What the heck is this?

[White Dog]

Accessory Drive?

As I mentioned in the "Where you going" thread, my truck blew its' turbo about 13 miles or so from my company shop.....so I hobbled it to the shop (smoke just a barrelling), and sure enough, it turned out to be the turbo.......so they thought.

They had one sitting around, so they replaced it (this was Thursday and Friday of last week).
Monday, I call, and they say the turbo is fixed, but now, the accessory drive is shot, and I almost blew the truck up.
Well here it is Tuesday, and ol' White Dog still can't get to work because they are still working on it.

Is it tough to fix? We do have one mechanic that is very good at what he does so long as he sticks to one job, MINE, and not worry about Joe Blow comming in with a burned out head light. (that is what the pee-on is there for)

So; is he milking it? Or is it a pretty serious and lengthy procedure?

I was told it is simalar to haveing a timeing chain go out on a car......that is all the description they had for me.

[Capt._Chaos]

The accessory drive is gear-driven, and if the bearings in it go out it can cause damage to the front cover & the gears behind it that run it.

If that front cover needs to be pulled off, it usually involves the following:

*Removal of the grille, or possibly the entire hood, depending on the hood assembly design.

*Recovering the freon from the A/C system, and removing the condenser coil from the radiator support.

*Draining the coolant out of the radiator.

*Removal of the air-to-air intercooler.

*Removal of the entire radiator assembly.

*Removal of the fan, fan clutch, & all belts.

*Removal of the harmonic balancer & accessory drive pulley(s) from the engine.

*Removal of any accessory brackets that are attached to the front cover.

*Removal of the front cover itself.

*Visual inspection of all parts, and then ordering what is needed (hoping like hell whatever is neded is NOT on any kind of "back order" status).

Getting the necessary parts in & putting it all together.

Yes, it's a LOT of work.

Hopefully it didn't involve pulling the front cover, but if you ask them about it & you are answered with "Yes", then you'll know.

[White Dog]

Wow!!!

It's not what I want to hear......but then again; sometimes the truth hurts.

Sounds pretty lengthy.

How long does it take to replace a clutch?

There is another truck at the shop that I drove Thursday to finish delivering (in Iowa) the load I was on when 'my' truck went down; but the clutch was slipping while (torking) accelorating heavy (both loaded and empty), Burt (shop guy) said maybe we can adjust it, and I told him I don't belive there is anything left to adjust (close to 900,000 miles on this FLD), since it felt so mushey and soft.

I told the boss I'd rather have that FLD over that Century any day so long as it's sound-----and aside from the clutch it drove and performed very good for a truck with that many miles.

Should I tell the shop to put the Century on hold and fix the FLD instead? So I can get going sooner? (one way or another, whichever I don't take the other will sit waiting for a driver anyway)

ol' White Dog has never really had too much trouble making ends meet.......but I can't afford a week off when I'm not prepared for it.

[Capt._Chaos]

A clutch job can usually be done in less than a day- depending on how good the mechanic is, and how long it takes the machine shop to resurface the flywheel.

Of course, a lot also depends on how quickly they get startd on the job- most mechanics are not exactly motivated when they have a clutch job assigned to them.

[White Dog]

Thanks for your input Captain.

I called the shop and Burt told me he didn't have to go through all that (remove radiator etc....) above.

He said he found that the screen had broken apart, and the peices were in the oil pan....and never made it through the system. Had they gone to or through the pump we would lose pressure and have big problems. (wouldn't you have to remove something to replace the screen?)
He said he'd be done late tonight (wich is BS, because I've never seen a mechanic there after 5 p.m.) or some time tommorow (more likely).

As far as the FLD goes....he said he adjusted the clutch and got "two notches" out of it. He said the only way a guy's gonna know if it will hold up is to hook a loaded trailer up to it and run a few (close) miles with it, hammering down to see if it slips.
I thought it felt too soft (from all the clutches I've driven) to even get any more adjustment out of it...let alone trust it O.T.R.

But since the owner told him not to put any more money into that particular truck.....me being the rebel that I am....tommorow if Burt tells me it will be another day on my truck....I am going to hook a loaded trailer to the FLD, and if it don't slip, run with it.
If it breaks down on the road, I guess the boss will have to shell out the tow money won't he.

I asked the shop "If the owner dosen't want to put money in the junk he has sitting around, why not buy decent trucks?"----answer: I'm with you Russ!
We have about 30 trucks, and less than 10 of them have less than 500,000 miles on them. They try and put those of us that run 'long haul' in the newer, less miled trucks....but then some of the guys that run local and short haul who have seniority whine and moan, and ultimately get their way.
So someone who never leaves the state and/or just runs in the surrounding states, and are home nightly or bi-nightly, get the more reliable/dependable trucks just based on seniority.

As much as I hate living in a Peterbilt, the boss tells me there will be one open soon, and it's mine if I want it----I might have to take it. (the Petes are the newest ones in the fleet besides the two Columbia automatics...which I've tried and hate with a passion)

[Capt._Chaos]

I assume he's talking about the screen on the oil pickup tube. That requires removal of the oil pan to repair/replace.

I guess bits & pieces from the accessory drive found their way down there (IF that's the case). Hmmmmmm.....................

[Kranky 1]

A clutch job can usually be done in less than a day- depending on how good the mechanic is, and how long it takes the machine shop to resurface the flywheel.

Of course, a lot also depends on how quickly they get startd on the job- most mechanics are not exactly motivated when they have a clutch job assigned to them.

Capt, I know you already know this, but I'd like to bring it to the attention of anyone having a clutch replaced.

One suggestion I would make-- Whenever installing a new clutch, always install a 2 piece clutch brake when reinstalling the trans., then if there is ever a clutch brake failure in the future, it's easy (relatively speaking) to remove the clutch brake and install a new 2 piece clutch brake.

Removing the 1 piece clutch brake in the event of failure is not a fun job, I've done it , but it involves using a torch to cut the brake in half, all the while getting showered with pieces of molten metal falling out of the inspection hole in the bellhousing.
Also real easy to burn out the input shaft oil seal if not careful with the torch.

This can all be avoided by using a 2 piece clutch brake.

:cheers: :cheers:

[Capt._Chaos]

Good point Kranky, but I used an air chisel to remove the old clutch brake in the past.

Ever tried getting one out with a plasma cutter?