Hi every one,
Is there a clear image of my diesel pusher chassis any where Online that I can see,
Its a Oshkosh V917 25880 GVWR chassis,
It has a 300 HP turbo Cat in it,
Which currently I have almost both heads off it,
As its not at my place on my ramps, I am doing the work on it remotely,
I need to put blocks in it to support the chassis while I am under it,
I will take my generator and compressor down tomorrow and pump up the air bags,
Then I can block it up, hopefully it will be high enough to get under it,
Just jacking it up is not enough to get under it,
I have had to cut the exhaust bolts off with a 5 inch grinder with a cutoff wheel.
There is just not enough room between the chassis and the exhaust to get the bolts out,
The levelers don't work with out the motor running,
Thanks in advance, Brian,
Brian--Send email to Les or John Michaels at fcccservice@daimlertruck.com
Freightliner/Daimler bought all the Oshkosh Truck/John Deere designs, so they might have what you are looking for.
(I sent personal email to you also, just so you get this ASAP)
Hey Brian,
What's going on? Why are you ripping your Cat apart? Hopefully it is a pre-planned "top end refresh" and not emergency roadside surgery. :thumbsup:
Cheers
It was a roadside emergency radiator leak that I couldnt repair on the side of the road,
Tho I spent four days trying, But to no avail,
Its in that tite a space, I couldnt even squeeze silicone in there to cover it,
I had it towed 500 kays home and I cant get any one to work on it,
So I am doing it myself,
I couldnt even get any one to tow it up my drive so I could do the job on my ramps,
I can walk under the coach when its on my ramps,
The place I am working on it, dont even have electricity,
Its a small plastic part that goes between the heads and the end plate of the motor,
The O rings on the plastic tube have deteriorated with old age, and Are Kaput, 30 years old,
More so the rust has built up to a point where its gone under the O ring and is leaking from the rust,
The only way you can get the plastic tube out is by ripping off the heads,
To get the head off, I need to remove the injectors, rockers, exhausts, to get at the head bolts,
Plus the Turbo and associated hoses and wiring thats prolific on top of the motor, and all along the sides of the motor,
The Injector pumps stays put, Thats a win for me,
A youtube video in the USA has helped me a lot, a 3208 motor in a machine that was being repaired, I can see what he was doing,
I have to get under the coach to get the lower exhaust bolts out,
Needless to say, I am too fat to get under the coach with out jacking it up,
At least I havent snapped off any bolts yet, Thankfully,
I welded a rod on the studs I cut off and then removed the studs with a big shifter, A couple were touch and go. I thought they would snap off,
It has turned into a major overhaul, for a $3-00 part, I will do both sides now I have gone this far, The other side wont be far off crapping itself,
Anything man made will die eventually,
Its very hard getting info on the 3208 Engine,
The last piccy was before I started, Under that crap there is an engine, Hahahahaha
But I still Love my Grand Villa, Its a Ripper of a machine,
Sorry to hear that the old girl is laid up, but we know you will get her back on the road...eventually.
"If it was easy, anybody could do it".
Look around boat forums. They use this engine a lot .
Well yesterday I took my generator and compressor down to the coach on my trailer,
With the Intention to pump up the air bags and put blocks under the chassis so I can get under the coach,
Its a lot easier than jacking it up,
I took a heap of fittings down with me to block all the air lines and hoses I had disconnected,
I connected the compressor up to my air hose line in the locker,
Well I will be damned, The coach came up on the air bags without any extra fittings needed, You can win some times,
I had made up some 11 inch steel packers to place inside the chassis for it to sit on,
On the diff, there is nowhere to put the packers,
So I put my jack stands under the rear levelers on the bracket that holds them in,
Between the air bags and the springs on the front is only 7.5 inches,
So I put the 11 inch packers under the leveller brackets on the front,
We were sitting there having a coffee when Bang and the coach dropped down on an angle,
One of the rear jackstands had slipped out, So I pumped the coach up again, and replaced the jackstand under the bracket again in a different spot,
This time it worked, Its safe again,
I also have blocks of wood under the engine frame just in case it drops off the jackstands, I cant get crushed under the coach,
When I have finished the repairs, Its just a matter of running the engine and the coach will lift off the jackstands at the rear and the blocks at the front, And drive away, Easy Peasy,
So much easier than jacking it up with jacks and blocks of wood, Then jacking it down afterwards,
Now to get the lower exhaust bolts out, After I get the air and hydraulic lines out of the way,
Please be careful, as if I need to tell you that.
I dread going under the coach but must do it often. When ever I'm under there and look up at what sits on top of me, I shudder, when I imagine the coach dropping on me. Even if not crushed like a bug, the thought of a slow death is even worse.
Trapped and nobody around to hear cries for help, what a horrible way to go.
Thats why I built my ramp years ago, I can walk around freely under the coach with out problems,
But where I have it stored, There is nothing, Even the crushed bitumen allows the jacks to sink into the ground,
I cant even get under my coach when the air bags have deflated,
Not that I would,
An air line blows it comes down with a thud, 6 Ton is not some thing to take lightly,
You wont get a second chance,
Crushed chest, I dont think you will be calling for help.
