Coolant leak, Cat 3208,
About six months ago, I was touring in my Grandvilla, 500 Kays from home,
I got a water leak in my Coach,
Four days later and lots of work on the side of the road, I decided I could not fix the leak, ,
So the nearest Heavy haulage was 150 kays away in either direction,
Pambula charged like wounded bulls, It was even further away from home,
Bairnsedale 300 kays away from home and I didnt know any one there,
So I decided to get it towed to a local mechanic for the repairs,
It sat behind his workshop for months, Not in his workshop.
He didnt want to work on it and many local diesel mechanics didnt want to work on it either, I couldnt understand why,
Its an easy motor to work on,
I finally decided to work on it myself,
Hahahahahaha
Now I know why they wouldnt touch it,
Its jammed in between the chassis and extremely hard to get at,
The motor was covered in cables and hoses, Including the tails lights,
I have rerouted all the wires and hoses and it easy to now get at the motor.
Foretravel just dumped all the wiring and hoses on top of the motor,
The motor and gear box was built on a bench and just lowered into the chassis,
I had to cut the bolts on the exhaust off with a 5 inch grinder, There was no room to get a bar onto the bolt heads to get them out, Plus they were corroded and just rounded off, Then I had to cut the studs off as the exhaust would not come off with the studs still in the head,
I will have to put the bolts in before I install the exhaust, I will tape them in position before I install it,
I now have the head off one side and am ready to reinstall the head, I will have a comealong rigged up above the motor so I can lower it slowly and safely,
It will be on two milk crates and a bar across under the bed,
The head itself weighs 54 KGs, Its a bit heavy for me with two stuffed arms, But I get Madam to help me, She is strong as an ox, Hahahahaha
All this for a bit of plastic, 2 inches long and 1.5 inches thick, It goes between the heads and the end plate on the motor.
You can only replace it by taking the heads off,
The two O rings on it finally gave up the ghost,
I will have the Injectors cleaned before I put them back in,
It basically a brand new motor, 115,000 Miles on it,
But the hoses and plastics are 30 years old and they are perished and falling apart,
New hoses and anything else old that might fail, Will be replaced,
Some things that cannot be replaced or repaired on the side of the road,
I have never rebuilt one of these motors, Or worked on one, So its a bit of a challenge,
3208 Turbo charged 300 HP Cat diesel engine, Closest I came was swapping the heads on my 351 Ford F350 to stainless steel Valves to put LPG on it,
My windscreens are now rock solid with my steel inserts fitted, ,
Topic: Coolant leak, Cat 3208,