel was leaking into oil from #1 cylinder. It was #3 they replaced in Montgomery.

Busted Knuckle · March 23, 2011, 05:36:26 PM

Doesn't surprise me at all! When I had injector problems on a DDEC 8V92 6 out of 8 were badly cracked. But the only way we found them was with dye, and a "black" light at night! Once the black light hit the dye it looked like a lightening storm with all the cracks!

BK

artvonne · March 24, 2011, 12:37:18 AM

Quote from: Busted Knuckle on March 23, 2011, 05:36:26 PM
Doesn't surprise me at all! When I had injector problems on a DDEC 8V92 6 out of 8 were badly cracked. But the only way we found them was with dye, and a "black" light at night! Once the black light hit the dye it looked like a lightening storm with all the cracks!
BK

So how long do they last without/before cracking, and how common to drop metal bits into the cylinder and ruin your engine?

Busted Knuckle · March 24, 2011, 11:10:11 AM

Quote from: artvonne
So how long do they last without/before cracking, and how common to drop metal bits into the cylinder and ruin your engine?

That's one of those thousand dollar questions.

Just like any other wear item. Sometimes they last forever and sometimes they don't last as long as it took to put 'm in!

BK

artvonne · March 24, 2011, 11:25:08 AM

Guess im curious what would crack them and if it can be eleviated.

JohnEd · March 24, 2011, 09:25:07 PM

I thought they said you had no fuel in the oil?

Busted Knuckle · March 25, 2011, 09:43:40 AM

Quote from: JohnEd on March 24, 2011, 09:25:07 PM
I thought they said you had no fuel in the oil?

John,
Good catch, but at this time it's probably a mute point!

And maybe they were mistaken and really meant "no oil in the fuel!"

BK

JohnEd · March 25, 2011, 11:09:51 AM

BK,

Good catch, but at this time it's probably a mute point!

Might seem like that "beating the DEAD horse stuff". It isn't, really. Just that "lessons learned" debrief that should follow every adventure....good or bad....difficult or easy....happy or sad. A memory isn't the deep character flaw that some would have you believe because the good stuff is just as indelible and people, for sure, are never forgotten. Not that I believe that it is a universally appreciated trait, I assure you. And you point is well made and appreciated as the generosity that I know you intend.

Thank you,

John

You meant to spell moot "mute"....didn't ya? Now that is what I call supreme wit. OUTSTANDING, BK.....simply OUTSTANDING. It took me awhile but I finally caught that. Even if it was a "Freudian slip", it is still priceless.

Chopper Scott · March 25, 2011, 07:45:33 PM

At the bottom of my signature...... bad decisions make great stories!! The key is to not end up with a lot of great stories!!

JohnEd · March 25, 2011, 08:25:04 PM

Scott,

Your bi-line is really good. I love it. I like Clifford's as well. It ain't so much the destination as it is the journey.

Will Rogers is one of my personal heroes as he told a lot of people they were sub human and everybody got a good laugh including the butt of the joke. Just how in hexx did he pull that off? I ain't never figured it out...obviously i didn't need to make that last confession bit.

Thanks for your wisdom,

John

LesBerg · March 26, 2011, 08:59:47 AM

thejumpsuitman,

I'm very new to busses, so I'm reading everything I can here about the joys and pitfalls before buying, but I will buy one. I am saddened that this chain of events unfolded the way it did for you, but I am very grateful to you for sharing the entire experience with us the way you did, it was an incredible education for me.

I read the entire thread last night and have been thinking about it all morning, and it occurred to me that as expensive as the repairs were, it seems to me (forum experts correct me if I'm wrong, please) that someone in an S&S gasoline powered RV would have a similar bill if a piston came apart.

If a GM 454 (or a Ford 460 or a Dodge 440) were to have a piston come apart, it would likely damage the engine block and head severely enough that the motor would have to be replaced. Unless the S&S is a diesel pusher (and for the sake of the argument it isn't) the engine would normally be removed through the cabin given the design of most class A and C motorhomes.

I can't imagine that the combined cost of the motor and installation would be much lower than what you paid. If the owner opted for a factory crate replacement engine, I suspect that the repair bill would actually be higher.

I'm asking this primarily because my wife and I are gearing up to do some full-timing and are new to RVs across the board. I made the above assumption based on having looked at several S&S RVs that we've been interested in and working on a couple back when I was an OTR truck mechanic.

I hope that your bus is running like a top, and continues to hum happily down the road for you for years to come!

Les

artvonne · March 26, 2011, 12:04:05 PM

Quote from: LesBerg on March 26, 2011, 08:59:47 AM

I read the entire thread last night and have been thinking about it all morning, and it occurred to me that as expensive as the repairs were, it seems to me (forum experts correct me if I'm wrong, please) that someone in an S&S gasoline powered RV would have a similar bill if a piston came apart.

It would be two or three times as much on a 454 in a class A, and would likely exceed $20K on a diesel pusher, in both cases the engines come out from underneath or out the back, but they are not designed or built to easily come apart, and the labor to R&R one could easily exceed 80 hours. So yeah, Bus is cheaper.

Nothing against the company in saying this, as they have come back around, but I couldnt have sat around 9 days waiting for them to look at it, and then been down for a month. If this happened on a vacation, the vacation would be over. Having watched all this, and if I were faced with a simular issue tomorrow, I would jerry rig the engine any way possible within reason and push on down the road taking my chances.