I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Topic: I think my DD 8.2 is toast. (Read 4600 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #50 – December 18, 2015, 11:18:58 am

Did you ever get this diagnosed? Curious what the issue is/was!

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #51 – December 18, 2015, 01:42:48 pm

Matt, the coach is at the mechanic's shop. I am not pushing the issue as we won't be needing it until spring. It has to sit outside somewhere and his place is as good as ours until after the first of the year. Gives us room for parking when all our kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids show up Christmas Day.
THEN I will start gently pushing. Push too hard and the bill could go up real fast, seeing as how he was the only 8.2 expert I could find around here.

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #52 – December 18, 2015, 02:04:38 pm

Quote from: nitehawk – December 18, 2015, 01:42:48 pm

THEN I will start gently pushing. Push too hard and the bill could go up real fast, seeing as how he was the only 8.2 expert I could find around here.

Not only could the bill go up, but you could go to the bottom of the list. Many of my ex-clients learned that lesson, the hard way. If the mechanic is a drinking man, a jug for the holidays would grease the skids.

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #53 – December 18, 2015, 02:20:07 pm

His wife is the receptionist, bookkeeper, answers the phones, gopher, cook & bottle washer. There is the owner (head mechanic) his son, and the wife (the only ones I have met in the office, but others out in the shop). Don't think she would appreciate the booze. They are a farming family that evolved into a diesel engine repair facility due to Dick's expertise. They have a complete machine shop, along with a large building for mechanical work and a parts building on their now smaller operation farm.

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #54 – December 18, 2015, 02:42:40 pm

Quote from: nitehawk – December 18, 2015, 02:20:07 pm

His wife is the receptionist, bookkeeper, answers the phones, gopher, cook & bottle washer. There is the owner (head mechanic) his son, and the wife (the only ones I have met in the office, but others out in the shop). Don't think she would appreciate the booze. They are a farming family that evolved into a diesel engine repair facility due to Dick's expertise. They have a complete machine shop, along with a large building for mechanical work and a parts building on their now smaller operation farm.

Walk softly then, sounds like you've found the right place: they are getting few and far between.

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #55 – December 19, 2015, 02:24:10 pm

As a mechanic I can tell you that at the retail shops where I worked the customers that brought something at Christmas seemed to be remembered by the people on the floor. It doesn't take much, a tin of cookies, two bite brownies, pizza lunch or even some donuts go over really well.

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #56 – December 19, 2015, 03:49:48 pm

Six years ago, when the transmission on our "C" went out and was repaired we sent gift cards from Menards to the owner of the transmission shop and his employees after we got the "C" back and before Christmas.
When they went to rebuild they discovered that the transmission had been rebuilt before but Loctite was not used to hold the valve body in place, so only (1) 1/4-20 bolt was holding the valve body up in place!!
When the transmission went out again(!) (their mistake) they paid for towing and repair---twice!!
One of their guys put an inline filter in backwards--so the back end of the transmission never got lubricated.

Rebuilt closer to home but the new builder was told not to replace the expensive, bigger, center bearing. It failed!
Third time (for us)-center bearing failed--first shop sent a crew and they rebuilt it overnight--towing was paid, and first shop paid to have transmission removed and replaced after the rebuild.
We then , the following spring, traded it for our '89 GV
Wonder why?

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #57 – December 25, 2015, 09:10:44 pm

But did you send cookies this year?? ( I meant to the D/D shop your coach is at now, sorry)

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #58 – December 26, 2015, 09:42:27 am

Naw, that was six years ago!! But, when we went back for the one year checkup, we took in four 16" dia "cookies" with mozzarella, pepperoni, and mushrooms on them.

By the way, our coach is sitting at the mechanics and won't be worked on until after the first of the year. I called them last Wednesday and they told me that they were trying to get other customer's vehicles out before the end of the year so their customers could close out their books. I said OK as our coach is recreational whereas their customers' vehicles were business.

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #59 – January 08, 2016, 03:18:14 pm

Just called about our coach. Got some really disgusting news!!
The injectors and fuel rail and valves are just fine!! They didn't even have to go into the engine. The mechanic (Ken) said he drove the coach down to "the corner" and the coach went like a bat out of hell, but then he turned around and the engine stumbled and barely ran.
They got the coach back inside, checked the fuel pressure (which should be around 50-75 PSI) and only got one pound--1#!!!
They took out the fuel check valve and found it plugged with dirt and also cross threaded. Got a new check valve out of Butler, WI.
Ken said we could pick it up late today. Told him NO WAY. Roads are ice covered & slippery so just go ahead and repack the front wheels.
Don't know the damages ($$$) yet, but we won't pick the coach up until next week.

YAHOO YAHOO YAHOO

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #60 – January 08, 2016, 03:39:49 pm

WONDERFUL NEWS!!!!

Merry Xmas! I know you have been sweating this.

Brett

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #61 – January 08, 2016, 03:40:43 pm

Sure happy that you found a great shop with a mechanic that knows that beast. Congrats indeed. Now go enjoy it.

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #62 – January 08, 2016, 03:44:18 pm

Great news! Most of us went to the dark side, at least now you know your top-end is in great shape.

Is it just your engine, or do we ALL have "Fuel Check Valves"?