I sit back and have a coffee, Giving it time to sink or slip or whatever, Just to be on the safe side,
I have a 90 set of manuals. what are you looking for?
After getting all the hoses, hydraulic and oil and water out of the way,
disconnecting the wires on the starter motor, this is all under the coach,
I had enough room to get the 5 inch grinder in and cut the heads off the exhaust bolts,
39 year old bolts with retainers bent up on the bolt heads, I cant get any thing in to flatten the retainers, Cant hit it with a hammer, There is just no room in there,
Fortunately two screwed out by hand and I had to cut one stud off to get the exhaust out,
I am now ready to lift the head out,
Two bolts on the air pump removed, Thats very strong glue holding it on top of the motor, ???????????? I need to remove it to get the last bolt in the head out,
So I take the four bolts out holding the pump to the plate it sits on,
Bloody hell, Its got two bolts inside the pump, No wonder the plate would not come off, Its not glue holding it on, Hahahahahaha Its got two sneaky bolts inside the pump housing, Totally hidden from outside viewing,
I have stands on each side of the bed with a two inch pipe between them and a chain block to lift it out,
Thats todays job,
Before I got injured and destroyed both my arms and shoulders, I would have just lifted it out with no problems,
After 2.5 years recovering, I am just starting to exercise again, So its a slow process getting back in shape again,
Piccys tomorrow,
Thank you for that,
The two small bent water hoses under the front of the motor
Number 11 and 12 on the diagram.
Picture gives the sizes.
I assume they would be the same size on all 3208 engines, The block was never changed,
I have the tightening sequence of the head bolts, and the torque settings,
I bought a brand new torque wrench to do this job,
I bought a top end gasket set from China, $500-00 Delivered, OEM, off ebay,
In OZ and the USA they are $1200-00 and upwards,
For all the work you are doing and the difficulty of the job, I would have opted for the "expensive" USA made gasket set, and factory made replacement parts.
I would shudder at the thought of doing all this work and then finding a defective gasket/part is going to make me do the job again.
Unfortunately people make that mistake, Expensive is always better, Its Not,
Weather the kit comes from China, Australia, USA, Europe, or Timbuctoo.
It is the same kit, Identical, Only the exchange rate is different,
It just doesnt have a company name on the box or packet,
I bought a new water pump for my boat from Sydney, Australia for $300, It was delivered the next day, I was in an extreme hurry, Thats why I bought it,
I was leaving Melbourne on my boat that day, To be gone for two years,
The same pump was $80 from China, Free delivery, and the USA, $80 Plus postage,
But I didnt have 3 weeks to wait for it to be delivered,
The same Identical pump from Westerbeke in Brisbane was $580 plus postage
They had two on the shelf, and two day delivery, If I paid for a courier delivery,
It was a Mitsubishi Water pump,
Mitsubisi, Catapillar, Honda, Ford, GM, Car companys, Etc, do not make oil seals, Bearings, Gasket sets, Water pumps, Oils or other accessories for their products. Even tho they have their name on the packet, You pay for the Name on the packet,
They are all manufactured by other companys,
I buy parts direct from the manufacturer, They are genuine parts, no matter which country they come from, And China is no different,
Remarkably, Croatia is another country that has cheap genuine parts, But also has a 3 week wait for postage,
The front wheel seal in my Grandvilla is Volvo, Not sure who made the seal, But the original company that made it for Oshkosh is now out of business,
But Volvo did not make the seal, Same as Oshkosh didnt make the original seal that was in it, They bought it from a separate manufacturer who make seals,
But I get your message, Doing all this work, I am not going to put shonky parts in it because it is cheaper,
The parts I am using are Genuine Cat parts, I just didnt buy them with a Cat label on them,
I really didnt want to pull the second head off my motor, But Im glad I did,
The plastic water pipe in the head was not far from failing either,,
It was corroded badly and very close to leaking water, So it was worth the effort,
Years ago, I made a stainless steel conveyor for a company that made Universal Joints for the car companys,
While I was installing it, The manager came down for a look,
I asked him how he made Pirate parts for the trade, Cheap parts,
He said to me,
Today we make Ford parts and put them in a Ford Box.
Tomorrow, we make GM parts and put them in a GM box,
The day after that we make the same parts and put them in a plastic bag, Unlabelled,
They are the parts for the trade, The so called Pirate parts,
They are all the same parts with the same steel in them, They are Identical,
We cannot risk getting a cheaper product mixed up with a good product due to the quality of the steel,
So all the products are the same quality, Its just that the plastic bagged ones are much cheaper due to having no company name on them,
These are the products I buy, I am not paying for a companys Logo on them,
Marine Stainless is another one, You pay four times the price because it is labelled Marine,
There is no such thing as Marine Stainless, Stainless steel come in various grades,
I buy my Stainless steel from a Bolt manufacturer, Its very cheap, Because it doesnt have Marine on the box, It comes in an unmarked plastic bag,
My High Tensile Grade Seven new bolts will come from a bolt shop,
They wont have Cat on the packet, But will be the same quality,
Cat dont make bolts either,