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #63 – January 08, 2016, 03:57:41 pm

Great news! Fuel issues are over 90% of diesel problems. Glad the shop was able to figure it out quickly and probably inexpensively. A lot of school buses, medium trucks used that engine with great success.

You will be ready for spring traveling.

Pierce

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #64 – January 08, 2016, 04:07:21 pm

I don't know, Mike, but Brett would be the one to ask.
Seems to me that, considering the pressure the fuel has to be at that check valves would be mandatory.

By the way, the mechanic (Ken) said our old 8.2 is "one sweet running engine" and no need to touch valves or injectors. Repeating myself? Probably, but DW and I were sweating it being a MAJOR bill!

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #65 – January 08, 2016, 04:40:35 pm

Here is what an inline Bosch check/return valve looks like as mounted on the pump. Forgot to add to above post.

Pierce

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #66 – January 08, 2016, 04:56:40 pm

Boy, Brett, slow starting sure wasn't apparent with our engine!! I worried about holding the key in the start position too long! It would start, it seemed, just by turning the key.
DW and I are trying to figure out how she can drive the Vue home, seeing as how her right foot is in a nice fiberglass cast for another two weeks--Plantar Faschitus (sp?) and the coach is 28 miles away.

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #67 – January 08, 2016, 10:31:39 pm

Hard starting can be caused by dozens of factors even in good engines. Injectors may leak down, that is, allow diesel to leak past the closed injector into the cylinder. As discussed above, the return check valve may be worn or have a weak spring. Air may be leaking into the fuel system. Turbo engines usually have lower compression ratios so don't develop as much cranking heat making it harder for the diesel to explode. Direct injection engines (unlike our generators with pre-combustion chambers and glow plugs) may (Cummins) or may not (Detroit 2 cycles) have heated intake screens to heat the intake air to aid starting. Having a tank of summer fuel in winter will generally add cranking time. Slower cranking from a starting system fault means less compression temperature and slower starting. Or, it might just be too cold and a block heater needed.

You have to smile when you have an engine like Nitehawks that starts instantly. Takes the stress out of winter starts in crowded campgrounds where more reluctant engines send smoke signals to everyone.

Pierce

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #68 – January 09, 2016, 10:52:14 am

Glad to hear this is fixed. It may have been a check valve on the suction side too.

Really, the check valves on the discharge (or return) side are probably best to call relief valves or poppet valves. The purpose of them isn't really to prevent backward flow, but to maintain a set pressure before them.

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #69 – January 09, 2016, 12:36:29 pm

Since this has morphed into a catch all, we only use check valves on return lines when the Cummins PT pump system has the fuel tank above the head. DDC only uses an orfice oh return line to maintain the required 65 +\- psi. On the two strokes.

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #70 – January 09, 2016, 03:35:43 pm

I figured out a way to get the coach home, towing the Vue---during daylight hours. DW can't drive because of the cast on her right foot. So-o-o, I made a electrical hookup from the new LED lightbar that I put together down to the trailer plugin on the back of the Vue.
I can't run the lights off the coach because I took the 5 to 4 converter off the Blue OX coiled cable in anticipation of installing my brand new LED 17" lights on the coach.
Because the Readybrake attachment actuates the Vue's brakes it will also activate the LED tow lights in addition to the Vue's regular brake lights--including the third light. Just won't have turn signals. If I have to I can turn the park lights on the Vue on. All back county roads with almost zero traffic, three left turns and two right turns and we are in front of our driveway.

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #71 – January 09, 2016, 06:07:47 pm

Make sure your parking lights stay on without ignition. I thought I could do the same as you on my 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee and after getting a few waves by cars going by me I pulled over and had no parking lights. The Jeep won't let you walk away with lights on after a few minutes it turns them off. I had to turn on my ignition switch and add miles to the odometer the rest of that trip.

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #72 – January 09, 2016, 08:25:03 pm

Great news Nitehawk! I've been following this thread since you first post. Make sure you buy a powerball ticket with this luck!

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #73 – January 10, 2016, 11:34:37 pm

Nitehawk,
Good news on your engine and finding out that the fuel check valve could be the only problem with an inexpensive fix. Hopefully that will cure the blue smoke and the internal parts haven't suffered any damage. You were fortunate to find an old school mechanic close by and familiar with that particular engine and honest enough not to take you to the cleaners!

I love to see these older "outdated" engines like yours and mine still running strong with many more miles left to go. In Mississippi a 25 year old RV qualifies as collector's item and qualifies for an antique tag! $26 bucks and a one time fee for life. I still have to wait two years but you are already there!

Jerry

Re: I think my DD 8.2 is toast.

Reply #74 – January 11, 2016, 08:23:38 am

We did buy a Powerball ticket--only got one number plus the powerball number so we only won $4.00--better than nothing.
Coastprt--unfortunately, in Wisconsin I believe the law reads I must have more than one motorhome to qualify for antique plates, and I didn't win the lottery. But I'm going on 74 and would love the antique status for myself. DW would never look that old.
I am going to check further into antique plates. Will report my findings.
Just checked Wisconsin DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) and age requirement for motor vehicles is 1945 or older. Guess we are going to have to wait a bit!

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